Review: It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne (Spoiler-Alert)

Thank you to Edelweiss and HMH Books for Young Readers for supplying me with an advanced copy of this book for review! The U.S. release date is December 1!

** spoiler alert **

You keep claiming you're dead inside, but you weren't looking at him like you were dead inside. Don't think he would be different for you, Audrey.

This might be the most satisfying book I have ever read. This hit every mark I wanted it to- it went in every direction it should have. It Only Happens in the Movies is a warning, and something that every girl needs to read. It has such a chance to be horrible, to fall into the exact tropes it picks apart, but, thank goodness, it does the exact opposite.

Audrey is an incredibly relatable character, and her thoughts flow in the same way every teenage girl's does-- even when it's hard to admit. She's logical, so you can't help but respect her, but still, she questions what she knows because of hope. Hope that may have been right in the end, maybe if she gave him a second chance, but we all know she can't. Not if she wants to do right for every girl reading her story.

Harry might have been a good guy who made a stupid decision, but every girl needs to know that they deserve not to have to find out, especially when they're already as broken as Audrey. Who, might I add, is not 'not like other girls' like Harry suggests, and she so satisfyingly DESTROYS for saying that.

This book, as difficult as it was to read at some times because you can FEEL every trap she's falling into and you STILL have hope she'll be mistaken, is a triumph and something I think I'll find myself thinking back to quite frequently.

Song I was reminded of while reading: Grand Piano