Holly Bourne

It Only Happens in the Movies

Gabriella Parker

Harry grabbed me again. “This is awesome! I wish you’d hurry up and get over the fact that I will end up kissing you, because I totally want to kiss you right now.”

A tiny part of me that wasn’t angry and numb – if you can even be those things simultaneously – recognized that I was the problem, not them.

what a fine day for a book to call me out

The way he looked at her, it made me wish someone could look at me like that.

I just wanted to be difficult. I was so fed up of being amenable to everybody. 

smiling is sometimes the only way to stop yourself crying. 

Bad boys turned good, kisses in the rain, climbing through bedroom windows... It only happens in the movies. When Audrey meets Harry, it’s the start of a truly cinematic romance – or is it? Audrey knows that Harry is every movie cliché rolled into one. But she still chooses to let him into her heart...

Teresa Bonifácio

3.75 
I loved the ending. I loved how Audrey grew through this book. And I loved how feminine it was. 
Audrey made some weird choices in the beginning, but she learned in the end. Sometimes love is not enough and we need to think about ourselves.

elle

oohh i was gonna give this 3 stars cause it was so cheesy and it’s not the good kind but the last two pages made me add another star cause audrey chose the right option thank god 🙏😭 but it’s still cheesy and a bit cringey

Julie Rubens

This book was so much better than I would have ever expected! I bought it three years ago and kept postponing it because I didn’t have very high hopes for it, but I loved it so much! Especially the ending!!

Audrey gave up on romance before meeting aspiring filmmaker Harry at the cinema where they work, but soon they are deeply in love--and not like it is portrayed in movies.

Riya

This book felt like an extension of holly’s other books, and I don’t mind that because I pretty much enjoy her writing but this didn’t work for me at all. The writing was great as always, it tugged at my heart, and made me feel so many emotions for our mc, however, I still couldn’t find myself getting invested in her life and people around her. 
 Some characters were just there for the sake of Audrey, to bring some turbulence in her dating life or just exist solely for her. They felt lifeless, like leeroy’s. And rosie’s character, who was written as a typical “other girl”; the story would’ve had no gaps or plot holes without her, she was that one dimensional. 
There were some things which make this book less “feminist “ than her other works, and I wish she had explored Harry’s character more but I guess it was Holly’s intent from the start to make us less connected from his character, who knows.

becky oh

** spoiler alert **
           I liked it. A bit. Not really a 5 star book. Though. It really doesn't have a happy ending. For some reason, a lot of Holly Bourne's books DON'T have happily-ever-afters...maybe because she thinks no one deserves happy ending(which I REALLY disagree) I think Aydrey DID love Harry, only I just...Holly twists things a bit. At the ending, where Harry did something soooo sweet to Aydrey and asked will you go out with me, she said no....WHY?????I mean, Holly doesn't really like happy stuff, maybe and and that's why this book....i don't know

Temi Awani

tina

it’s a cliche story with a noncliche ending

brooke

audrey i love you and your girlboss moments especially not letting “you’re not like other girls” slide

Abby Frey

Steph L 

This novel was fantastic! As someone who loves romances, both in books and in movies, this books was the cutest.

Characters- The characters in this novel were so cute. Audrey was a drama student, and as someone who also loves theater, I wanted to keep reading the moment I found that out. Harry was a character who started off as a bad boy and then was really sweet when you get to know him.

Plot- I loved the story. Sure, it was trope-heavy at times, but that’s kind of the point of the story. I loved the sweet elements, as well as the real elements of the story as the plot progresses.

Writing- I loved the writing in this novel! I’m going to read more writing from Holly Bourne.

Romance- This was opposites attract kind of a story. The end had me in tears, and I melted at the end. The build-up of the romance was also sweet.

Recommend for/ Enjoyment- I recommend this for those that enjoy RomComs, and those that love a good YA novel. I really enjoyed this.

Lianna

I read this book in a day, needless to say it was very engaging for me. I like how it reads as easily as YA books tend to do for me but also tackles these clichés through a feminist lens. I like how I can see the main character being an actual person, with feelings and flaws that are expressed just as much as the love interest. I also enjoyed how much they drank tea in this book.

** spoiler alert **
           I give this book 3 stars because I liked it but it was very boring at first and hard to get into.

I expected it to be a classic "girl meets boy-swears she won't fall for him-falls for him-they get together-they break up-they get back together-the end" kind of story, but I guess that's the catch. I loved the ending, in her place I would have done the same.

Mijs Franssen

Yes. It is finally time to talk about this empowering book. I first picked this up in 2019, because I was extremely into sappy YA romances at the time. (god knows why.) But then, while reading it there was a power in this book that I just didn't expect. Holly Bourne did such a great job with her main character and the choices that she had her make. I felt like Amelie was a very round, three dimensional character with a very interesting backstory and an amazing journey throughout this book. I've read it two times, but the second time around I did like it way better than the first. I think that may be because of some more experience, in reading as well as my life.

I would encourage everyone to pick this book up. You will find a story that is not just inspiring but also very empowering!

Tilde Veli

It a very true and could i say romantic story about a girl named Audrey and meet a boy named Harry 

Arden Kowalski

I would like to apologize to Audrey Hepburn, a cultural icon who did not deserve to be even mentioned in this travesty of a novel. I would also like to apologize to 'Before Sunrise,' 'Titanic,' 'Roman Holiday,' and 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,' because those are excellent films and I cannot fathom how they inspired such a truly horrendous novel. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to all the reasons I believe this book should be burned!

The writing style was just horrendous. I have no other words to describe it. Bourne's caps lock key got stuck every time she tried to write dialogue, which generally does not lead to good writing. She says she writes for teenagers—a group which I am a part of. I can confirm that no teenager under the sun is quite as stupid as Holly Bourne makes them out to be. Like, maybe people fail tenth grade math, but all of them can string together coherent sentences. This, by the way, is something that Bourne fails at. The number of sentences that are not grammatically correct in this published novel is completely insane.

"Well, maybe the plot is good?" you say, a casual Goodreads user who cannot understand the depths of my hatred.

No, the plot is goddamn stupid. For a 'feminist' romance novel, the main character contradicts her own arguments about love repeatedly. I couldn't follow the message of the book because of how convoluted it is. I honestly feel like this plot was constructed out of half-baked pop culture references and a lot of guesswork. It's trite, it's ridiculous, and it ends in a wholly unsatisfying way. I don't understand who the hell signed off on this, but I want what they're having!

"Oh, Arden," you might be saying, "surely it's not all that bad! I heard there was a gay character in it!"

Yeah, a gay character who gets like six pages of attention and fucks off to Rainbow Road whenever anything is actually happening. This gay character's movements are repeatedly described as 'camp,' he's said to 'saunter,' and at one point our main character tells him to 'tone down the gay.' He has a boyfriend and they're both completely ignored in terms of story resolved. They're thrown in for diversity points without any care.

Our main character's mother is mentally ill, and the narrative stops just short of demonizing her for it. The love interest was 'ADHD as a child,' but grew out of it because that's apparently possible? I'm completely revolted at how ideas like this are considered acceptable. 

"That sounds really bad," you may say, clucking your tongue. "What about the main characters? Is it at least a good love story?"

If you can get past the atrocious writing style, the homophobia, the ableism, and a side dish of slut-shaming I haven't bothered to mention (this book doesn't deserve a cohesive review) you get a love story as idiotic as the rest of the novel. Our main character, Audrey, and her love interest, Harry, suffer through bouts of annoying and forced conflict. Both of them are so one-note in characterization that it's hard to care about anything that happens to them. I still can't understand why they got together. It's very, very asinine. I am a hopeless romantic. I adore many romance novels. This is a joke of a love story wrapped in a pretty bright cover.

"Oh no," you say, your faith in English literature (and humanity) completely decimated. "Well... that all sounds really bad. But isn't this marketed as a feminist story? I know you mentioned slut-shaming, but how bad is it?"

Don't worry, our main character simply calls her dad's new wife a slut and a homewrecking whore! (I am actually quoting the book here, although in the books these are said in all caps to signify anger). Also, there's a plot where her love interest's ex-girlfriend hates her for no good reason. Women just hate women in this ridiculous joke of a novel. 

"Is there anything redeemable about this book?" you ask desperately, face in hands from the pain.

No. No, there really isn't. I read the first bit or so hoping it would get better, and then I hate read the rest of it in order to justify how much I hate it. I don't understand why this book has such a high overall rating. It's complete and utter garbage.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk, I'll be here all week.

Rebecca Browne

** spoiler alert **
           I’m glad she didn’t end up with him in the end, but even though she was like I hate cliches and romance movies.. this was basically one. Also the mother’s storyline didn’t really fit and at times I didn’t want to read it. Could’ve also included some trigger warnings for it.

Tiffany

I really enjoyed this story! Read it in under 24 hours, I just couldn’t put it down!
I liked it started with a prologue of what was to come but not completely giving away the ending. The ride Holly took us on and how our girl got to that point.
It took all the rom-com cliches and flipping it around.
I did find her brother really annoying and selfish. She’s a teenage girl for goodness sake! 
But I get that it does happen, along with the things with her mum and dad. It was gritty and showed what some people do go through.
I love the message of sex in this book - it’s not showing it as this amazing first time experience that so many stories do. Because it’s not in reality. 
I have more of Hollys books and cannot wait to read them.

Flora Nátura

Just beautiful. Heartbreaking. This wasn’t the classic romance we are used to. And I enjoyed every bit of it. And it did left me crying my eyes out. And I did love it so much.

2 ✨

I was really hoping for a cute romance or at the very least one that ended in a positive way. This book was just not what I was looking for. 

*MINOR SPOILERS*

Audrey has just started her new job at a fancy movie theater, which is where we meet her new coworker Harry. She is told multiple times that he is a flirt by different people. She does not listen and continues to fall for him anyway. We learn that her past relationship ended soon after having their first time and that her father left her mother for another woman.

I think one thing that this story did well was that Audrey learned how to demand respect from others, including herself. Her dad was a complete jerk, as was her ex boyfriend. Personally, I did not like the majority of the characters and sometimes I did not like Audrey. I thought that the romance was slow to start, but then it transitioned to just cut scenes of a relationship. They moved so quickly once they started that I never really grew to feel for their relationship. 




Read the full review at : https://vinylsandstars.wixsite.com/hi...

Ella Bouic

Definitely not my favourite book Holly Bourne has published but yet it's still such an incredible story and Holly Bourne is such an incredible writer who makes you connect to the characters so easily. Would 100% recommend to ANYBODY! Loved it so much well done Holly Bourne once again for an amazing story

Jelke Lenaerts

This book has content warnings by alcoholism, drug use and self-harm/suicide attempt.

This book surprised me with how quickly I fell in love with the romance. It had a propper build and just completely had me swooning. I also really liked the main character. I think this book dealt with the issues she had well. She went through some AMAZING growth and I loved that. I feel like most books just excuse the flaws of the characters and make evey character that disagrees with them look like the villain but this book called out the main character for her flaws and forces her to grow and that's just what I stan. I also really liked the family aspect in this book. It just added in more depth to this story and made everything feel more real. I mean a character being cynical of romcoms because of her parents' divorce rahter than just a bad break-up makes so much more sense and I loved that. I mean the main character just flipped a lot of tropes and made it all just feel more realistic. Talking about flipping tropes, so did the love interest. I loved him so fucking much. It was such a great flip on the player trope. I mean, he was actually a good person not just the bad boy who is only sweet for the main character. I LOVE it. Now, you may wonder why this isn't a five star if I loved everything so much. Well, the main characters flip to tropes so well but the side characters were so one dimensional and besides her family all of them just kind of there only to further the plot and I don't know. It was just such a big contrast with the main character and her love interest that it bothered me. I also just HATED the ending. I mean, it makes sense. The conflict was a bit predictable, but that was mainly because it was the biggest trope there is. The resolution of it makes sense with the theme of flipping tropes and in any other book I would have loved it. Why I didn't? Oh, that's becausr the conflict that caused the whole ending was SO out of character that I just can't function. It just felt like the author threw it in because she needed a trope to flip on it's head but failed to check if it actually made sense. So yeah, this could have been a new favourite but the ending had to go and ruin that for me.

Agata Tereszkiewicz 

Wow what can I say?
Firstly im still debating between 4 or 5 stars so im giving it a 4.5! 

This book was about a 17 year old girl and her journey of finding herself, fighting for herself and not taking anyone's sh*t. It was an amazing story of relationships, friendships and family. And the unrealistic nature of romcoms. 

Honestly I wish i read this 4 years ago but even now i look back at my teens and relate to this. And some parts made me physically laugh out loud (which doesn't happen often in books for me). It's just a light and fuzzy read with parts which will make your heart ache but then make your heart melt as well! 

I reccomond just pick it up and enjoy the ride of Audrey's story.

Emily

** spoiler alert **
           Thank you to Edelweiss and HMH Books for Young Readers for supplying me with an advanced copy of this book for review! The U.S. release date is December 1!

4.5 stars

You keep claiming you're dead inside, but you weren't looking at him like you were dead inside. Don't think he would be different for you, Audrey.

This might be the most satisfying book I have ever read. This hit every mark I wanted it to- it went in every direction it should have. It Only Happens in the Movies is a warning, and something that every girl needs to read. It has such a chance to be horrible, to fall into the exact tropes it picks apart, but, thank goodness, it does the exact opposite. 

Audrey is an incredibly relatable character, and her thoughts flow in the same way every teenage girl's does-- even when it's hard to admit. She's logical, so you can't help but respect her, but still, she questions what she knows because of hope. Hope that may have been right in the end, maybe if she gave him a second chance, but we all know she can't. Not if she wants to do right for every girl reading her story. 

Harry might have been a good guy who made a stupid decision, but every girl needs to know that they deserve not to have to find out, especially when they're already as broken as Audrey. Who, might I add, is not 'not like other girls' like Harry suggests, and she so satisfyingly DESTROYS for saying that. 

This book, as difficult as it was to read at some times because you can FEEL every trap she's falling into and you STILL have hope she'll be mistaken, is a triumph and something I think I'll find myself thinking back to quite frequently.

It Only Happens in the Movies

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