Review: It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne
10:00
Series: None
Author: Holly Bourne
Published October 1st 2017 by Usborne Publishing
Goodreads Synopsis
Audrey is over romance. Since her parents' relationship imploded her mother's been catatonic, so she takes a cinema job to get out of the house. But there she meets wannabe film-maker Harry. Nobody expects Audrey and Harry to fall in love as hard and fast as they do. But that doesn't mean things are easy. Because real love isn't like the movies...
The greatest love story ever told doesn't feature kissing in the snow or racing to airports. It features pain and confusion and hope and wonder and a ban on cheesy clichés. Oh, and zombies... YA star Holly Bourne tackles real love in this hugely funny and poignant novel.
Goodreads
Review
I've been struggling to review this book for over a year, because of just how much I disliked it, so I wouldn't be expecting anything glowing in this review. When this book first came out, I placed a hold at the library and was overjoyed when my copy arrived. Holly's Spinster Club series is one of my favourite UKYA contemporary series, so I was expecting fantastic things from this book - that was not the case. It took me over a week to get through this book, and my goodreads updates even have me going on about how much I was sick of the book, and wanted it to be finished; if I'm being 100% honest, I should've just DNFed the book, and been done with it.
In It Only Happens in the Movies, the main chatacter Audrey, has a summer job at her local cinema. Wanting to get out of the house and away from her parents messy divorce, she tacks the job as a way to destress before her final year at college, and onto uni. She used to love romance movies, but her parent's imploding relationship and continuing crap show has her turning jaded, and going off the movies. While at the cinema, she meets Harry, a budding film maker, and they grow closer and closer. Like Audrey, he's hiding family troubles and problems, and by keeping secrets, their relationship is doomed from the beginning.
Other than all that above, I honestly can't remember that much from the book. I think I scrubbed it from my memory as soon as I was finished. I just know that I had to force myself to get through the book, and was honestly so grateful when I returned the book to the library that I hadn't actually bought the book. Audrey's character got on my wick as soon as I started reading - nothing about her was redeemable. She was whiny, and annoying, and nothing like the characters from the Spinster Club series. Oh yeah, she was also upset about a breakup that had just happened, so changed her entire life so she wouldn't see her ex - but was a staunch feminist too? Yeah, that didn't ring true to me. Harry's character was a traditional 'bad boy', but even he was whiny and annoying too. Really, nothing about the book was redeemable.
If I'm being completely honest, I haven't read another of Holly's books since this one, and don't particularly want to - this one has ruined her books for me completely. I would not be able to recommend this book, and wish I hadn't wasted a week on reading it either.
Dates Read:
November 21-28, 2017Rating
2 Stars
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