Review Detail

What I liked:
What first drew me to this book, to be honest, was the cover. It's so simple but so eye catching. Sophie is a girl who grew up in a small town, she doesn't have many friends, and she has rarely dated. But when Billy Buskin comes to town all of that changes. Sophie falls for him and in an instant is swept up into his lifestyle. Giovanna does an amazing job of showing us the kind of toll it would take on someone to be in a relationship like that. The doubts, fears, and insecurities that would pop up. When we meet Sophie she's quite but happy. She has all she needs in life, but when she falls for Billy she takes the risk. It was so interesting to see how those insecurities made Sophie change. You could see how unhappy she was becoming. She wanted so badly for this relationship to work out that she lost herself. After the success Billy begins to rake in, he begins to change as well. While the relationship moved fast, the rest of the book is slowly fleshed out. You see the way these characters begin to change on the outside and inside. Billy begins to become more confident and flirty, while Sophie is becoming more withdrawn and quiet. Giovanna's characters, from the very first page, are just brought to life. I felt like I was in the story with them. I also quite enjoyed the friendship between Molly, who runs the coffee place Sophie works at, and Sophie. We see how much they love and care for each other.

What left me wanting more:
I did feel that the relationship moved a bit fast, but I think that really helped drive home the fact that Sophie and Billy may have moved a bit fast. The writing because it takes place in the U.K. it's a little hard to follow all the slang sometimes. Like the word chuffed, which when I first read it I thought it meant the person was upset, but actually means they're happy. So that threw me a bit, but after a bit you get used to it and are able to pick up more easily the slang. I also would have loved to see more Molly because I thought she was fantastic. She was funny and such a gossip but she always had Sophie's best interest at heart.

Overall
I thought the story and the characters and the writing were absolutely brilliant. We see a side of famous relationships I don't think anyone really thinks about but in a way that is beautiful and heartfelt. I also enjoyed that their ages were never really mentioned. They weren't young but they weren't old either. I would recommend this to anyone ages 14+ and to anyone who enjoyed This is What Happy Looks Like, or fans of Cecelia Ahern. I rated this one 4 stars.