✵ Thank you to St. Martin's Press Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book for review! Release date: May 7, 2019 ✵

This book was really a rollercoaster. I mean this both emotionally and plot-wise. I was elated, frustrated, depressed, disappointed, and surprised all over the course of this book.

I missed a key part of the synopsis that a hint of magic would be involved... so I was quite shocked when the story took a 180 halfway through.

While I did overall enjoy this book, there were some things about it that irked me, and some things about it that I liked, but I could see others not liking.

Let's start with the aspects that I liked, but I could see others disliking:

✵ Shane's voice was very juvenile for a 20 year old. I didn't mind this because I'm only 16 so her voice seemed more reflective of someone my age. I could relate to it, but I could totally see how actual 20 year olds found it annoying or immature.
✵ Her "crush" on Pilot was very obsessive and all-consuming. I didn't really mind this because I have definitely seen people fall for someone in this way, but the fact that it's not healthy probably bothered some other readers. However, I do think that Christine did a good job of recognizing how an obsessive crush or relationship is bad through Shane's decision to leave him because of her obsession. While they do end up together in the end, it is only after she and him decide to make things less all-consuming.

Aspect I disliked:

✵ Her parents constant verbal abuse was glossed over. Sure, she talked about how it hurt her, but her friends were relatively unconcerned by it. Even Shane herself just decided to "deal with it," which I don't think is a healthy message to be spreading.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I loved the message it provided about following what you truly want and not simply what you think you should achieve. I was thoroughly entertained, and I would definitely be interested in reading her future books.

I feel like I have to put out a disclaimer saying that I didn’t go into this book expecting or hoping to hate it. I was planning on supporting a fellow Booktuber, because I think it’s great that Booktubers and book bloggers are getting book deals after they’ve worked so hard on their writing. Unfortunately, Again, But Better didn’t work out for me, and I’m gonna explain why.

First of all, I did read an ARC of this and not the final version, which might explain some things, but I have to say that I feel like the book needed a lot of polishing. The writing was incredibly clumsy, and it drew me out of the story (which I wasn’t particularly enjoying, but more on that in a bit). Some examples from the uncorrected proof are:

“It doesn’t look too strange because the purse is really small, but it does look a little strange.”


“I’m going to have to take it off when I know it’s dark”


“I finally caught sight of him walking into the kitchen through the bedroom window.”

My issues with the writing weren’t helped by the fact that there was a lot of telling instead of showing. There was a lot of “we did this, and then they decided to this, and they want to do this later”.

And oh my god, while I’m talking about the writing, I also have to mention the names. The character names in this book were a joke. The love interest was called Pilot Penn, and their friends were called Babe Lozenge (a Lozenge is something you take when you’re sick) and Atticus. I was rolling my eyes so hard.

Shane, the main character, had a lot of potential for growth. Yes, she is a self-insert. Massively. She has the same blonde hair as Christine, the same quirky personality, a similar Italian surname, the same kind of username… I’m not sure what the author or the publisher were thinking when they let the character have a blog called FrenchWatermelon19. They must have known that readers generally don’t like self inserts, right?

I would have loved Shane to have been developed more, but instead she was exactly the same in 2017 as she was in 2011 (there’s a time jump halfway through the book). She didn’t grow up at all, and she was still obsessed with a guy (Pilot) that she knew for a couple of months six years previously and who she hadn’t spoken to since. The obsession was weird and uncomfortable, and I did hope that the author was going to show that that’s, well, not a good way to go about things, but she didn’t. It made me kind of angry, since Pilot had a girlfriend the entire time Shane knew him, and when Shane went to find him in 2017, he had been with said girlfriend for six years. And Shane didn’t care.

Shane also supposedly had social anxiety, but I wasn’t a massive fan of how that was handled as it just seemed to switch on and off whenever the plot called for it. It wasn’t handled well, and in my opinion Shane was mostly just awkward and quirky and shy rather than suffering from anxiety.

Another thing that really got to me was Shane’s abusive father, and how that wasn’t mentioned or addressed. The guy is very controlling, and there’s a scene in the first third of the book where he visits Shane in the UK and gets angry with her in a public restaurant in front of all her friends. He ends up belittling her, talking down at her, and then destroying her mobile phone. Destroying someone’s things like that isn’t good parenting, and in my opinion it counts as abuse. I’m really disappointed that it was portrayed as normal, and not spoken about again.

Those are pretty much all my thoughts on this book. I realise I spoke about it very negatively, but I didn’t want to give it just one star because I feel like it had some potential, and I didn’t outright hate it. I think I would probably check out more of Riccio’s work later to see if her writing improves (and if she stops inserting herself into her stories!), because there was definitely some potential there. It’s just Again, But Better wasn’t executed very well and it ended up being full of things that I absolutely hate, like cheating and abusive parents.

2.5 stars

"Again, but Better" is not a bad book at all, but it feels incredibly young to me.
The writing, the choices the characters make and the way they behave and how the adults -especially the parents - are portrayed... it all reminded me a lot of a middle grade book targeted towards the age groups around 10 years old. That age where the kid starts to feel older then they actually are, think they are smarter then they are and as if they understand the entire world, relationships and overall everything around them so much better than both the children and the adults around them. But because they are 'only' around 10 years old, they don't have the strength, ways to voice and ways to back up what they think or might be saying or how they are behaving. If that made any sense. I hope it did.

Lets try again in shorter:
For me this book felt like a child in this strange age between clear childhood, that lets you voice your wants and choices but they are still clearly controlled and watched, and still steps away from actually understanding what being responsible and actually behaving like an adult and live with your own choices.

I am guessing that it mostly reminded me of that since the main character in this book behaves incredibly childish in... well basically everything she does.
Instead of behaving like the.. what? 20 year old? she is supposed to be, and talking with her parents about wanting a break for the summer from an incredible stressful and hardworking academic school year, she lies to them and in my eyes behaves as if she is in the right because he parents pushed her to choose pre-med as an academic course choice.

For me that is not young adult behaviour. That is childish and actually also rather stupid and short sighted.

And I might have understood the need for the lying if she would have made better choices and decisions after that, but the book just continued on in this way that she would be completely reckless in her decision making, overly spontaneous, completely childish in the way of seeing something she wants and just deciding that she has to have it, consequences be damed...

in short this book was not that great for me.

It wasn't a bad one, let me say that again.

But for me its targeted towards the wrong age group.
its not YA, its clearly for younger readers that want to see someone do what they want because they want to consequences be what they might be but at least they experienced their wishes... Which for me is middle grade.

So if you want a book that has the type of characters described, horrendous portrays of parents that behave equally as childish as the main character and a bit of a too American view of Europe?
Great! Go right ahead, you will enjoy this book!

If you want an entertaining, fun and great feeling YA contemporary that takes you on a trip, gives you the feeling of meeting friends and like minded people and shows you a little view into a bit of a different lifestyle?
If you need mature twenty year old characters that understand actions of consequences, want parents to be actual adults in their reactions and at least a bit of an actual visible and relatable character growth?
Yeah... sorry, no.
This is not the one for that.

Decide for yourself if this book is for you or not.

I was very excited to receive an e-book ARC of Again, But Better via Netgalley. Christine was one of the first "Booktubers" I stumbled across on Youtube, helping me discover lots of great book friends, recommendations, reviews, and new favourite reads. It's hard to review a book from a person you've followed for a few years. I like Christine, she seems like a very kind person, and I want her to do well. One of the ways for me to possibly help her is by providing an authentic book review, free from bias. The following is an honest review of her new Contemporary Romance book set to be released on May 7, 2019.
› Setting and Plot
Again, but Better begins in 2011 with twenty-year-old Shane leaving NYC on an airplane destined for London, England, leaving pre-med to study Literature and Creative Writing. She feels like her first college experience didn't go according to plan, so she's heading overseas to study abroad and get a do-over. This time she plans on doing better at making close friends, kicking ass at her internship, travel, have adventures, start writing a novel, and finally kissing a boy. Much of the story takes place in The Karlston, a flat where Shane and fellow students are staying while attending London University. Her roommates are Sahra and Babe. They share a kitchen and common room with Atticus and Pilot. Again, but Better is a light story about Shane having adventures and learning how to open her mind and heart.

› Characters
- Shane: female protagonist. She's shy, awkward, clumsy, and unsure of herself. Her parents want her to become a doctor, but Shane wants to be a writer.
- Sahra: intelligent, motivated, and friendly. She's studying law.
- Babe: enthusiastic, positive thinking, friendly.
- Atticus: gay theater major (stereotypical, insert eye roll here).
- Pilot: studying finance, but really wants to do music. Shane has a crush on him, but he has a girlfriend.

› Likes
- I liked how Shane's voice in 2011 felt different from her character in 2017.
- Traveling to different cities was fun, and I loved the Karlston setting.
- the magical/fantasy element

› Dislikes
- Had an immature feeling for a New Adult book.
- I didn't like the ending
- There were too many references to Harry Potter, Shadowhunters, Lost, and other movies, songs, etc from 2011.
- How many chairs need to fall over?
- No one calls out her father for his verbal abuse.
- Ridiculous character names: Pilot? Babe?
- Cheating, and the person who got cheated on made into some kind of villain when it wasn't her fault at all.

› Final Thoughts
I really wanted to love this book because I adore Christine. I know how long she's been working on this novel, but I can't hide my disappointment. I will say it is a FUN and QUICK read with great setting and good pacing. Keep in mind, I did read an ARC copy, so there are details that may be different in the final copy. Again, but Better fell short for me, however, I'm really excited to see what Riccio writes next!

I'd say curling up with this book is an experience not dissimilar to watching that romcom that Netflix just added to your recommended list. It's lighthearted, fun and a nice easy read. It wasn't without its flaws, but is definitely a contemporary novel with an audience.

The writing at times did feel quite clunky to read. The phrasing is wordy in places and at times I couldn't help but feel that it was trying too hard. It was definitely readable though and this didn't put me off enough to stop reading it... especially considering how I finished it off in one day.

Shane is a very high energy kind of character. She is based on the author, which is made very obvious throughout the novel, but in an exaggerated kind of way. She's energetic, creative, dorky, easy-going and comes across as a bit of a caricature version of Riccio. I'm not sure if this contributed to the awkward vibes I got from the writing, but it's worth mentioning.

The focus of the story is not only the romance, but the development of Shane's character throughout the novel. This worked really well. She does noticeably mature a lot and grow into someone a lot more readable, which makes me think that if there were a sequel to this novel, I'd be inclined to read it. I must admit that I wasn't a massive fan of some aspects of the ending, but won't talk about it too much.

The pacing was wonderful and made this book very difficult to put down. The suspense was clearly crafted carefully and there was just enough mystery woven consistently throughout the story to keep you on your toes. I finished it with aching eyes at about 3am and regret nothing. It ended up being a really exciting story. I loved the twist and the touch of magic that I wasn't really expecting. It's the kind of thing that makes you daydream while you read it and by the end I was pretty invested in the whole thing.

Overall, I really liked this book. The story was wonderful, but I felt a little distanced at times by the unnatural phrasing. Once I got past that though it was cute, relaxing and fun. I think, especially considering how this is a debut novel, I would definitely read Riccio's next book as I'd love to see what else her imagination has in store.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’ve been around the bookish pockets of the internet, then it’s highly likely you’ll have heard about popular booktuber, Christine Riccio, or PolandBananasBooks. If you’re a fan of Christine’s videos, then you’ll also know she’s been working on a book since at least 2016 which is now finally at the end of the publishing road. It’s titled Again, but Better and I was lucky enough to receive an ARC.

Who, What, Where?
Shane’s been doing college all wrong – she’s studying a major she has no passion for, has made zero friends, and her love-life is non-existent. In the hopes of changing things up, she applies for a semester abroad creative writing program in London and an internship at a prominent travel magazine. To ensure she makes the most of the experience, Shane sets herself a list of goals – kick ass at her internship, start a novel, kiss a boy, make friends, and have adventures. However, when reality begins to set in, things quickly start to fall apart. But what if, with the help of a little magic, Shane had the chance for a do-over?

Bogged Down or Too Blunt
Having watched a few snippets of Christine’s book writing videos, I know that the first draft of Again, but Better was around 120,000 words. I couldn’t understand how this could possibly be until I actually read the ARC.

Now, this is a book that would have needed A LOT of editing.

Why? There’s just so much unnecessary detail. Being able to vividly visualise scenes is great, but there’s a point where it becomes information overload. Do I really need to know every detail about every street, building, corner, and shop on Shane’s journey to the supermarket? No. You’re writing a novel, not a London guide book.

On the flip side, the chapter ends have the opposite problem. While a lot of the story feels almost gushy, the chapters always seem to end in abrupt (but not cliff-hanger-y) ways. It’s almost as though you’d expect it to be the middle of a scene rather than the end. Because of this, they felt a little jarring and anti-climactic, impacting the flow of the novel for me.

Didn’t You Realise, it’s 2011
A large chunk of ABB is set in 2011. This is fine but, for some reason, the book feels the need to remind us repeatedly. If I’d been doing shots for 2011 references, I’d have been on the floor. Shane playing Angry Birds. Shot. Avril Lavigne’s ‘What the Hell?’ plays. Shot. Now it’s Rihanna’s ‘Who’s That Chick?’. Double shot. Shane is re-reading City of Glass for City of Fallen Angels. SHOOOOOTTTTT. Luckily for my liver, the name dropping does calm down in the second half. Even better, Christine stops trying to casually (or awkwardly) integrate the references. Instead, she even manages to turn them into a fun part of the time travel experience.

Christine, is That You?
As someone who isn’t a PolandBananasBooks fan, after I while, even I started to notice that ABB’s MC, Shane has…er…well, a lot in common with Christine. Visually, they’re both white, blonde girls with slim builds who like their eyeliner. Both have Italian families, social anxiety, and dream of being published authors. Christine’s username is PolandBananas20 while Shane’s blog is FrenchWatermelon19. They like the same books and music, name their laptops, and speak in the same generally excitable, “quirky” way. I get that authors are encouraged to write what they know, but when your MC is basically you, it does mean that your writing starts sounding a lot like wish fulfilment. As a result, there were parts of this that ended up feeling just a little bit cringy – especially the happily ever after ending.

A Re-Do on Boring
Plot-wise, I enjoyed the second half of ABB more than the first. The way the book is set out is: Shane does London take 1#, short intermission in the present before BAM time travel twist, then Shane does London take 2#. The problem with take 1# is that much of it feels like an extended prologue – laying down the groundwork for parts of take 2#. While there were a couple of moments where things picked up, most of the time I found myself bored. There are a lot of mundane conversations, quite a bit of repetition, and lengthy sections involving Shane recounting uninteresting details of her day-to-day life in her notebook.

The beginning of take 2# is where things picked up. The humour was better, the writing smoother, and the plot showed more direction. Then, to my frustration, (a) it slowed down again and (b) the characters returned to making frustrating decisions. *groans*.

A Bit of Positivity
At this point, I feel like I’m crapping all over a young author’s debut novel. So, with that in mind here are a few of the things I liked about ABB:

- The book does have some genuinely funny elements e.g. Shane’s war with the flat’s dining chairs and her recount of the way she spent her spring break. Basically me.
- Despite having issues with them as separate characters, I did root for Shane and her love interest, Pilot, to end up together. They have some nice interactions, especially in take 2#.
- While the ending was rushed, unrealistic and corny, I couldn’t help finding it very cute. Stupid swoony heart, you’re supposed to be a cynic! Must be the magic of Taylor Swift.
- *spoiler* There’s a really lovely moment during take 2# in which Shane helps out her cousin who is struggling with coming out. Super sweet.
- I’m sure there will be people out there who can relate to Shane’s anxiety issues, and she does have a couple of panic attacks during the novel.
_________________________________
While I hate to say it, I wasn’t much of a fan of this one and probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t a big Christine viewer (because it has her written all over it). Again, but Better has its brighter moments, but unfortunately, they’re often overshadowed by the novel’s lower points.

2.5 STARS

*** ARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I really really really wanted to like this book. I am SO happy for Christine and I know she put so much work in this book. I read 40% of it and I don't think I can continue. Right off the bat, the shear amount of pop culture references started to grate on my nerves. Usually, I don't mind a few here and there but explaining the brand of cell phone (LG Voyager, in case you were wondering) was just excessive. It feel like she was name dropping brands or something. The character names felt like they were all trying too hard. Each one was more hipster than the next. Atticus? Okay, MAYBE some parents love To Kill a Mockingbird. Fine. Pilot? Weirder still but okay. Sahra? But pronounced Sarah? come on. BABE?! Are you serious? Each name pulled me more and more out of the plot until I was totally distracted. At one point, I got the impression that Sahra was possibly Asian but the way Shane described her wasn't in a favorable light and then I was distracted for a few pages while I tried to figure out if that was the case or not. The obsession the main character has with Pilot is really offputting as well. I expected her to back off when she found out that Pilot had a girlfriend but if anything, she's just even more obsessed with what Pilot is doing at all hours of the day. The main character seems to totally disregard a relationship that someone is in. Finally, there are places in which every single minute of a morning is described and it becomes tedious trying to get from point A to point B. I do appreciate that this could be evidence of Shane's anxiety because it did read that way to me at certain times. Finally, because we know Christine so well through her youtube channel, the self-insert is abundantly evident but this honestly doesn't bother me. I hope that through writing the book, Christine was able to revisit her own experiences.

Normally, I would not rate a book that I DNF because the ending could have an influence on the rating, but for the purposes of Netgalley, I have to include a rating. This rating reflects ONLY the first 40% of the book.

Today, my review is going to be a little different than normal. I had the pleasure of buddy reading this book with my friend Debby @ alwaysbooking. My review will be comprised of 5 questions we both answered about Again, but Better. You can check out her review here.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

1. What was your favorite thing about this book?
Oh, boy. This is a hard question to answer without giving too much away. The second half of the book was my favorite part of it. It's not because I loved it. There was just this period of truths that were important. Without those truths, I would have hated this book. Those truths were my favorite things about it. I guess I did have one other favorite thing. I loved the banter between Shane and Pilot. It was quirky, but cool.

2. Who of all the characters mentioned in the book was your favorite?
I honestly don't think I had a favorite character. There were a few small moments of liking certain ones. Atticus and Babe both seemed like good friends. They had that going for them. Pilot made some decisions early on that I ended up thinking were super smart, but will probably make other readers mad. Wait! Let's go with Shane's cousin, Leo. He can be my favorite. (Which says A LOT, if you end up reading this book.)

3. Cover love or no cover love?
I think the cover fits the book. It's unique. I wouldn't say it calls to me specifically, but I like it.

4. Did you find the character developed well throughout the book or were you left wanting more?
Oh, geez... Shane was a freaking mess. She was obsessive and self-centered. She was supposed to be like 19 or 20, but acted more like a 16 year old. Which, I have to stop now and mention that this book is categorized as YA/Teen. I'm thinking that's because the topics seem to be pretty juvenile at first. I don't know that I agree with this, though. The characters are college age, so it should be NA. It doesn't feel or read like a NA book, though. I would probably just throw it in the general fiction category. It's doesn't even read like a true contemporary romance.

Anyways... Back to the actual question. Shane let a possible relationship with a guy take over her life in only the way a teenager can, but it was super weird because there wasn't much to build that obsession on. She basically decided to make him her life after minutes of meeting him. I didn't like Shane and honestly didn't care if she got the guy or not. Well, actually, I didn't want her to get him. I just wanted to give her a good shake and tell her figure her stuff out. It wasn't until almost the end of the book that I felt Shane's character truly developed. Something gave her that shake I wanted to, and then I found myself saying, "FINALLY!"

So... Yes, there was character development. It came in fits and spurts. I think I was happy with it at the end. Honestly, I didn't find myself wanting more at the end. I was just happy it was over. Brutal, I know. Sorry.

5. Would you attempt another book by this author, seeing as it was her debut book?
That's a tough question. I want to say yes, that I would give this author another chance because it was her first novel and I didn't think the writing was horrible or anything. The reality is that I probably wouldn't unless the blurb was something I felt incredibly drawn to or I read reviews by trusted blogger friends that said it was a must read.

And that's it for my review. If you have any other questions for me about this book, leave them in the comments section.

Again, but Better focuses on Shane, who’s entire life has pretty much been mapped out by her parents wants and aspirations for her. They have her on the fast track to becoming an aspiring doctor. But all Shane really wants to do is read and write and has aspirations of her own to becoming an author; but she doesn’t want to let her parents down. Shane ends up being able to study abroad in London as a part of a writing program and becomes an intern at a travel magazine and for once in her life, she can get away from her parents overbearing expectations.

This novel is also told in two different parts. The first being in 2011, during Shane’s study abroad program in London when she’s 20. The second part being in 2017, when Shane is 26 and trying to get a start into her career. I for one, really enjoyed this because we got to see Shane at two completely different points in her life. It was great to see how she evolved, changed and grew in that time period as well.

Shane is awkward, she’s quirky and she’s relatable. But at times, I did feel like she was a little ‘too Christine’. If you’re familiar with Christine from her videos and her channels, then you’ll easily pick up on the similarities between the two of them. And I’m sure plenty of reviewers will hate that for whichever reasons; but I didn’t actually mind it too much. And as the story developed Shane quickly came into herself and the similarities between her and Christine escaped my mind.

I love love love, how even though there is a romance in this book and this is a romance book. It is still first and foremost a story about finding yourself and learning to live your life for yourself. Not for other people. It’s about becoming comfortable in your own skin, doing things that may scare you and just being happy with your own choices. This is a concept that even I have a hard time learning and living with; but it’s something that everyone needs to know. So I was happy to see it in writing.

Something else that I’m sure would probably annoy others; but what I really loved was all the references to some of Christine’s favorite tv shows and books. I was living for the Harry Potter and The Mortal Instruments references sprinkled throughout this novel. It was fun.

I think I’m going to end this by talking about the relationship in this book. Because yes while it was cute as hell and I found myself smiling like an idiot most times. A big part of it didn’t sit well with me. Shane and Pilot, (yes as in a tv show’s first episode) were totally adorable together. And I loved how they were friends first and it developed into more. Their banter was A+; especially when it dipped into flirty banter. I just love these two together. But I also feel guilt about that because of the grey-area cheating in this book. That is just a huge problem and doesn’t sit well with me and I can’t exactly be okay with their relationship because of how it started.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book and I’m excited to eventually read the finished copy and see if anything is different. While, this book does have his faults, you can tell just how much hard work Christine put into it and I’m excited to see future works from her.

3.25-3.5⭐️

I really liked the beginning of this book. I liked all of the characters and the comical situations that Shane got herself into. The second half of the book fell flat to me. There were way too many references to Harry Potter; it became annoying.

This was a cute, okay read. Probably perfect as a summer read.

I was provided this book for free in exchange for my honest review.
#netgalley

I just finished Again, but Better by Christine Riccio and it gets 5 stars! I have a hard time with the YA genre, because I find they usually try to be edgy and end up coming out ridiculously over-the-top and cheesy. I found this one to be so relatable. It was so nice that it wasn’t trying to force sex, drugs and partying down my throat and try to normalize these behaviors like I find other YA books do—which I don’t think is good for teens to be reading. I found the main character, Shane to be completely relatable. I am going to miss her and wish she was a real blogger “for realsies” so I could keep tabs on her and her life.
I found the way this was written, heavy on dialogue, lots of postcards, blog posts and journal entries to move quickly and smoothly and I truly enjoyed it. I found the way Shane communicated to be super endearing and I was rooting her on the whole way through.
Trigger warning: There is some partying, (but legal), an almost sex-scene and some cussing.

Unfortunately, this book isn't for me. I made it 10% through on my kindle. I found the writing to be good, but the characters really got on my nerves. The main character, Shane, was awkward almost to a painful point. I also didn't like some of the names the author chose, like Pilot Penn. The more I was reading, the more I was not liking it. And based on some other reviews I've read about the book, it seems like these things don't improve. Therefore, I'm going to put the book aside. Thank you for the chance to read this book.

I liked the idea of Again, But Better. However, I had a hard time feeling invested in the characters and plot. The characters fell flat for me, causing me to skim over some parts. I did love the descriptions of the study abroad setting and hearing about the Shane's travels! I enjoyed reading the second half of the book more than the beginning. I would have liked for some parts of the plot to be more developed, like her relationship with her parents and Leo. Overall, this was an okay read for me. I would recommend it to fans of Christine Riccio's Youtube book reviews.

If you could do things differently – with the knowledge you have now – would you change your past?

Shane is not happy with how her college experience is turning out so she decides to apply for a study abroad program and try something different! She will be bolder – she will follow her dreams of being a writer and she will kiss a boy she likes. Things don’t go as planned and she is left feeling worse than when she started. I don’t feel like I can say any more without giving away major spoilers.

One thing I loved is that it is filled with fun pop culture references and other little gems from 2011 that will any bookie or fandom lovers will appreciate. It takes place in the UK but also New York and Paris and Rome so it has lots of fun worldly and travel references. There are so many fun pieces of this story that it truly feels like a coming of age rom-com that I would love to see on the big screen!

The author of this book, Christine, is also a Book-Tuber that I subscribe to and quite enjoy. I found that I had trouble separating the character of Shane with the Youtube persona of Christine! Not that it is a bad thing! Shane (and Christine) would definitely be a fun person to hang around!

Violence: None

Sex: Yes – this is a book about young college students, it isn’t graphic but it is present.

Substance – minor drinking

Language: Coarse language is present.

I would categorize this book as a new adult book vs a young adult book primarily because they are in college vs being in high school. It is appropriate for ages 16 plus.

I received this ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

GoodReads Review:
From one of the most followed booktubers today, comes Again, but Better, a story about second chances, discovering yourself, and being brave enough to try again.
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 a 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, with the right amount of courage and determination one can conquer anything. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic—the possibilities are endless.
Review:
I was very kindly provided this ARC via NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review. I’m an avid BookTube watcher and Christine is one of my favorites to watch. She’s just so full of energy and personality. I was very excited to see that she was coming out with a book.
Christine’s personality is very much present in this book. The main character Shane is definitely someone that reminds me of Christine, from what I know of her as an outside perspective. It also sounds like some of this was taken from her own experiences of studying abroad. This kind of annoyed me in the beginning, but I kind of enjoyed it by the end of the book. Shane was very young and even sometimes a little annoying at times in the first half of the book. She was quirky, but almost too much so. She definitely made me laugh a few times. And I really understood the struggle with her family. But I thought she had a little too much annoyance for her cousins and I’m glad of how she amended that in the later half.
I was surprised by the second half of this story. It went in a direction that I certainly did not expect. I really liked the second half. Everything about it was better. Shane had grown, the writing was better. It was just all around more enjoyable.
I’d say this was an average debut novel. I’ve already preordered it and I’m happy to support Christine. I’m excited to see her writing grow and get better the more that she writes.
Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

There were quite a few things I liked about <i>Again but better</i> but what really got my attention were the themes - overcoming social awkwardness and choosing your own path. The main character, Shane, “had been doing college all wrong.” Well, even though there really is no right/wrong way to “do “college, I understood and admired her self- driven awareness and attempts to change and grow. Gave Shane credit for moving in new and different directions and following her own interests/career path. As a YA title, I think readers will relate to these themes. At the same time, it seemed a bit far-fetched that all of her goals seemed to fall into place upon landing in London – it’s just not that easy.

The story also touched on a number of other current issues and underlying moral challenges that many YA readers will identify with even if they are not fully explored or resolved in the novel. One example is honesty, or lack of, in Shane’s relationship with Pilot as well as her parents (and vice versa in both cases.)

Overall, this was a light, entertaining read but not up to par with the best YA authors. But room to grow is not a bad thing and is to be expected from a new(-ish) author.



FYI - I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to start off with the most important part of this review -- I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Yes, in capital letters with extra exclamation marks. I'm not usually the kind of person to nearly keyboard smash when it comes to a review, but Christine did an amazing job with this book. I was unsure going in, but by a quarter of the way through I was hooked. I had to know more about Shane! It was heartwarming and heartbreaking and totally relatable all at once. You can bet I'll be buying a physical copy of this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

Here we have the debut novel of BookTube star Christine Riccio, "Again, but Better". The novel follows Shane across Europe as she takes a semester abroad to study creative writing, her true passion despite her parents' pressuring her to become a doctor. She meets someone special, but when the planets don't align for this star-crossed couple, it takes a few broken rules of physics and reality itself for Shane to become the woman she was always meant to be.

First things first, I've been following polandbananasbooks for years, since midway through high school. Now I'm a college undergrad, studying by day and reading fantasy by night. I adore Christine for her bubbly personality and willingness to share all about her life, but her distinctive persona was almost a detriment to her book. Something that immediately stuck out to me was how Christine essentially repackaged her own life story into this book. Shane's experiences and personality are almost perfect mirrors of Christine's, from the way that Shane's roommates got a new housing situation without her—which prompted her to study abroad in London in the first place—to her blog name. She has the same obsession with Taylor Swift, Lost, and YA books. Knowing this, I couldn't really take this book quite as seriously, since it was essentially self-insert fiction.

To be entirely fair, I just don't think that romcom YA contemporary is for me. I found myself rolling my eyes at all of the cheesy dialogue, where so many conversations were dedicated to geeky humor with very little substance for the most part. It's not my personal cup of tea, but I suppose I'm not really the target demographic for this book. A lot of the characters weren't very memorable, and I really had a hard time telling Shane's friends apart. I was also deeply uncomfortable with how much cheating goes on in this book. The love interest has a girlfriend when he and Shane are falling in love, for crying out loud.

Still, there were a lot of very relatable aspects of this book, particularly the sections where Shane's parents really pressured her into doing a more lucrative degree (premed) rather than what she was truly interested in (creative writing), that did resonate with me. I'm a college student myself, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, and ultimately I can empathize with Shane a lot as she goes through those same struggles. I felt that the overall resolution of this conflict was rather unsatisfactory, however, since we are never shown the progression of how Shane mends the relationship with her parents after they find out the truth about her "premed" program.

A BIG, very subjective tangent here: this is a personal belief of mine, simply because of the way I was raised, but I felt extremely anxious about Shane's decisions throughout the novel. At one point in the novel, it's stated that her parents pay $50,000 per year for her to attend university, which is an extremely large sum of money. As the daughter of immigrant parents with broken English who came to America living off of whatever scholarship money the university program gave them, I was implicitly taught that the humanities were a "worthless" pursuit. My father came from a poor province and studied his ass off to get his master's in software engineering. My mother studied literature all throughout undergrad and grad school, and it is still her greatest passion today. But she could not find work, and so she got a master's in library/database sciences in order to raise our family. I will never stop being grateful to my parents for putting 110% into making sure that my sister and I can live comfortably, but as a result, I myself feel deeply uncomfortable about the idea of pursuing a degree that so often sends people back to school looking for a more technical major with a higher salary. In the story, I found myself really sympathizing with Shane's parents, because I absolutely understand their fears. They're the same fears I have. I don't condone Shane's father's harsh language, but I 100% understand where it's coming from.

I'm not so ignorant as to say that a humanities degree is useless, because there are plenty of jobs looking for people taught those critical reading and writing skills, and you can always go on to become a professor such that you can research those topics for the rest of your days. Society without the colorful touch of the arts would be painfully bland (I'd die without books!). Still, I personally am still struggling to come to terms with my own biases based on my upbringing. For Shane, the decision was very much all or nothing, without any safety nets. She dove in headfirst, and that just sent my anxiety into overdrive. Perhaps if Christine had explored this complex issue more thoroughly, I wouldn't be left with this maelstrom of conflicting emotions. I'm not a fan of the theme of "chasing after your dreams recklessly because everything will be okay as long as you work hard" because that's not how it works in real life. It hasn't worked out for so many of my peers, and it just deeply unsettles me.

Oof, sorry if that sounded really cynical! I have a lot of opinions regarding higher education, but they're by no means law. Overall, I just wasn't a huge fan of the style and plot, and while some of the themes were interesting, they weren't explored as deeply as I would have liked. I imagine that I'm just not the sort of readership that Christine is hoping to target with this, simply due to my own life experiences making me a pessimistic downer haha.

3.75/5*

Received this ARC from netgalley. **

While I’ve heard of Christine Riccio all over from YouTube, i was definitely intrigued when she was writing this book.

My thoughts without spoilers of course.

I found that the writing style was very interesting. The first part was told in 2011 and the second was told six years later. While i did find the second part unexpected, it did added a bit more of a mystery aspect of it to the story and thus more of the plot thickens.

I did find the characters enjoyable. Each of them had their personalities about them and there were a few i had a bit of a love/hate relationship towards a few in particular.

The plot. While i did love the travel, adventure and dab of romance, there was some of it that had the typical drama (family, relationships, etc) i felt that it was a bit over dramatic at times but aside from that, i did feel that i was actually traveling through Europe and seeing how it all folded out at once.

Overall, i did enjoy this book and would definitely recommend this to those who love travel stories with a touch of magic

I did not enjoy this book. It was not well put together, the main character was very annoying, the plot had some serious holes (especially when it came to the time travel) and I just didn't enjoy the story. It read more like a fan fiction than a cohesive novel and I don't think it has much in the way of character development or a clear message.