This is a compelling YA realistic fiction book. Sixteen year old Ivy and her best friend Matt love an old 80s band called Chasing Eveline that Ivy's mother had enjoyed. Ivy's mom walked out on her and her father a couple of years ago and Ivy tries to connect with her memories of her mom through the music she loved. Together Matt and Ivy hatch a plan to reunite the band and travel to Ireland to see them play. They try all sorts of fundraising with various results. This is a story about family and friendship and hope.

Wow this 1. exceeded my expectations and 2. reminded me of Chasing Nirvana, which was an underrated book I read earlier this year (IT'S SO GOOD)

I love Ivy so much. At first everything she does seems kind of stupid, but then I started to really understand why she does them. She's a huge dreamer, and hopes to hold on to bits of her mom by listening to the band she loves. I love how she describes the lead singer's voice - it's so full of emotion and made me tear up. A lot of terrible things happen to Ivy, but she continues being a tough little cookie - I really appreciate her strength and determination <3

Matt and Sean and Jackson!!! Oh my I love them all so much. Matt and Sean are always so supportive - okay, at first Matt is a little bit annoying. He keeps on whining about his ex and ughh that pisses me off. But after that I see how much he cares about Ivy and is even willing to do crazy stuff with her to make money for their trip. Sean lives in Ohio, and he has only known Matt and Ivy for a few days, but when Ivy needs assistance and support, he drives all the way to her house to cheer her up. Jackson is the most adorable doggo ever. He often plays sock tug-of-war with Ivy and gives her emotional support and that is super sweet.

However, I was really disappointed in the ending. Chasing Eveline performing live turns out to be not as great as Ivy imagines after all. It's kind of similar to the scene where Hazel meets Peter Van Houten and he crushes her dreams. I felt so sorry for Ivy. She travels all the way to Ireland just to watch a performance she doesn't really enjoy. She totally does not deserve that :(

Final thoughts

I really loved this book, and can't wait to read more of Leslie Hauser's work!

Chasing Eveline is the story about Ivy, a teenage girl who still feels connected to her AWOL mother through the music of her mother’s favourite band, Chasing Eveline. This is what drew me into the story, as music is very important to me personally and I too have a favourite band, whose songs mean the world to me.

The present tense is not my favourite, but I do like the author’s writing style, simple and effective, and quite lyrical in places. Ivy is a very likable and well-explored narrator and though I found her a bit of a headcase at times and she was full of the worst ideas, I could relate to her quite easily. The relationships between her and the other characters were very realistic.

Maybe the storyline was a bit too simple, but it did make me smile and even cry a little bit. I liked the ending too.

A quick enjoyable read!