2020 Beat the Backlist challenge
Review: The Paper & Hearts Society (The Paper & Hearts Society #1) by Lucy Powrie
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Series: The Paper & Hearts Society #1
Author: Lucy Powrie
Published June 11th 2019 by Hodder Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
A brand new series from Booktuber Lucy Powrie - about what happens when you give up on trying to fit in and let your weird out! It's time to join The Paper & Hearts Society ...
Tabby Brown is tired of trying to fit in. She doesn't want to go to parties - in fact, she would much rather snuggle up on the sofa with her favourite book.
It's like she hasn't found her people ...
Then Tabby joins a club that promises to celebrate books. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING - especially when making new friends brings out an AWKWARD BUZZING feeling all over her body.
But Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed have something that makes Tabby come back. Maybe it's the Austen-themed fancy-dress parties, or Ed's fluffy cat Mrs Simpkins, or could it be Henry himself ...
Can Tabby let her weird out AND live THE BEST BOOKISH LIFE POSSIBLE?
Perfect for fans of Holly Smale and Super Awkward.
Goodreads
Review
I have wanted to read this book for so long, but never got around to buying a copy until recently, and as soon as my copy arrived, I dove right in. In The Paper & Hearts Society, Tabby has moved into her grandma's for the summer, while her parents are packing up their old home ready for the permanent move from Cheltenham. While there, and with nothing else to do, she joins the book club she learns about while picking up her favourite book, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and meets Olivia, Cassie, Ed, and Henry, and soon becomes fast friends with them. However, the way her once 'friend' Jess treated her before she left, and is continuing to torment her online, has taken a toll on Tabby, and she doesn't quite trust herself with the group, not to mess it all up. As she gets closer and closer the Society, and joins them on a road trip to the literary sites of Bath, Stratford, and Haworth, she can't imagine life without them.
This book was just so funny, and also had heartfelt moments too. I adored the main cast, with Ed being my favourite, but everyone was perfect. Okay, Cassie rubbed me up the wrong way at first, but once we learnt more about her, it was easy to see what she had been a bit standoffish at first, and to forgive her. Tammy was a wonderful main character for this story, and I really felt for her with how Jess had been treating her, and how that affected her when she met new people, who were already a well formed group. I loved seeing her with both her family, and her new friends, and though I knew from an early start that something she did would come back to bite her, I really felt for her when the issues all came to a head.
The book is so inclusive too, with a range of sexualities and ethnicities being represented, and I especially loved the inclusion of Olivia's demisexuality, which I've seen will be explored further in book 2, Read with Pride, which I'm desperate to read now. Lucy has always had a keen eye on YA, especially with the UKYA chats she used to run, and I'm not surprised her writing is perfect! Bring on book 2!
Dates Read:
March 28-29, 2020
Rating
4 Stars
