Title: Bookishly Ever After
Author: Isabel Bandeira
Age Group: Teen/Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Series: Ever After, book one
Star Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.
I was browsing my local library and the same day I found The Traitor’s Kiss, I picked up Bookishly. First of all, the cover was blue and so adorable! And I’m such a sucker for book nerd plots. When I realized that I was on my last renewal, I pushed it to the top of the stack after I was finished with Traitor. This book wasn’t perfect; there were some slight flaws, such as verb tense changes in the writing, the pitting of teen girls against one another, and some of the characters were annoying, but overall, it was really enjoyable! I look forward to the next two books in the trilogy, and this was a great debut from someone who obviously loves books, writing, and the written word in general!
Phoebe Martins is a girl who definitely prefers fiction to reality. Occupying herself with books, writing, and knitting, her friends think that she’s closer to an aging grandmother than a teenage girl. And she’s perfectly fine with that. But she also wants a romance straight out of her fantasy books, with a boy who doesn’t give her a second thought. To add even more complications to things, her best friend, Em, begins pushing her toward Dev, a geeky but super cute guy in her class. When sparks start to fly, Phoebe turns to her friends for help, and is thrilled when things start to click with Kris. But she isn’t sure what exactly she wants, and is it possible that her life just might be better than her beloved books?
As I said, this book was really good, especially for a series debut. It was funny, thoughtful, swoon-worthy romantic, and charming. It was very well-written, aside from some errors in verb tense changes; that part of the book had me feeling confused, so much so that I had to go back several times and reread so I understood what was happening. Several characters got on my nerves, particularly Em and Kris. But I really liked Phoebe, and the way that she was so book obsessed! It was adorable. I really liked the pacing, and the way that the book went between her voice and the books that she was constantly reading. I also adored Dev, he was one of my favorite characters in the book. And the chemistry between he and Phoebe was so cute! I was constantly laughing, swooning, or fanning myself. Bookishly Ever After reminded me of why I love romance books! I really enjoyed the ending, and I’m looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy. Aside from some little quibbles, the book was very good. It was a nice break after a heavy book like Traitor. It was light, funny, thoughtful and sweet! It was very nice, even with the mistakes. The bottom line: A hilarious and romantic series debut, I loved Bookishly Ever After, despite some flaws. Next on deck: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang!
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