Bookishly Ever After
by Isabel Bandeira
It's a common problem among many readers; boys in real life are never as
good as the boys in books. Worse than that is that a person can never
be as clever with those real life boys as the fictional heroines are
with their book boyfriends.
Phoebe is a serious book and yarn addict. She reads. She knits. And then she reads some more. She's practically memorized some of her favorite fantasy fiction books, which contain strong female leads who know what they want and how to get it. Those girls never say the wrong things. They always have quick and witty replies. And they always get their men.
But Phoebe can't seem to do anything like her heroines. She's awkward, confused, and often misses social cues. Even when her best friend points out crushes and the longing looks of a certain guy, Phoebe can't seem to see it. She definitely can't respond in the clever way she wishes that she could.
So she comes up with a plan. She's going to study her books, not just read them, and look for clues to be the best, wittiest, cleverest, most amazing girl that her dream guy could want, even if that means completely changing herself in the process.
Final thoughts: This is definitely a book for the shy introverts who love to read. Phoebe's problems are relatable and real, especially for many bibliophiles out there. My only real problem is that it often feels like Bandeira wants to be a fantasy author more than a realistic fiction author. She has all these amazing "scenes" from Phoebe's favorite books and series, almost like she herself came up with the scenes and wanted to write them, but couldn't come up with an entire book to put them in for a cohesive story, so she wrote this book to put them all together instead of writing the fantasy book she really wanted. I actually would probably want to read some of these Phoebe faves, but I'm not sure I want to read about Phoebe herself anymore.
Rating: 3/5
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Phoebe is a serious book and yarn addict. She reads. She knits. And then she reads some more. She's practically memorized some of her favorite fantasy fiction books, which contain strong female leads who know what they want and how to get it. Those girls never say the wrong things. They always have quick and witty replies. And they always get their men.
But Phoebe can't seem to do anything like her heroines. She's awkward, confused, and often misses social cues. Even when her best friend points out crushes and the longing looks of a certain guy, Phoebe can't seem to see it. She definitely can't respond in the clever way she wishes that she could.
So she comes up with a plan. She's going to study her books, not just read them, and look for clues to be the best, wittiest, cleverest, most amazing girl that her dream guy could want, even if that means completely changing herself in the process.
Final thoughts: This is definitely a book for the shy introverts who love to read. Phoebe's problems are relatable and real, especially for many bibliophiles out there. My only real problem is that it often feels like Bandeira wants to be a fantasy author more than a realistic fiction author. She has all these amazing "scenes" from Phoebe's favorite books and series, almost like she herself came up with the scenes and wanted to write them, but couldn't come up with an entire book to put them in for a cohesive story, so she wrote this book to put them all together instead of writing the fantasy book she really wanted. I actually would probably want to read some of these Phoebe faves, but I'm not sure I want to read about Phoebe herself anymore.
Rating: 3/5
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
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