A review by oakandblackthorn
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

5.0

“I am hard on myself. But isn’t it better to be honest about these things before someone else can use them against you? Before someone else can break your heart? Isn’t it better to break it yourself?”

Much like Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, I read Isla and the Happily Ever After in one sitting. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think. I was swept up into a world of adventure and romance and beauty. I've been left with the overwhelming desire to run away, see the world, fall in love, and never look back.

Isla and I are so alike; if you've ever had a character appear in a book and thought, "Oh, there I am", you probably know what I mean. I have her passion for adventure, her love of architecture, and her fear of a future where she has no idea who she wants to be. She's a blank canvas and her personality matched mine to a slightly unsettling degree. We also share insecurities. I, too, am afraid of risks. I'm also deathly afraid of giving someone my heart, even though I'll fall in love every time I go outside. We are one and the same, and there's something comforting about seeing yourself in a book and knowing you're not alone.

Isla's journey touched me because it's so close to the one I'm on. I haven't reached her ending yet, but I'm getting there. It gave me hope that my future might not be as terrifying as I'm making it seem. That, even though I have no idea what I'm doing, I'll get to where I'm meant to be in the end.

I recommend this story to anyone who's trying to find themselves. Isla and the Happily Ever After ended up being a very personal book that helped me come to terms with some of the deepest parts of myself. It shed light not only on who I am, but who I want to be. Isla's story filled me with a renewed hope for life. The world is full of possibilities; we just have to be brave enough to take them.

“A blank canvas has unlimited possibilities.”