It Only Happens In The Movies // The Perfect Book That Vanquishes Stereotypes (!!)

UGH
I love this.
BUT IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY.LIKE . . . thoughts. . . what are they???

This book showed actual REAL relationships in REAL life and important things that I quibble over in contemporaries:

– [x] not everyone was a relationship expert at age 17 and hsgbldfghbbgfjfdb.
– [x] About how cliches are bs and never actually happen in real life.
– [x] Not everyone has everything figured out at 17-19!!!!!!!!!
– [x] People have shit going on in their lives.
– [x] basically this book was perfect for a cynic like me.

I got so angry and jdsgkjreg so happy and grfgfghfdgb

ACCURATE.

How could it end that way??? Like sorry IT JUST CANNOT. I LOVED and HATED how it wasn’t a movie type ending. I dsflhbdhhgb the ending makes me so angry, but at the same time, it was so refreshing!!!

FINALLY NOT A KISS-AND-MAKE-UP-ENDING!! BUT everything was okay???? I mean yeah they were unhappyish at the end and I mean I WANT THEM TO GE TOGETHER BUT AT THE SAME TIME I DON’T. But they’ll be okay!!!!!!!! I hope. . .
HOLLY BOURNE I love you but I have such mixed thoughts about the ending.

Harry —> like I both love him and lathe him at the same time. This conquered the “bad-boy-turned-good-for-her-stereotype”. AND GAH I LOVED IT. This is one of my majorrrrrrr issues with contemporaries, and this just HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.

Like honestly, I’m so happy that this book exists. LIKE NO, THEY DONT JUST CHANGE THAT EASY BC OF A GIRL THEY LIKE. Thank you thank you thank you Holly Bourne for writing this.

I mean, I’m pretty sure that Harry messed up 80% of the time, but at points I really liked him??? He was funny and a total f-boy and totally charming and I hated him and liked him at the same time. But he was so closed off from Audrey and I just wanted to say “For the Lord’s sake!!! STOP!!!!” bc he was a total idiot at times.

And he totally has issues that he needs to sort out. Like drinking, and weed and JUST GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER PLEASE.

Audrey —> that poor girl. JUST LET HER BE HAPPY PPL. STOP BREAKING HER HEART!!! She feels so cut off from love after her parents divorce, and her HORRIBLE EX and gahh this girl just needs a hug so bad. HER MUM. Jeeeeezzzeeeeee. That’s horrible to go through. SHE LITERALLY HAD A BREAKDOWN.

And her dad. . . WHAT AN ARSE. CAN HE STOP BEING A MONSTER??? I thought that he would maybe genuinely DEVELOP. . . But no. AUDREY on the other hand, flippin flamingo. . . I’d say that “love” is a strong word for it, but I like her very much.

I feel like in the beginning she was a bit of a blind banana and didn’t really realise things that were going on with other people, but I think that she really realised that things with her Ex Milo ( my nickname for him is “Milo the Silo” bc he STINKS) really clouded how she saw things and YES. FOR. DEVELOPMENT.

^^^awkward way to end a point ^^^ but I’m sticking with it ^^^

Her friends —> absolutely love them —> BECKY THO. <— ABSOLUTE GEM.
And THEY WEREN’T CLICHE FRIENDSHIPS THE ENTIRE TIME. Like they had a few disagreements, if you could even call them disagreements, and they didn’t entirely FLIP OUT ON EACH OTHER!!! Like THANK YOU AGAIN HOLLY BOURNE.

And the relationships. . .There was a side relationship, between Audrey’s best mate (he’s the best!!) and Ian. We didn’t see much of them, but I loved the addition of diversity and THEY WERE DO CUTE!!! Ian!!! I would have loved to get more of Ian in the book!!
Anddddddddddd offffcourrrseeeeeeeee the main relationship that was the centre of the book. . .
I think that it was an okay relationship!! There were some great moments and they were really cute at times and it’s not like they started dating straight away, which I really like, and I think that it didn’t go REALLY FAST??? either.

However, there were some faults in the relationship but I think that its okay???? I just dont think that there was enough communication, allowing too many insecurities and therefore. . . a r g u m e n t s.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE DRAMA???

{bc there was significant drama}

I’m super picky about drama, and well. . . THIS DRAMA DIDN’T PISS ME OFF. Like, , a bit of it did, there was this BITCH how would, not, back. The hell. off. and I hated her.

But the other drama was about relationships. The real kind. Not the fantasy book / film ones. And I love how the drama was about REAL things. well. . . mainly real things. It was about young people figuring out what a relationship should really be like. And I think that the drama between them is what caused the main character to realise what a real relationship is like.

I think that there was quite a bit of drama, but it wasn’t all teen drama. I think that there was more of an emphasis on the family drama and the other drama was effected by this and almost caused it??? In the way that it made Audrey realise things expect things, and think about what boyfriends / girlfriends should really do for each other. IDK how to properly explain it but there are my thoughts.

I think that the book had a great pace <— I finished it in a day!! And there was a really easy, laid back writing style that was so funny and whimsical, however I do think that it made Audrey seem a little younger than she really was?? I felt that she was more 16 than 18, but that’s only a tiny thing.

BUT OMG there were these excerpts from the Media Studies project that Audrey was doing, outlining all the stereotypical aspects of a romance film, and Audrey’s cynical, witty take on them was so funny.

I loved the old cinema that the majority of the book was set in!! It gave such an old-time-love-story vibe even though the whole book was about how love isn’t how it is in the movies!! I think that was so great.

AND ALL THE MOVIE REP!!!!! I absolutely love watching movies (though I haven’t done so in a while!!) and I love all the filming that was going on, and it added to the the plot of the book, as well as adding a lot to Harry’s character.

I really loved the messages in this book, how real love isn’t how it is in the movies, and that love is a choice, and how that you get to choose how you act, and how you love someone. I loved how it followed how Audrey started the book feeling disconnected from romance and feeling unloveable, and we got to see her develop.

And it’s not like Harry tried to fix her. He actually did very little; just giving her attention, and love and snghb smushy feels. I also really like how the book didn’t end with Audrey 102% okay??? That might seem mean, BUT I think that she should be 102% OKAY because SHE got there, rather than someone else making her 102% OKAY.

I’m unsure whether to give this book a 3.5 star rating, or a 4 star rating. I enjoyed it, but I was left more ANGRY than heartbroken at the end, even though I really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. Okay, 4 stars bc I cant Gove 3.5 stars to a book that I couldn’t put down!!