ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I know that there are going to be a lot of people who rate this book solely based on the author, since Christine is so popular in the book community, but I’m only going to be discussing the content of the book itself. That being said, the main issue that I had with the book was that this almost felt more like an autobiography at points. The MC, Shane just had all the characteristics of Christine. Her appearance, mannerisms, personal experiences, hobbies, fandoms, etc. It was a little bit unnerving to say the least. I came here to read about a fictional character but that’s not exactly what I got. The writing seemed a bit unsure and forced for the first couple of chapters, but it became more confident as the story progressed. I ended up really enjoying the writing style and found that everything flowed very easily together. It was a fast-paced story, which usually isn’t the case for contemporaries, and it was really hard for me to put down! “If you could go back and do London all over again, knowing everything you know now, would you do it?” There was definitely a MAJOR plot twist in this novel, but I don’t want to spoil anyone. So all that I’m going to say is that this is so much more than just a contemporary. The plotline of the novel itself is just such a cute and relatable concept. Shane, the main character, hasn’t had the most fun college experience and doesn’t exactly get along with her family. So she decides to do a study abroad program and do college “again, but better”. I love travelling, so all of the trips and sights spread throughout were super fun to read about. I really enjoyed all of the characters and silly conversations too! The only other issue I had with this is that it kind of sugarcoats cheating. I’m not about that. Pilot, the love interest, has a girlfriend from the very beginning of the story. Shane knows this, yet BOTH of them still continue to flirt and act like said girlfriend doesn’t matter simply because they’ve only been dating a few months. I don’t care how long you’ve been in your relationship because cheating is still cheating. It even made the gf out to be a sort of “villain” when she was the one being lied to and cheated on soo yeah. I was able to put aside these issues however and enjoy Again, but Better for what it is: a coming of age story about following your dreams and doing what makes you happy. The overall theme was very inspirational (and reminded me a little bit of the movie Isn’t It Romantic) and I hope that it inspires young readers out there everywhere to be whoever they want to be. You don’t have to go after a certain career just because your parents told you to. You should do whatever your heart desires. If you’re looking for a cute novel about self-discovery, then I’d recommend checking this one out! I think this was great for a debut novel, especially from a booktuber, and I genuinely look forward to anything else Christine will write in the future. The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication. |
Rating: ★★★★
[…] wrote a review for this, which you can check out here. But this was a cute coming of age story about learning to be confident in yourself and following […]