Review: Most Likely by Sarah Watson

Unfortunately, our September book club was cancelled. However, we still wanted to discuss Most Likely with you! We chose Most Likely because the author, Sarah Watson, is the creator of The Bold Type. Also, we loved the premise of four best friends and one of them is destined to be President. 

FYI, our next virtual book club is on October 26th. For more information, check out the Facebook event page. 

Book Summary

It’s January 2049 and it’s your inauguration for President of the United States. You look at the crowd and reminisce about how you got to the White House.

Go back to 2020 and we meet Ava, CJ, Jordan and Martha. One of them will be inaugurated as president in 2049, but who will it be?

Each girl has unique problems to deal with as they try to find themselves and prepare for college. Ava is dealing with anxiety and depression. CJ’s devastated with her SAT scores, especially since she’s supposed to be the overachiever. Jordan gets in over her head with investigative journalism. And Martha, well she’s trying to find a way to pay for college and her mom’s making it is hard as possible.

No matter what, these four best friends have each other’s backs. No matter what, they’ll change the world together. 

Discussion

How did you feel about the characters? Did your opinion of the characters change at all throughout the book?

All of the girls evolved in their own ways throughout the book! CJ learned to accept and embrace setbacks; Martha became more sure of her future and took steps to make the best of her situation; Ava learned to come out of her shell and made a life-altering decision; and Jordan learned the importance of not going beyond your reach.

At first, all of the girls were struggling with their own issues, but they came to tackle them head on. We really enjoyed seeing them grow while maintaining their unique personalities and strong bond. We definitely thought Jordan needed to slow her roll at first with the investigative journalism, but we came to like her in the end because she genuinely wanted to help her community. We found ourselves rooting for Ava the most. We won’t spoil her conflict, but it was big and definitely altered her life. 

Which character did you relate to the most in the book, and why?

Claire felt she could relate to Ava and CJ the most! Like Ava, Claire has anxiety and could empathize with Ava’s struggles throughout the book, particularly when it came to social situations. But she also identified with CJ’s need to be perfect all the time. Claire is a Type A personality and this definitely makes swallowing failure difficult. 

Christy felt like she could relate with CJ and Jordan. Christy’s also Type A and has had similar struggles accepting setbacks. Plus, she really hated standardized tests. Christy related to Jordan because of her outgoing and bubbly personality. Who says writers can’t be extroverts?

Were there any overarching themes present throughout the book?

We loved that this book was about *strong* female friendships— first and foremost. There was romance of course, but that was never the point. The girls lifted each other up and challenged one another to be the best versions of themselves.

As of 2020, we’ve never had a female president and as two women with a passion for politics, we loved reading a book where a woman holds a position of power. These women all achieved their goals despite adversity. This was the perfect read before the November election. It definitely made us excited to vote! 

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️