From the Bookshelf of Between The Pages…

The Falling in Love Montage

Ciara Smyth

Start date: February 1, 2021

Finish date: February 28, 2021

Discussion: Moderator's BOTM Discussions

Discussion leader: Sylvs (NOVELty Reads)

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What Members Thought

Jun 23, 2020 Ashley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: releases-2020

Brb, literally sobbing rn.

SOGOODBUTITHINKI’MDYING
NEVERWANTEDTHISTOEND

RTC

23 likes · Like · see review

Feb 21, 2021 Zitong Ren rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021, young-adult, diverse, lgbtqi, contains-romance, romance

Read with the Between the Pages Bookclub for our Moderator’s BOTM for February.

I’ll start by saying that I definitely enjoyed this and liked a lot of the things that it set out do to. I do think that it covered quite a lot of important elements but the reason that it isn’t quite a five is that I somewhat see where some things were going and often with contemporaries the plot isn’t the strongest. I did however really like the characters and their development and the things they went through were Read with the Between the Pages Bookclub for our Moderator’s BOTM for February.

I’ll start by saying that I definitely enjoyed this and liked a lot of the things that it set out do to. I do think that it covered quite a lot of important elements but the reason that it isn’t quite a five is that I somewhat see where some things were going and often with contemporaries the plot isn’t the strongest. I did however really like the characters and their development and the things they went through were really interesting and well handled by the author.

A lot of it does focus on dementia and particularly early onset dementia as the main character’s mother has it and a lot of her actions are affected by this and the constant worry that she will one day get dementia. I found this to be quite an important aspect in looking at what is the actual purpose of life if that one day, we are just going to forget everything. It was quite good in my view at how that was all handled by the author and not only bringing awareness to the health problem but also how that actually affects peoples’ lives and how things are changed for them.

The characters were alright at the start, but as the novel progress, I did slowly begin to connect with them a fair bit more. They weren’t my favourite, but I did get them as people, and it was good watching them change over time. I did actually really like the character development, even if some things were predictable as there is only so much you can do with a book. Also, at how the characters went at the end really surprised me and it was really different to what most romances do, but it was also really nice in its own way.

It was certainly a lot of fun and there were a lot of cute scenes that I thoroughly enjoyed. One could argue that there is never a lot of substance in scenes like that, but I disagree on the fact that not every book has to be super deep in every scene. And furthermore, this book tackled a wide range of issues while still being a fun novel to read. It actually progressed to become quite serious in tackling things like love, and grief, our own mortality and dementia, so that was fantastic.

The romance was alright actually. Now, as a person that generally liked huge amounts of angst and tension before the characters even touch each other, this relationship got going quite quickly in contrast. I perfectly understood what the author was going for however, in that it is just showing a quick whirlwind teenage romance and instant attraction is a thing. It actually did feel different purely because of how it ended, although many of the plot devices used were largely predicated because they are used in like every romance ever and I say that not having read a massive number of romance novels, YA or otherwise.

The side characters were also pretty well fleshed out and were interesting to read out, which was great. The novel really made essentially everyone feel like their own people instead of plot devices and I feel that needs to be done by more novels where not only the main characters are fully fleshed out, but also give the side characters some depth as well.

Overall, I enjoyed this a fair bit and whilst it isn’t a new favourite book or anything, I did like the messages it brought up and how it handled many difficult issues. 7.5/10 ...more

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Jul 10, 2020 mjraves rated it it was amazing

Shelves: most-anticipated-releases-2020

Ciara Smyth, you just broke my fucking heart again...💔💔💔💔💔by far my favorite read of 2020 so far and I highly doubt anything is going to surpass it

16 likes · Like · see review

Feb 14, 2021 Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Read as part of the Moderator's BOTM for Between the Pages Book Club

If reading this has confirmed one thing it is that I may be potentially going out of my romcom phase. I know, I know! I thought it was never going to be possible either but I think in this point in time, I just cannot fall in love with them, despite their fluffiness and all.

I think part of why I couldn't fall in love with this book that easily was largely due to the fact that I expected so much swoon and cheesy, sappy romance t Read as part of the Moderator's BOTM for Between the Pages Book Club

If reading this has confirmed one thing it is that I may be potentially going out of my romcom phase. I know, I know! I thought it was never going to be possible either but I think in this point in time, I just cannot fall in love with them, despite their fluffiness and all.

I think part of why I couldn't fall in love with this book that easily was largely due to the fact that I expected so much swoon and cheesy, sappy romance that when I started and realised it was not going to go down that path, my whole reading experience changed for me.

Within the first 40 pages we have the main character, Saoirse (pronounced Seer-Sha as we are constantly reminded of throughout the book) who is still reeling after a heartbreak. During a party she meets this girl called Ruby who takes her breath away and makes a deal with Saoirse: they can have a romance but without the serious bits. For Saoirse that means no talking about her dad marrying a new woman, no talking about her mum with early-onset dementia and definitely no talking about her potential chance of getting it herself.

I kind of knew from the get go that this wouldn't be the overly romantic romcom I wanted but it was still a romcom that touched on so many important issues like early onset dementia, what to do after school, divorce, marriage, being in a serious relationship and forgiveness. I liked the way so many of these issues were dealt with and the care the author took with them.

With the early onset dementia, we got to see how that affected Saoirse and her family as well as her views on life and the quality of it. Despite her rough exterior she visited her mum as often as possible to check if she was okay and to spend time with her. Seeing her mum forget her name made her feel remorseful about potentially experiencing the same things in the future. As a result, Saoirse doesn't find reason in "living life to the fullest" especially if she's just going to forget it all anyway.

After meeting Ruby, a cat loving girl and cousin to her "nemesis", Oliver Quinn, Saoirse puts all her efforts into the Falling in Love Montage, knowing that nothing serious would come out of it. She puts up a set of rules to protect her. No making up, no serious discussions and no "we-ing" (as in, "we will go to the party, we like pizza etc) just to name a few. But as the falling in love montage comes to an end, Saoirse discovers the value of opening up and the power in voicing her emotions which was a really humble lesson to read about in a romcom.

What really took the cake with this book were the side characters, Morris, Barb and Oliver. I loved each of them with all of them making me laugh at some point. Morris and Barb were seemingly perfect for each other with the brunt of their brutal honesty and their know-it-alls of relationships and romance. I hope they fall in love for real. Oliver on the other hand was a sarcastic rich kid who I know you'll love. He used sarcasm as a form of humour to mask his loneliness and fear of being truly alone. I loved the interactions between him and Saoirse which was a major highlight in the novel.

Character wise, I didn't mind any of the characters. I didn't love Ruby or Saoirse that much but I did understand their characters and could see very clearly how much they wanted to open up to each other but how scared they were of doing it, knowing what that would mean for their relationship. I liked Beth and Saoirse's dad and how over time, Saoirse learnt that even though she wasn't impressed with her dad remarrying, he still deserved to be happy. I liked how Saoirse grew to like Beth, sure it was baby steps but I liked the way they interacted every time they were on the page towards the middle and the end of the book.

All in all, the book was great and all but I just couldn't fall in love with it. I loved a lot of elements of it but I didn't have the overwhelming swoon feeling I was hoping for.

ACTUAL RATING: 3.9 STARS ...more

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