Book Review: It only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne.

I love romantic books. The typical romances. The guy stands outside the girls window and wins her over, the bad guy that had a change of heart because some small town girl helped him see the light. etc. I love those soppy, cheesy typical romances that make you squeal with excitment! The ones that make you hold the book to your chest and think "Oh my gosh!" 

Although i love alllll these things, and i have failed in all my past relationships. (Lol, congrats to me!) I took the risk in reading this novel. This isn't my typical novel as it didn't seem so romance positive! But i gave it a whirl. Holly Bourne has presented such a bittersweet scenerio in this novel. The main character is a realist, very like FUCK typical romances, they fail and they suck. You spend the whole novel thinking, girl, you're right. 

Then SHE experiences love/lust. With the guy who isn't good for her. Even though, you're completely on her side in the beginning, you get to the middle and you're dying for them to be together. This is such a clever way to rope people into a book, you pick it up for one reason, and end up vouching for exactly what you didn't expect!!! So, their love is sweet, and you're head over heels. Her moms nervous breakdowns send you wild, because all you can think is "this is her time to be young and free!" Her dad, welll he's an arsehole. We won't discuss him. Her mom is pretty selfish, relying on her too much when she's so young and trying to master school, and work. Her brother ALSO relying on her too much. Typical teenage life i guess, something is going wrong.

PLOT TWIST. 

The guy who wasn't good for her, breaks her heart. He cheats on her. Honestly, i want to say i saw it coming, but i didn't. Holly Bourne did such a good job at making you believe this pessimistic girl finally got her little minor happily ever after, then he goes and ruins it. i mean, i guess that is the realistic part of the novel. When you're young, you're in relationships and they're never too serious but at the time, they are your world, and when everything goes tits up, you think wow, i'm DONE. I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN. Wrong babes. But, i love the portrayal of teens in this novel. She has pin pointed exactly how it can be when you're in school, especially when you're trying to master grades too. School can be so crap when you're just about getting through, but this main character gets through every obstacle. Mostly because her mom is presented as such a weak character, broken woman from a broken marriage, not quite accepting it. I think it shows that when you're around people who are fragile, it just so happens to make you a stronger person. HOWEVER, it also shows that being strong for other people can be damaging. The character takes no time to reflect on how he is feeling a lot of the time, she doesn't really get a chance. It shows that teenagers can suppress too much as well. 

Overall, the novel was brilliant. 10/10 for realism. It was such a realistic view on how love/lust is when you're young and silly. Willing to just throw yourself into anything and anyone, because why not? It shows that you shouldn't forget to enjoy being young when you are, and that life can suck, but you can power through. ALSO, most importantly... That men can really suck, but it's okay, because you don't actually need them to survive. WAHEY!

Thank you for reading.

Brookly.