A sweet and emotionally moving novel, which has really well developed and likeable characters that make you root for and believe in them. It's a really nice read.

DNF at 21%. The writing is good, however the plot is slow and it's just not for me. I put one star just for the netgalley requirements, I don't rate anything I haven't finished.

This book was pretty meh for me.
I was hoping for a little but more. But it was not terrible .................... ..........

This book is very much in the genre I love to dive into the rain is pouring outside. It was such a gorgeous romance novel (which I adored) but it also tackled some pretty challenging themes.

Lily was such a fun character to read! You could feel how strong-willed and determined she was to have the best summer ever. The fact that she was focused the town event with her friends and fighting to have her voice heard. She was a teeny bit overpowering at times but I felt almost realistic to be annoyed. We’ve all had a friend like Lily!

I felt so sorry for Tom. As someone who has cared for a family member in the past, I know what it’s like to put everything on hold. Your entire world revolves around them and that seems to be the case with Tom and his sister. My heart went out to him! I think any reader who has a family life like this will find no trouble in relating to what happens to Tom.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading it all over again after finishing this review! Thank you for allowing me to review this!

3.5 stars

I definitely enjoyed reading this book, but the plot wasn’t anything special. I must say that the mental health rep and the fight for inclusivity earned the book half a star. Overall, I just found Lily to be a tad bit on the annoying side but I can definitely see why she was acting the way she did. I think the ending was satisfying, as the loose strands have been tied up well.

Unfortunately at first I didn't finish the book because I wasn't liking Lily's as a character, but then I decided to just finish it because having an unfinished book was stressing me out. I has happened to me before, the not liking a character. It's just a personal opinion. Sometimes a character isn't just for you and you can't keep on reading without everything they do irking you in some way. The story was promising and cute, even if it was obvious how it was going to end, and the book was written very well, not hard to read at all. I will definitely give this author another chance.

I really didn't like the beginning of the book, but as the story continued, I got really interested. I loved how different issues on mental health were represented in the book! The main character really annoyed me at times, but her character development was one of the highlights of the book for me.
I thought Lily's Just Fine will be a cheesy, romantic read, but it ended up being so much more! It dealt with really important topics, and I'm so glad that I got to read it!

Starting off with the overachiever, the girl that can't seem to stand still for too long. She's bossy and demanding, and quite frankly, I didn't really like her at the beginning. She did grow on me, evolving from this bossy and forceful girl to someone who learns to stop and understand others. It's a story that kept me thinking long after it was over. I was truly heartbroken when I reached that final page of the story, wishing that there was just one more chapter.

I was sent this book from NetGalley in exhange for an honest review, and honestly I am so impressed by it!

It's a classic YA easy read which follows a mismatched group of friends through the summer. The book in set in a small Scottish village (instant interest for me!) and so the fact the friends don't really seem to go together seems more believable as I know from growing up in a small town you often become friends with people who in a bigger place you wouldn't simply because you're the same age and there isn't much choice!

It's written from the point of view of two main characters, Lily who is super popular and seems to have everything she could ever wish for and Tom, who's quiet and just trying to get by. As the story goes on you see all is not well with Lily, she has recently broken up with her super popular boyfriend and so is trying to do what she can to stay busy. All is not well with her family either as her father works away a lot and spends a lot of time in his London flat. This leaves Lily alone with her Mum who is becoming more and more withdrawn. Although Lily notices this she doesn't think much of it as she is able to do what she wants without much intrusion from Mum!

However it was Tom's family that really interested me. Toms sister has been ill for ages now "at first they talked about post-viral fatigue. But not they say maybe it's chronic fatigue syndrome, but they don't really know. They've done tests for every illness...and found nothing definite... She doesn't look ill." Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is something that I have suffered with for the best part of ten years and it literally could have been me writing some of the stuff about Sarah, Tom's sister. I've never read a book before with a character with CFS so it was super interesting and really nice (?) to see "someone like me" in a book? It was also interesting to read this from Toms point of view, as he is worried about his sister and wants her to be better but also has slight resentment for her as her illness means he misses out on things like going on holiday. 

Initially Tom and Lily aren't friends, just in the same year at school with Lilys best friend living next door to Tom and so being friendly there. However, when Lily decides to help revamp the Village Gala Tom gets roped in and so their friendship starts to develop. 

The story mostly goes how you would expect but with a few unexpected turns along the way! It is a really good YA book and tackles some important themes, I'm interested to see if these are fleshed out more in future books in this series!

Lily is a go-getter. If she's not involved, she's not awake! Her mom sleeps a lot and doesn't seem very invested, her dad travels a lot, and her older siblings have moved out, leaving her in charge of herself and her mom. She has a good friend, Gemma who is usually willing to go along with whatever scheme Lily comes up with. Gemma's neighbor, Tom eventually gets roped into the latest endeavor- the town Gala. What ensues is drama, teenage love, and a look at inclusivity/closed-mindedness.

I didn't particularly like this one. I didn't like the relationship with Lily and Gemma. I never really felt like Gemma liked Lily all that much. The relationship with Lily and Tom is also not very believable. I felt like Tom mostly endured Lily, not actually liked her. The look at mental illness and "hidden" physical illness was fine, but never fully fleshed out.

Overall just an ok read. Not interested in reading any more in the series.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book for my honest review.

I received a copy of this book from publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review

There were a couple of things I liked about this book.
1. The main character, Lily – I loved her attitude and the fact that she would just go ahead and do stuff fearlessly. She did go a bit too far on occasion but she was still a pretty good character. Tom on the other hand was so shy and as much as I wanted to love him, what bugged me the most was that he just didn’t want to let himself enjoy life because he felt the need to be an adult and be overly responsible.
2. The writing was great and the characters in general were pretty fun.
3. This was a nice, light read

Although I liked the book, it wasn’t really mind-blowing. The story covered a lot of important themes and I liked the way the author handled them but it was just very….(I’m not sure how to phrase it but I guess what I mean is that I probably would have loved it more had I been younger). Ugh, it feels hard to admit that I’m too old for this, haha. This would appeal to younger teenagers and they would definitely be able to connect with the characters better.

I, unfortunately, had to DNF it after a couple of pages (I read 20% of the book)

It's not that it's bad, I just think the book targets people that are younger and not as old as me; I think 13 years old me would probably have loved this book while adult me couldn't even finish it.

My first problem was that I didn't like the way it was written, I'm not a fan of like long metaphorical descriptions, but in this book they were almost none of if they were they were written very matter-of-factly. Judging a writing style is very subjective, while one might love it, the other not so much, and in this case I belong to the latter. I just couldn't get engrossed with the story, I had the feeling I was like watching a scene from far away instead of being engulfed in it.

The second problem was the characters and how they are depicted. I felt like the author stayed on the surface and never went too deep into the characters life, history or emotions. Because of that, I couldn't really identify to either one of the characters and was left pretty much indifferent to their fate the whole time.
The themes she tackled are important and need more representation in YA literature but the end result was disappointing, not depicted well enough, not detailed or "emotional" (in a way that I felt like the writing was too cold or to matter of factly) enough.

I couldn't relate to any of these characters. While I adore strong female characters that take shit from nobody, I found Lily to be extremely tiring. She was controlling, manipulative (especially with Gemma, like I just didn't understand their friendship, they were supposedly best friends, but I felt like Gemma was closer to Tom and that Lily exasperated her most of the time) and overall just sometimes infuriating? To me she was cold, she was not someone I could relate to. Like Tom, I just didn't care for him. Like their romance was shoved in the middle of this whole gala thing, and I was just ? Hm no thank you.

All in all, I believe the story was rushed, the way it was written was to me only scratching the surface and not going enough into the details. I felt detached and not invested in the story, and that's why i had to drop it. Like I said it's not necessarily a bad book, I just think I'm too old for it at this point.

I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to continuing the series. The characters were really well written.

Lily Hildebrand has everything she could ever want at 16. The popular boyfriend, a loyal best friend, a wealthy lifestyle, lives in a beautiful big house overlooking the river, but most importantly, she knows want she wants and doesn’t let anyone hold her back. Some might call her arrogant or opinionated, but Lily simply doesn’t like to hide away from the spotlit if she’s able to push her ideas onto various events and clubs around school to help improve them. Her mum could be a bit more supportive of her decisions and ideas but that’s just something Lily has come to accept and move on from. Once she has her mind on something, it isn’t easy for her to back down from it. As long as there is a way to make it work, Lily will make it work. Even when Jamie decides to break up, it doesn’t stop her from pushing through instead wasting time and dwelling on it, her summer schedule is going to be constructive and productive with or without a boyfriend, and the Newton St Cuthbert’s annual gala is just the thing!

Tom Owen couldn’t be any further away from Lily in social status if he tried, he’s happy to observe the crowd from a distance, keeping his thoughts to himself and his lifestyle quiet and content, looking after his sick homebound sister. His main social interactions lie with Gemma, his neighbour who he’s know since they were young, who happens to be Lily’s best friend. Not that they every do anything as a group. Gemma’s friendship is a quiet one that suits their personality much better. But when Tom gets pulled along to the Newton St Cuthbert’s annual gala meeting with Lily leading the charge for change and a young persons perspective that can’t be ignored, he knows it isn’t going to end well. He isn’t surprised when she suggests that he takes charge of a mini regatta for the gala week since he sails boats as a hobby. Organising a regatta isn’t going to be easy, especially when part of his obligation is teaching Lily how to sail. Unfortunately, saying no doesn’t exactly come easy for him, particularly to Lily who is very convincing.

*SPOILERS*
I wasn’t sure what to think with this story. It wasn’t a typical teenage love story by any means although whether it was supposed to be, I’m not sure since there was a love interest with the main protagonists but it didn’t feel very passionate or emotional like you would expect. I found that the characters were slightly undeveloped so you didn’t feel or relate to them as much as you probably would have liked.
The story was told in two perspectives, Lily and Tom. Lily was a strange character, she was intense and very enthusiastic which whilst this was refreshing for a teenage protagonist in a young adult book, you felt there wasn’t much more to describe her and her personality so the author gave up trying to refine her further. The only time she felt anything different is when her mum became sick, but even then she’s just in a state of shock and doesn’t know what to do. For the first time ever, Lily feels useless and doesn’t want to do anything productive. It doesn’t last long though so you question whether she actually came out of the experience any differently.

‘”It’s not up to you to do anything, Lily. You don’t have to take charge all the time.”
“Hmmph,” I say. I know he’s trying to be helpful. “But I want to make things better.” He doesn’t say anything. A thought occurs to me. What if he feels like this about Sarah, but he knows there’s nothing he can do?’

The story does include some serious issues with mental illness, but the author doesn’t capture the true emotions behind it which I felt could have been more refined. Lily’s mum suffers from depression which escalates into a difficult situation for the family. Tom’s sister has been back and forth from hospital consistently weak and fragile for years without anyone knowing why. It’s the illnesses in their families that give Lily and Tom something to relate too by the end, but besides that, I found that there isn’t much chemistry between the two characters. They share a kiss which they were both surprised about, they go on a date, but besides the want to be around each other which they are struggling to admit subtly, you don’t feel much more which is disappointing.
I thought the storyline was good and the settings were great, you were able to put yourself into the scene clearly, but besides that I’m sorry to say I wasn’t too impressed.

I thought that this book was very well written and the story was interesting enough to keep me reading. I liked the characters, but I felt they were a little underdeveloped and I didn't feel much chemistry between the two main characters. The serious topics in this book were dealt with appropriately, but I feel they could have been explored more deeply. Aside from that, I enjoyed the book and flew through it.

This book is cute and light while still managing to deal with topics like depression, homophobia, and unknown illnesses. The best part (for me) is that the book takes place in Scotland. I love a good European read! Anything that reminds me even a little bit of Harry Potter gives me a cozy feeling.

Overall, I liked this book and I'd recommend it to people.

I did not like this book, I couldn’t finish it.
I did not enjoy the characters not the way it was written. I couldn’t get into the story at all, either!
I’m really disappointed as I heard great things about it.

Interesting! I thought it was pretty good, but not exemplary. It seemed pretty ordinary and kind of stereotypical, but it was a nice read.

The premise seemed to offer a book that was sheer fluff but this is not what was delivered. The book has it's hard hitting moments looking a chronic illness, depression, carer children, and strained familial relationships. I'm glad Lily had growth throughout this as she was always a weaker character when compared to Tom who seemed more fleshed out from the instant. I don't know if this is going to be a series but this book is certainly an interesting way to start it.

Lily is juggling a lot from school finishing she finds herself involved in the local gala where she comes up with many great ideas but mainly what the elder folk don't like.



Meanwhile Tom's sister Sarah has been ill for a while with a mystery illness that's undiagnosed while his friend Gemma who's Lily's best friend ropes him in to help at the gala too as he does sailing.



As Lily and Tom slowly get together, Lily's mum suffers from a very bad depressive episode while Sarah becomes worse too and at their event day, things go very wrong, can they all get through this?



This book was a very packed adventure which gave so much within it's under four hundred pages which was great. Personally the portrayal of a chronic illness in young adult fiction isn't seen nearly enough and I was so happy to discover it mentioned in this book as a sufferer myself it was relatable from every angle it was shown and truly realistic. Tom and Lily made a sweet couple even though they had their rocky times of course like any relationship does which just won me over more. If you want a sweet if at times dramatic relationship book, this is the one for you.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

This was a great summer read. It did cover mental health which i do like in a book as infeel it can give people some more understanding of it and to try and beat that mental health stigma. It was a great summer romance book!