Again, but Better Book Review

I normally try not to judge a book based on its cover, but this one I grabbed off the shelf at Barnes and Nobles because 1. it has soft pink tones and 2. Big Ben will forever be eye-catching. I finished reading this gem in the middle of the night and although I didn't know what to expect of it going in, I truly enjoyed reading this refreshing new story. I don't follow Christine anywhere and I've only watched a couple of her videos, but I know she's super popular in the BookTube community so I decided to give this book a try.

Again, but Better Book Summary

Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents … sounds ideal, but Shane’s made zero friends, goes home every weekend, and romance … what’s that? Her life has been dorm, dining hall, class, repeat. Time’s ticking, and she needs a change — there’s nothing like moving to a new country to really mix things up. Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She’s going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure! Easier said than done. She is soon faced with the complicated realities of living outside her bubble, and when self-doubt sneaks in, her new life starts to fall apart. Shane comes to find that one can conquer anything with the right amount of courage and determination. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic — the possibilities are endless.

Again, but Better Book Review

In this story, we follow sweet, introverted, shy Shane. She gets to go to London for a study abroad program in creative writing. She’s a junior in college and apparently, she has been doing college all wrong. She has no friends, no dating experience whatsoever and she’s looking for a fresh new start in life that she thinks will happen in London. And to give her credit she does do well, at least for the first part.

If you get over how annoying her self-pitying and self-loathing go, you can actually really enjoy her character. She’s so funny, outgoing, and sincere. Multiple times throughout the story I found myself laughing and smiling and I even cried once, so there’s that. But this story has an interesting turn of events that you really don’t see coming. Like everything was fun and games until we got to the second part of the book, and I was like “wtf?!” but later on I realized why. And I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to give anything away but the turns of events are for the better.

She meets this boy whose name is Pilot (seriously, that’s his name), and they hit it off immediately, that is until she finds out he has a girlfriend and then things get awkward from then on. But the story is still interesting. Their dynamic is unique, they make a really fun couple, and their jokes are totally adorable. Pilot is funny and charming and their connection is incredible. Again, I genuinely liked their relationship.

Shane is fun and quirky and we as bloggers have a lot in common with her. She blogs, she writes for passion and she’s just as lost in this world as we all are. The element of traveling was a nice addition to the story. The characters that we follow in this book not only go to London but they go to many European countries and Riccio does a great job of describing them to us. More than once I felt like I was in one of the sceneries that she painted throughout this book and since one of my goals is to travel the world, I appreciated that she brought a little piece of the world to me.

And last but not the least, there’s an element of surprise throughout the middle of this book and what you thought was going to be a story about a girl who lost something important to her ends up being something much more interesting. Shane ends up getting a second shot to relive her past in London and fix her future, but how? You'll have to read it and see for yourself!