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bmulvaney 's review for:
Isla and the Happily Ever After
by Stephanie Perkins
Stephanie Perkins is my spirit animal.
I have to admit, somewhere near the middle of this book, I realized that I didn't like it quite as much as her first two. For one thing, it follows a different pattern in terms of storytelling. (Not that it's a bad thing; it just threw me off.) For me, I've never enjoyed this pattern as much. The characters, however, are lovely. I hardly remember them from Anna and the French Kiss (but I did read it a loooong time ago), but I fell for them as much as I fell for Perkins' other memorable characters after a bit of reacquainting. Characters have always been her strong suit. They're always so real and wonderful; the kind of people you'd want to be friends with, although they are a bit overreaching. It always seems like to me that after their book, her characters become more of a shade of their former selves. They're always too happy, never a worry or care anymore. And while I adore seeing the connecting world, the trick has lost some of its charm.
But the last half of the book? Wonderful. The kind of book you stay up until 3am to finish (I hardly realized it was 2am until it was) and don't regret it, not for one second. I can't quite place what's different about this one. I felt the same exhilaration and happiness from reading it as I did with her last two, but I didn't enjoy it as much. Why? I wish I knew.
I really, really wish I could give it five stars. I loved it, I'm just not sure if I liked it. (Like that relative you see every year at thanksgiving.) But it's vastly superior to many teen fiction books out there, comparatively. It just doesn't live up to its predecessors, at least not completely. Still worth the read.
I have to admit, somewhere near the middle of this book, I realized that I didn't like it quite as much as her first two. For one thing, it follows a different pattern in terms of storytelling. (Not that it's a bad thing; it just threw me off.) For me, I've never enjoyed this pattern as much. The characters, however, are lovely. I hardly remember them from Anna and the French Kiss (but I did read it a loooong time ago), but I fell for them as much as I fell for Perkins' other memorable characters after a bit of reacquainting. Characters have always been her strong suit. They're always so real and wonderful; the kind of people you'd want to be friends with, although they are a bit overreaching. It always seems like to me that after their book, her characters become more of a shade of their former selves. They're always too happy, never a worry or care anymore. And while I adore seeing the connecting world, the trick has lost some of its charm.
But the last half of the book? Wonderful. The kind of book you stay up until 3am to finish (I hardly realized it was 2am until it was) and don't regret it, not for one second. I can't quite place what's different about this one. I felt the same exhilaration and happiness from reading it as I did with her last two, but I didn't enjoy it as much. Why? I wish I knew.
I really, really wish I could give it five stars. I loved it, I'm just not sure if I liked it. (Like that relative you see every year at thanksgiving.) But it's vastly superior to many teen fiction books out there, comparatively. It just doesn't live up to its predecessors, at least not completely. Still worth the read.