#Floates FTW! Video by Liana Bautista for Will Read for Feels

That, my friends, was what convinced me to read the Playlist series. Did you hear the collective awwww from the audience? 

1. Everything else that I liked in SOB are still present here. The lyrics, Trainman, the humor and banter, setting, feels and yes, the quotable quotes. More on the quotes later.
2. Ana. I usually read romance books for the male characters, but that was not the case for STGOY. I already met Ana when she made a cameo in SOB but here, she was more in the spotlight and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HER! Ana is the kind of girl I would like to be BFFs with in real life. She's funny and smart, but I liked her for more reasons than that. She liked Miki and so she was determined to get him. Not in the desperada or doormat kind of way though. At first, I was like, "Giiiirl! What are you thinking???" when she was still willing to go out with Miki even when their first three dates were discouraging. She was aware that he was hung up on Jill. But the girl was persistent and committed that I soon found myself in admiring her strong heart. She was awesome and I was glad Miki realized that before I insisted on putting my hands inside the book and strangling him. You know how other authors rewrite their novels to show other character's perspective of the story? I sincerely hope Ana gets that kind of book.
3. My main takeaway in this story is that Love Is A Choice. If life is perfect, we would all be showered with kilig moments every day. We wouldn't need to live vicariously through book characters. (Romance novels get high sales for a reason. Haha!) But life is not perfect. Loving someone is more than all the swoon-worthy moments. Most times, we need to work on/for it.
4. I like how Miki and Ana's relationship progressed. Aside from that scene where "celebrities" helped Ana on a school work, the story was realistic enough you'd think your friend is just telling you about her love story. Their story was not intense, but it was not boring at all.
5. East Genesis Project was mentioned! I recently read and reviewed Scandalized and I was like, oh I know those guys!
6. Quotable quotes. Jay E. Tria left me in awe once again with her poetic writing.

“You’re the girl who sees your life two steps ahead. And when you see a vision like that you don’t look longingly at it. You act on it. You claim it. You make sure you get it. That’s why you’re bothering with all of this shit. Because you already see a better version of yourself and you’re working towards it. Even when people around you don’t think it’s worth the pain.” 

"When you commit, you make a decision...You decide to say yes to one person, all the time." 

"...if you want something bad enough, you should fight for it. Fight for it so you would deserve it, and it would be given to you."

“You do it well too, the way you look at your future...You don’t let its brightness blind you. You make sure to keep your eyes on what you have now.”

 “Patience was about knowing when it was time to translate daydreams into reality.”

“When you say something out loud, it loses its power over you. It’s not a secret anymore, no longer a monster growing inside your heart.”

1. Lyrics/songs - I didn't realize this til now, but when given singers/bands as characters, I expect some songs included in the story. It's through songs that singers express themselves, and it seems fake without them. Good thing that Jay E. Tria did not disappoint! If the lyrics in this book are proof, she can be a good songwriter/poet. I love how the lyrics written supposedly by Trainman members, reflected the emotions of the characters. I just wish that the songs were "listenable" just like those in Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover.  
2. Characters - I still find this weird but I kind of liked how flawed the characters were. Jill is okay, she's funny and relatable. There were times when I wanted to hug her, but I think there were more times when I wanted to slap her because she's so dense. And hello, ang haba ng hair ni ate girl! Ang dami naming walang boyfriend, ikaw, tatlo ka-loveteam mo? Haha. Next is Kim. I perfectly understand that he needed to break-up with Jill. In fact, I admired him for being brave in making that decision because sometimes, even when you're always together with someone, you just grow apart. But he didn't have to do it in a callous, cold-hearted manner. Especially because he and Jill still work together. Then there's Miki, the always-ready shoulder to cry on. But he's a guy best friend cliché. More on that on my next review. Shinta is such a darling. He's sweet, good-looking, all-around nice guy and funny. But he's abangers. I thought he was always waiting in the wings, just waiting forthe opportunity and he's ready to pounce on Jill. Nino and Son are funny and they are good friends, but one is a womanizer and the other seems childish. So yeah, they are all imperfect. But their flaws also made them realistic and endearing. 
3. Humor/Banter- Although this book had a lot of feels, it wasn't entirely a SOB (Songs of Our Breakup, gets? hehe) story. The characters were funny and I love all the playful banter and sarcasm. Reading their exchanges was like hanging around with my guy friends.
4. Setting- I like how I can picture UP Diliman as their college setting and Saguijo  (I've never been there, but I read Spell Saab a lot.) for Commute bar. 
5. Feels - Damn all those feelings. Jay E. Tria perfectly captured the emotions of someone who's going through a breakup. 
6. Quotable quotes - This one had a lot of heartfelt moments and it translated to beautiful quotes. Below are my favorites because...

This one perfectly sums up why one just have to move on: 

“You don’t really stop loving someone…It’s just that you’re different now from the person you were yesterday. And you can’t go back. Even if you can, why would you want to?”

I also asked a similar question: 

Why don’t they teach that in school? Emotional Safety 101. How to love without losing your sanity. Instead of people running around claiming they feel it, while not knowing what to do with it, how to handle it, how not to break it, how to keep it whole. It’s a terribly dangerous thing in the wrong hands. 

I'm mostly protected by this same thing: 

"You have too much sarcasm in your veins. That protects you.”