Again, but Better by Christine Riccio

Summary:     This book is about a girl named Shane and she does not have any friends. She’s in her early twenties and didn’t get to experience college like everyone else because her anxiety of making friends and having a boyfriend has weighed her down all her life. Shane decides to study abroad in London and study creative writing in hopes of finding a career surrounding it and to prove to her parents that she doesn’t need to be a doctor to be successful. She also goes in hopes of finding friends and (fingers crossed) a boyfriend. This book is about finding yourself and doing things out of your comfort zone. 

Opinions: Okay, unpopular opinion time! I really enjoyed this book. I’m not just saying that because I love Christine and I have since I was twelve. I really loved the plot and the characters. Shane was quirky and though she was immature at some points, she was fun to read about. Pilot DID annoy me sometimes but he redeemed himself in the end and he’s cute so I let his aggravating personality (at times) slide. I will admit it was kind of cringey when Pilot would sing (especially Taylor Swift) but I thought it was kind of cute and light hearted. Shane was living my dream. She studied abroad in LONDON to intern at a travel magazine and got to study creative writing. Like how cool is that!  I know some people complained because this story was way too similar to Christine's life but I was not complaining because it was cute. I made little notes in the book whenever she would reference her YouTube channel or her life in general. It’s her first book so we should give her a break with that. 

This was the perfect summer read because it was light hearted and I didn’t have trouble reading it. If anyone out there needs a cute and quirky contemporary book with lots of traveling and bookish vibes this book is perfect! I’m giving this book four out of five stars because Christine still has a long way to go but I did really love this book and I think, for her first book, it deserves four stars. 

Spoiler time! I was shocked with the plot twist where they were sent back to 2011. I did not see it coming, my mouth literally flew open when it happened. I really enjoy when I can’t expect a plot twist.  I also LOVED how we got to see another book blogger at the end interviewing Shane. It was nice getting the representation as a book blogger and it was so cute seeing everything come full circle for Shane.  When Pilot proposed at the end I was so excited and the way he did it was extremely cute and sentimental. Their relationship throughout was frustrating but by the end I shipped them and it made their journey worth it.