This book. THIS BOOK. You guys I'm not going to lie, I probably would have finished this in one sitting if I hadn't had real life things to do. This book was so great, I'm serious.
At the end of last year, I was in a bit of a reading slump, and we all know that those are the worst thing that can happen to bibliophiles like me. All that changed in January though, thank god, I read 11 books last month, which is probably a record for me. I really want to get into book blogging this time though, even if I do have some pretty sporadic posts.
Anyways, this is and ACTUAL REVIEW guys. Like I said before, I could hardly put it down.
I'm going to break it down into parts and try to give a full overview of it.
Letsa go! (as mario would say)
I always love it when books are set in a foreign setting in modern times, and this book delivered. It's set in London during Julia's junior year trip. It's in first person (which I tend to be incredibly picky about), so we get to see it through her eyes. Morrill is excellent at taking us to London and giving us a tour of it without ever having to leave our own homes. A personal favorite part (warning : spoilers!) was when Jason and Julia are up in the London eye and he tells her about his childhood home, and how he's part British. Um, can I have him please? I kid, I kid. But seriously Jason was hilarious, and I actually laughed out loud when I was reading this book. I almost never have a physical reaction when I read, crying, laughing, or getting angry with it. So, kudos to you Lauren, for making me laugh.
I really loved the dynamic of Julia and Jason's relationship though, I had great fun reading their antics, and Julia's fear of geese made me really feel for her in a weirdo way. Jason (as mentioned above) was a complete clown, and it makes me wish that i knew people like him in real life. But he has a really sweet side to him that makes me just melt.
The secondary characters were great too, and even though Sarah and Evie weren't there all that much, you can tell that they cared for their friends (even if they didn't like Julia). Sarah was watching out for Jason the entire time and it made me really appreciate their friendship.
There was even a little mystery tied in! Not a scary/creepy kind, but the 'oops where is this going now kind,' that involved mysterious text messages every now and then, from Chris who she had met at a party in one of the first scenes at the novel. Morrill was good at keeping you in the dark along with Julia, which is hard to do, because some authors feel the need to just give you the info right at the beginning, and i cannot stand this. But not her, nope, she knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat.
In the end, I really loved it (i really don't know how to stop gushing, do i?). However, there was just something that was a little off-kilter, and i don't really know what it is yet, so I have to refrain from giving this a complete 5 stars. But never fear!
This is definitely 4-star material.
once more, kudos, Lauren Morrill, kudos. Thank you for writing such a lovely book.
