I was apprehensive going into my reading of this book. I am often skeptical that the written work of a popular YouTuber/Booktuber will actually reflect the support and hype they receive from their many followers. I will admit that I am one of Christine’s forever followers. Like so many other book-lovers, Polandbananasbooks was the very first YouTube/BookTube channel I ever subscribed to, back in 2014. I tried to stay as objective and unbiased as possible when reading this, especially given that it’s an ARC.

My warning to existing fans of Christine’s that read Again, But Better, is that you will likely be unable to separate the main character (Shane) from the author (Christine). You will read this book with her voice in your head. It is completely understandable for this to happen to the reader; the levels of meta happening in this book are off the charts. I mean, Shane’s blog name is FrenchWatermelon19. Shane’s looks, career aspirations, favorite books, movies, and music are all direct reflections of the author’s. The similarities are unfiltered and obvious.

My biggest issue with this book is that parts of Shane’s personality were less fleshed out than they should/could have been. Not enough time was dedicated to her relationship with Leo, her flatmates, or her anxieties. They are talked about in the beginning when Shane first arrives at London, but then never gone into detail after that. And maybe this is because Shane overcomes her anxieties in her journey of growth, but that was never made clear. I can’t help but feel that a part of the reason I knew so much about Shane, despite not actually being shown anything, is because I am familiar with the author.

I was also not a fan of the way I was hit over the head with references. I would rather get to know a character through their thoughts, actions, and conversations than with references to pop culture. These allusions were so specific to the author and her actual likes & lifestyle, I feel like readers who randomly pick this book up and don’t know her from YouTube will be either confused, irritated, or underwhelmed; and that is the main problem with this novel. Fortunately, I understood all of the references, and they definitely gave me a laugh.

My favorite aspect of this book was the actual coming of age part. In particular, Shane coming to terms with being an individual and finding her happiness, and the repercussions she faces with her parents as a result. Shane basically has to gain some courage and work hard in the face of uncertainty; maybe even harder because of that uncertainty. This was encouraging and definitely a lesson that young readers need to be exposed to: check in with yourself and pursue what makes you happy. Work hard at what you want because you want it. Do not be afraid to love your “nerdy” stuff unabashedly.

There were parts where it felt like she got me individually. For example, there is a line where Shane says, “I expel the giant breath I’ve been very aware of holding the past thirty seconds.” I immediately started cackling and showed that to my husband, because he knows that one of my biggest pet peeves in books is the cliche “I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding” line. It really seemed like she was totally calling out those authors who use it! It was glorious.

There were certain story elements that came out of left field for me, but in a good way! It kept the book surprising and kept me turning the pages. The “big twist” was an incredibly creative way to move the plot and Shane forward. I would tell you more, but… spoilers!

I had such a fun time reading this. It didn’t drag in any way, the writing was accessible (if a bit immature and cutesy) and I was invested in Shane’s well-being. I loved that that she wasn’t in high school, it made her coming of age story different from that of other YA novels. Shane’s actual adventures were also super fun, and I felt like I was living vicariously through her. I haven’t had the opportunity to travel much due to some life circumstances, so this made me long to be her age again so I could see more of the world too.

Overall this was a quirky, unique, and binge-worthy read that was simply adorable. I can’t wait to see more from Christine, as I’m sure she will write a book soon again, but better (see what I did there?? Do you see??).

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book was literally what I've expected, sadly.
I didn't even know who Christine Riccio was until I googled her name.

That's beside the point though. I found major issues in the writing style. I didn't connect with that nor the characters.
Honestly, I didn't care for this book at all unfortunately since I couldn't wait to end it =(

Oh boy there is a lot of things wrong with this novel.
First of all, it is completely self-insert. We have this main character, Shane, who is socially inept and wants to be a writer with an Italian name and a quirky handle online (FrenchWatermelon19). I am extremely not impressed by this, because when critics and reviewers and editors say "write what you know" they do not mean this. Christine Riccio is an avid reader, as evident by her own youtube channel, she should know better.
The writing style is also severely underdeveloped. She writes like she talks - very stream of consciousness, with a lot of redundant anecdotes about pop culture and references to books and tv shows. It dates the book so much, and it makes it basically unreadable say 20 years in the future. At least the grammar is good.

Plotwise she has written Anna and the French kiss except in London, with a touch of magical realism, and I am not a fan at all. This is not an original idea, the characters have no personality and the plot is basically "quirky girl goes to London and falls in lust with the first guy she sees". Literally, he is the first guy she sees through a window. This is not how good writing works. This is not how plot works. They go on to have these adventures in foreign countries (Italy and France), but we don't really get a sense of the cultures either. Saying you're at the Eiffel Tower doesn't make it Paris.

I don't know. I was not impressed. I dnf'ed it at about 50% because things were getting next level ridiculous.

This book being by a "Youtuber" should have been my first clue. It reads 100% like YA and the main character doesn't read like a college student, but the most immature high schooler I can think of. Not only does she name her laptop, write hokey little "never been kissed" lists in her journal and have sophisticated innermost thoughts like "my sometimes blue eyes flash gray today," but the premise and cover BOTH pointed to a much more mature book. The premise sounded really interesting to me and I'm disappointed, ultimately.

I would say this is a 3.75/5 for me. I think it was a bit of a slow start. However, it did pick up and we did have a twist which was unexpected but reminded me too much of an abc family Christmas movie (before it became free form). Even though the dialogue was quirky and a bit awkward sometimes I enjoyed it and I also enjoyed just how relatable shane’s life is

This book was such a fun read. The concept was amazing and so much more than I thought that it was going to be. A lot of things happened that I did not expect to happen and it made the book amazing. This is not your typical contemporary young adult novel. It is filled with some great modern references that I really enjoyed. I loved all of the characters and thought that they were perfect. I have been watching Christine's YouTube channel for years now and I can see Christine in this book. You can literally read her personality in this book and I love it. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait to buy a finished copy!

The description of “Again, But Better” enticed me because it sounded like a fun and relatable read. Shane is a college student studying abroad ready to “redo” her college experience. The cast of characters were interesting, and you get experience Shane’s journey with her while seeing the impact of certain decisions on her life. There are some parts that are a bit of a stretch, and some “magical moments”. Overall, the book was cute, but I just didn’t feel fully immersed in the plot and 100% connected to it.

This YA novel was OK and enjoyable enough; I’d probably give it 3.5 Stars. It definitely has that touch of charm. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit that my initial interest in this book was because of the author. Christine has been talking about this book and her journey in writing it for a long time now, and I was really excited to get the ARC. I thought that the story as cute and that it was a solid debut, but there we some aspects of the plot that irked me and left me a little confused.

Again But Better is the story of Shane, who feels like she has wasted her entire university career by spending her time studying something she isn't even sure she wants to do for the rest of her life. She decides to take a risk, and goes off to university in London with the intention to put herself out there more, make more friends, write more and maybe find a boyfriend. Soon she meets her flat mates, Babe, Atticus, Sahra, and Pilot and quickly becomes friends with all of them. In the semester that follows learns a lot about the world, love, friendship, and following your dreams no matter what the cost.

The plot of this book a good, but it didn't blow me away by any means. There were a lot of cute moments in this book between Shane and her love interest, Pilot, and great friendship moments as well. I enjoyed reading about places they travelled to, having been to quite a few of them myself, and all the adventures they had while exploring. There were some lulls in a few parts, and I found the ending kind of abrupt and resolved quicker than I expected. I didn't really love all the emotional cheating involved in this one, and it made me like the main romantic plot line a little less.

I really did like the arc Shane went through in this book and how much she grew as an individual. There were parts, however where I found her to be a little much and little too much like the author. Pilot was a solid romantic interest, but I never felt that attached to him. The same can be said about a lot of the characters. Although we learnt a bit about them, I never really felt all that attached to them individually, which took away from the plot for me. I also wish the parent characters and plot line had more to it as well, especally when it came to their relationship with Shane..

Overall this was a quick and entertaining read, but there was a lot of things I wish where explained or fleshed out more.

Again, But Better is a coming of age romance, set during a study abroad summer in London. The premise itself was enough to hook me on the book and I was sucked into the drama from the get go.

Shane, Pilot, Babe, and all the characters were so relatable and lovable. Their development over the course of the book was honest and emotional to the point of bringing me to tears. The difference in character arcs in Part 1 versus Part 2 of the book really connect the title to the narrative itself. I love the thematic continuity with the character arcs. It showed some really complex and detailed planning and consideration for how characters would behave and how the needed to be seen as real people. This made me connect to them as realistic entities whom I would have loved to meet.

I loved how in the second part of the book more detail was given to aspects and relationships that weren't given much thought. I loved how Shane and Babe's friendship gets stronger and how Shane's effort to communicate with Leo really shows how much simple human connection really changes the emotional dynamic between family members. This motif of communication and reaching out instead of isolating oneself really manifests beautifully through character relationships.

The romance balanced with self growth was something I found to be really important not just as a narrative tool but also as a life lesson for me, the reader. Shane and Pilot grew apart and together as characters which really strengthened their bond as main characters for me.

The added element of unexplained magic was not as unexpected as I thought it would be. I expected to want answers for why these strange moments were happening but I was okay with not knowing. The book was written in such a way thatI was more emotionally invested in the character development than the world building.

I did find issue with a couple of cause and effect moments with how the characters reacted to certain events. Due to the abbreviated timeline, certain reactions from Shane seemed blown way out of proportion and unreasonable, in part due to how they were written and in part due to the unnecessarily massive fallout of the conflict.

Other than that this was a really stellar and enjoyable book. This was a fantastic debut from Christine Riccio and I can't wait to get my hands on her next book!!

I really wanted to love this book. When I read the description, it sounded like a fun, relatable read. And for the most part it was, but I had trouble connecting to the story at times. Again, but Better tells the story of Shane, a 20 year old college student who always does what's expected of her and she never goes out of her comfort zone until she decides that she wants to study abroad for a semester in college and we follow her story to see how the experience goes for her. One thing that frustrated me is that there were so. many. pop culture references, that I felt distracted from the story. Normally I love pop culture references, but at times it felt like the book was built around them instead of having them enhance the story. Additionally, there was a plot twist that I didn't see coming, which is great, except I don't think I liked it very much or the direction the story took after that happened. I don't read a lot of contemporary, so this could definitely just be me, but this book seemed to just miss for me. I still enjoyed reading it and there were some really great and funny moments. It just wasn't completely for me. I did appreciate the social anxiety rep and the diverse cast of characters (although the main characters were straight and white, their friends were of different races and sexualities).

All the feels. This is the perfect "I need a break from thrillers with something upbeat, light, and fun" book. The story was uplifting and just left me smiling. Shane was a character I think most people can relate to, especially when thinking back on their college years. On second thought, I really think all of the main characters in this book are incredibly relatable. Made me think back on my time studying abroad and the amazing experiences and people I met. I highly recommend this book!

The only criticism I have it that in the beginning Shane is described as being so awkward and not being able to make friends, yet she easily falls into these great friendships in like 5 minutes after arriving in London. That part felt a bit of a stretch, but not enough to take away from the overall beauty of this book.

I received an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

I received a copy of this book  NetGalley in exchange for an honest Review.

Okie, I was seeing this book everywhere and didn't hope to get it, But luckily Netgalley granted my wish which happened only twice which is way too rare as compare to I got the wish option on 90% books( Yes I am a suffering International blogger).

So I didn't know it is written by a booktuber and It was a hype one.

I like a boy. He has a girlfriend who isn't me, and it's the worst.

This sentence summarizes 50% of the story...This book is divided into 2 different years, 2011 and 2017. Shane a smart student and obedient student decided to go to London, by lying her parents for creative writing course which doesn't even come close to her major but her passion.

Pilot(Seriously I can't still digest his name) who is resident of her neighbor room and love interest, he is fun. There are many minor characters which were developed really interesting.

So Let me talk about the story, I loved the first part it was all goofy, quirky and cheesy, you expect from a YA...But the second half *sigh* don't ask about it, It was boring, sudden change of genre isn't my kind and the events turn around were cringe-worthy and the character development almost made me DNF it. The teenage version of characters was smarter and reasonable but the older selves...Guys where did you spent those 6 years???

Okie I get it, It is written by a book lover but those trying so hard to calmly mention a book with authors name casually here and there...No Dude It is not me.

And those overloaded references of the TV season, HP, Dan Brown seemed too forced to me....and How can I forget that Shawarma obsession, It was out of the hand...I personally loved Shawarma but this obsession was so annoying.

I also think the book was dragged too much.

I did not enjoy the book very much. I had high expectations for this one perhaps. The writing style was a bit off that I did not enjoy the story.

Title: Again, But Better
Author: Christine Riccio
Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Synopsis:
Shane is doing college and life exactly as her parents want, which leaves her lonely, and unsatisfied. Shane discovers a way to participate in a semester abroad and study something that she really enjoys. This book tells the story of Shane getting a second chance to discovery who she is, her career choices, and who she wants to love.

Opinion:
I enjoyed this book, but definitely did not LOVE it. I thought there was an excessive amount of pop culture referenced in the book. Part 2 of the book was disappointing. I felt like Shane and Pilot should have spent more time together in London. It just didn’t make sense for the book to end the way it did when the hardly spent anytime together. Also, the time travel aspect wasn’t very well written. However, I did enjoy the friendships Shane made and some of the books and songs mentioned. I respected the way Shane’s social anxieties were present but not the emphasis of her character!

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Thank you @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for the digital galley!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Shane feels like she has done college all wrong, so she signs up for a semester abroad to fix all her mistakes (make friends, get a boyfriend, try new things, etc). Surely some time in London will give her the chance to live the life she wants!

I struggled with this book. I loved the ideas, but the writing was very laborious and overly detailed. It didn't flow well at all. The characters all had weird names but aside from that, nothing really stood out about any of them. They all kind of blended into each other. And Shane, who is supposed to be early 20's, seems VERY childlike...not just naive and immature, but childlike in a cringey way. I had a really hard time rooting for her because all her interactions just seemed so uncomfortable (you know how cringey can still be kind of charming or it can just make your skin crawl with second-hand discomfort? Yeah, this was the latter.).

I also wanted a lot more about London and Shane's experiences abroad, and aside from dropping the names of places, that ball was almost entirely dropped. I was so disappointed!

This book might work well for a younger reader, but aiming at college students or beyond is a mistake, in my opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Look, I love Christine Riccio. I remember watching her Booktube videos for the very first time when I was like 15 and felt so validated that there was another girl out there who fangirled like crazy over the Shadowhunter books. I followed all of her writing vlogs and found her struggles with the writing process very relatable.

But this book read like really bad fanfiction.

It pains me to write this. I tried very hard to look for the positives and I'll be honest, there were enjoyable parts: the travelling, the twist in the middle, the explosive drama with Shane's parents. I was even excited to see where the story was going because the first chapter or two was creepily similar to a story I had written when I was younger - like, it was almost WORD FOR WORD, kind of similar. I seriously freaked out. But the reason why I ditched my book when I was younger was because I feared it was just a cheesy, self-insert with childish writing - and that's exactly what Again, but Better is. It's pretty much 17 Again fanfiction.

Like I said, I don't want to crap on this book because Christine is an A+ amazing person. But there were nearly ten (weirdly named) characters in this book who all melted into one because they had the same personality. The whole point of the book was travelling and exploring new places, yet there was no description of anything whatsoever. The entire thing was telling instead of showing. I don't know, I'm just so bummed that this book was barely readable because I really, truly wanted to read and support it!!!

• Title: Again, But Better
• Author: Christine Riccio
• Series: Stand Alone
• Pages: 384
• Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
• Rating Out of 5 Stars: 4

My Thoughts:
While I thought it was an interesting idea and having watched Christine’s booktube journey through writing this I confess I wasn’t setting my bar super high as far as what might come out a first book. I admit I was pleasantly surprised. Issues aside, simply put it was fun.

The book does have issues. That’s just a given with anyone’s first novel and still trying to find your voice. The writing itself was decent if a bit juvenile. I’d expect to find a lot of the dialogue more in a middle grade then something geared towards younger/new adult genre.

Moving on to our cast of characters:

Shane overwhelming reminds me of our author in her personality, physical descriptions, the way she talks and just overall interacts with her environment as well as some of the experiences involved. I kept reading the novel and seeing her acting the story out. Not that it was a bad thing, but if you watched her videos it’s hard not to see the similarities and give the book a semi-autobiographical feel.

Her father is both mentally and verbally abusive no matter how Shane tries to say he’s only doing what’s best for her. She clearly suffers from social anxiety/awkwardness, but she does grow in how she approaches things. You see this much more after the second chance comes around.

Our love interest Pilot is ok. He and Shane have a similar goofy personalities and troubles at home. He's your typical music loving, comes across a decent guy with some questionable behavior type.

When it comes to our group of side characters Babe, Sahra, and Atticus I felt they were developed enough to add a satisfying element to the story even if we only get the base information on them.

Overall story:
The last half of this felt like it flew by as I was reading it. It’s a fun take on how awkward and embarrassing those late teens and early 20’s years for all of us. When we’re not quite ready to be out on our own, still trying to figure what we’re doing and where we want to go, and what rules we’re willing to break. More importantly, what you would change if you could go back and do it again with what living through those experiences the first time taught you. If you want something quick and feel good, I do recommend it.

EARC kindly provided by NETGALLEY and Wednesday Books in return for an honest review.

I received a free copy of this book through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Actual rating 1.5

Warning: this review will be full of spoilers because it's the only way I can explain why this book didn't work for me.
First of all, I'm sad to give such a low rating because I love Christine, she has a great personality and funny videos. But I'm not rating Christine, I'm rating this book. So let's dive in.
Let's start with the writing. It's very juvenile, almost like it's written by a 10 year old. And it's very robot-like, almost as if I'm reading a report and not a novel.

"Sahra stops in at about 3: 30 to grab a drink before heading back out to get groceries. Atticus storms in at 3: 45, stuffs a microwavable meal down his throat, and runs out, sputtering about being late for his internship interview. It’s about 4 p.m. now, and I’m staring at my Gmail."

It's overly descriptive.

"There’s a boy in the kitchen. A boy right up at the window facing me. How did I not see him immediately? He’s washing dishes with a big, fluffy, yellow sponge."

Do we really need to know that he is washing dishes with a sponge? What does it bring to the story?

The story is very slow paced. In fact, absolutely nothing happens in the first 10 chapters. I was honestly bored the whole time. The first part of this book takes place 2011 when Shane goes abroad for a semester. And she does it all wrong apparently because then she, are you ready for it? Time travels back to 2011 from 2017 to redo the whole thing. All because she didn't get the guy by the way.
Let's talk about characters. Shane is the worst person ever. She wants to find a guy and she does. She falls in love with the first guy she sees. There is no chemistry between the two. And, Pilot (oh did I mention that his name is Pilot Penn?) has a girlfriend. And what does Shane think of that?

"Jesus, Pilot, you said in front of all of us that you asked her if she would put a pin in your relationship during the time you were abroad!"
Wow really low Shane, are you that desperate for a guy?

“Shane, I’ve been with Amy for six years,” he says the words slowly, like he’s proving a point. His forehead scrunches in discomfort. “Okay, are you two engaged?” I ask quietly. He looks into his cappuccino. “No.”“Is she the one? Are you happy?” chill down crazy sticker, he just said he doesn't want you and has a girlfriend."

Exactly, Shane, chill down.
But this is not the worst part. The worst part is the way the author handles sexual assault. Shane goes to a party and then gets cornered by a drunk guy who forced her to kiss him. She doesn't like this guy, doesn't want to kiss him. He is forcing her!!! Her friend Babe (oh, did o mention that everyone has just the best names ever?) sees that and, instead of helping her friend, accuses her of being a slut. Wow. And Shane just pretends that nothing happened. Why? This passed off as a normal male behavior. It is not! No! But, then again, in a different bar, same thing happens again. And the whole time Shane thinks "I don't like it but I let it happen". I let it happen!! How is this ok? Did none of the editors noticed that this is wrong? And since Shane is basically Christine, makes me wonder that same thing happened to her and it makes me worried. Girls, this is not ok. Don't let some random guys take advantage of you. That should be the message.
Another thing that bugged me a lot, was Shane's family. Oh my gosh, her dad is a total asshole! He forces others to go to dinner with him by saying "what you don't want free dinner?" What an asshole, he is so rude oh my gosh, worse than a child! He proceeded to interrogate Shane's friends and when they don't answer, his reply is: “Now I’m gonna say this one more time, Sahra.” what is that??? A threat? Fuck you mister asshole!
And then he publicly screamed at Shane and calling her names. He is abusive! Does noone else see that?

“End of semester, the second you’re home, you start work at my office. Don’t call us for money. Don’t call us for anything. You’re on your own.”

So, if she's on her own, she doesn't need your money she can do whatever she wants right?
Classic story of a poor girl who has to do something her parents want for her, when all she ever wants is be a special snowflake. And she is 20 by the way. She is an adult but everyone acts like they are 10!

I did like that when she goes back in time, she stands up to her family and talks to her cousin who was going through some stuff. But other than that, this book was a flop for me.

I really really loved this book. I couldn’t see where it was going in the middle and almost felt a little cheated until the elevator scene. At that point I felt it could be a bit cheesy but it wasn’t! I loved the direction it went in I applied the book to my personal life and was able to keep thinking back on decisions I made and ‘what if....?’ I love the idea of a spirit guide wandering among us keeping us on the right track. I definitely want to read more from this author.

I am so impressed with how good this book is! It’s so cute and funny and I love all the travel aspects! The romance was super adorable and all the friendships were great. I loved reading this and I’m so happy with how it ended.
After watching all of Christine’s writing videos and watching her go through the process of writing Again, But Better I was so pumped to finally read this. I really appreciate this book after seeing all the hard work she’s put into it.
Knowing that this is her debut novel and watching her process through the book I can easily gloss over all the issues I had with the book. I will say that at the very beginning it feels very rushed. I needed a little more time to adjust to everything that was happening. I feel like all in the matter of a couple of pages we met the main character, was introduced to her life, thrown into study abroad and already met the love interest and basically already knew that they had a thing for each other. I would've loved more time seeing them interact and flirt and get to know each other before they were "together". It felt very insta-lovey to me. The entire first half of the book felt like a full novel in itself, then once you get to the 'twist' and they go back in time it just feels very long. I understand it all had to be in there but it just felt like a lot. I don't want to criticize this work too much because overall it was a wonderful book and Christine did an amazing job.
I cannot wait to see more from her in the future!