The first book in the new Ever After series, introduces 16-year-old Phoebe, who is obsessed with fantasy books, archery, knitting and junior class president Kris. While employing tactics from fantasy romance to attract Kris, she doesn’t notice that her friend Dev is interested in her. On a camping trip where Phoebe and Dev are paired as counselors, the table begin to turn. The next book in the series is Dramatically Ever After.

In “Bookishly Ever After” we meet Phoebe who believes “Book Boyfriends are Better”. But when her geeky book world collides with her real world she might finally have to take her nose out of her books and see what is right in front of her.

This book did nothing for me. I just finished it and I still have no idea what was happening the whole time.

Loved Loved Loved this book! It was like I was reading about myself when I was in High School! Hope there are more to this series!

This book was super adorable! Of course being a big book reader I was able to relate to the main character phoebe.

Phoebe Martin, 16, is a band-member and book nerd. She reads all the time, maintaining that “normalcy is overrated,” especially in comparison to the romantic encounters of young adult fantasies featuring intrepid females and “swoon-worthy” males. She has a crush on her junior class president Kris Lambert, because he is an exact match to the mental picture she has of the hero of one of her favorite books. Everyone tells her he’s a jerk, but she has apparently been socialized to value looks over inner worth. And besides, shouldn’t someone that good-looking be heroic in character?

Her group of friends try to convince her otherwise. In particular, her BFF Em tries to sell her on Dev, a fellow band member who is sending all sorts of signals out to Phoebe to which she is oblivious. She has known him for a long time, and as she explains to Em, “I mean, he’s really cute, but he’s Dev.”

Meanwhile, Phoebe is making a notebook out of quotes from her favorite YA book moments to function as a “relationship instruction manual” to guide her in potentially romantic situations. The quotes are badly written and wildly unrealistic, but Phoebe lives inside these books so much she doesn’t see that reality can’t actually meet up to those standards, especially when the characters she loves so much are goddesses or fae creatures.

Em says to her, “You know people have been hooking up for millennia without the help of books, right?” - all to no avail. Once again Phoebe insists “fiction is the best kind of reality.” “No,” Em rejoins, “reality is the best kind of reality.”

And thus we proceed, chapter after chapter, until Phoebe finally arrives at the obvious conclusion. The process was a bit painful, being so repetitive and inevitable.

Evaluation: The plot idea wasn’t horrible, but the writing was rather repetitive, unsophisticated, and trite. I had to push myself to get through it, although I think a tween audience might enjoy it quite a bit.

A fun enjoyable book. I liked the different characters, how they were believably flawed but you still rooted for them nonetheless. I liked how Grace had a girlfriend and it was just an accepted part of her character. She had a steady girlfriend throughout the book and it wasn't portrayed as any differently to Emma and Wilhelm. I loved how Phoebe's relationships with her friends, Grace and Emma were just as important in the book as her relationship with Dev and the young campers near the end of the book made me laugh.

The only things I didn't like was how Phoebe made it sound in the beginning of the book that she was the only person in school that read fiction books? It made her sound like a bit of a book snob but in a different way to Kris. It took me a while to get started on this book because of that.

And I didn't like how stupid Phoebe could be sometimes. If all your friends (whose opinions you trust) are telling you that the guy you like is a tool, then they're probably onto something. Likewise, Phoebe's insistence that Dev didn't like her was annoying at times because the opposite was so incredibly obvious. I know it was meant to show Phoebe being insecure but it really just made her look willfully oblivious.

This was a cute contemporary romance and it also demonstrates again how diversity can be included without it being shoehorned in.

“Too bad real boyfriends aren't as awesome as book boyfriends.”

This book was super cute! I don’t think I’ve ever read a cuter book. I just loved it! Was it the most exciting book ever filled with steamy romance, heart pounding action, and fantastic world building? No, but that didn't stop it from being a really cute, funny story. With a title and premise so perfect, there was no way I could resist reading this book. Bookishly Ever After is about a booknerd Phoebe who uses her books to help her with her first crush. It's a sweet story that all of us, especially us booknerds, can relate to. Phoebe and I could totally be best friends. I would love to go to the bookstore with her. I can't really say much more about this book than this book made me really happy. It was super easy to get sucked into the story, the cute moments, Phoebe's nervous mind, and the excellent banter. This book read like a breeze. And, the last half just filled my heart with so much joy. This book is the first in a series and I can't wait to read the next one.

This romance about a high school 'book nerd' moves very slowly to its obvious conclusion. The snippets of the books she is reading seem more interesting than the book itself.

Bookishly Ever After
Writing style: The writing style is easy and fast paced to read but not the most impressive in terms of grammar and individuality. It’s very straightforward but it’s still enjoyable, which is something I enjoy when it comes to contemporary books. I loved the fact that there were excerpts from the books Phoebe were reading in the story. It gave the book an interesting aspect to it.
Characters: This is a character driven story and most of the characters are fun and interesting. Phoebe, the main character, felt realistic to an extent but some of her reactions to things felt a little over the top to me. Although it could be the authors way to convey the fact that she’s meant to be quirky and slightly introverted. Still I enjoyed her and could relate to her love and connection to the books she read. Kris felt like an unnecessary character, especially since he’s the one mentioned in the synopsis but didn’t really make it into the plot until halfway through the book and then he was in one major scene and gone again. We mostly follow Dev and Phoebe and explore their feelings for each other. Dev was adorable, real and so loveable. He felt like the perfect love interest. He’s also Indian and we need more diversity when it comes to love interests, and characters in general, in YA literature. I liked Em because she added to the plot in a genuine way, I know many girls who are just like her. This is why she felt so real to me.
Plot: The plot was overall good but fell a little short in its uniqueness. There’s really nothing new to this plot that I haven’t read before but it was still very enjoyable.

All in all, this book was an entertaining and pleasant read which I would highly recommend to all contemporary lovers out there. I will be inclined to pick up a book from this author again.

Here is a summary of what the book is about.In a perfect world sixteen-year- old Phoebe Martins life would be a book. Preferably one filled with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately her life probably wouldn't even qualify for a quiet contemporary.

Everything changes when Phoebe learns that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her. So, Phoebe turns to the heroines in her favorite books for inspiration, but becoming as awesome as her book characters isn't as easy as it sounds.

When another girl nets Dev for herself right out from under Phoebe's nose, She's crushed. And, to up the suckle, she gets assigned as his co-counselor at a sixth grade camp and has to spend an entire week tied to the hip with the one guy on the planet she wanted to avoid.

Can she make it though the potential danger of romantic bonfires and nature walks, or will her counseling career end in emotional disaster? Can she ever go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?

I felt this was a well written story. It is a page turner.

They say boys in books are just better. I have to disagree having a real relationship is always better even though they can sometimes get messy.

I absolutely love this book. I totally could relate to Phoebe because I am also a book nerd.

I would recommend this book.

I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Happy Reading Everyone!

The title is what inimically caught my eyed, this book was pretty great and I enjoyed it, my only problem was that toward the end it seemed to lag a little.

A typical teen love story. But it was cute. We follow book loving, knitter and archer Phoebe as she crushes on Kyle and then Dev. It was enjoyable if you like YA romance.

I really wanted to like this book purely because it was a book about a girl who loves books. But it was a bit too fluffy for me. I tried to bear in mind that the target audience for this book is YA, but even for many YA readers, Phoebe was a bit naïve. The author also included several snippets from the books that Phoebe was reading, but they did not seem to add to the overall story all the time. Again, I had great hopes for this book and gave it three stars just because it is a good premise. I think that it will go over decently with the seventh grade to sophomore in high school audience. I can see how people would like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

A book about a bookworm seems like a very fun game, but I must say that this book fell short for me. The story seemed to drag on and on and on, and I found it very hard to finish. Sure it was cute and fun, but the story didn't seem substantial. Aside from the story, I absolutely ADORED Phoebe. Her obsession with books was very relatable, but sometimes childish. Overall I thought this book was nothing special. Sure, it had its moments, but it just seemed like one of those books where nothing really happened.

BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER is such a fun read. Made me so happy to relive my baby book nerd days.
First of all, Phoebe is super funny and SO relatable. There were whole chapters that stirred up memories of my own uncomfortable geek past. It is not just for your average reader who loves books, it is for people who LIVE books. For those of us who bond with these characters that they feel like real friends and we defend to DEATH.
I loved how Phoebe took her nods from her favorite book heroines and sections of those books are mingled with the story. A very cool touch is definitely Phoebe's hand-written notes. I was totally into the story and every look and shouting over every missed opportunity and BAD MOVES. I became very invested in this.
Loved the supporting characters, they gave a great boost to round the story out nicely. I need to continue this journey because I had no clue book two was getting near!

Review goes live 3;17.17 at noon est

This is a fun quick read. Sixteen year old Phoebe loves reading, knitting, and archery, which she took up because her favorite fictional character does archery. She takes notes from her favorite books on romance and relationships and tries to put them to use when she finds out that Dev, a friend of hers in band, likes her. Her friends try to help her out and there are mishaps, friendship and romance in this fun boo

Highly entertaining read. I like that the heroine was capital Q, quirky. I liked the emphasis on how much joy she derives from reading. I enjoyed her circle of friends. I felt like there were too many references to "other" books that she was reading.

"Well, put that to bed, folks. At least Phoebe was listening to the opening lyrics" -LeVar Burton, host of Reading Rainbow

Bookishly Ever After is a cute geek-girl (vice chick lit) novel, romantic and heart breaking at the same time. I was giddy with the delight over the main character, Phoebe, and her crazy personality, one that I kinda was and kinda wished I could have been in high school. Phoebe reads as the pinnacle of geeks - a knitter who makes money from her craft; a reader who is lucky enough to find book after book of characters she identifies with; a somewhat nerdy high schooler who falls for an attractive, popular, non-WASPy guy. So yeah, I was totally rooting for her and this book. I have to admit that I was somewhat underwhelmed by the gentle arc of the storyline, which (as reflected in Phoebe's own many references to other novels) was not unique and which lingered a bit too long in the uncertainty status of the main relationship. What kept me reading was the author's authentic voice, her geeky references, the pleasant and somewhat realistic depiction of high school (yippee for a gay couple, but I defy someone to find me a girl who has pulled the makeover reveal off successfully). My absolutely favorite part of reading this novel was dipping into the author's incredible sub-stories, only half told through Phoebe's book of quotes and mental gymnastics as she moves in and out of relationships. They were rich and left me wanting, like a fantasy worthy kiss that takes place mid-plot. Every time I reflected that the story might be getting too geeky perfect and unrealistic, I remembered that the era of the nerd has arrived. I mean, I too learned how to shoot a bow because of a fan girl crush on a fantasy heroine or three (Alanna, Dane, Kel). And look where it got me!

3.4/5

4 for reading it all the way through in one sitting
2 for story arc as it was very predictable and that took away from the whole package
3 expanding my horizons since I now have a curious desire to knit, which has NEVER happened before
4 for humor/cleverness... the geek in me related strongly to the many references, and delighted in each and every one
4 for voice since the stories, especially the teased ones the narrator mentions, were fun and interesting and felt worthy of a reader's time.

It was a great read. I feel the character development was good and I would recommend to friends.