This had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of the young adult romance novel. The plot has everything that I was looking for and enjoyed getting to know the characters and their story. Sabrina Kleckner has a strong writing style and was glad I got to read this.

Thank you NetGallery for access to the eARC! 4.25 ⭐️

Maisie enters her first year of college in search of finding herself (or more specifically, her own art style). She moves to London pursuing art, the main focus being around trying out photography. In doing so, she meets Eli after she breaks his ankle (not really but also definitely). She finds herself drifting from her best friend, struggles with photography, and her relationship with her brother. Maisie embodies the struggle of trying to find yourself in college, a very relatable experience for myself and many others.

There were two aspects that I enjoyed more over the rest in this novel. The first comes from Maisie’s relationship with her brother and her abandonment issues. Thinking about it, there aren’t many stories I consume that touch on this dynamic. Calum left home when he was sixteen and Maisie was six. No one would give her a reason why and no one would discuss him after this event. Then, years later, Calum seeks out Maisie and they reconnect. Now they are close, but Maisie still struggles with this fear of him leaving. I thought it was well written when it came to her feelings. She would spiral into these thoughts that I was able to feel the stress of the situations myself. By the end, Maisie learns how to cope with these feelings even though they are still present. Her relationship with Calum improves and ends on an endearing note. The second aspect is Eli and Maisie’s dynamic. I am a sucker for an awkward/introverted and loud/anxiety-ridden couple. Their subtle romance was very sweet, and I appreciated where the story ended with them.

Other brief things to note:
- Benji and Calum’s engagement shenanigans! Loved it.
- Alicia and Maisie, I’m glad they figured it out. Being in different parts of the world is a testament of true friendship.
- I would have liked to have known more about Calum’s relationship with their parents. I still don’t think I get the whole picture on him leaving home. But perhaps this is intentional, as we are in Maisie’s perspective.
- Benji is a sweetheart.

Overall a really cute read. Would recommend to anyone seeking comfort in being away from home for the first time.

This novel was everything and I want to tell you why.

So we have Maisie Clark, an 18-year old artist who has been doing art for as long as she can remember. However, now she’s moving to London to university to study art, but not portraits because she feels like she needs to find herself and that means trying new things and discovering her art away from her dad (whose art she can’t tell the difference between hers and his).

London also has her brother and his boyfriend there so she’s not completely alone.

I really enjoyed the family dynamics in this and the friendships/relationships. They felt so real and raw and I liked that things were said bluntly and Maisie's inner dialogue was just so funny. She is what it means to be a teenager moving abroad to study in another country!

I really loved London as the setting, along with their small town in New York. I also loved the characters in this.

Maisie felt so relatable, but was also frustrating at times which yeah. She was known to be “a lot” but that doesn’t necessarily make her a bad person.

I liked how her and Eli balanced each other out. The scenes between them were hilarious and awkward, I loved them!! I am happy with how their story turned out and for everything that happened in between.

Calum was the older brother, by quite a large margin but I could also relate and understand that sort of relationship as I also have an older sibling that is 10 years my senior. As soon as I read that, I was like “oh yeah I’m going to love this book.” And I do! It’s just really fun, but also about discovering yourself, distinct art styles, family dynamics, and a little bit of romance thrown in there.

I definitely would be interested in reading the novel that came before this, that depicts Maisie when she was 12 instead of 18. I gravitated towards this because of the age of the main character, but now that I sort of see who she has grown into, it’d be interesting to read about how she used to be.

The character arcs in this were amazing. Maisie grew so much, not only in herself but understanding her art that was great to see.

Overall, a very YA college, funny, artsy, book that I had fun reading!