Never Sorry Ever Jolly

by Autumn Cornwell

What do you get when you mix dating with refugee camps, freedom fighters, and a thousand pairs of googly eyes?

Collin Uttley’s summer vacation.

Honestly, I didn’t set out to be an imposter. I just wanted to meet girls. Why else would an atheist join a church youth group? (It sure wasn’t for the coffee.) And it paid off—I met Shelby Wanderal, the soul mate I never knew existed. When I found out she was spending her summer working with orphans in refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border—guess who joined the outreach team? And you better believe I didn’t let a little thing like the Expected Behavior Guidelines cramp my style. Not even Rule #1: No romantic entanglements allowed. But I gotta admit I didn’t expect a rival—my summer would have gone a whole lot smoother if Twain Abernathy had stayed home.

Or if I hadn’t tried the betel nut.

Or if I’d listened to the advice of the Freedom Fighters.

Or if—nope, you’ll just have to read the story of my crazytown adventure… people say it makes them laugh. I’m just not sure if that means with me or at me.

From the author of CARPE DIEM comes another YA romantic comedy adventure set in Southeast Asia, NEVER SORRY EVER JOLLY, based on her own outreach experiences in Thailand and Burma. Praise for Autumn’s first novel:

“This is self-confessed travel junkie Autumn Cornwell's first novel—and she's hit one out of the park.”―The Washington Post

“Suspenseful and wonderfully detailed, the well-crafted story maintains its page-turning pace while adding small doses of cultural insight and humor.”―School Library Journal, Starred Review

ALL HE WANTED WAS A DATE.

In the new YA romantic comedy adventure, NEVER SORRY EVER JOLLY, homeschooled and unchurched seventeen-year-old Collin Uttley moves to SoCal (Southern California) and joins a church youth group out of sheer desperation for a social life. To fit in with the rest of the high schoolers and to increase his odds of scoring a girlfriend, he pretends to be a “believer” and attends every single group activity—even blindfold dodge ball. His tenacity soon pays off when he meets the girl of his dreams, Shelby Wanderal, who shares his enthusiasm for vintage clothing and swing dancing. When Collin finds out Shelby’s going on a summer outreach trip to help refugees on the Thailand-Burma border, he fakes his way onto the team, thinking it’s the perfect opportunity to win her over. However, things don’t go exactly as planned… to say the least.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Praise for Autumn Cornwell’s first YA romantic comedy adventure, CARPE DIEM:
“This is self-confessed travel junkie Autumn Cornwell's first novel—and she's hit one out of the park.”―The Washington Post “Suspenseful and wonderfully detailed, the well-crafted story maintains its page-turning pace while adding small doses of cultural insight and humor.”―School Library Journal, Starred Review “Take a traveler as reluctant as Anne Tyler's accidental tourist and add the number of misadventures found in The Out-of-Towners, and you have the recipe for Cornwell's hilarious, adventure-packed first novel….

Genres: Fiction

402 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2019

About the author

Squat toilets, profuse sweating, jumbo centipedes, ear nibbling—these are just some of the delights I’ve encountered in my global adventures, which inspired my first YA comedic adventure, CARPE DIEM, published in the U.S. by Macmillan, followed by foreign editions in Germany (“Guten Tag!”), the Netherlands, and China.  The novel follows the story of overachiever Vassar Spore who is forced to backpack through Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos with her wacky bohemian grandma—and experiences enough misadventures to last a lifetime.  Most of which (fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be) really happened to me!

My work with the refugees and persecuted minority groups of Southeast Asia inspired my latest YA comedic adventure, NEVER SORRY EVER JOLLY, in which a group of teens fall in love AND into trouble while volunteering on the Thailand-Burma border.

Writing and speaking about physical, creative, spiritual—and WACKY—adventures has been my lifelong calling. When I’m not losing luggage internationally, I can be found attempting to write about those experiences at home in Southern California.

Reviews

[Celia Buell (semi hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did. The story is about an atheist who goes on a mission trip just to get a girl, and at first his character is pretty annoying. Things would seem to be going well, and then suddenly it will go back to him not wanting to "expose" himself to the other religious kids. The actions he went through and the way he talked about Shelby being "his" were annoying, although at times ridiculous. And the whole time, it was pretty obvious that Collin and Shelby weren't right together anyway.

However, despite the annoying stuff, the events that transpire in Thailand and Burma create a captivating story of self-discovery and religion, and though I myself am an atheist, this book helped me understand why some people actually do believe that there is a god (or multiple gods) who can provide miracles.

I guess I can approach this review by answering some of the discussion questions that Autumn Cornwell provided in the back of the book, especially since I'm the first to write a review for this novel.

Q1: Did the events in the story seem real to you, or completely fictional, as in they could never happen in real life?
A: Do I believe that an atheist kid could play himself as a Christian and join a mission trip to Thailand? Yeah, that's believable. Do I believe that there's many ways that things could go wrong during a ceasefire on a volunteer trip? Absolutely. Do I believe in healing miracles brought on by praying? Maybe. I'm not going to say I'm a complete skeptic, but I'll admit, some of these things seem fake to me.

---------------------

Q2: How did you feel about Collin as the narrator?
A: Again, their were aspects of Collin's character that drove me up the wall. I didn't see him as an unreliable narrator, but at times a less than likable one.

Q4: Would you want to travel through Thailand and Burma with this particular group? Why or why not?
A: Well, my immediate answer is no, because I am not religious. I would also be scared to be in an active war zone, even during a ceasefire. But I got really into the way the group was about helping out the child war victims throughout Thailand and Burma, especially Ernestine's devotion to making crafts with the kids. That's a role I can see myself in, especially since I'm planning to go into education and I want to make a difference in the world, starting with today's youth.

Q8: What's your spiritual background? Did this novel change or challenge or confirm your beliefs in any way?
A: As I mentioned, I don't really have any religious beliefs. I took a world religions class last semester, and it helped me realize that there are some people out there who truly see reason to believe, and who are absolutely right to do so. I, on the other hand, don't, and this book didn't change that, although it did help me to re-understand various beliefs and the ways that people approach them.

---------------------

I also want to say that I really liked Cornwell's writing style. I felt like I was reading the words of an eighteen year old boy, and not just a middle aged woman writing as a teenager. I don't see that with all realistic fiction, but that was definitely something I noticed here.

I am the first to review Never Sorry Ever Jolly and the second to rate it. I hope if you are reading this review, that you will find yourself a copy and be the third.

Disclaimer: Free in exchange for an honest review, via Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you to Autumn Cornwell for listing.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m in shock after finishing this book.

The main question is...why the hell did I keep reading it??? While my kindle tells me it was about a 4-hour read...it felt like MUCH longer.

I enjoyed the author’s first novel, Carpe Diem, when I was a teen. I recently reread it, and while it didn’t hold up *super* well, it had some cute moments and a good message about letting go and living in the moment.

This book is heavy-handed Christian nonsense, with a good portion of white-savior-ism on the side.

Main character Collin is an atheist when he leaves on an outreach trip to Southeast Asia with a church youth group, hoping only to get a girlfriend who loves vintage clothes and swing dancing as much as he does (yes, Collin is insufferable). He comes home miraculously healed, believing in God and ready to spread the good news.

Yes. There is a miracle healing in this book. It happens to a white person, and none of the Burmese people who could use some healing get any - one man missing a leg “resists” the healing, while another little girl doesn’t get her finger healed but instead gets adopted by white US citizens! Way better!

I know the author bases her books on her own travels to Southeast Asia, so she speaks from experience, but the way she writes about Thai and Burmese people feels very exoticizing. It says a lot about her point of view.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised about how much I liked this book. The main character isn't always likeable but he is believable. Often writers of young adult novels can't write the ways kids talk or act but Cornwell manages to do an excellent job. She also treats the religious aspects of the novel with respect, something I was worried about when I began the book. She also gives some cultural insights in the book. The book over all is enjoyable and good natured. This was received as a Goodreads giveaway.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carpe Diem will always be top tier, but never Sorry Ever Jolly was still very enjoyable!