Audrey is over romance. Since her parents' relationship imploded her mother's been catatonic, so she takes a cinema job to get out of the house. But there she meets wannabe film-maker Harry. Nobody expects Audrey and Harry to fall in love as hard and fast as they do. But that doesn't mean things are easy. Because real love isn't like the movies...The greatest love story ever told doesn't feature kissing in the snow or racing to airports. It features pain and confusion and hope and wonder and a ban on cheesy clichés. Oh, and zombies...
A part of me wishes that this
book ended differently, but a different part of me knew it could only end the
way it did and I'm glad Bourne chose to end it that way. The story is a
beautiful monument to what is wrong with stereotype romance films and how, on
the whole, these stereotypes warp society's way of experiencing love, expecting
certain things, giving up others, letting things happen because love is the end
goal.
Is love a choice or a feeling? When this question gets put to Audrey, she feels one way, but by the end, she recognizes that it isn't what she initially thought. Her character development is so strong in this book - I absolutely loved reading her. She begins the novel with a torn up heart - suffering from a teen, school romance gone sour - and on top of that, her own parents' bitter divorce has gotten much worse because her childhood home is being forcibly sold by her father to pay for his new family's lifestyle. Swearing off love, Audrey doesn't expect to fall into another relationship again, especially when it appears to come from the most stereotypical of sources. Harry's character is everything you'd expect out of a teen romance movie. Bourne did an excellent job, though, of building him into something that you could see Audrey accepting, the kind of guy who, despite being warned off by many, she falls for. Thus the romance ensues.
But Audrey's cinema class offers her an opportunity to explore what is wrong with Hollywood romances and to look at her own relationships with a critical eye. The book is full of amazing, stereotype-smashing scenes that really just make me love Audrey more. And the cast of characters is great, bringing the humor, the love, and the support that Audrey needs. This book wasn't what I expected it to be and so I understood why (view spoiler).
So yeah, a very well written book - despite my being unsatisfied with the end (it's not warranted, but as a rational human being I can accept it. I just like my romances to be...different). I would definitely put this in an anti-valentine display - Audrey's cinema project alone is a great example of anti-valentines protest. But I'd also recommend it just so people can read a genuinely well written female character. Audrey is flawed, but she is also strong, capable, and feeling. She makes mistakes but she also owns up to them and she does her best to be better. She tries. And I love her for it.
Is love a choice or a feeling? When this question gets put to Audrey, she feels one way, but by the end, she recognizes that it isn't what she initially thought. Her character development is so strong in this book - I absolutely loved reading her. She begins the novel with a torn up heart - suffering from a teen, school romance gone sour - and on top of that, her own parents' bitter divorce has gotten much worse because her childhood home is being forcibly sold by her father to pay for his new family's lifestyle. Swearing off love, Audrey doesn't expect to fall into another relationship again, especially when it appears to come from the most stereotypical of sources. Harry's character is everything you'd expect out of a teen romance movie. Bourne did an excellent job, though, of building him into something that you could see Audrey accepting, the kind of guy who, despite being warned off by many, she falls for. Thus the romance ensues.
But Audrey's cinema class offers her an opportunity to explore what is wrong with Hollywood romances and to look at her own relationships with a critical eye. The book is full of amazing, stereotype-smashing scenes that really just make me love Audrey more. And the cast of characters is great, bringing the humor, the love, and the support that Audrey needs. This book wasn't what I expected it to be and so I understood why (view spoiler).
So yeah, a very well written book - despite my being unsatisfied with the end (it's not warranted, but as a rational human being I can accept it. I just like my romances to be...different). I would definitely put this in an anti-valentine display - Audrey's cinema project alone is a great example of anti-valentines protest. But I'd also recommend it just so people can read a genuinely well written female character. Audrey is flawed, but she is also strong, capable, and feeling. She makes mistakes but she also owns up to them and she does her best to be better. She tries. And I love her for it.
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