What do you think?
Rate this book
Ever After #1
Bookishly Ever After: Ever After Book One
In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins' life would be a book. Preferably one filled with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn't even qualify for a quiet contemporary.
Everything changes when Phoebe learns that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her. So, Phoebe turns to the heroines in her favorite books for inspiration, but becoming as awesome as her book characters isn't as easy as it sounds. When another girl nets Dev for herself right out from under Phoebe's nose, she's crushed.
And, to up the suckage, she gets assigned as his co-counselor at a sixth grade camp and has to spend an entire week tied to the hip with the one guy on the planet she wanted to avoid. Can she make it through the potential danger of romantic bonfires and nature walks, or will her counseling career end in emotional disaster? Can she ever go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?
Everything changes when Phoebe learns that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her. So, Phoebe turns to the heroines in her favorite books for inspiration, but becoming as awesome as her book characters isn't as easy as it sounds. When another girl nets Dev for herself right out from under Phoebe's nose, she's crushed.
And, to up the suckage, she gets assigned as his co-counselor at a sixth grade camp and has to spend an entire week tied to the hip with the one guy on the planet she wanted to avoid. Can she make it through the potential danger of romantic bonfires and nature walks, or will her counseling career end in emotional disaster? Can she ever go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?
381 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 19, 2016
About the author
Isabel Bandeira
7 books267 followersIsabel Bandeira grew up surrounded by trees and lakes in Southern New Jersey, right on the edge of the Pine Barrens. Her summers were always spent in Portugal, where the cathedrals, castles, and ancient tombs only fed her fairy tale obsession. Between all those influences and her serious glitter addiction, it wasn’t a surprise when she started writing stories of her own.
In her free time between writing and her day job as a Mechanical Engineer who designs and develops medical devices, she reads, dances, figure skates, and knits.
Isabel lives in New Jersey with her little black cat, too many books, and a closetful of vintage hats. She is represented by Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson. BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER is her debut novel.
In her free time between writing and her day job as a Mechanical Engineer who designs and develops medical devices, she reads, dances, figure skates, and knits.
Isabel lives in New Jersey with her little black cat, too many books, and a closetful of vintage hats. She is represented by Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson. BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER is her debut novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 576 reviews
Want to Read
October 21, 2014DO MY EYES DECEIVE ME?
IT'S A BOOK ABOUT A GIRL WHO LOVES BOOKS.
I LIKE BOOKS.
THIS GIRL LIKES BOOKS.
I LIKE READING A BOOK ABOUT A GIRL WHO LOVES BOOKS.
ITS A WIN-WIN SITUATION.
IT'S A BOOK ABOUT A GIRL WHO LOVES BOOKS.
I LIKE BOOKS.
THIS GIRL LIKES BOOKS.
I LIKE READING A BOOK ABOUT A GIRL WHO LOVES BOOKS.
ITS A WIN-WIN SITUATION.
December 18, 2014
You can also find this review on my blog,
Aimee, Always.
I tried so hard to like this, but it got on every. Single. Nerve. I wanted to strangle everyone; the book was so predictable; there's nothing here that you haven't read in other cheesy YA romances. I'm actually just proud of myself for finishing this.
THINGS I DID NOT LIKE
I've been waiting for this book to come out since it was announced in 2014. The synopsis promised a book for book addicts to love and to be able to relate to. Unfortunately, I just wanted toRIP EVERYONE'S THROATS OUT *coughs* get the book over with when I finally got around to read it. While I did LOVE the idea of the book, there were just too many tropes and stereotypes in it. So, no. Nuh-uh, not for me. So let me elaborate on my violent instincts:
1. Every single stereotype in this book deserves a kick in the nuts. Okay, books can't avoid character stereotypes. It's a given! The best a book can do is to tone this down, right? Well, this book did the exact opposite. The tropes were so strong and wrong and unrealistic and I JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO GO AWAY. Let's take our booknerd heroine, for example. Reading while you're having lunch? Acceptable. Using books and book characters as a guide for flirting and for life in general?! Weird. As. Heck. IT WAS TOO MUCH EVEN FOR MY BOOK-LOVING BRAIN.
(Also, I would like to give a special shoutout to the cheerleaders-can't-be-bookworms trope very much highlighted in the book. Fuck you, I'm both. Excuse my French, I just needed this to be out there.)
2. The book is pretty much a copy-pasted compilation of typical YA contemporary romance scenes. *WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS* There's nothing in the storyline here that I haven't already read about in other YA books. We've got your typical homecoming scenes, camping scenes, makeover scenes--what else is missing? This book has all of those things and all the other scenes I'm sick of in contemporary.
3. I only liked one character out a BAJILLION of them. There were SO MANY side characters, and personally, I thought some of them were a biiiiit unnecessary. Their personalities just blended in together for me, and you don't really need lots of characters who are all basically the same person.
The ONLY character I liked was the love interest, who was, thank the gods, sweet, cute, and actually made sense. He was pretty much the only saving grace of the entire story for me.
SHOULD YOU GET THIS BOOK?
Well, for me? Clearly the answer is no. BUUUUT I do understand the appeal of the story. It's a bookworm's dream, if you will. If you're a big fan of YA contemporary romances, sure, go ahead and give this one a try!
--
PRE-READING THOUGHTS:
A THOUSAND HELL YESES. This book belongs on your TBR, booknerds.
I tried so hard to like this, but it got on every. Single. Nerve. I wanted to strangle everyone; the book was so predictable; there's nothing here that you haven't read in other cheesy YA romances. I'm actually just proud of myself for finishing this.
THINGS I DID NOT LIKE
I've been waiting for this book to come out since it was announced in 2014. The synopsis promised a book for book addicts to love and to be able to relate to. Unfortunately, I just wanted to
1. Every single stereotype in this book deserves a kick in the nuts. Okay, books can't avoid character stereotypes. It's a given! The best a book can do is to tone this down, right? Well, this book did the exact opposite. The tropes were so strong and wrong and unrealistic and I JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO GO AWAY. Let's take our booknerd heroine, for example. Reading while you're having lunch? Acceptable. Using books and book characters as a guide for flirting and for life in general?! Weird. As. Heck. IT WAS TOO MUCH EVEN FOR MY BOOK-LOVING BRAIN.
(Also, I would like to give a special shoutout to the cheerleaders-can't-be-bookworms trope very much highlighted in the book. Fuck you, I'm both. Excuse my French, I just needed this to be out there.)
2. The book is pretty much a copy-pasted compilation of typical YA contemporary romance scenes. *WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS* There's nothing in the storyline here that I haven't already read about in other YA books. We've got your typical homecoming scenes, camping scenes, makeover scenes--what else is missing? This book has all of those things and all the other scenes I'm sick of in contemporary.
3. I only liked one character out a BAJILLION of them. There were SO MANY side characters, and personally, I thought some of them were a biiiiit unnecessary. Their personalities just blended in together for me, and you don't really need lots of characters who are all basically the same person.
The ONLY character I liked was the love interest, who was, thank the gods, sweet, cute, and actually made sense. He was pretty much the only saving grace of the entire story for me.
SHOULD YOU GET THIS BOOK?
Well, for me? Clearly the answer is no. BUUUUT I do understand the appeal of the story. It's a bookworm's dream, if you will. If you're a big fan of YA contemporary romances, sure, go ahead and give this one a try!
--
PRE-READING THOUGHTS:
A THOUSAND HELL YESES. This book belongs on your TBR, booknerds.
January 28, 2015
3.5!!
Nothing truer has been said in the history of truths. Bookishly Ever After is one of my most anticipated release for this year. I remember the agonizing wait for it and it just intensified when the book cover came out. I didn't know it before but the cover is as adorable as the story. It's an amazing feeling when the book you have been waiting for so long didn't disappoint you. Sure, there are some things I expected that I thought will happen but I still love the book with all my heart. This one will go to the forever-favorite shelf.
Phoebe is the complete treasure of this story. I don't even know what to say to make YOU realize how relatable Phoebe is as a girl, as a reader and as a hardcore fangirl. She is US. I can't stop giggling and loving her throughout the story. The scenarios are just déjà vus. For me at least. It's either I'VE BEEN THERE or I KNOW WHAT YOU FEEL FEEBS. Bandeira did a perfect job in creating a genuine and authentic character that any fangirls can relate to. You won't help but sympathize with her and feel whatever she's going through. Her excitement over the book she's reading will rub on you and you'll find yourself fangirling with her as well.
The romance, which was a huge part of Bookishly Ever After, was as awkward, sweet and swoony as I thought it would be. Oh young love! Oh those awkward high school days! Dev was an absolute guy. Charming, kinda confusing and totally swoon worthy. I would've wished the we get to hear some of his thoughts too because he's such a closed character, but I understand what the author is trying to do. And besides, he's one of those guys you root for despite his flaws and kinda stupid decisions. I liked Dev's and Phoebes awkward exchanges and witty banters but somehow I still feel like I want more! It was said in Goodreads though that this will be a series so maybe my wish would be granted in the upcoming books!
Reading is great and being a fangirl is fun. But just like what I learned from Phoebe and her books-to-life missions, it's really not so bad to face reality sometimes. It's required and kinda sorta fun.
Bookishly Ever After is written for everyone who turns to reading when you're not into facing reality. Phoebe understands! With Bandeiras humorous and realistic way of writing, readers will be charmed. A book made by a reader for her fellow readers. Bookishly Ever After is a complete gem that I'll forever recommend!
"Fiction is the best kind of reality.
Nothing truer has been said in the history of truths. Bookishly Ever After is one of my most anticipated release for this year. I remember the agonizing wait for it and it just intensified when the book cover came out. I didn't know it before but the cover is as adorable as the story. It's an amazing feeling when the book you have been waiting for so long didn't disappoint you. Sure, there are some things I expected that I thought will happen but I still love the book with all my heart. This one will go to the forever-favorite shelf.
Phoebe is the complete treasure of this story. I don't even know what to say to make YOU realize how relatable Phoebe is as a girl, as a reader and as a hardcore fangirl. She is US. I can't stop giggling and loving her throughout the story. The scenarios are just déjà vus. For me at least. It's either I'VE BEEN THERE or I KNOW WHAT YOU FEEL FEEBS. Bandeira did a perfect job in creating a genuine and authentic character that any fangirls can relate to. You won't help but sympathize with her and feel whatever she's going through. Her excitement over the book she's reading will rub on you and you'll find yourself fangirling with her as well.
The romance, which was a huge part of Bookishly Ever After, was as awkward, sweet and swoony as I thought it would be. Oh young love! Oh those awkward high school days! Dev was an absolute guy. Charming, kinda confusing and totally swoon worthy. I would've wished the we get to hear some of his thoughts too because he's such a closed character, but I understand what the author is trying to do. And besides, he's one of those guys you root for despite his flaws and kinda stupid decisions. I liked Dev's and Phoebes awkward exchanges and witty banters but somehow I still feel like I want more! It was said in Goodreads though that this will be a series so maybe my wish would be granted in the upcoming books!
Reading is great and being a fangirl is fun. But just like what I learned from Phoebe and her books-to-life missions, it's really not so bad to face reality sometimes. It's required and kinda sorta fun.
Bookishly Ever After is written for everyone who turns to reading when you're not into facing reality. Phoebe understands! With Bandeiras humorous and realistic way of writing, readers will be charmed. A book made by a reader for her fellow readers. Bookishly Ever After is a complete gem that I'll forever recommend!
April 5, 2015
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Spencer Hill Press and NetGalley.)
This started out okay, but I lost interest.
Phoebe was a person who obviously liked reading books, but thankfully she wasn’t irritating with it. I didn’t see the problem with her taking flirting advice from books either, especially as she was a fan romance novels.
The storyline in this was about Phoebe and her crush on her friend Dev, but it just seemed to go on forever. They’d flirt a bit, then they’d flirt a bit more, but nothing ever really seemed to move forward, and it just made the book drag really badly, especially when they went off to camp and carried on flirting there!
The ending to this was definitely a bookish ever after, but it just took so long to get there!
6 out of 10
“Too bad real boyfriends aren't as awesome as book boyfriends.”
This started out okay, but I lost interest.
Phoebe was a person who obviously liked reading books, but thankfully she wasn’t irritating with it. I didn’t see the problem with her taking flirting advice from books either, especially as she was a fan romance novels.
The storyline in this was about Phoebe and her crush on her friend Dev, but it just seemed to go on forever. They’d flirt a bit, then they’d flirt a bit more, but nothing ever really seemed to move forward, and it just made the book drag really badly, especially when they went off to camp and carried on flirting there!
The ending to this was definitely a bookish ever after, but it just took so long to get there!
6 out of 10
Want to Read
February 12, 2015This is really interesting because
1) my name.
2) I love books.
3)
1) my name.
2) I love books.
3)
December 9, 2015
My sincerest thanks to Netgalley for approving my request to review this eARC. I was approved for this in exchange for an honest review. This review is my honest opinion, nothing else. As always, I don't mean to offend anyone by this review.
A book about a character who loves books potentially as much as all of us? Isn't that a book lover's greatest dream? It is mine. It's funny because not many books with this premise exist, even though you'd expect authors to jump on the opportunity to write something they know readers will devour. But then again, there might be a reason for that. If the book doesn't turn out great, nasty pieces of shit like me will claim that the author wrote it just because they knew it would attract the attention of many audiences.
Because that's what I came out feeling after reading this book. There was no emotion, no depth. It was a lifeless hunk of pages (um, epages in my case) full of mindless angst. The relationships were awful. The characters were borderline offensive, and the writing was juvenile, at best. And negative reviews are usually fun to write, but this one isn't. Why? Because I wanted to like this book so, so much.
Plot:
NOTHING happens in this book. If I were allowed to give spoilers in this review, I could tell you what happens in a sentence. The little that was there was predictable and incredibly clichéd.
Bandeira divides this book simply, much like Fangirl from Rainbow Rowell. There's Bandeira's main story, involving Phoebe and her friends and two love interests. And then there are the sections that involve the stories Phoebe is reading. I would like to ask the author this question: what was the point of the latter sections? They did nothing to advance the plot, they did nothing to provide character development. And I realized this very early on in this book, which is why I skipped almost all of them.
Since romance and boys play a significant role in this book, I'm going to touch on them. Phoebe is the single most ridiculous person when it comes to her love interests. One second, she's interested in Kris (the typical hot-jerk stereotype in high school fiction) and as soon as her friend indicates that Dev (a hot Indian-American clarinet player) is interested in her, she's suddenly into him too? There was no build-up to her interest in him. It just happened, like some sort of twisted love hypnosis.
Characters:
I'm going to use a much-needed analogy here. You're a huge Harry Potter fan. Massive. And your favorite character/idol is Hermione Granger. She inspires you, you think she's a strong role model. Great. You start doing everything Hermione does in her fictional world. She reads huge history books? You start doing that too. Every time you're faced with a choice, you ask yourself, "what would Hermione do?" Not even important choices - maybe you're confused about what to wear, and you decide to wear what Hermione would wear. You talk like her, you walk like her, you dress like her. There is something wrong with you, that you have begun to put yourself on the backseat and let a fictional character take control of your life.
Phoebe likes books. And she loves this character. Who takes over her life. She learns archery because of her, her dresses are designs from the story. She talks to everyone in her life like the character would. When she can't figure out to say, she whips out her books and says actual lines from them. We are readers. We love books, yes. But we ARE MORE THAN BOOKS, ISABEL BANDEIRA. To indicate that readers are ruled by books and characters is borderline OFFENSIVE to me. I was OFFENDED. Not to mention that Phoebe was a horrible role model. Her life is ruled by two things: books (bad romance-fantasies from what I can see) and boys. She does not have a life of her own. Geez.
Also, she says things like "holy love triangles" in casual conversation.
The side characters were generic and forgettable. The only character who was likable was Dev, and Bandeira managed to offend me yet again in this aspect. How? Well, Dev is Indian, which means he's South Asian. I'm South Asian. I'm Pakistani, and Indian culture is very similar to mine. So imagine my disgust when the only thing Indian about Dev is the most stereotypical thing you could think of: BOLLYWOOD. Was that the only thing the author knew about India? Bollywood? See, this is exactly why I say that you shouldn't put diverse characters in books just for lolz. If you can't do their races and their cultures justice, leave them out because it is OFFENSIVE.
Writing Style:
I don't like critiquing writing style. I don't. But Bandeira's writing was juvenile and uninspiring. There was no emotion. There was no depth. It wasn't flowery, but it was trying to be. Forgettable, depthless, and a disappointment.
A book about a character who loves books potentially as much as all of us? Isn't that a book lover's greatest dream? It is mine. It's funny because not many books with this premise exist, even though you'd expect authors to jump on the opportunity to write something they know readers will devour. But then again, there might be a reason for that. If the book doesn't turn out great, nasty pieces of shit like me will claim that the author wrote it just because they knew it would attract the attention of many audiences.
Because that's what I came out feeling after reading this book. There was no emotion, no depth. It was a lifeless hunk of pages (um, epages in my case) full of mindless angst. The relationships were awful. The characters were borderline offensive, and the writing was juvenile, at best. And negative reviews are usually fun to write, but this one isn't. Why? Because I wanted to like this book so, so much.
Plot:
NOTHING happens in this book. If I were allowed to give spoilers in this review, I could tell you what happens in a sentence. The little that was there was predictable and incredibly clichéd.
Bandeira divides this book simply, much like Fangirl from Rainbow Rowell. There's Bandeira's main story, involving Phoebe and her friends and two love interests. And then there are the sections that involve the stories Phoebe is reading. I would like to ask the author this question: what was the point of the latter sections? They did nothing to advance the plot, they did nothing to provide character development. And I realized this very early on in this book, which is why I skipped almost all of them.
Since romance and boys play a significant role in this book, I'm going to touch on them. Phoebe is the single most ridiculous person when it comes to her love interests. One second, she's interested in Kris (the typical hot-jerk stereotype in high school fiction) and as soon as her friend indicates that Dev (a hot Indian-American clarinet player) is interested in her, she's suddenly into him too? There was no build-up to her interest in him. It just happened, like some sort of twisted love hypnosis.
Characters:
I'm going to use a much-needed analogy here. You're a huge Harry Potter fan. Massive. And your favorite character/idol is Hermione Granger. She inspires you, you think she's a strong role model. Great. You start doing everything Hermione does in her fictional world. She reads huge history books? You start doing that too. Every time you're faced with a choice, you ask yourself, "what would Hermione do?" Not even important choices - maybe you're confused about what to wear, and you decide to wear what Hermione would wear. You talk like her, you walk like her, you dress like her. There is something wrong with you, that you have begun to put yourself on the backseat and let a fictional character take control of your life.
Phoebe likes books. And she loves this character. Who takes over her life. She learns archery because of her, her dresses are designs from the story. She talks to everyone in her life like the character would. When she can't figure out to say, she whips out her books and says actual lines from them. We are readers. We love books, yes. But we ARE MORE THAN BOOKS, ISABEL BANDEIRA. To indicate that readers are ruled by books and characters is borderline OFFENSIVE to me. I was OFFENDED. Not to mention that Phoebe was a horrible role model. Her life is ruled by two things: books (bad romance-fantasies from what I can see) and boys. She does not have a life of her own. Geez.
Also, she says things like "holy love triangles" in casual conversation.
The side characters were generic and forgettable. The only character who was likable was Dev, and Bandeira managed to offend me yet again in this aspect. How? Well, Dev is Indian, which means he's South Asian. I'm South Asian. I'm Pakistani, and Indian culture is very similar to mine. So imagine my disgust when the only thing Indian about Dev is the most stereotypical thing you could think of: BOLLYWOOD. Was that the only thing the author knew about India? Bollywood? See, this is exactly why I say that you shouldn't put diverse characters in books just for lolz. If you can't do their races and their cultures justice, leave them out because it is OFFENSIVE.
Writing Style:
I don't like critiquing writing style. I don't. But Bandeira's writing was juvenile and uninspiring. There was no emotion. There was no depth. It wasn't flowery, but it was trying to be. Forgettable, depthless, and a disappointment.
September 17, 2015
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
This book was sheer perfection! Honestly, I think I should apologise now, in advance, for how rambly this review is likely to be. Bookishly Ever After is about a nerdy, book lover, called Phoebe, who always has her head in a book. She doesn't really care much for gossip and other high school activities, but hand her the newest YA best-seller, and she is sorted. She's also a prolific knitter, and amazing archer. When her best friend tries to convince her that Dev, a guy in the school band with her, actually has a crush on her, Phoebe immediately doesn't believe it. She starts using her bookish knowledge to construct a plan of action. One that, understandably, doesn't go to plan.
Phoebe was amazing! She's someone I could see myself in. I'm not a knitter, but I do cross stitch, and have no problem admitting that I'm a bit of a loner, and prefer the company of a book over people, most days. I loved Phoebe's quirkiness, and how much she wasn't ashamed to admit she wasn't like most teenagers, but that was okay. She knew who she was, and she wasn't ashamed of it; she just wished that she knew a bit more about flirting, and then everything would be alright.
Her love interest, Dev, was just the type of guy she needed. He himself was a different, and was in the school band, and a theatre geek. His love of Bollywood dancing was a running joke between them, as was his over confidence in himself. Though he was never arrogant, like some other characters we, he was just a self-deprecating person, which endeared him more to me. The romance between Phoebe and Dev was the type of slow burning angst that all the best books are full of, and it just racked up the tension to a whole other level.
What made the book extra special was the little excerpts from Phoebe's favourite books. I fell in love with them too, and am somewhat gutted that they don't actually exist in real life. Hidden seemed the most intriguing, as I don't believe I've ever read anything like that. Golden had a very The Falconer vibe about it, but with Leprechauns instead of Faeries. If these books were available in real life, I would jump at the chance to read them!
Considering this was Bandeira's debut novel, I'm in awe at her writing! I can't wait to read more from her. I've seen this book is the first in a series, though I'm not sure whether it's an actual series, or more of a companion series. I'm hoping for the first. If you haven't been able to tell, this book was fantastic, and I can not recommend it enough, especially for book lovers. Bandeira is definitely an author to look out for!
This book was sheer perfection! Honestly, I think I should apologise now, in advance, for how rambly this review is likely to be. Bookishly Ever After is about a nerdy, book lover, called Phoebe, who always has her head in a book. She doesn't really care much for gossip and other high school activities, but hand her the newest YA best-seller, and she is sorted. She's also a prolific knitter, and amazing archer. When her best friend tries to convince her that Dev, a guy in the school band with her, actually has a crush on her, Phoebe immediately doesn't believe it. She starts using her bookish knowledge to construct a plan of action. One that, understandably, doesn't go to plan.
Phoebe was amazing! She's someone I could see myself in. I'm not a knitter, but I do cross stitch, and have no problem admitting that I'm a bit of a loner, and prefer the company of a book over people, most days. I loved Phoebe's quirkiness, and how much she wasn't ashamed to admit she wasn't like most teenagers, but that was okay. She knew who she was, and she wasn't ashamed of it; she just wished that she knew a bit more about flirting, and then everything would be alright.
Her love interest, Dev, was just the type of guy she needed. He himself was a different, and was in the school band, and a theatre geek. His love of Bollywood dancing was a running joke between them, as was his over confidence in himself. Though he was never arrogant, like some other characters we, he was just a self-deprecating person, which endeared him more to me. The romance between Phoebe and Dev was the type of slow burning angst that all the best books are full of, and it just racked up the tension to a whole other level.
What made the book extra special was the little excerpts from Phoebe's favourite books. I fell in love with them too, and am somewhat gutted that they don't actually exist in real life. Hidden seemed the most intriguing, as I don't believe I've ever read anything like that. Golden had a very The Falconer vibe about it, but with Leprechauns instead of Faeries. If these books were available in real life, I would jump at the chance to read them!
Considering this was Bandeira's debut novel, I'm in awe at her writing! I can't wait to read more from her. I've seen this book is the first in a series, though I'm not sure whether it's an actual series, or more of a companion series. I'm hoping for the first. If you haven't been able to tell, this book was fantastic, and I can not recommend it enough, especially for book lovers. Bandeira is definitely an author to look out for!
January 13, 2016
Thank you to NetGalley & Spencer Hill Contemporary for providing me with a copy of this book to review! As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to request it. I mean, it's every YA booklover's dream! A book about a main character obsessed with books? SIGN ME UP!
THE PROS:
Okay so before I say anything else, I'm just going to say that this book is SO relatable and adorable - from the book signings, to the ignoring the world through reading, to the crushing on fictional characters! It was just so much fun to read about! I also LOVED the diversity! Dev is Indian and one of Pheobe's friends is a lesbian, but what I loved was that she wasn't stereotyped. She's a cheerleader and she's fashion and make-up obsessed and she just happened to like girls. SO WHAT? I loved how it wasn't made into a big deal and it didn't feel like the author just shoved an lgbt character in there so that there was diversity in her novel, you know?
The other thing I really LOVED about this book is that the last 1/4 takes place at a camp for 6th graders and Dev & Phoebe sign up to help out and it was SO CUTE! And it totally took me back to my school camps and how fun it was and who I was crushing on at the time and it gave me all the nostalgic and giggly feels!
THE CONS:
So Phoebe was REALLY annoying because every time Dev put himself out there and gave her signs that he liked her, she just pushed him away. And I understand that she's an introvert and she's shy (I can relate), but she did it time and time again and it got a bit repetitive and frustrating.
If you've read the novel Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Bookishly Ever After followed the theme of having snippets from the MC's favourite books. And just like while I was reading Fangirl, I found myself skipping those parts because I honestly didn't care about them. I just wanted to get back to Phoebe and Dev! *heart eyes*
The writing wasn't anything spectacular or beautiful, but it wasn't bad in any way and definitely kept me hooked!
I definitely recommend this for fans of adorable YA Contemporary who want a relatable main character who fangirls as much as you do!
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 7. A book about books
THE PROS:
Okay so before I say anything else, I'm just going to say that this book is SO relatable and adorable - from the book signings, to the ignoring the world through reading, to the crushing on fictional characters! It was just so much fun to read about! I also LOVED the diversity! Dev is Indian and one of Pheobe's friends is a lesbian, but what I loved was that she wasn't stereotyped. She's a cheerleader and she's fashion and make-up obsessed and she just happened to like girls. SO WHAT? I loved how it wasn't made into a big deal and it didn't feel like the author just shoved an lgbt character in there so that there was diversity in her novel, you know?
The other thing I really LOVED about this book is that the last 1/4 takes place at a camp for 6th graders and Dev & Phoebe sign up to help out and it was SO CUTE! And it totally took me back to my school camps and how fun it was and who I was crushing on at the time and it gave me all the nostalgic and giggly feels!
THE CONS:
So Phoebe was REALLY annoying because every time Dev put himself out there and gave her signs that he liked her, she just pushed him away. And I understand that she's an introvert and she's shy (I can relate), but she did it time and time again and it got a bit repetitive and frustrating.
If you've read the novel Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Bookishly Ever After followed the theme of having snippets from the MC's favourite books. And just like while I was reading Fangirl, I found myself skipping those parts because I honestly didn't care about them. I just wanted to get back to Phoebe and Dev! *heart eyes*
The writing wasn't anything spectacular or beautiful, but it wasn't bad in any way and definitely kept me hooked!
I definitely recommend this for fans of adorable YA Contemporary who want a relatable main character who fangirls as much as you do!
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 7. A book about books
June 11, 2014
THIS BETTER BE FLIPPIN GOOD.
Because its my method of dating.
*runs around in tiny circles*
*circles and ponies and stars everywhere!*
*runs around in tiny circles*
*circles and ponies and stars everywhere!*
September 18, 2015
1.5 Stars, Completed January 17, 2016
I think I'm the black sheep with this one. I hate to confess that this book was just very awkward to read.
Bookishly Ever After is a story about a girl named Phoebe that loves all things bookish. She's an avid reader of ya romance, cosplays to her book signings, and even has a line of book boyfriends. She also happens to be a profound archer and enjoys knitting for those she deems knitworthy. Then her best friend convinces her that she should give real guys a chance and suggests Phoebe to woo Dev, a hot, Indian-American theater and band enthusiast, who seems to have a thing for Phoebe as well. With all the fictional fantasies Phoebe's recollected from her beloved books she creates a journal full of advice on flirting and dating, and tries her hand of making a real guy fall of her. But she soon becomes disillusioned by how she's perceived real life to be compared to the perfect fictional world literature presents. Perhaps, reality is too overrated after all.
In terms of the premise, Bookishly Ever After was supposed to be a formula for success. Because, come on, we, readers, adore books that feature bookworms (Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, Hermione from the Harry Potter series; should I name more?) There should be a guaranteed instant connection between the reader to protagonist, right?
Well, actually, we didn't get a witty and charming heroine in this after all. I didn't really have a problem with Phoebe's character but it was hard to connect to her. It sort of felt like she was going through the motions with spitting out fangirl jargon such as "reality is overrated," "book boyfriends are the only awesome type of boyfriend," and other cringeworthy phrases I'm sure real bookworms wouldn't really admit in real life. I don't know, maybe I'm being to critical since I'm not that type of reader. Yes, I am a fangirl but I felt like Phoebe's portrayal of fangirls was a little overboard and stereotypical.
And speaking of stereotypes, her love interest, Dev combines every single Indian stereotype into one. Growing up with a lot of friends from South Asian countries, I've grown acquainted with some of the culture. So I felt a lot of aspects to his character were overly cliche. Was it necessary to include that he made a cameo in a Bollywood movie? I think now that I've started to read more books that feature diversity, I've become more picky with how "diverse" characters are presented. I say A for deciding to include an Indian character but C for actual execution.
Unfortunately, I can't say the rest of the cast redeemed the weak main characters. I couldn't find a character that possessed depth. Therefore the relationships and friendships between the cast were poor and appeared disconnected. The dialogue was more like fillers than anything. I didn't really understand the purpose of most of the friends' banter and conversation.
Which brings me to the disappointedly dragged out plot. This isn't really considered a spoiler since it's part of the official premise: Literally the only thing that happens in this book is Phoebe trying to pursue Dev via borrowing her favorite heroines' personalities and lines from books. It made my toes curl to hear the lines she said. She even admits half the time that she's embarrassed herself. I knew some moments were going to be cheesy, but I was prepared to laugh at the adorable silliness. I did have a bunch of laughs but for the utter ridiculousness and puerility.
Also, I have to mention that this story does not read like it was intended for a young adult audience. The dialogue and writing was much more juvenile than I anticipated. Don't get me wrong, I do have an appreciation for middle grade and even children's books now that I'm older. But the characters in this seemed to be overtly immature and childish when they're all supposed to be high school juniors. (I don't know how many times Phoebe stuck her tongue out out of jest in this story.) And you know it gets a little ridiculous when 5th graders are giving Phoebe advice on how to flirt and ask a guy out...
The only reason why I'm giving this nearly two stars is because of one nice bonus I wasn't anticipating: Phoebe and her friends are actually K-drama watchers! I have to confess that that tiny mention and appreciation for Asian entertainment made me smile.
With all this being said, I have to admit that my reading experience may be somewhat influenced by the fact that I think I got a defective ARC. This is the first time it's happened but there were gaps in words and the alignment was totally off for some chapters. It was a distraction to try to decipher where the missing text went to or what it even was to begin with.
Overall, it makes me really sad to say that this was a huge letdown for me. Instead of a loveable fictional friend we found ourselves a spineless pushover (she even admits it several times in the text!), which isn't really an ideal representation of us, bookworms. Instead of a swoonworthy teenage relationship we had an overly dragged out plot that made me cringe half the time for the cheesiness. And instead of a book that featured diversity we had an abundance of unflattering stereotypes. Now, I'm only curious about how this is going to have sequels since the book seemed to wrap up cleanly. Will there be other bookworms that share their stories? Or is it the continuation of Phoebe's adventures? Regrettably, I'll probably won't find out since Ever After doesn't seem to be a series for me.
---
Special thanks to Spencer Hill Contemporary for providing me this review copy of Bookishly Ever After. In no way did this affect my reading experience or honest review.
---
More reviews at Xingsings
I think I'm the black sheep with this one. I hate to confess that this book was just very awkward to read.
Bookishly Ever After is a story about a girl named Phoebe that loves all things bookish. She's an avid reader of ya romance, cosplays to her book signings, and even has a line of book boyfriends. She also happens to be a profound archer and enjoys knitting for those she deems knitworthy. Then her best friend convinces her that she should give real guys a chance and suggests Phoebe to woo Dev, a hot, Indian-American theater and band enthusiast, who seems to have a thing for Phoebe as well. With all the fictional fantasies Phoebe's recollected from her beloved books she creates a journal full of advice on flirting and dating, and tries her hand of making a real guy fall of her. But she soon becomes disillusioned by how she's perceived real life to be compared to the perfect fictional world literature presents. Perhaps, reality is too overrated after all.
In terms of the premise, Bookishly Ever After was supposed to be a formula for success. Because, come on, we, readers, adore books that feature bookworms (Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, Hermione from the Harry Potter series; should I name more?) There should be a guaranteed instant connection between the reader to protagonist, right?
Well, actually, we didn't get a witty and charming heroine in this after all. I didn't really have a problem with Phoebe's character but it was hard to connect to her. It sort of felt like she was going through the motions with spitting out fangirl jargon such as "reality is overrated," "book boyfriends are the only awesome type of boyfriend," and other cringeworthy phrases I'm sure real bookworms wouldn't really admit in real life. I don't know, maybe I'm being to critical since I'm not that type of reader. Yes, I am a fangirl but I felt like Phoebe's portrayal of fangirls was a little overboard and stereotypical.
And speaking of stereotypes, her love interest, Dev combines every single Indian stereotype into one. Growing up with a lot of friends from South Asian countries, I've grown acquainted with some of the culture. So I felt a lot of aspects to his character were overly cliche. Was it necessary to include that he made a cameo in a Bollywood movie? I think now that I've started to read more books that feature diversity, I've become more picky with how "diverse" characters are presented. I say A for deciding to include an Indian character but C for actual execution.
Unfortunately, I can't say the rest of the cast redeemed the weak main characters. I couldn't find a character that possessed depth. Therefore the relationships and friendships between the cast were poor and appeared disconnected. The dialogue was more like fillers than anything. I didn't really understand the purpose of most of the friends' banter and conversation.
Which brings me to the disappointedly dragged out plot. This isn't really considered a spoiler since it's part of the official premise: Literally the only thing that happens in this book is Phoebe trying to pursue Dev via borrowing her favorite heroines' personalities and lines from books. It made my toes curl to hear the lines she said. She even admits half the time that she's embarrassed herself. I knew some moments were going to be cheesy, but I was prepared to laugh at the adorable silliness. I did have a bunch of laughs but for the utter ridiculousness and puerility.
Also, I have to mention that this story does not read like it was intended for a young adult audience. The dialogue and writing was much more juvenile than I anticipated. Don't get me wrong, I do have an appreciation for middle grade and even children's books now that I'm older. But the characters in this seemed to be overtly immature and childish when they're all supposed to be high school juniors. (I don't know how many times Phoebe stuck her tongue out out of jest in this story.) And you know it gets a little ridiculous when 5th graders are giving Phoebe advice on how to flirt and ask a guy out...
The only reason why I'm giving this nearly two stars is because of one nice bonus I wasn't anticipating: Phoebe and her friends are actually K-drama watchers! I have to confess that that tiny mention and appreciation for Asian entertainment made me smile.
With all this being said, I have to admit that my reading experience may be somewhat influenced by the fact that I think I got a defective ARC. This is the first time it's happened but there were gaps in words and the alignment was totally off for some chapters. It was a distraction to try to decipher where the missing text went to or what it even was to begin with.
Overall, it makes me really sad to say that this was a huge letdown for me. Instead of a loveable fictional friend we found ourselves a spineless pushover (she even admits it several times in the text!), which isn't really an ideal representation of us, bookworms. Instead of a swoonworthy teenage relationship we had an overly dragged out plot that made me cringe half the time for the cheesiness. And instead of a book that featured diversity we had an abundance of unflattering stereotypes. Now, I'm only curious about how this is going to have sequels since the book seemed to wrap up cleanly. Will there be other bookworms that share their stories? Or is it the continuation of Phoebe's adventures? Regrettably, I'll probably won't find out since Ever After doesn't seem to be a series for me.
---
Special thanks to Spencer Hill Contemporary for providing me this review copy of Bookishly Ever After. In no way did this affect my reading experience or honest review.
---
More reviews at Xingsings
October 9, 2014
Actual rating: 3.5 - 3.75
November 13, 2014
4 stars
With a title and premise so perfect, as a self-proclaimed book nerd, there was no way I could resist this book. And MAN am I glad it exists. So fluffy, cute, and funny - it cheered me straight up and delighted me for hours.
I will say it took me a little bit to get into Bookishly Ever After. Though the premise is perfection and I should have instantly been like OMG PHOEBE IS ME, I was nervous. The constant bookish references and little cute book nerd habits almost seemed kind of like they were trying to hard... like this book was completely pandering to an audience of readers just like me. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but it just took a little bit for Phoebe to feel like a real, 3-dimensional character instead of just a vessel for me to project myself into. Once I did get into it though, the book was an absolute delight.
So the idea is pretty simple: Phoebe is a total bookworm. Reads every day, even during lunch breaks, barely keeps herself focused in the real world. So when her best friend tells her a certain someone likes her, she becomes a bumbling, nervous fool. And she does what any serious book nerd would do - she turns to books for help. She draws inspiration from the bad-ass heroines in her fantasy and paranormal romance books, trying to figure out how to equally woo and cut ties with guys. As any juvenile plan like this, it's not all equally successful, but it leads to some pretty hilarious shenanigans.
To be clear: this book is super fluffy. I think it might come off as a bit young to some YA readers, because Phoebe is so sheltered and nervous. She knows so little about the real world. And yeah, she's incredibly naive about love - her "acting" escapades arguably go on a bit too long because she's too dense to grasp the guy's actual intentions which are PAINFULLY OBVIOUS to basically everyone else. So much miscommunication, holy crap. But it's still super cute. Not only do she and Dev (Indian love interest, btw) have some of the best banter ever, but she also has a great group of friends (including a lesbian cheerleader who is in an awesome relationship). She's a part of the band too, and that leads to some super nostalgia-laden scenes that bring authenticity to the high school setting.
I can't really say much more than that this book made me really happy. When I got over my initial hesitance, it was super easy to get sucked into the story, the cute moments, Phoebe's nervous mind, and the excellent banter. It read like a breeze. And that last half just filled my heart with so much joy. I mean...
Fuck if that isn't basically everything I want in life.
Summing Up:
Fluff lovers, beware! Bookishly Ever After is here to make you squeal and flail and giggle for hours. Laden with bookish references and nerdy habits, bookworms like me will find it easy to connect to Phoebe and find themselves cheering for her to get together with Dev ASAP. So much banter - it's absolutely Debby approved.
GIF it to me straight!
Recommended To:
Fans of fluffy romances with introverted, bookish characters.
*An electronic advance review copy was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review.
With a title and premise so perfect, as a self-proclaimed book nerd, there was no way I could resist this book. And MAN am I glad it exists. So fluffy, cute, and funny - it cheered me straight up and delighted me for hours.
I will say it took me a little bit to get into Bookishly Ever After. Though the premise is perfection and I should have instantly been like OMG PHOEBE IS ME, I was nervous. The constant bookish references and little cute book nerd habits almost seemed kind of like they were trying to hard... like this book was completely pandering to an audience of readers just like me. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but it just took a little bit for Phoebe to feel like a real, 3-dimensional character instead of just a vessel for me to project myself into. Once I did get into it though, the book was an absolute delight.
So the idea is pretty simple: Phoebe is a total bookworm. Reads every day, even during lunch breaks, barely keeps herself focused in the real world. So when her best friend tells her a certain someone likes her, she becomes a bumbling, nervous fool. And she does what any serious book nerd would do - she turns to books for help. She draws inspiration from the bad-ass heroines in her fantasy and paranormal romance books, trying to figure out how to equally woo and cut ties with guys. As any juvenile plan like this, it's not all equally successful, but it leads to some pretty hilarious shenanigans.
To be clear: this book is super fluffy. I think it might come off as a bit young to some YA readers, because Phoebe is so sheltered and nervous. She knows so little about the real world. And yeah, she's incredibly naive about love - her "acting" escapades arguably go on a bit too long because she's too dense to grasp the guy's actual intentions which are PAINFULLY OBVIOUS to basically everyone else. So much miscommunication, holy crap. But it's still super cute. Not only do she and Dev (Indian love interest, btw) have some of the best banter ever, but she also has a great group of friends (including a lesbian cheerleader who is in an awesome relationship). She's a part of the band too, and that leads to some super nostalgia-laden scenes that bring authenticity to the high school setting.
I can't really say much more than that this book made me really happy. When I got over my initial hesitance, it was super easy to get sucked into the story, the cute moments, Phoebe's nervous mind, and the excellent banter. It read like a breeze. And that last half just filled my heart with so much joy. I mean...
"I'm supposed to push a loose strand of hair out of your face, then let my hand linger on your cheek, or isn't that how, like, every other kissing scene in those books you read goes?" He gently tucked that piece of hair behind my ear and let his fingers slide down to tilt my chin up until my eyes met his. "Well?"
- ARC of Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira
Fuck if that isn't basically everything I want in life.
Summing Up:
Fluff lovers, beware! Bookishly Ever After is here to make you squeal and flail and giggle for hours. Laden with bookish references and nerdy habits, bookworms like me will find it easy to connect to Phoebe and find themselves cheering for her to get together with Dev ASAP. So much banter - it's absolutely Debby approved.
GIF it to me straight!
Recommended To:
Fans of fluffy romances with introverted, bookish characters.
*An electronic advance review copy was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review.
March 6, 2015
You can find this review on Happy Indulgence!
This was hands-down the most adorable book I’ve read this year. Not going to lie, Spencer Hill has some amazing contemporaries out there, and Bookishly Ever After was no exception. What drew me to this book at first was the fact that the main character is a total bookworm and the love interest plays clarinet. (Both aspects of me!) Not to mention the cover is absolutely lovely, too. However, you’ll find that this book’s simple yet realistic plot will draw you in until you can’t stop flipping the pages to see how Phoebe’s situation will work out.
This is one of the few times where high school felt like high school. I’m often a complainer of high school settings that really don’t feel like what I myself experience in real life (in fact, I have a GR shelf labeled “so-this-is-high-school” to showcase those). But Isabel Bandeira really hit the nail on the head! Obviously different people have different experiences, but I could connect to Phoebe and her friends so hard, and I know many of my friends would, too. Their dialogue and the small things they do that shape their character is simply a delight to read, and I was never bored.
I really like how the diversity is there in the book, but it remains subtle. No flashy, “DEV IS ONE OF THE SIX INDIAN KIDS IN OUR SCHOOL” that we may see in YA fiction. It’s weaved seamlessly into the story, which definitely made me appreciate it more. The characters themselves are each unique and diverse. We see not only cheerleaders but also band members, drama students, and mathletes; a nice reprieve from the typical “nerd” that characters are commonly labeled. None of them adhere to stereotypes too, which is just so refreshing to see. I wouldn’t mind coming back to this world and getting to know them better.
Us readers can definitely relate to Phoebe. She’s the girl with her nose stuck in a book while walking down hallways (me), cosplaying favorite characters, and getting inspiration from said characters. We even get glimpses of the notes she takes on particular book characters that help guide her love life. Ahh, and the romance – young love at its finest! We go through the whole range of a teen’s emotions and romantic entanglements: infatuation, jealousy, crush-worthiness, rejection, misunderstandment, and more. It all plays out quite realistically (there’s really no melodrama) and definitely brings out readers’ memories of their own experience.
The love interest Dev is just darling. He may not be an immortal vampire, powerful wizard or boy stuck in the wrong time period, but I definitely would take him up as a boyfriend anytime! Dev’s understanding for Phoebe’s reading is the absolute cutest – he even took up reading several books because of her excitement! If that’s not true love, then I don’t know what is. His caring and charming attitude had me grinning so hard throughout the book.
Get ready, fellow bibliophiles, because here is a contemporary that you cannot miss, featuring one of our own. With a unique spread of characters amidst a realistic high school setting that you can just step into, Bookishly Ever After delivers a fun and charming tale of a bookworm searching for her own happy ending.
---------------------------
11/27/15:
SO. FREAKING. ADORABLE.
Cutest romance between a bookworm and a future Bollywood star (not really, but it's a joke in the book hehe.) I love all the characters and the simple and light, yet realistic tone.
"Before all this, my life was perfect. I had my book boyfriends and it was enough for me to read and dream about these guys because they weren't real. I'm so scared I can't go back to that. I'm afraid that maybe reality ruined me for fiction."
Girl, when reality is better than fiction ya KNOW something's right ;)
_____________________
"... the hottest guy in the clarinet section..."
How many guys in the clarinet section do you guys have?
Main character likes books and (from what I can gleam from the blurb) plays clarinet? That's me guys.
This was hands-down the most adorable book I’ve read this year. Not going to lie, Spencer Hill has some amazing contemporaries out there, and Bookishly Ever After was no exception. What drew me to this book at first was the fact that the main character is a total bookworm and the love interest plays clarinet. (Both aspects of me!) Not to mention the cover is absolutely lovely, too. However, you’ll find that this book’s simple yet realistic plot will draw you in until you can’t stop flipping the pages to see how Phoebe’s situation will work out.
This is one of the few times where high school felt like high school. I’m often a complainer of high school settings that really don’t feel like what I myself experience in real life (in fact, I have a GR shelf labeled “so-this-is-high-school” to showcase those). But Isabel Bandeira really hit the nail on the head! Obviously different people have different experiences, but I could connect to Phoebe and her friends so hard, and I know many of my friends would, too. Their dialogue and the small things they do that shape their character is simply a delight to read, and I was never bored.
I really like how the diversity is there in the book, but it remains subtle. No flashy, “DEV IS ONE OF THE SIX INDIAN KIDS IN OUR SCHOOL” that we may see in YA fiction. It’s weaved seamlessly into the story, which definitely made me appreciate it more. The characters themselves are each unique and diverse. We see not only cheerleaders but also band members, drama students, and mathletes; a nice reprieve from the typical “nerd” that characters are commonly labeled. None of them adhere to stereotypes too, which is just so refreshing to see. I wouldn’t mind coming back to this world and getting to know them better.
Us readers can definitely relate to Phoebe. She’s the girl with her nose stuck in a book while walking down hallways (me), cosplaying favorite characters, and getting inspiration from said characters. We even get glimpses of the notes she takes on particular book characters that help guide her love life. Ahh, and the romance – young love at its finest! We go through the whole range of a teen’s emotions and romantic entanglements: infatuation, jealousy, crush-worthiness, rejection, misunderstandment, and more. It all plays out quite realistically (there’s really no melodrama) and definitely brings out readers’ memories of their own experience.
The love interest Dev is just darling. He may not be an immortal vampire, powerful wizard or boy stuck in the wrong time period, but I definitely would take him up as a boyfriend anytime! Dev’s understanding for Phoebe’s reading is the absolute cutest – he even took up reading several books because of her excitement! If that’s not true love, then I don’t know what is. His caring and charming attitude had me grinning so hard throughout the book.
Get ready, fellow bibliophiles, because here is a contemporary that you cannot miss, featuring one of our own. With a unique spread of characters amidst a realistic high school setting that you can just step into, Bookishly Ever After delivers a fun and charming tale of a bookworm searching for her own happy ending.
---------------------------
11/27/15:
SO. FREAKING. ADORABLE.
Cutest romance between a bookworm and a future Bollywood star (not really, but it's a joke in the book hehe.) I love all the characters and the simple and light, yet realistic tone.
"Before all this, my life was perfect. I had my book boyfriends and it was enough for me to read and dream about these guys because they weren't real. I'm so scared I can't go back to that. I'm afraid that maybe reality ruined me for fiction."
Girl, when reality is better than fiction ya KNOW something's right ;)
_____________________
"... the hottest guy in the clarinet section..."
How many guys in the clarinet section do you guys have?
Main character likes books and (from what I can gleam from the blurb) plays clarinet? That's me guys.
October 19, 2015
Arc provided by Spencer Hill Press through Netgalley
Release Date: January 12 th
Okay, time for the truth: Did I or did I not enjoy this book?
Well, I did.
Most of it.
First of all, the synopsis does not lie. This really is a book for bookworms.
Bookworms that love when they get an arc.
Me.
Bookworms that anxiously anticipate the release for a next book in a series...
Me.
Bookworms that say things like :"nothing compares to book boyfriends.."
Well... I have.
Bookworms that dress up like their favourite characters...-_-
Ah...not really my style, but I left sixteen year old me in the past, more than twenty years ago...so who knows how I would behave right now! Maybe I would also pick up a bow trying to emulate Katniss...
But let's get down to facts: This is really a well written book, with a varied cast of well developed characters.
There's actually DIVERSITY in this book! There's a LGBT couple, and one half of the main couple _ aka, the love birds _ is an Indian character.
Dev is quite possibly one the cutest, nicest guys in all the ya books that I've been reading. He also on occasion starts some Bollywood dances, and he likes to read... not as much as Phoebe, but no one is like Phoebe when it comes to her bookish obsessions.
People are actually friends to one another in this book: Yay!
You know how hard it is to find a book that takes place in a high school that doesn't have friends behaving like enemies?
Well, it is extremely hard.
There's no slut shamming. None of the "so called" dramas that normally fill high school themed books.
The characters in school actually study _ well, Phoebe doesn't seem to have homework, lol, but I'll let that pass_ and are invested in other school activities.
So, we have intelligent characters and dialogues. A character who loves to read, and a really sweet romance.
So why not a higher rating?
Well, this is the part in which I have to point out some things that didn't quite work out for me:
_At times the sweet parts become a little cheesy... Phoebe has some cringe-worthy moments...
_In the middle of the story there's a bit of repetition and it feels like nothing relevant actually happens ( in a movie these parts would probably be filled by some musical moments?)
_The length of the book: It felt quite long for what was happening.
In fact, I couldn't help but picture what I was reading as some sort of Dysney movie or series. I actually think that this will be a success between younger readers who are still huge fans of romances, and who fangirl about fictional guys.
This means, _ despite how it pains me to say so _, that I am no longer this book's intended audience. I am old! Woe is on me!
Maybe if I had a daughter, lol
p.s. I will however read the next volume. Especially if it is about Em.
August 6, 2017
Nothing channels my inner rage more than having wasted my precious reading time on a BLEH book.
Seriously, reading this was the equivalent of watching someone knit a sweater for 4 excruciatingly long hours (no offence to any knitters out there--keep doin' yo thang.)
Revised Character Names:
Phoebe - Knitting Girl
Dev - Drama Dude
I don't recall the name of the girl who is obsessed with Dev (Drama Dude), so let's go with Sassy Drama Girl
Em (I liked her character so her name stays the same)
Kris - Douche (junior class president)
Bookishly Ever After (Abridged)
Knitting Girl: I like to knit and read. (OK, so far it ain't so bad!)
Friends: You read too much.
Knitting Girl: No one understands me emotionally; my book boyfriends are all that I have.
One day, Douche comes walking into the cafeteria and Knitting Girl can't help but acknowledge how much he resembles her book boyfriend.
Friends: Why do you even acknowledge him? He's a jerk.
Knitting Girl: *swoon*
Drama Dude: Oh, I wish Knitting Girl would notice me!
Em: I think Drama Dude likes you, Knitting Girl.
Knitting Girl: *still swooning over Douche*
Hey guys, how are you holding up? Still interested in reading this book?
Sassy Drama Girl: *flings herself all over Drama Dude*
Knitting Girl: I think I like Drama Dude, but it looks like Sassy Drama Girl is his girlfriend. *sigh*
Drama Dude: I like Knitting Girl, but I have no balls to tell her and I guess it doesn't help that I don't peel Sassy Drama Girl off of my body when she's around.
Many awkward moments later, Knitting Girl, Drama Boy and Douche volunteer at a children's camp together for one week. Knitting Girl is mad that she still likes Drama Dude and has to partner up with him because she thinks he led her on. Apparently, he was "dating" Sassy Drama Girl while flirting with her too. Talk about mixed signals, eh.
During their camping trip, Knitting Girl kisses Douche, and guess what, she realizes he's a douche! Dun Dun Dun...
OK, I'm gunna stop right THUR and let you decide if you want to invest your time (and sanity) into this book.
This book. THIS BOOK! Let me tell yah, it had such a promising premise. Hello! - book boyfriends, girl who loves to read, witty retorts and comebacks, diverse characters. But man, the main plot was poorly executed and the ending was beyond predictable. It was too long to maintain my full attention and some of the interactions throughout this book were so cringy.
Sometimes I can't even believe that I was two hours in and still resisted the urge to DNF. Like c'mon, was it necessary to make the MC naive and dumb? Also, what was with the stereotypes? Lord help me. Hours upon hours of my precious reading time could have been saved if this book was cut in half.
I will, however, painfully admit that I did enjoy the overlap of stories. Throughout the book you are following Knitting Girl's real life but also the storyline of a book she is currently reading as well, which in my opinion, was better than the main plot itself.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. 📖
Seriously, reading this was the equivalent of watching someone knit a sweater for 4 excruciatingly long hours (no offence to any knitters out there--keep doin' yo thang.)
Revised Character Names:
Phoebe - Knitting Girl
Dev - Drama Dude
I don't recall the name of the girl who is obsessed with Dev (Drama Dude), so let's go with Sassy Drama Girl
Em (I liked her character so her name stays the same)
Kris - Douche (junior class president)
Bookishly Ever After (Abridged)
Knitting Girl: I like to knit and read. (OK, so far it ain't so bad!)
Friends: You read too much.
Knitting Girl: No one understands me emotionally; my book boyfriends are all that I have.
One day, Douche comes walking into the cafeteria and Knitting Girl can't help but acknowledge how much he resembles her book boyfriend.
Friends: Why do you even acknowledge him? He's a jerk.
Knitting Girl: *swoon*
Drama Dude: Oh, I wish Knitting Girl would notice me!
Em: I think Drama Dude likes you, Knitting Girl.
Knitting Girl: *still swooning over Douche*
Hey guys, how are you holding up? Still interested in reading this book?
Sassy Drama Girl: *flings herself all over Drama Dude*
Knitting Girl: I think I like Drama Dude, but it looks like Sassy Drama Girl is his girlfriend. *sigh*
Drama Dude: I like Knitting Girl, but I have no balls to tell her and I guess it doesn't help that I don't peel Sassy Drama Girl off of my body when she's around.
Many awkward moments later, Knitting Girl, Drama Boy and Douche volunteer at a children's camp together for one week. Knitting Girl is mad that she still likes Drama Dude and has to partner up with him because she thinks he led her on. Apparently, he was "dating" Sassy Drama Girl while flirting with her too. Talk about mixed signals, eh.
During their camping trip, Knitting Girl kisses Douche, and guess what, she realizes he's a douche! Dun Dun Dun...
OK, I'm gunna stop right THUR and let you decide if you want to invest your time (and sanity) into this book.
This book. THIS BOOK! Let me tell yah, it had such a promising premise. Hello! - book boyfriends, girl who loves to read, witty retorts and comebacks, diverse characters. But man, the main plot was poorly executed and the ending was beyond predictable. It was too long to maintain my full attention and some of the interactions throughout this book were so cringy.
Sometimes I can't even believe that I was two hours in and still resisted the urge to DNF. Like c'mon, was it necessary to make the MC naive and dumb? Also, what was with the stereotypes? Lord help me. Hours upon hours of my precious reading time could have been saved if this book was cut in half.
I will, however, painfully admit that I did enjoy the overlap of stories. Throughout the book you are following Knitting Girl's real life but also the storyline of a book she is currently reading as well, which in my opinion, was better than the main plot itself.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. 📖
December 20, 2015
FACT: Bookish people are the best. So when I came across a book about a fellow bookworm who lives vicariously through her books-like many of us do-, I knew I had to read it.
Phoebe would much rather live in her fictional fantasy worlds but unfortunately her best friend is determined to reintroduce Phoebe to reality and keep her nose out of books. When Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in band likes her she can only take advice from her most loved heroines and try to integrate their actions into her reality.
This is possibly the cutest book on the planet; seriously I just adored all the characters. I felt instantly connected to Phoebe, she shows all the telltale signs of a book addict: staying up until the early hours reading, counting down the days till your most anticipated release, the nervous and excitement that comes with meeting your favorite author and obviously, completely and utterly crushing on those swoon-worthy book boyfriends. Phoebe has no idea how to flirt, dress the part or come across as the alluring, beautiful, funny characters she reads about, she’s only interested in her books and knitting. So cute!
“Too bad real boyfriends aren't as awesome as book boyfriends.”
Is this not the quote of the year?
Fellow fangirls around the world are all mourning how very true this is!
Bookishly Ever After basically follows Phoebe’s journey to become the ultimate heroine, to who looks good, says the right thing and ultimately gets her man. Dev our love interest is a pretty outgoing clarinet player that dreams of becoming a Bollywood star, can I just say how awesome it was read about a bi-racial relationship? It was totally refreshing and I hope to see more of this in future books. The relationship between Phoebe and Dev was so sweet and endearing, sometimes I felt so sorry for Phoebe because it was the type of relationship where you don’t notice how attractive a person is until someone points it out? So you’ve always been their friend and then you tend to question everything you say or do from that point onwards. When Phoebe finally realizes that Dev has just stepped out of one of her fantasy books and he could be her real life book boyfriend, she’s terrified, nervous and completely out of her element.
My only problem with this book was not the romance but the direction of the relationship between Phoebe and Dev, it was never going anywhere. There was a lot of back and forth between the two and the plot just seemed to be stuck in a state of limbo. Outside of this I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I would definitely recommend it to fellow readers as the writing was fantastic and I loved how we were given snippets from Phoebes books and saw how she would try to recreate a special moment; not all were successful but it was so much fun to read about. I will definitely be continuing with the Ever After series and I can’t wait to see what Isabel comes up with next! Also those snippets were so good that I now want Isabel to write her own YA fantasy, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
Literary-ly Obsessed
Phoebe would much rather live in her fictional fantasy worlds but unfortunately her best friend is determined to reintroduce Phoebe to reality and keep her nose out of books. When Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in band likes her she can only take advice from her most loved heroines and try to integrate their actions into her reality.
This is possibly the cutest book on the planet; seriously I just adored all the characters. I felt instantly connected to Phoebe, she shows all the telltale signs of a book addict: staying up until the early hours reading, counting down the days till your most anticipated release, the nervous and excitement that comes with meeting your favorite author and obviously, completely and utterly crushing on those swoon-worthy book boyfriends. Phoebe has no idea how to flirt, dress the part or come across as the alluring, beautiful, funny characters she reads about, she’s only interested in her books and knitting. So cute!
“Too bad real boyfriends aren't as awesome as book boyfriends.”
Is this not the quote of the year?
Fellow fangirls around the world are all mourning how very true this is!
Bookishly Ever After basically follows Phoebe’s journey to become the ultimate heroine, to who looks good, says the right thing and ultimately gets her man. Dev our love interest is a pretty outgoing clarinet player that dreams of becoming a Bollywood star, can I just say how awesome it was read about a bi-racial relationship? It was totally refreshing and I hope to see more of this in future books. The relationship between Phoebe and Dev was so sweet and endearing, sometimes I felt so sorry for Phoebe because it was the type of relationship where you don’t notice how attractive a person is until someone points it out? So you’ve always been their friend and then you tend to question everything you say or do from that point onwards. When Phoebe finally realizes that Dev has just stepped out of one of her fantasy books and he could be her real life book boyfriend, she’s terrified, nervous and completely out of her element.
My only problem with this book was not the romance but the direction of the relationship between Phoebe and Dev, it was never going anywhere. There was a lot of back and forth between the two and the plot just seemed to be stuck in a state of limbo. Outside of this I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I would definitely recommend it to fellow readers as the writing was fantastic and I loved how we were given snippets from Phoebes books and saw how she would try to recreate a special moment; not all were successful but it was so much fun to read about. I will definitely be continuing with the Ever After series and I can’t wait to see what Isabel comes up with next! Also those snippets were so good that I now want Isabel to write her own YA fantasy, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
Literary-ly Obsessed
Want to Read
November 17, 2014
Need this one now.
April 4, 2018
Let me preface this review by saying - I thought I genuinely enjoyed this book, but it was only after an honest reflection that I realised I was poorly mistaken. Bookishly Ever After tells the story of a book-crazy girl, Phoebe, and her plight to secure her Prince Charming, Dev. She does this by studying her favourite fictional heroines from her beloved books. This is where my first disagreement with this book begins. I was excited by the prospect of Phoebe using book heroines to catch a boy’s heart – but I made one wrong assumption - the characters were from books not known to us, they are ones the author created. That was really a letdown for me because I thought I would be seeing the likes of Lizzy Bennet and Rose Hathaway interwoven into the story. Instead, the author introduces her own characters and integrates their stories in some of the chapters. I just couldn’t seem to connect with them and it fell flat for me. I was more invested in Phoebe and Dev than the characters from the stories.
As expected, this book is riddled with clichés and stereotypes. Everything is predictable. Shy girl thinks she is not worthy of a boy’s attention, she thinks she should change the way she looks and is guided along by her pushy friends. Then, even though it is obvious the boy shares the same feelings, the girl misinterprets the boy’s relationship with another girl and believes he is not interested. But alas I hear you saying: aren’t these how all romance novels are? Yes and no. When they are, they make up for it by great characters and an interesting plot that is nicely paced. This book is paced so slowly that I was turning the page waiting and hoping that they would finally admit their feelings for each other, but that came much later on. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good slow burn, but this was as slow as the sloths in Zootopia:
Overlooking these grave shortcomings, there are a few things I liked. The side characters were fleshed out well, but even then I did not feel connected to them. The writing was also easy to read and Phoebe’s bookish quirks were very relatable. Phoebe and Dev had some cute moments and I did find myself laughing and suffering from second-hand book embarrassment at Phoebe’s attempts at flirting. I would recommend this book for those who want a typical, uber-slow romance read with no real surprises that set it apart from others in the genre.
Most Memorable Quote
“Just one more page."
(the lie all us book-lovers are guilty of saying)
Full review also on my blog!
Love,
As expected, this book is riddled with clichés and stereotypes. Everything is predictable. Shy girl thinks she is not worthy of a boy’s attention, she thinks she should change the way she looks and is guided along by her pushy friends. Then, even though it is obvious the boy shares the same feelings, the girl misinterprets the boy’s relationship with another girl and believes he is not interested. But alas I hear you saying: aren’t these how all romance novels are? Yes and no. When they are, they make up for it by great characters and an interesting plot that is nicely paced. This book is paced so slowly that I was turning the page waiting and hoping that they would finally admit their feelings for each other, but that came much later on. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good slow burn, but this was as slow as the sloths in Zootopia:
Overlooking these grave shortcomings, there are a few things I liked. The side characters were fleshed out well, but even then I did not feel connected to them. The writing was also easy to read and Phoebe’s bookish quirks were very relatable. Phoebe and Dev had some cute moments and I did find myself laughing and suffering from second-hand book embarrassment at Phoebe’s attempts at flirting. I would recommend this book for those who want a typical, uber-slow romance read with no real surprises that set it apart from others in the genre.
Most Memorable Quote
“Just one more page."
(the lie all us book-lovers are guilty of saying)
Full review also on my blog!
Love,
Did Not Finish
August 23, 2015DNF at 25%
The writing isn't bad but it doesn't seem like there is actually a story here. I'm not hooked, so I'm choosing to walk away from it.
The writing isn't bad but it doesn't seem like there is actually a story here. I'm not hooked, so I'm choosing to walk away from it.
never-finished
May 9, 2016
This girl is giving me so much secondhand embarrassment I just can't
August 28, 2017
I suppose I get the appeal of this book. It's cute, has fairly realistic characters and a few clever little lines and anecdotes.
Here's the thing, the true bookish girl wouldn't ever have a makeover and suddenly be appealing and popular. Sorry but this just doesn't happen in real life. Nor would she, before the makeover, be left alone (no bullying) as she appears to be. What I wouldn't have given to be invisible like that in high school.
It's a cute book about a girl who loves books and uses them to become more popular, outgoing and get some boys. But let's be honest, the Hunger Games and Divergent are probably not giving our teens the kind of advice that is easily translated to their real, technology driven lives.
Now, if I was 13 or 14 (and not mid-30s) and reading Bookishly Ever After, I could see myself becoming obsessed with the other stories besides the main one. There are snippets of the books our lead gal loves throughout. As they are in no real order I could see myself figuring out the order, how many books are "quoted" and putting those together.
In fact I'd have rather read any of fictional books that are referenced than the book I was reading!
Maybe Isabel Bandiera will write those books instead of more in this series.
Overall I'm going to read second book because I have it already and maybe the story and characters improve...?
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Here's the thing, the true bookish girl wouldn't ever have a makeover and suddenly be appealing and popular. Sorry but this just doesn't happen in real life. Nor would she, before the makeover, be left alone (no bullying) as she appears to be. What I wouldn't have given to be invisible like that in high school.
It's a cute book about a girl who loves books and uses them to become more popular, outgoing and get some boys. But let's be honest, the Hunger Games and Divergent are probably not giving our teens the kind of advice that is easily translated to their real, technology driven lives.
Now, if I was 13 or 14 (and not mid-30s) and reading Bookishly Ever After, I could see myself becoming obsessed with the other stories besides the main one. There are snippets of the books our lead gal loves throughout. As they are in no real order I could see myself figuring out the order, how many books are "quoted" and putting those together.
In fact I'd have rather read any of fictional books that are referenced than the book I was reading!
Maybe Isabel Bandiera will write those books instead of more in this series.
Overall I'm going to read second book because I have it already and maybe the story and characters improve...?
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
December 21, 2016
3,5 Sterne
December 4, 2015
THIS BOOK! It is not just for people who read books or who love books - it is for people who live books. For those of us who connect to characters so deeply, they feel like real, live friends.
BOOKISLY EVER AFTER was a delightful read. First of all, Phoebe is super funny and SO relatable. There were whole chapters that gave me flashbacks to my own incredibly awkward history. And I loved how she was taking her cues from her favourite book heroines - sections of those books are interwoven with the story, along with Phoebe's hand-written notes. (A very cool touch.)I was totally swept up by the story (another trait shared with Phoebe)- analyzing every look, swooning over every smile, and shouting over every missed opportunity. This was one HEA I became deeply invested in.
A great cast of supporting characters rounds the story out nicely. I can't wait to dive deeper into their stories in the next installment! Come on, Book Two!
(I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
BOOKISLY EVER AFTER was a delightful read. First of all, Phoebe is super funny and SO relatable. There were whole chapters that gave me flashbacks to my own incredibly awkward history. And I loved how she was taking her cues from her favourite book heroines - sections of those books are interwoven with the story, along with Phoebe's hand-written notes. (A very cool touch.)I was totally swept up by the story (another trait shared with Phoebe)- analyzing every look, swooning over every smile, and shouting over every missed opportunity. This was one HEA I became deeply invested in.
A great cast of supporting characters rounds the story out nicely. I can't wait to dive deeper into their stories in the next installment! Come on, Book Two!
(I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
June 4, 2016
★★★★★★★★☆☆[8/10]
✅Or, do I?
⏩Gee.. This Phoebe-girl is just the right alter-ego of mine.
✅That also sounds a lot like me.
✅An Indian boyfriend. Right.
◆gasps first◆ ◆screams next◆
Holy Crap. That's exactly my kind of book!!!!!
And as if we don't already have enough YA in our tbr, we get Golden, Hidden and Sentinel as a bonus. Hurry, you don't want to miss it. ◆wink wink◆
“Just because I like to read doesn’t mean I let fictional characters dictate my life.”
✅Or, do I?
⏩Gee.. This Phoebe-girl is just the right alter-ego of mine.
“I was quoting a line from a real poem quoted by a fictional character being quoted by another fictional character. Like book geekishness times three.”
✅That also sounds a lot like me.
“Then Dev was in front of me, dragging me away from Jon and onto the dance floor while still keeping in his character of a crooning Bollywood hero.”
✅An Indian boyfriend. Right.
◆gasps first◆ ◆screams next◆
Holy Crap. That's exactly my kind of book!!!!!
And as if we don't already have enough YA in our tbr, we get Golden, Hidden and Sentinel as a bonus. Hurry, you don't want to miss it. ◆wink wink◆
November 24, 2015
This is a book for people who love books. It's probably especially a book for people who love YA and are book bloggers because you guys, the struggle is real. There are a lot of sentences I could use as support for this thesis, but this one works the best.
"...there was Lexie again...staring at Dev like he was an [ARC] of the last book in a series."
We can all totally picture that, right?
Meanwhile, I overidentified with Feebs and also fought the urge to cheer (literally, out loud) multiple times during the book.
Basically, this book is just a complete delight. It works as a rom-com or as a love letter to books and the people who adore them. I loved every second I spent reading it and cannot wait for the sequel.
Highly recommended.
"...there was Lexie again...staring at Dev like he was an [ARC] of the last book in a series."
We can all totally picture that, right?
Meanwhile, I overidentified with Feebs and also fought the urge to cheer (literally, out loud) multiple times during the book.
Basically, this book is just a complete delight. It works as a rom-com or as a love letter to books and the people who adore them. I loved every second I spent reading it and cannot wait for the sequel.
Highly recommended.
June 15, 2017
~2.5 stars~
I got this as a review book so I thought I would do this one a little differently than I usually do to help people know how I felt about certain aspects of the book :)
So first of all…
The Cover: 10/5 xD That was the thing that drew me in and made me want to read it honestly (Which I know I shouldn’t be so shallow to do that, but I am just telling the truth :P lol)
Romance: 3/5 I thought that Phoebe and Dev were pretty cute :) Their romance didn’t get too out of hand…but there was some content from other characters that was inappropriate and because of that, I wouldn’t really recommend this to my friends
Language: 1/5 There was also waaay too many swear words…too many to count :/ So yeah, I definitely didn’t like that part of it and I was tempted to stop it so many times because I just felt dirty reading it…I finished it though because I wanted to give my honest opinion about the book as a whole
I didn’t know too much about it when I requested it…I didn’t look into reviews or anything. So it was kind of my fault for not making sure it was clean beforehand :/ I still did like some parts of it! But because of the things mentioned above, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I know...that content may not bother some people, but it made me uncomfortable
*I received a free ebook copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I got this as a review book so I thought I would do this one a little differently than I usually do to help people know how I felt about certain aspects of the book :)
So first of all…
The Cover: 10/5 xD That was the thing that drew me in and made me want to read it honestly (Which I know I shouldn’t be so shallow to do that, but I am just telling the truth :P lol)
Romance: 3/5 I thought that Phoebe and Dev were pretty cute :) Their romance didn’t get too out of hand…but there was some content from other characters that was inappropriate and because of that, I wouldn’t really recommend this to my friends
Language: 1/5 There was also waaay too many swear words…too many to count :/ So yeah, I definitely didn’t like that part of it and I was tempted to stop it so many times because I just felt dirty reading it…I finished it though because I wanted to give my honest opinion about the book as a whole
I didn’t know too much about it when I requested it…I didn’t look into reviews or anything. So it was kind of my fault for not making sure it was clean beforehand :/ I still did like some parts of it! But because of the things mentioned above, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I know...that content may not bother some people, but it made me uncomfortable
*I received a free ebook copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
July 19, 2018
Imagine that you (yes you my dear reader) lived in a place in USA and you love to death to reading (obviously) and all your actions wanted to be YA fiction actions. And you start to like a boy or a girl and you try to done whatever your favorite book characters might done. Well this book was something like that.
The story was bookish. It was actually really good. Funny, clever, romantic. But it was too much. Too much pages and too much infos that there were not necessary.
I wonder what will happen in the next books...
4 stars bookishly ever after!!!
The story was bookish. It was actually really good. Funny, clever, romantic. But it was too much. Too much pages and too much infos that there were not necessary.
I wonder what will happen in the next books...
4 stars bookishly ever after!!!
March 5, 2018
First of all, let me praise this cover! It's one of the most beautiful book covers I have seen lately, and what's even better, it's sequel's cover is even more beautiful.
And now when we got all that beauty out of the way (sorry, I just woke up and I can't think of any better phrase to express myself), let's focus on what's really important: the story itself.
If you already read the book, you might ask me: "What story?". Yes, I know what you mean, because that's what I asked myself more then few times while reading.
And the answer is: this one, at first fun, one dimensional story that dragged and dragged even though nothing important really happened, and made me lose my interest after the fist half of the book.
Honestly, it felt like I was reading a 700 pages long book, not a 378 pages one.
As I already said, the story is one dimensional. We follow Phoebe and her friends, read about their conversations which lack of significance, and there is no subplots.
It was like waiting for Godot in a shape of plot.
Guess what? Godot never came, or maybe he came after I fell asleep.
To be fair, I liked Phoebe. I enjoyed reading her comparing her life with life of her favorite characters, and how she asked herself what would her favorite characters do in certain situations.
I only wish that her favorite characters and books weren't non-existent. I have never heard of those books or characters, and I feel like if familiar books and characters were part of the story, readers would enjoy this book more.
This book started really good, it got me in and I was having fun reading about Phoebe and her high-school drama, but somewhere on the way, I lost my interest and to be honest, I just skimmed the second half of the novel.
I found myself realizing that I didn't care anymore, and if I wasn't given this book for a review, I would probably DNF it.
However, I want to stress out that some of my goodreads friends really enjoyed this story, so if you were thinking about giving this book a chance, please do.
Maybe you will end up really enjoying it.
I usually love ya contemporary, but I guess this book just wasn't for me.
I got this book for free via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. Thank you Spancer Hill Contemporary.
Read this and more reviews on my blog: https://bookdustmagic.wordpress.com
And now when we got all that beauty out of the way (sorry, I just woke up and I can't think of any better phrase to express myself), let's focus on what's really important: the story itself.
If you already read the book, you might ask me: "What story?". Yes, I know what you mean, because that's what I asked myself more then few times while reading.
And the answer is: this one, at first fun, one dimensional story that dragged and dragged even though nothing important really happened, and made me lose my interest after the fist half of the book.
Honestly, it felt like I was reading a 700 pages long book, not a 378 pages one.
As I already said, the story is one dimensional. We follow Phoebe and her friends, read about their conversations which lack of significance, and there is no subplots.
It was like waiting for Godot in a shape of plot.
Guess what? Godot never came, or maybe he came after I fell asleep.
To be fair, I liked Phoebe. I enjoyed reading her comparing her life with life of her favorite characters, and how she asked herself what would her favorite characters do in certain situations.
I only wish that her favorite characters and books weren't non-existent. I have never heard of those books or characters, and I feel like if familiar books and characters were part of the story, readers would enjoy this book more.
This book started really good, it got me in and I was having fun reading about Phoebe and her high-school drama, but somewhere on the way, I lost my interest and to be honest, I just skimmed the second half of the novel.
I found myself realizing that I didn't care anymore, and if I wasn't given this book for a review, I would probably DNF it.
However, I want to stress out that some of my goodreads friends really enjoyed this story, so if you were thinking about giving this book a chance, please do.
Maybe you will end up really enjoying it.
I usually love ya contemporary, but I guess this book just wasn't for me.
I got this book for free via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. Thank you Spancer Hill Contemporary.
Read this and more reviews on my blog: https://bookdustmagic.wordpress.com
January 10, 2016
Thank you so much for granting my wish, Netgalley! :)
When I first read that the main character of this book is a bookworm, I immediately wanted to read it because I knew I would be able to relate to the main character and I'm such a sucker for contemporary romance novels. With a bunch of bookworm references, this is a book that bookworms anywhere are sure to enjoy.
There are just so many things about this novel that appeals to me and my inner bookworm. First, I love light and fluffy contemporary romance novels that are a breeze to read. Second, I also love yarns but I crochet instead of knit. Third, I love all the bookworm references. Fourth, I can relate to Phoebe so much. Fifth, I love the flow and pacing of the story. Sixth, I love the family element - she wasn't super close to her parents and sister, but they were just close enough. Plus, I think that it was so cute how her dad was reading while she practiced archery. Lastly, I love all the friendships in the book.
This book is definitely a break from the usual book patterns in romance novels wherein the characters would be together towards the middle of the book, and then drama comes, an finally, happily ever after. I'm glad that there's no drama in this book because it's such a nice break but I kind of also wanted more towards the end of the novel.
The last line of this book is one of my favorite last lines ever! It was just so cute and I actually laughed out loud because it's a sentence that I'm very familiar with, and just imagining the situation was just too cute!
However, I don't know if it was just my copy or something, but I had a really hard time reading this book since I think there were some missing words in some parts and there were some jumbled phrases. I still think the book is awesome, but it definitely affected my reading experience. I also didn't like how much references there were to other characters. I mean, I get those references because I do that too sometimes, but at some point I just felt like they were too much.
Overall though, I really, really enjoyed this book and I would love more books from the perspective of bookworms, just like Katie (?) from the Lux series. Even though there were some things that I didn't like, those were just minor details for me compared to the whole picture.
When I first read that the main character of this book is a bookworm, I immediately wanted to read it because I knew I would be able to relate to the main character and I'm such a sucker for contemporary romance novels. With a bunch of bookworm references, this is a book that bookworms anywhere are sure to enjoy.
There are just so many things about this novel that appeals to me and my inner bookworm. First, I love light and fluffy contemporary romance novels that are a breeze to read. Second, I also love yarns but I crochet instead of knit. Third, I love all the bookworm references. Fourth, I can relate to Phoebe so much. Fifth, I love the flow and pacing of the story. Sixth, I love the family element - she wasn't super close to her parents and sister, but they were just close enough. Plus, I think that it was so cute how her dad was reading while she practiced archery. Lastly, I love all the friendships in the book.
This book is definitely a break from the usual book patterns in romance novels wherein the characters would be together towards the middle of the book, and then drama comes, an finally, happily ever after. I'm glad that there's no drama in this book because it's such a nice break but I kind of also wanted more towards the end of the novel.
The last line of this book is one of my favorite last lines ever! It was just so cute and I actually laughed out loud because it's a sentence that I'm very familiar with, and just imagining the situation was just too cute!
"Just one more page."
However, I don't know if it was just my copy or something, but I had a really hard time reading this book since I think there were some missing words in some parts and there were some jumbled phrases. I still think the book is awesome, but it definitely affected my reading experience. I also didn't like how much references there were to other characters. I mean, I get those references because I do that too sometimes, but at some point I just felt like they were too much.
Overall though, I really, really enjoyed this book and I would love more books from the perspective of bookworms, just like Katie (?) from the Lux series. Even though there were some things that I didn't like, those were just minor details for me compared to the whole picture.
Want to Read
December 19, 2014
Displaying 1 - 30 of 576 reviews