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mrsamandalamb 's review for:
Happily Ever Afters
by Elise Bryant
In HAPPILY EVER AFTERS, Tessa and her family have just moved to Long Beach from a Sacramento suburb for her dad’s job. Tessa’s mom secretly filled out an application for a prestigious performing arts school and she got in! But on the first day of writers’ workshop, she can’t write. Unfortunately, this continues for weeks and weeks. Tessa manages to dodge her teachers and best friend about the issue until she can’t anymore. So Tessa and her bestie hatch a plan: Tessa’s Happily Ever After. Since Tessa writes romantic comedies, Caroline suggests that Tessa try to live one since she’s never had a boyfriend.
One of Tessa’s new neighbors is Sam, a genius baker, who also got admitted to the same school as Tessa. Being neighbors, Tessa gets rides to and from school with him and they befriend some of the same people at school. Sam seems to like Tessa, but she doesn’t notice him that way. She has her eyes set on the most handsome writer at school: Nico. Will Nico meet her expectations? Or will she want to be with Sam? Or perhaps, neither? “I thought I needed a real-life love story of my own to start writing again...But what I really needed, to find my words and my voice again, was to love myself” (373). I didn’t expect this message to hit me so hard when I read it, but I needed to be reminded to love myself, too.
In one review of this book, I read that Tessa was too down on herself, but I found Tessa relatable for teens and myself. Though I could understand not wanting to read so much of that. Tessa is an awkward introvert, like myself, so I completely related to her in that way. Tessa and her family are black, her school is mixed race, and her brother has disabilities. I felt like all of these differences were well-represented without going overboard about it. I enjoyed this sweet story and look forward to what comes next from Elise Bryant!
One of Tessa’s new neighbors is Sam, a genius baker, who also got admitted to the same school as Tessa. Being neighbors, Tessa gets rides to and from school with him and they befriend some of the same people at school. Sam seems to like Tessa, but she doesn’t notice him that way. She has her eyes set on the most handsome writer at school: Nico. Will Nico meet her expectations? Or will she want to be with Sam? Or perhaps, neither? “I thought I needed a real-life love story of my own to start writing again...But what I really needed, to find my words and my voice again, was to love myself” (373). I didn’t expect this message to hit me so hard when I read it, but I needed to be reminded to love myself, too.
In one review of this book, I read that Tessa was too down on herself, but I found Tessa relatable for teens and myself. Though I could understand not wanting to read so much of that. Tessa is an awkward introvert, like myself, so I completely related to her in that way. Tessa and her family are black, her school is mixed race, and her brother has disabilities. I felt like all of these differences were well-represented without going overboard about it. I enjoyed this sweet story and look forward to what comes next from Elise Bryant!