Feminism vibes and realistic touch to the sensitive issues like mental health, drug addiction, divorce✅ this story is about what is essentially audrey's senior year of high school (i say essentially cause hoe is british) and the life changes that are happening to her. her father has left her mother for another woman. her brother is away at uni. her ex dumped her pretty savagely. and there's a new guy at work that she's kind of crushing on. Vaginismus affects around 17% percent of women between fifteen and sixty-four in the UK, but almost 50% of women with vaginismus are between fifteen and twenty-four, highlighting exactly why this representation is necessary in YA. I’m so grateful to Holly for including this and showing that this isn’t a case of there being something “wrong” with the woman as Audrey believe, but many (often treatable) factors.

Romeo + Juliet is amazing - 90s Leo will always be my favourite - and When Harry Met Sally is just a classical. Overall, I LOVED THIS BOOK! I can't praise it enough, this is my first Holly Bourne book I've read, but if her other books are like this, sign me up!a takedown of the bit in The Fault in Our Stars when the characters' steamy makeout happens in the Anne Frank House

Reeling from her parents’ traumatic divorce and her own recent breakup, English teen Audrey vows not to let incorrigible romantic Harry woo her.Audrey seems to have a distaste towards sexy girls. I do not know why. I do not understand it. Why is it bad to embrace your sexuality and sensuality? What does that take away from?

While in her other books the stories were just normal - as boring and predictable -, here the normality is a positive thing: Audrey is a normal girl with almost-normal problems, and she falls for Harry, a boy with normal problems; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it's this normality that makes you love the story even more, as in other great romantic movies - have you ever heard of The Notebook? Honestly, I didn’t love either of the main characters. Both of them are fine, but not stellar. There are aspects I loved about Audrey, such as her strength and her ability to call out misogyny (both in the movies and in society), but also, something about her didn’t sit right with me. She seemed whiny to me at times, but I also feel like she expects too much from Harry. Before they got together, multiple people warned her about him, and she knew he did certain things she didn’t like. Yet, she still had expectations that Harry would never have been able to meet. I was also put off by a scene near the end of the book, which I won’t spoil, but to me, it contradicted everything Audrey stood for earlier, especially about consent. I never really felt a spark in Harry and Audrey’s relationship, and I had trouble connecting with them. ❀ Feminist Message But, whatever you're going through, I can promise it’ll be one of those books that make you forget your life for a little bit. I wouldn't say this novel breaks some new ground, it is a traditional contemporary YA story - Audrey is not really romantically inclined at the beginning of this novel - her parents are divorced, her mother is a mess, and Audrey herself has just been dump by her boyfriend, she is flailing at school, she had to quit her drama class, well, her life is a disaster. Her only diversion is her new job at an indie movie theater. Of course, there she meets a guy, who is totally bad news...

There’s more I could say but I’m almost at 2000 words so I’m going to leave it here. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone, but I am curious to see why people love it so much if anyone wants to share that with me. Just published my October Book Vlog and whew! It was a lot of reading but so worth it! The Written Review Audrey has sworn off romance - and NO not in a "totally swears it off but is secretly looking for love" - she actually means it. The moment he stops flirting....she can't stop thinking about him- are you kidding me?! SERIOUSLY! I'm sorry but I felt like there was more important stuff that she should have worried about. The whole plot-line regarding her family life or her friendship was much better because hello they are more important than a boy who she hardly knows. Her family and friends are people she knows and that play/ have played a significant part in her life. NOT HARRY. Not only does Audrey have a pretty difficult home life (thanks to her dad for leaving their family for another woman, who was pregnant with his kids), she’s also suffering from heartbreak after her then-boyfriend dumped her one week after their failed sexual encounter. Audrey is embarrassed and bitter and swears off boys - especially boys like Harry, who just scream trouble, and who have the ability to break her already fragile heart. But can you really choose who to love?

Essentially, the story proves how almost every element of romantic movies is unrealistic through Audrey’s personal (firsthand and secondhand) experiences which she actually documents for her thesis. Why had I not thought about this topic for my thesis? But let’s swap the genders shall we! Let’s see what Audrey thinks? She thinks it’s unforgivable that Harry has cheated. This bothers me because it came across to me as a male victim of sexual assault. But his ex gave him head so it’s fine? He’s just not loyal? With the amount of awareness that’s being raised for consent lately, this disappointed me. But when she starts a new job at her local cinema, she begins to see that love does exist – even in the most unlikely of people. First of all, I need to discuss our main character, Audrey. Despite some differences within our familial situation, I felt that Audrey was an extremely relatable character, almost like somebody you are friends with in real life. Throughout the story, Audrey constantly stands up for what she believes in which is a really admirable trait, and isn’t afraid to say no if she doesn’t want to do something, like turning down drugs and alcohol. Audrey understands her worth and wants what ultimately is best for her; I have a lot of respect for her because of this.

amyjanealice

The subject of love plays a huge part in the novel, designed to test its characters emotionally. For instance, we see examples of teenage love – Audrey’s end-of-the-world feelings towards breaking up with her boyfriend, Milo; coupled with the fact that her father doesn’t seem to love his own family – or else why would he have left them, and her loss of love for a school subject she once adored. Love comes in many forms and for Audrey Winters, she feels three different types simultaneously.