Sweet like candy 🍬 ⁣
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The description of HAPPILY EVER AFTERS on @goodreads had me like 🤩: a Black teenage girl who attends a creative arts high school gets writer’s block, only to try to live out the tropes of her favorite romances in real life? Sold!⁣
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It’s not that this wasn’t good...it was! The characters were well developed, and like any good YA romcom, the best relationships were among the main character and her best friend. But the plot did take a while to get going, and at times the dialogue felt a bit forced. ⁣
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Overall, super fun and cute, and I can think of many students of mine who would adore this. ⁣⁣
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I picked Happily Ever Afters because both the cover art and the synopsis intrigued me. Thanks NetGalley for approving my request.

Happily Ever Afters has quite a bit of heavy real life moments that required me to pause. They make you think and reevaluate certain aspects.

Tessa Johnson is finally attending her dream school where she will get to share her stories. However, her anxiety gets the best of her and it seems like her gift has vanished. With the help of Caroline who hatches a plan. Find Tessa real-life love to get her writing mojo back.

Not only does Tessa have typical teenage worries; surprise period, navigating a new school, boy trouble, but she also has home life to think about. As much as she loves her brother, there are moments you can feel her annoyance not just at him but her parents for holding her to a different standard.

Overall I do think the story was nicely told, it was relatable and easy to follow along.

My only critique is the amount of puns or comparisons to a certain fandom could be less. It wouldn’t detract from the storyline.

Sweet and nuanced contemporary romance centering a Black teenage girl who writes romance.

There was so much I liked - the way Elise Bryant writes Tessa's anxiety, the friendship dynamics, the family relationships, and the extremely relatable struggle of desperately wanting to be good at something and never feeling like you measure up to the people around you.

The romance is what fell flat for me, actually. I think I would have liked the book more if the romance had been a smaller subplot in a contemporary novel about Tessa struggling to share her stories, maintain her strained, long-distance best friendship, and understanding that she deserves to be at her new school, taking up space, being herself.

Elise Bryant is a strong and compassionate writer. I'll definitely be on the lookout for her next book.

A sweet debut from Elise Bryant, Happily Ever Afters is a joy from start-to-finish! Teared up more than once at Tessa writing her own romance. Fans of Jenny Han will absolutely adore and I'm a fan of Bryant's for life.

Content warning: anxiety

This is an adorable YA romance book and I absolutely loved it.

Tessa is a high school student starting a new school this year. It’s an arts based school so Tessa will be able to write endlessly during her classes which is her dream come true. Soon she learns that her biggest fears will come to life when she realizes she’ll have to share her work with her entire class. The start of a new school and sharing her work lead to writers block like she has never experienced. Caroline, Tessa’s best friend, helps Tessa establish a plan to get her writing back in track. As a romance writer, this plan is centered on a real life romance for Tessa. Will the plan work? Will she pursue the right guy? How will she ever be able to write again?

This book was great and explored all relationships that affect teen-aged girls - familial, friendships, romantic and personal. It grasps what I remember it feeling like to be a teenager. It’s frustrating (and you get frustrated with these characters for sure) and anxiety-inducing and complicated beyond all measure because all teenagers are trying to find themselves and how they fit in. It explores wanting to be a part of the in crowd while staying true to yourself and your family. The book truly encapsulates how challenging teenage life can be.

A sweet romance about the reality of love versus the fiction, writers block, and friendship. Tessa is a wonderful main character, though sometimes her (very realistic) obliviousness to to what her crush is really like, was frustrating. Her brother was a well-rounded and honest portrayal of a character with his specific disabilities. Tessa's fear about presenting her romance themed creative writing to her classmates who write more "serious" fiction was highly relatable. Overall, a perfectly satisfying read from a debut to watch.