It Only Happens in the Movies book review

I have previously loved Holly Bourne books but found that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the one I read in 2024 so was a bit anxious going into It Only Happens in the Movies however I had no need for that anxiety because this book was exactly what I wanted and more.

It Only Happens in the Movies follows Audrey who is over romance after her parents divorce that has left her stuck in the middle, a tough break up and teenage friendship struggles. When she starts a new job and meets Harry, Audrey tries to stay away however she can’t help falling for him even if she knows she shouldn’t.

When I first started I was unsure about the book with the elements of romance however I was pleasantly surprised. Holly Bourne built up a character who I understood and felt relatable. The book had the expected message present in almost all Holly Bourne books which made the story more impactful and me wanting to keep reading to see how things worked out.

All the characters were well-developed and I felt that I understood who they all were. Audrey particularly was a character who as I kept reading and saw what was going on in her life I understood why she felt the way she did. The way all the other characters behaved added to the way that me as a reader felt about Harry and what was going on in the story. You could see the warning signs and why Audrey still found herself falling for him.

As like all Holly Bourne books the setting felt real, like a sixth-form college you could actually end up in and teenagers you could come across. This helps make the story feel more impactful as you could see what was going on actually being something that happens in a teenage girl's life.

As I previously said this book had a message I would expect from a Holly Bourne book that is powerful and important for teenagers to read and understand. As I work my way through Holly Bourne’s books I find it really interesting to see how she incorporates these messages into her stories and I think that this may be one of the most powerful ones that I have read so far.

I am so glad that I loved this book and I have both successfully found another Holly Bourne book I love and no longer feel the anxiety going into her books. I will definitely be recommending this one as the year goes on and I look forward to reading my final backlist Holly Bourne book and her 2024 YA release later in the year.

Comments

The Match book review

Back in April I was recommended my first Sarah Adams book and really enjoyed it however it wasn’t my favourite type of romance book so when I saw this one had been rereleased and was 99p on Kindle I knew that I needed to read it. The Match follows Evie who works for a company that trains service dogs to help people with all sorts of disabilities after her life was changed when she got a service dog to help with her epilepsy and when she meets Jacob when trying to convince him how much a service dog would help his daughter she begins to fall for him and his small family. This was such a light brilliant romance that I just wanted to read and continue to be immersed in the story for as long as I could. I loved all of our major characters particularly Evie, Jacob and Sam (Jacob's daughter). Sam just added the best things to the story and the romance going on between Evie and Jacob. She was also a brilliant character on her own that you really felt for and you just underst...

Daughter of the Pirate King book review

I was expecting to enjoy this book but nowhere near as much as I did and I really wished I could have given it five stars but it was just slightly off of the mark. Daughter of the Pirate King is the first book in a duology which follows Alosa who is the well-trained seventeen year old pirate daughter of the Pirate King himself, on a mission to find part of an ancient secret map on an enemy pirates ship. This is possibly the first pirate fantasy I’ve ever read, but I loved it and need to read more because there were so many fantastic elements in it that I want to read more. I also now want to read all of Tricia Levenseller’s backlist because of how stunning this book was and I want to see more of it continued in her other books, also the UK covers are absolutely stunning and I really want to own them all! There were twists in this book I was not expecting, characters I fell in love with and moments that made me really laugh. Alosa knew what she wanted and how to ...

Rhubarb Lemonade book review

Rhubarb Lemonade was originally published in Swedish in 2019 but has recently been translated to English by A. A. Prime and is due for UK publication on the 8th of June 2023. This book follows Vonya who is spending the summer with her Grandfather on the small Swedish island where he lives. She plans on fixing an old boat and making it seaworthy with some help from her Grandfather, and then she meets Ruth, who’s her age and keeps appearing where she’s keeping the boat, but they don’t seem to have anything more in common. This is a contemporary book and I would probably say it’s more YA than Middle Grade due to some of the language used at certain points in the book. Rhubarb Lemonade is written from Vonya’s perspective, so you hear all of her thoughts on things but it also helps as there are sometimes it moves around the timeline so it isn’t a massive jump or shock as it does in some other books. This book is quite short and doesn’t have a massive cast of characters, Vo...

Eilidh Reads

Search This Blog