If you like: feelings, complicated family, power of friendship, figuring stuff out, Rainbow Rowell, Sophie Kinsella, The Hating Game
"So, can you let me into the secret of how someone as intelligent as you, frequently behaves like a complete arse?"
Edie skipped the “figuring stuff out” step as an adolescent, choosing instead to flee family complications by moving to London and working hard at living an Instagram-worthy adult life.
But the past has shaped Edie more than she wants to admit and disaster sends her back to the town and people she left behind.
My biggest complaint about this book is it takes Edie a while to get back to ground zero, but once she does, the story picks up quick.
It is, after all, a book about relationships. Whether it’s the way she has to learn to overcome the unspoken grief that sits between her and her family, or taking the next step in every lifelong friendship -- the leap from inventing cheap cocktails together to genuinely admiring your friend’s architectural features.
Is it a rom-com? Yes, that’s there, in the form of a nice-guy actor with a secret.
Is it an accurate representation of fame? Don’t ask me.
But Elliot seems like someone you already know, and that’s what makes the book click. There’s dimension to him and all of the secondary characters.
If you’re looking for a glitter-saturated Cinderella tale, this isn’t it.
There’s fights, there’s banter, there’s misunderstandings. There’s a high-strung director who makes cursing an art.
While a lot of modern romance novels split narration between the heads of both protagonists, this one focuses solely on Edie. But it’s not to keep the mystery of whether the guy with great hair and nice manners is interested in her -- pretty much everyone has figured out that one.
What keeps it interesting is why Edie can’t figure it out herself.
It is oh-so-satisfying once she does.
"Who's That Girl?" by Mhairi McFarlane; HarperCollins UK; Sept. 2016.
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