A review by gee_reads_books
The Great Austen Adventure by Tomi Tabb

emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

4.75

I cried with this book! I actually cried!

Tabb's "The Great Austen Adventure" follows Sabrina Hill, a twenty-four-year-old Austenite who just got fired from a prestigious company for a minor mistake. Hurt and not all too sure about what to do next, Sabrina decides to take a break and visit Europe, where her online best friend Nora has offered to host her for a few months so they can attend the Jane Austen Convention in Bath together. When Sabrina sets foot in Italy, she runs into Lorenzo, a handsome man that looks like a dream, and makes her feel cherished and loved. After spending all her life pleasing others, Sabrina's time in Florence may be exactly what she needs to realise that what will make you happy is following your own heart.

After reading Tomi Tabb's "The Mysterious Mister Marcellus", I knew that I was gonna find excellent writing and a compelling main character. Indeed, I had such fun reading this book! We start out with a very relatable MC - who hasn't felt lost and anxious in their twenties, re: figuring out how life is gonna look like? - who just wants to take a break from a lifetime of trying to be enough for her mum. She's balancing out the concerns about her future with the wonders of exploring the Old Continent, and I could relate so much to her! It's exactly how I felt when I took a six-week trip to Australia this Christmas. There's something so unique about this sort of experience, and Tabb captured it perfectly well in this book. It made me feel like the story was speaking to me personally. Besides, Sabrina was a deep, three-dimensional character with her own struggles and difficulties, which she tackled head-on as the novel progressed, and I loved that about her.

Lorenzo, the love interest, was a really sweet and caring man. Sometimes I felt like he was a bit too good to be true, in fact, because other than his and Sabrina's argument halfway through the novel, he didn't seem to have any catches or defects whatsoever. Still, he was quite a swoonworthy gentleman, and I was so glad to have a modern Mister Darcy of sorts as the lead! 

The plot was pretty easy to follow, but still had enough emotional moments that it didn't feel flat or boring. In retrospective, this was exactly the kind of book I needed right now - something soft, and mushy, to get me through a rough patch -, and I couldn't be happier to have chosen it. I'll most definitely watch out for more Tomi Tabb books, and I recommend you to follow suit!