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Book Review

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Publisher's Note:

A laugh-out-loud funny and emotionally resonant send-up of Legally Blonde and The Ex Talk, Begin Again is a vibrant, romantic novel about the journey we take to find our people, and ourselves. As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: Transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, major in psychology, and maintain her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure despite the nerves that have recently thrown her for a loop. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together. But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Her roommate Shay needs a major, and despite Andie’s impressive track record of being The Fixer, she’s stumped on how to help. And Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack at a time. But sometimes, when all your plans are in rubble at your feet, you find out what you’re made of. And when Andie starts to find the power of her voice as the anonymous Squire on the school’s legendary pirate radio station–the same one her mom founded, years before she passed away–Andie learns that not all the best laid plans are necessarily the right ones. Filled with a friend group that feels like family, an empowering journey of…

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Begin Again

by Emma Lord

Reviewer: Mireille
Genre: Romance
Recommended Age: 16+

Overall Book Review:

Emma Lord’s debut book, Tweet Cute, was wildly popular on social media when it came out, but her following works have received much less attention. While Begin Again doesn’t quite measure up to Tweet Cute, it’s still a fun YA romance.

Begin Again has some good things going for it. I enjoyed that it took place in college while reading like a YA romance. It’s full of fun college shenanigans and has the found family aspect that works well with characters living in a dorm. The main character builds a variety of relationships with people from different backgrounds and, of course, spends time finding herself. Emma Lord also addresses issues such as dealing with grief and working through personal challenges.

However, I didn’t find myself connecting with this book as much as I had hoped. I think this was largely because the college occurrences described here didn’t resemble my university experience. Despite the many logical explanations for this, including that I go to school in Canada, it did detract from my reading enjoyment. The plot is also rather predictable. While it’s likely intentional that the love interest is recognizable from the moment he steps into the room, I could have used something more surprising.

This is a good choice if you’re looking for a sweet YA romance. It does touch on themes of finding yourself and dealing with the past and will certainly be enjoyed by fans of Emma Lord.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 5 religious exclamations; 1 religious profanity; 17 mild obscenities; 5 anatomical terms; 1 derogatory name; 34 scatological terms; 16 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore: None

Sex/Nudity: Mention of a female character’s ex-girlfriend; mention of a character being bisexual; female character frequently feels attracted to a male character; a female character has a boyfriend; a few instances where characters hug or touch romantically; characters discuss a story featuring a prominent lesbian relationship; two female characters flirt and gradually enter a romantic relationship; four instances when a male and a female character kiss; one instance where two female characters kiss; a character declares their love for another.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of a parent; romantic cheating; LGBTQ+ relationships; grief; family relationships.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Underage characters drink alcohol; an adult smokes.

Overall Book Rating
Profanity/Language
Rating:
10
10
Violence/Gore
Rating:
0
10
Sex/Nudity
Rating:
3
10

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About the Reviewer

Mireille
I was homeschooled from kindergarten to grade 10, which gave me a love for reading. Growing up books were an integral part of my life, and I’ve always been able to make time to read. I’m most widely read in YA fiction, but fantasy is becoming my favorite genre. My free time not spent reading is mostly spent outdoors camping, riding a bicycle, or otherwise enjoying nature. I’m also a science nerd with a special interest in entomology.

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