cozysabie 's review for:

Love At First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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 "I was always happier here," she admitted. With you, her heart whispered."

GENRE: PNR with cozy fantasy elements
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc

Would I recommend to others?: YES. I will never not recommend books written by Nadia El-Fassi. They are written in a beautiful way, with grief, mental health rep, love and wanting to find your place in the world all wrapped up in a romance book.

Long Review:
Nadia El-Fassi has a way of writing books that I know will linger in my heart long after I have finished them and Love at First Fright is no different. This is a book set in the same world as her debut novel: Best Hex Ever and is focusing on Rosemary. Love at First Fright tackles many heavy topics, like finding her place in the world and believing that you are good enough, the pressure of being an author and having your novel turned into a film can definitely wreck havoc on your anxiety, even if its all good things that SHOULD make you happy.

"She felt like a conveyor belt, always churning out words, never stopping to breathe. Rosemary would think about breathing when this book was done."

Rosemary is an American character who moved away from her town after losing her mom and grief is something that is touched on in this book, which if you have been around, you know I love reading about in books as I always connect to it from my own personal experience. The idea of "Where is home" is addressed in Love at First Fright, when Rosemary says that her home town is no longer home once her mom passed away and I relate to this very heavily as I am from multiple countries, lived in a different country and then, when I lost my grandmother, I found that none of them were home anymore. I found that my identity crisis of experiencing third culture got stronger. I never fitted into any of the countries I was from or lived in perfectly and after losing my grandma (my mema), this went away entirely. I then started leaning into wanting to move to the UK (just like Rosemary) and so I definitely could relate to this theme very heavily throughout the book

"Georgia didn't feel like home anymore, even with Dad still living there. It hadn't been home since her mom had died."

"But London? Even the word filled her with a glowing warmth. The city wasn't new to her, and the idea of living there felt more like a return home than a fresh start."

And the thing about grief is that it comes when you least expect it and over the years, it quietens down. It becomes something that you live with in the background and is still very much a reality that you struggle to accept. The sharp edges become a bit duller and not smoother. El-Fassi really adds this element to the book, where Rosemary remembers her mom throughout the books, in those moments that are small and big, in the unexpected memories and the things you wish you could tell them again. You can tell that El-Fassi herself went through this and her grief is painted beautifully in Best Hex Ever and in here, Love at First Fright.

"Rosemary wished she could talk to her mama about all of this. As it always was with grief, the person she most wanted to soothe her sadness was the same whose absence had caused it all."

"They'd (Rosemary and her mom) spend hours going over Rosemary's plot ideas; however childish and silly, her mother had shown Rosemary that her stories were important. Look where we are now, Mama."

On the other hand, the MMC, Ellis, is also finding his own place in the world. Having spent the last few years being an actor and trying to make it in a world that is chaotic, exposed and hectic, he seeks to have a slower life, one that is filled with loved ones and wholesome moment. However, just like Rosemary, he is stuck in the hustle culture and finds that he can't escape as easily as he wishes he could. He also wishes he could be himself more in a world that forces him to be like other people instead.

"Next summer he'd clean it. Next summer he'd finally have that barbeque with friends and family he'd promised himself. Ellis wished he could spend longer in the garden, but there never seemed to be enough time to do the things he loved."

"No more forced diets for movies, dehydrating himself so that he looked more ripped on camera."

And Rosemary plus Ellis together? AHHH what a couple, what a combination. Their dynamic felt real, intense and unique. You could tell that they loved each other and it all happened so naturally. Their dynamic is very different than the couple from book one (Best Hex Ever) but it is such a soft companionship and friendship with a sharp edge in their relationship and one that works well for the both of them. Their dynamic is beautiful because its two people coming together, broken in a similar way with grief, loss in their lives and they begin to share this with each other, hoping to find acceptance in one another.

"While Rosemary cuddled Fig on her lap, the little dog dozing and chasing bunnies in her sleep, Ellis wondered if it was possible to feel too happy."

"It was when he stood in his paint-covered overalls amidst the boxes that he'd shipped to his house, which were filled with the parts he'd need to build Rosemary a desk to go under the window, that Ellis realised he was in love with her."

And guys, the most beautiful part is they find home in each other. Like honestly, that is probably what we spend a lifetime looking for: our home in this world

"I'm home!" Ellis heard Rosemary call from downstairs. Home. My girl is home."

And not only this, El-Fassi writes about Rosemary's anxiety in a way that is familiar to my own with my AuDHD. She does little things throughout the book that makes me go like: Oh, I do that too!

"She had arrived a little early to acclimatise and prepare, something she had found always helped her anxiety...Rosemary figured that if she considered all possible outcomes at an event, thought about all the things people might ask her, then she wouldn't feel stuck in the moment. To her, that all seemed perfectly sensible, but apparently it also meant she was just an anxious person."

AND to add an element of fun magical thing here: Rosemary can see ghosts! This brings a lot of fun stuff to the book but I will leave you with one quote regarding this

"... she thought of all the ghosts she had known and how, when it came down to it, they stayed because they wanted more time with the people they loved."

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, Delrey and Nadia for the eArc copy in exchange for my honest opinion.