Julia Whelan

She could never have guessed what the year would hold...

My Oxford Year

Major Motion Picture Already in Development with Temple Hill Entertainment Set amidst the breathtaking beauty of Oxford, this sparkling debut novel tells the unforgettable story about a determined young woman eager to make her mark in the world and the handsome man who introduces her to an incredible love that will irrevocably alter her future—perfect for fans of JoJo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks. American Ella Durran has had the same plan for her life since she was thirteen: Study at Oxford. At 24, she’s finally made it to England on a Rhodes Scholarship when she’s offered an unbelievable position in a rising political star’s presidential campaign. With the promise that she’ll work remotely and return to DC at the end of her Oxford year, she’s free to enjoy her Once in a Lifetime Experience. That is, until a smart-mouthed local who is too quick with his tongue and his car ruins her shirt and her first day. When Ella discovers that her English literature course will be taught by none other than that same local, Jamie Davenport, she thinks for the first time that Oxford might not be all she’s envisioned. But a late-night drink reveals a connection she wasn’t anticipating finding and what begins as a casual fling soon develops into something much more when Ella learns Jamie has a life-changing secret. Immediately, Ella is faced with a seemingly impossible decision: turn her back on the man she’s falling in love with to follow her political dreams or be there for him during a trial neither are truly prepared for. As the end of her year in Oxford rapidly approaches, Ella must decide if the dreams she’s always wanted are the same ones she’s now yearning for.

A Novel

WHAT THE--- Do not call this a rom com @ Netflix 

Annabella

This book had completely unexpected moments - it could get a little too philosophical but it had me hooked 

Monserrat Navarro 

Loved it, especially the last few chapters.  It made me laugh and cry, and wanting more! 

Mar Or

I heard that this is going to be a movie soon and I’m obsessed with the main characters that were casted in it so of course I had to read the book in preparation. It was cute. It did try to achieve being a deeper emotional romance and while it did accomplish it in some areas it didn’t to me feel like it all the way through. A lot of things really only felt surface level to me. The ending as well didn’t give that perfect HEA, more like a realistic one and I haven’t read a lot of books like that and I think it worked for this one especially for what was discussed. But to me there were some parts of the story that felt I completed after it ended too. So it had a give and take. But it was cute and I’ll be intrigued to see how the movie goes. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4/5⭐️

I heard that this is going to be a movie soon and I’m obsessed with the main characters that were casted in it so of course I had to read the book in preparation. It was cute. It did try to achieve being a deeper emotional romance and while it did accomplish it in some areas it didn’t to me feel like it all the way through. A lot of things really only felt surface level to me. The ending as well didn’t give that perfect HEA, more like a realistic one and I haven’t read a lot of books like that and I think it worked for this one especially for what was discussed. But to me there were some parts of the story that felt I completed after it ended too. So it had a give and take. But it was cute and I’ll be intrigued to see how the movie goes. 

Sonia Grgas

Really 3.5. Recommended for fans of Me Before You, I found it to be better.

Denaiir

I guess I didn't read the synopsis but I thought it would be less focused on the romance and more focused on Ella's experience of her year abroad, so it wasn't really for me.

Petaco

What does this mean:

"It's as if I can see the thoughts running in and out of my head like Metro Center at rush hour." 

What even is that??? Metro Center is a subway station in DC. Wouldn't it be better to compare it to a busy subway train? But is that what's going in or out or is it the people going in and out? Someone explain that to me, please. 

That's not why I hated the book. I hate the lead and I hated the story. I could not relate to her or anything in her life. What ever happened with her mom??

(view spoiler)[ I am surprised at the lack of isolation for someone who needs to stay healthy. Parties. Restaurants. Visitors in the hospital with no protection.... Also! Her reaction to finding out he was sick was the worst! Like, how selfish can you be? The dude is about to pass out and has a nurse and an IV and you somehow make it all about you. Be an adult. Leave when he asked you to and go home and work it out, but don't kick a sick man when he's down! (hide spoiler)]

I will listen to any book that Julia writes and narrates. I think the beginning of this really intrigued me but when the plot twist occurred, I got a little bored.

Syrina

Joana da Silva

Fourth book of my Covid-19 isolation. It was an ok book. Yeah, I liked the characters and the literary references, but that was about it.

Gisela Ayala 

But who are we really, eh? We've told each other what we think, but we've no idea what we feel. That requires a conversation. Having words, having language, to connect us to ourselves and to each other." 

Frankly, I don't know where to begin. Sometimes I read a book purely for entertainment. Sometimes I read a book because I want to learn more about a subject. But, all of the time, I read purely to understand the condition of being human. 

Ella and Jamie taught me that. Their shared love of knowledge and academia and poetry... was beautiful and called out to the nerdy student in me. They were clever and mischevious along with all the other characters present in the book. 

Through Ella's journey- neverending fear, unbridled joy, unconditional love, and worrisome thoughts are constantly present. But as Jamie says we must "Carry on." 

The hardest thing is love, with no expiration date, no qualifiers, no safety net. Love that demands acceptance of all the things I cannot change. Love that doesn't follow a plan." 

Side Note: I cried more than a few times while reading this book. I think I was meant to read this book at the exact moment my life demanded it. This book needed to tell me something, and it did and I will cherish it always. 

This will be a top-shelf book.


Some songs I though of when reading this book: 

- “Somewhere Only We Know” Lily Allen version
- “You Want To Make A Memory” Bon Jovi (especially during one of their first encounters... sigh) 
- “Saved My Life Tonight” Elton John 
- “Only Human” George Ezra

mary katherine

SPOILER IN FIRST PARAGRAPH
let me just start by saying: this book is NOT advertised as a (view spoiler)[CANCER BOOK but it is DEFINITELY A CANCER BOOK (hide spoiler)]. i had no idea and i was really blindsided and not in a fun way. in an almost-ruined-the-book-completely-for-me way. ugh.

i found both ella and jamie annoying at the beginning, and a lot of the banter and conversations never really fell into the rhythm i kept wanting and expecting.

i did enjoy the second half of the book more, when ella drops some of the not-like-other-girls attitude. all in all, plot was fine, characters were meh.

idk. i had high expectations because julia whelan's books come so highly recommended by authors that i love. maybe i'll try another one at a later time, but this was noooot for me.

Shan

For me, this book was a "bookstagram made me do it" choice. Little did I know how much this book would change me and wake my soul. The beginning felt a lot like a typical study abroad book, but the ending made me feel like my dreams were awakened. I will be recommending this to everyone

TYLER

kelby

4.5 stars 

grabbed this audiobook thinking it would be a light hearted romcom to listen to during walks and boy was i wrong. i don’t want to give anything away bc blind is the best way to go into this in my opinion, but i found it extremely enjoyable! it had me wandering the neighborhood with tears in my eyes from quotes when I needed them multiple different times. great read!

Aundreya Rich

** spoiler alert **
           I think the last book I cried that much reading was me before you.
Jamie and Ella.
Wow ❤️
I think what i loved the most about this book is my obsession with England. The culture, the history, the writing, all of it was beautiful and I left like I was in the pub with them. 
Her friends would be my friends and her decisions a lot of the time I would have done the same. 
I laughed 75% of the book and then cried until my head hurt, yet I’m thankful we were able to see the struggle through the disease and not what we had to do without him. 
I’ll definitely be picking this up again to read 
If you want a beautiful love story don’t hesitate to read this novel

Liz Carpenter

Sweet with a little bitter, lots of what I'm guessing was wish fulfillment on the author's (and plenty of readers') part.

Julia

Caitlyn Gabbert 

I absolutely loved this book! The female lead was a great character, strong & smart but still flawed. Even the side characters were fleshed out which is something I really adore about this book. Even though it’s a romance, it is about so much more. It’s about choosing the life you really want, which is a great lesson for all of us. Read this book!!!

Anika | @chaptersofmay

I mistakenly believed this would be a light and fluffy rom-com. What I certainly didn't expect was to turn into an emotional mess by the end. Nevertheless, My Oxford Year is a brilliant debut.

Ella is on a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University. She's intelligent, quick-witted, and determined. She’s also gained a role on her favourite Senator’s team back in the US. Oh, and she’s in love with her professor.

I absolutely adore the setting of My Oxford Year. The author perfectly captures Oxford and its university with her vivid and animated descriptions. Whelan's wordplay is graceful and elegant, while still managing to make me smile. I also really like how fascinated Ella is with British culture and colloquialisms. Along with her natural fierceness, this added a loveable layer to her personality.

However, some of the dialogue is very intense. It occasionally feels like thesaurus was used for every other word. The characters are incredibly intelligent, but there were way too many moments where I stopped reading to open up a dictionary. And while this was very entertaining at first, it became bothersome the further I read into the book.

The book description isn't joking when it says Jamie's life-changing secret deepens his relationship with Ella. It changes the entire direction of the book. Ella and Jamie have an adorable bond, even though they hate each other at first sight. The beginning of their love story reminds me of a more mature Wild Child (2008), with all the charm and hilarity. Their romance is very fast-paced, but heart-warming at the same time. Both characters are likeable which makes it incredible easy to root for them. The lack of cliché is refreshing and overall, I really enjoyed the way the author entertained the lives of the two.

The secondary characters make a great addition to the book. Charlie, Maggie, Tom, Cecilia, Antonia and William never take over the story line, but help move it along as their character develops. They add layers to the primary narrative, while complementing our protagonists. And can we talk about how much of an actual legend Hugh is? What a loveable grump! He's adorable.

My Oxford Year was way more serious that I was looking for. Do not expect this book to be a fluffy holiday read. And it's not your typical chick-lit, there's very little to swoon over. Rather, it's a thought-provoking, emotional, complex story. But this didn't take away from my reading experience, simply because this novel highlights the value of life, and appreciating true love.

For more book reviews and posts, check out 
  my blog
 or follow along on 
  Instagram
 📚✨

b.andherbooks

Okay, so I got really mad at this book because I felt duped by the cover, especially since I had the same thing happen to me with the Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. Looks like a lovely little romp doesn't it? 

Well, this unsuspecting reader wasn't aware and wasn't thinking too hard about what the big *secret* alluded to on the cover might be, and when I found out I was pretty crushed.

Stop now if you don't want spoilers!!






Still with me? The secret is that Ella's love interest Jamie, who was only supposed to be a fling, has incurable blood CANCER. He's been avoiding her because he's getting CHEMO. We find this out about halfway through the story and I was super devastated. My father recently died from incurable brain cancer, so I don't think I would have picked this one up if I had known that going in.

That said, if you are okay with a lot of sadness, this tale was lovingly written and highly engaging. Besides the cancer, Ella's story is a BIT twee and unbelievable, but who gives a shit, I'd do the same for sexy Jamie.

From my Bookstagram:

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan surprised me. The lovely, cheerful cover hides a surprisingly heart-wrenching and wistful tale. A graduate student finally takes her much planned Rhodes year at Oxford but finds her plans tossed in the wind after meeting and falling for a professor who has a big secret.

Jobananareads

Omg!!!! This book was so cute and heartbreaking that i cant even!!! The audiobook si great and the narration by the author is brilliant awwweeee

Ana Couto

If I could only choose one word to describe this book, it would be “cute.” Fun fact: I studied at Oxford University for a few weeks over the summer a few years ago, so I was really excited to read this book. The descriptions of the city of Oxford itself were on point, and made me long for the days when I got to visit this magical place. My main complaint is that I wish there was more of it — the plot surrounding the main character’s love life (which is unexpectedly bittersweet) quickly takes over, and all the lovely descriptions of Oxford take a back seat. Overall, it’s great for a quick summer read. On a side note — Julia Whelan is a fantastic audiobook narrator, I highly recommend listening to the books she’s worked on.

Janne Janssens

“It occurs to me now, that being called upon to do something because you're good at it is not the same thing as having a calling.”

(Dutch review below)

Thanks to winning the Rhodes scholarship, Ella Durran, a determined American young woman, has the opportunity to study in Oxford for a year. The moment she is ready to start her new life there, she gets the second chance in a lifetime: she is offered an amazing position in the campaign of a presidential candidate. Ella faces a choice: she stays in Oxford to study or returns to America for the job that is most likely the start of a great career?
She convinces the assistant of this candidate that she can combine her studies with this new job and promises that she will return to America on June 11th to fully focus on the job.
However, at that moment you doesn't know yet that there might be another reason which makes this return difficult.

I loved Ella's strong character. She chases her dreams, does not let any man stop her from that and she is not afraid to express her opinion.
Julia Whelan knows how to create fascinating characters. She also studied at Oxford: English and Creative Writing. You feel her knowledge in the book, both in terms of her writing technique and her life experience in Oxford. She knows how to build a story, maintain a good rhythm (even though in my opinion sometimes she skipped parts that could have been interesting to tell to involve the reader more in the characters) and when to share or hide information.
Each coming and going of a character, each dialogue contributed to the plot. Everything felt right.

This book would have been worth 5 stars if I would only judge on writing style and technique. But it was unfortunately an accumulation of clichés. The story was too predictable.
It is based on a scenario of a film that has yet to come out. And I am convinced that it would be a great romantic film if you like cliché romance. Apparently it's not my thing.

Dutch review

Nederlands titel: Een jaar met jou

Dankzij het winnen van een Rhodesbeurs, heeft de Amerikaanse Ella Durran de kans om een jaar te studeren in Oxford. Op het moment dat ze klaar is daar haar nieuwe leven te beginnen, krijgt ze de tweede kans van haar leven: ze krijgt een positie aangeboden in de campagne van een presidentskandidate. Ze staat voor een keuze: blijft ze in Oxford om te studeren of keert ze terug naar Amerika voor de job die hoogstwaarschijnlijk het startschot is van een grote carrière? Ze weet de assistent van deze kandidate te overtuigen dat ze haar studies kan combineren met deze nieuwe job en belooft dat ze op 11 juni zal terugkeren naar Amerika om zich volledig op de job te richten.
Dan weet ze nog niet dat er een reden zal zijn die deze terugkeer bemoeilijkt.

Ik hield van het sterke karakter van Ella. Ze gaat voor haar dromen, laat zich niet tegenhouden door mannen en heeft geen schrik om haar mening te uiten. 
Julia Whelan weet hoe ze boeiende karakters tot leven moet wekken. Ze studeerde zelf aan Oxford: Engels en Creatief Schrijven. Je voelt haar kennis in het boek, zowel qua schrijftechniek als haar levenservaring in Oxford. Ze weet hoe ze een verhaal moet opbouwen, een goed ritme moet aanhouden (al slaat ze soms stukken over die naar mijn mening interessant zouden geweest zijn om te vertellen om de lezer meer bij de personages te betrekken) en wanneer informatie te delen of achter te houden. 
Elk komen en gaan van een karakter, elk dialoog droeg bij aan het plot. Alles klopte.

Het boek zou 5 sterren waard zijn geweest als ik alleen maar op schrijfstijl en techniek zou beoordelen. Maar het was helaas een opeenstapeling van cliché op cliché. Het verhaal was te voorspelbaar.

Het is gebaseerd op een scenario van een film dat nog moet uitkomen. En ik ben ervan overtuigd dat het een goede romantische film zou zijn, als je van cliché romantiek houdt. Blijkbaar is het niets voor mij.

Isabella Stocka

I was looking for a light read and thought this might be it. It sounded so wonderful, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined what a brilliant story this really is.
Not to spoiler the story, but this book took my breath away from the beginning.
The beautiful poetic words, the explanation of life and love. I love Jamie and Ella so much I wish they could manifest in real.
I usually do not like 'open endings'. I somehow do not see one in this book even thoug it does not give you a real answer to the one burning question, but it seems like the perfect ending to not know.

My Oxford Year

Reviews