This was a cute book, following Phoebe and Dev’s relationship. Phoebe is the typical book addict – she loves YA romance and has many book boyfriends. Then she meets Dev, an Indian-American who also seems to like Phoebe. Phoebe’s world is slightly off-kilter and she struggles with how she should be around Dev who is becoming more than a bookish fantasy, but a possible boyfriend.
My one main issue was that at times, it got a bit stuck on Phoebe’s uncertainty. The book spent too long on their flirting with each other whilst little else was happening. At times, I just wished it would move a faster pace. However, I had to remind myself that this was a YA novel.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book and finished it 3 days. Such a cute story and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

I didn't wish for this book. Somehow it's granted.

~2.5 stars~

I got this as a review book so I thought I would do this one a little differently than I usually do to help people know how I felt about certain aspects of the book :)

So first of all…

The Cover: 10/5 XD That was the thing that drew me in and made me want to read it honestly (Which I know I shouldn’t be so shallow to do that, but I am just telling the truth lol :P

Romance: 3/5 I thought that Phoebe and Dev were pretty cute :) Their romance didn’t get too out of hand…but there was some content from other characters that was inappropriate and because of that, I wouldn’t really recommend this to my friends

Language: 1/5 There was also waaay too many swear words…too many to count :/ So yeah, I definitely didn’t like that part of it and I was tempted to stop it so many times because I just felt dirty reading it…I finished it though because I wanted to give my honest opinion about the book as a whole

I didn’t know too much about it when I requested it…I didn’t look into reviews or anything. So it was kind of my fault for not making sure it was clean beforehand :/ I still did like some parts of it! But because of the things mentioned above, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I know...that content may not bother some people, but it made me uncomfortable

A NetGalley e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute book and an easy quick read. I wanted to love it but it was just okay.

Phoebe Martins would prefer that her life was a YA fantasy. She takes this preference and tries to model after some of her favorite characters when she finds out that the hot guy has a crush on her. As she tries to mimic her favorite love scenes and bravery she stumbles across her own reality.

As a book nerd since age four and a former band geek I still had a tough time relating to Phoebe. It was a cute read though. I did uncontrollably giggle and smile at parts but overall it just fell flat for me.

I thought this was a super cute, breezy YA read! I loved that Phoebe and her circle of friends were so diverse, and that the social groups at her school were very fluid (vs. the stereotypical cliques that we usually see). I particularly love the exploration of Phoebe's struggle with reconciling her bookishly influenced expectations to reality, as well as the fact that her friends were supportive of her personal and/or romantic decisions (despite the brief initial appearance of the dreaded 'bossy best friend' trope, which thankfully didn't take root). I would recommend this to anyone in the mood for something that is both bookish and adorable. 3.5/5

*I received a complementary copy for a review.*

First and foremost, a book about a bookworm is plain adorable, but a book about a bookworm who uses her fangirling to get the boy he likes it's a whole other level! *fangirls about fangirling MC*.

Anyway, the main character, Phoebe, is trying to go for a super cool guy who looks like her favourite book crush (who hasn't done that at least in their mind?), but whom she thinks she doesn't have a chance with. On the other hand there's Dev, this super down-to-earth guy who is her friend. Which one should she choose? Duh! So when she hears Dev might like her, she goes out of her way to flirt with him... in a bookish fashion. Yas!!!

It was just the kind of fluffy book that makes a sad day a little brighter.

I was pretty stoked about this book. I’ve been really digging the sweet contemporaries about nerdy/geeky/ people lately. And what’s better than a character who is BOOKISHLY geeky? #Relatable. And this ya story does set up for a sweet contemporary. It’s set in a modern high school. There is a group of friends. And a love story. But I can’t lie to you guys, I struggled with parts of this book. To be perfectly honest, I DNF’d at around 50% and skimmed the rest. It was so frustrating because I would be highly invested for like two chapters and then one of five-ish things would happen that would jerk me back out of the story and make me annoyed. I couldn’t stay invested for any real length of time which when reading means everything. However I do realize that not everyone comes with the same life experience or annoyances as I do so I’m gonna list the stuff that pulled me out of the story. If none of these actions are things that bother you then I do suggest you try this book out.

Things that Irked Sydney

1. THE BOOK WITHIN A BOOK

In Bookishly Ever After, Phoebe is obsessed with a paranormal series called Golden. Similar to Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, certain chapters contained excerpts of the book she was reading. I didn’t like it in Fangirl, and I didn’t like it in this book either. It was distracting to go back and forth between the two character sets and between contemporary and paranormal setting. I started skimming the excerpts.

2. PEERS REACTION TO BOOK COMMUNITY

I totally bought into Phoebe and her bookish habits. She would stay up all night reading and have a book hangover the next day. She was introverted and preferred knitting to sports. Cool. What I didn’t buy into was her peers reaction to her reading. Everyone, including other nerds, made Phoebe out to be weird and a social pariah because she would rather read than talk to boys. I don’t believe that. Not because I think Phoebe isn’t a nerd. But because nerds stick together. You’re a computer nerd? Great. I’m not gonna make fun of you for liking computer stuff and you don’t make fun of me for reading. I’ve never seen a high school group that openly mocked/ ridiculed/ and loudly judged someone who read. Yeah, we were the kids often alone at lunch. But our preferences weren’t thrown in our face as socially unacceptable. This leads me to my next issue.

3. PHOEBE’S BEST FRIEND EM

Em was awful. In more ways that one. But for this particular issue I’m going to talk about one of her habits that just didn’t jive with me. She regularly talked down to Phoebe. She was loudest of those who put Feebs down for having book boyfriends but being nervous to talk to real guys. She had no empathy, no compassion, and no idea that she was a nerd herself. I mean dude, you’re in the freakin’ band AND drama club. You aren’t so cool yourself. Em forces Phoebe into situations that she KNOWS Phoebe is uncomfortable with “for Phoebe’s own good.” Um Bull. By the time I was in high school I a) didn’t let other’s push me into stuff that made me physically uncomfortable and b) would NEVER let my best friend talk down to me. Part of being best friends is showing each other mutual respect and understanding. Em had none of that.

4. RACISM

To make Em even better as a character she said few racist things. I’ll list just two of them here.

(in this scene Em is trying to hit on/flirt with a German Foreign Exchange student)
“Well, Miss AP English, finish that up quick and then get to work on Jon. I’m getting my remedial English butt back to my English as a Second Language Project.”

“So what do you say about dating our Bollywood Casonova?” ( Dev is Indian)

I just wasn’t okay with Em’s attitude in general and when she would say things like this it rubbed me wrong.

5. IF YOU LIKE ME I GUESS I LIKE YOU

The entire premise of this story is set around Dev crushing on Phoebe and Phoebe wanting to impress him so she changes her self only to decide she likes her real self better. Even if I take out the fact that Feeb’s friends pushed her into changing herself FOR Dev, what was missing in the beginning was feelings for Dev. From the first chapter Phoebe makes it apparant that she is crushing on a boy named Kris. Em decides that Dev has a crush on Phoebe, which granted he does, and then pushes Phoebe to make her move. Phoebe didn’t even like Dev!! Em just wanted Phoebe to have a boyfriend. Anyone would do. I call this Ariel syndrome. In the Little Mermaid Ariel is obsessed with humans. She gives up her voices not because she is in love with Eric specifically but because she loves human. Anyone could’ve fallen off that ship and she would have wanted to be “part of that world.” Phoebe realizes Dev likes her and decides to think about him romantically. What an inspiration for our teens… NOT. Later in the book Dev and Phoebe do build a friendship strong enough to base a relationship off of. But the Ariel syndrome Phoebe went through to get there ruined it for me.

This such a fun, quick read. I don't normally read contemporary YA, but with an MC who is essentially my younger self (and probably in many way my current, older self) how could i pass this one up? I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was a great, cute story and I'm looking forward to Dramatically Ever After!

DNF at 15%

I just could not get into this book. I even put it away and tried it again at a later date. I was struggling to stay interested and follow the storyline. I kept getting the characters mixed up. I didn't feel like any of the characters had any real depth which made them easier to mix up. I'm sure some people will love this book. I wanted to love it but it just wasn't for me.

***Copy obtained from Spencer Hill Press via Netgalley***

Plot was very slow. Characterization was out of touch with reality. I get the concept, but I'm a big Rainbow Rowell fan, and Fangirl does it better.

A beautifully written coming of age tale about learning that what you read in books may not work as well as you think. I enjoyed the well written novel.

So, I got about 30% in before skimming the rest. I'll roundup the rating to two, because I'm not completely heartless, and if you've never read a YA romance before, you might like this. But it's more of a one star.

I love books and while getting inspiration from characters to use in conversations isn't something I do, it's a good idea. The problem was the characters Phoebe chose to imitate. Girls aren't like Maeve or Marissa or any of the others mentioned. Phoebe--and by extension, the reader--only sees these girls' strengths and never a moments doubt (except for the part when Maeve is in battle and feels fear, a part Phoebe doesn't take note of). These characters are super unrealistic and it's no wonder Phoebe tries to be them since they're unattainable.
Some of the traits we're told these girl's have include: being witty (never really seen), being strong and a good fighter (some prophecy made them that way), and flirting like a born hussy. I don't know about you, but those are things you use to hide your weaknesses and aren't things you can copy and paste with the same results.
The characters in the actual book are stereotypical in the most boring ways. Phoebe has skills and isn't stupid (academically, anyway) but has the lowest form of self-esteem I've seen in quite some time. And how are we supposed to root for her when she can't do anything by herself until, like, the last chapter? Dev sorta has talent but nothing personality-wise to attach to. And don't get me started on the obligatory lgbt people.
The plot is every YA romance novel. Seriously, it's so formulaic I managed to not read over half and still know what happened. Some books pull it off by talent of good characters and plot quirks, but not this one.
How to fix it: make the characters she imitates be people most readers know i.e. Elizabeth Bennet, Hermione, heck, Bella Swan for how <b>not</b> to be, anyone but these faceless and unrealistic "badasses."
Overall it was a cool idea but vastly underwhelming and disappointing.

Why I love this book? Why? It's definitely because of the main character who is a bookworm like I am! Man, this book is definitely I really really love and with an adorable character. Should I say more? No. Because it's perfect!

It bring me backs to the high school moment. So loving it. A very beautiful written. Every one should read this

At first, I thought that the book was interesting, maybe because it didn’t focus on the unattainable boy Phoebe’s obsessed with… It’s once she starts crushing on someone who’s real and approachable that it kind of goes downhill. It’s not that I have a thing against real relationships; the thing I liked best about the unattainable guy she liked was that she spend so much of her time on him And I’ll admit, Phoebe and Dev had pretty great chemistry. The only thing I didn’t like about their burgeoning relationship was that was almost all they talked about in the book! Crushes this, crushes that, how to flirt, what to wear, to the point where I wanted to scream! Honestly, it was really a relief, those times where the characters didn’t talk about boys and did other things, like books, camp, hobbies, etc. But then again, the book wasn’t trying to hide the fact that it was boy centric; it’s in the blurb for crying out loud! So it’s kind of on me, really, for not liking it…

Another thing I didn’t like about this book was how it seemed to drag on longer than necessary. I felt like I could have been finished halfway through the book, but then “the misunderstanding” happened and made things extra difficult for our protagonist to be with her desired love interest. It really irks me when the couple doesn’t get together because of a small misunderstanding that could be rectified if someone said something. Instead, this misunderstanding ends up making the rest of the book boring and awkward, especially since the protagonist is still obsessed about her crush

Also, at some point in the novel, I forgot the protagonist’s name. And that has never happened to me, even with first person narrative. I don’t know when it happened, but I noticed three quarters in that I couldn’t remember her name, but could remember everyone else’s, from her sister to the random cheerleader named Cassie. It kind of bugged me until someone actually said her name, which probably had a hand in dampening my reading experience. Or maybe it was because I liked the secondary characters better than the protagonist…

In the end, even though I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would, there were just some things that bugged me. I’d still recommend this to people looking for fluffy contemporary and don’t mind slow middles. It just wouldn’t be the first contemporary I’d recommend...

Sixteen year old Phoebe loves books! She loves reading books! She loves dressing up to go to book events. Books are her life so it only makes sense that when she learns that a fellow student, Dev, might have a crush on her, she turns to books to seek advice and guidance.

Both main characters (and the supporting characters - Grace especially) are likable but sometimes they were a little ridiculous. Of course they are teenagers and they are awkward and new to romance. At times I wanted to shake those two knuckleheads. Communication was an issue. Again, this is understandable as both characters are teenagers and learning how to relate and communicate with other. Phoebe is shy and quiet but makes attempts to change to be exciting and daring like the characters in the books she loves. Phoebe could use some self confidence as she tends to be immature and at times holds Dev at arms length when he shows some interest in her. They flirt with each other for what seems like forever. There is a lot of going back and forth between the two characters - too much back and forth for me.

The flirting for forever just did not work for me. I kept putting this book down initially to read other books because I had a hard time getting into this story. This story seemed to drag a little for me. I wanted this book to hurry along and for something to happen already.

What worked in this book was the diversity. Characters come from different ethnicity and sexual orientations. This was a nice touch. I liked that the characters had varied interests and weren't stereotypical. I also liked that the two were not your typical "love interest" type characters. Phoebe is a bookworm, musician who knitted. Dev plays the clarinet - definitely not the star football player or jock (or vampire/werewolf/shapeshifter) as most male leads in YA romances.

I feel this is a book that readers will either love or just feel MEH about. I would have liked this book to move a little faster.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh! I am not sure I could have picked a more perfect book to read.
This was so fun to read, and such an easy one at that - great writing style - kudos!

A girl that loves book and knits is something I can most certainly relate too! I don't knit (although I know how) but I do crochet, and guess what?! I also love books!
A great book to read on a gloomy day, with a cup of hot cocoa, some fluffy socks, and some comfy cushions!
It's really just a loveable book and once you get started, you will not want to stop. All the characters are so likable and the story is a more typical one, but it's done in a way where it doesn't become repetitive., or boring. It's definitely a red I'd recommend

Cute story of a very bookish teen trying to navigate a possible romance while taking her cues from her favorite YA heroines.

Unfortunately this book simply fell under par. It was extremely predictable and just didn't have anything... special. It was a shame because there was potential for a great story but... it just ended up being a stereotypical high school based rom-com... with a distinct lack of the 'com'.

Full review on my blog.