Monday, February 29, 2016

Review: Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira

From Goodreads: In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins’ life would be a book. Preferably a YA novel with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn’t even qualify for a quiet contemporary. But when Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her, she turns to her favorite books for advice. Phoebe overhauls her personality to become as awesome as her favorite heroines and win Dev’s heart. But if her plan fails, can she go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?

My Rating: 2 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira was a novel I put on my wishlist as soon as I heard about it because it promised a bookworm as its protagonist. Sadly, this debut ended up being a disappointing read. I wasn’t a fan of its plot, and thought Bandeira tried too hard to appeal to bookish people.

As mentioned, a huge reason I was compelled to read Bookishly Ever After was because I thought I would instantly connect with the main character. Unfortunately, I ended up finding Phoebe more annoying than charming because she came across as a stereotype. Yes, we bibliophiles love to read and discuss fictional worlds and characters, but our lives don’t only revolve around them!

I also wasn’t expecting the plot to be so driven by the romance. Nothing really happens in the book other than Phoebe doing her best to impress Dev using her favourite heroines’ lines. (There are excerpts from Phoebe’s favourite novels included in Bookishly Ever After, which I felt was unnecessary because it didn’t add anything to the plot.) Moreover, the purpose of the secondary characters only seemed to be to drive the plot along (so it wasn’t surprising that they lacked depth). For example, Phoebe’s best friend is extremely pushy and convinces Phoebe that Dev is right for her, Phoebe’s sister conveniently comes back home from college once in a while to make Phoebe outfits from her favourite books, and to prove that a diverse romantic interest – Dev is Indian – can be handsome, he must be cast into a Bollywood movie.

Bookishly Ever After was released by Spencer Hill Contemporary in January 2016. 

Comments About the Cover: Huh, I just noticed the cover says, “Ever After Book One.” I didn’t realize this was going to be a series because Bookishly Ever After reads like a standalone.

6 comments:

  1. Aww, too bad! Bookish protagonists are usually among my favourites because of that connection factor. I can see how this might get under your skin and annoy you though.

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  2. This was one of the few books that I was most anticipating this year! Man, I guess I have to lower my expectations for it.

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  3. Le gasp! Okay, thanks for posting this honest review. I'm actually supposed to have reviewed this last month but...I couldn't get past chapter two. :( Which is a bummer since I was excited for it.

    Me: Finally! A book about a book lover like me.

    Great honest review.

    Precious Fragments of Life

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  4. Yeah, I've been hearing similar things about this one. It's a bummer because a bookish MC is always something to get excited about. Sorry it didn't really work out though!

    -Lauren

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  5. I've never heard of this book before, but I admit I got excited when I read the title and the first half of the summary. I thought I could connect with this too and then I read about the hottest guy and then I just had to step back. I don't think I'm ready for that right now. Also, it's too bad this focused so much on the romance. I know you don't like that stuff ;)

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  6. This is the first time I am hearing about this book, and I have to say, I will probably skip it. It sounds like someone really young would love this (which is great). And even though I am a huge romance junkie, I need a little more to my stories.

    Thanks for the review!

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