This is a compelling YA realistic fiction book. Sixteen year old Ivy and her best friend Matt love an old 80s band called Chasing Eveline that Ivy's mother had enjoyed. Ivy's mom walked out on her and her father a couple of years ago and Ivy tries to connect with her memories of her mom through the music she loved. Together Matt and Ivy hatch a plan to reunite the band and travel to Ireland to see them play. They try all sorts of fundraising with various results. This is a story about family and friendship and hope.

Wow this 1. exceeded my expectations and 2. reminded me of Chasing Nirvana, which was an underrated book I read earlier this year (IT'S SO GOOD)

I love Ivy so much. At first everything she does seems kind of stupid, but then I started to really understand why she does them. She's a huge dreamer, and hopes to hold on to bits of her mom by listening to the band she loves. I love how she describes the lead singer's voice - it's so full of emotion and made me tear up. A lot of terrible things happen to Ivy, but she continues being a tough little cookie - I really appreciate her strength and determination <3

Matt and Sean and Jackson!!! Oh my I love them all so much. Matt and Sean are always so supportive - okay, at first Matt is a little bit annoying. He keeps on whining about his ex and ughh that pisses me off. But after that I see how much he cares about Ivy and is even willing to do crazy stuff with her to make money for their trip. Sean lives in Ohio, and he has only known Matt and Ivy for a few days, but when Ivy needs assistance and support, he drives all the way to her house to cheer her up. Jackson is the most adorable doggo ever. He often plays sock tug-of-war with Ivy and gives her emotional support and that is super sweet.

However, I was really disappointed in the ending. Chasing Eveline performing live turns out to be not as great as Ivy imagines after all. It's kind of similar to the scene where Hazel meets Peter Van Houten and he crushes her dreams. I felt so sorry for Ivy. She travels all the way to Ireland just to watch a performance she doesn't really enjoy. She totally does not deserve that :(

Final thoughts

I really loved this book, and can't wait to read more of Leslie Hauser's work!

Chasing Eveline is such a refreshing, cute and realistic contemporary. While going in I did expect more of the book to take place in Ireland, I’m not disappointed at all. The road to get there was fun to read, and it made sense that it took a while. Plus it meant focusing on Ivy’s home life, her pain over her mom leaving them, her relationship with her dad and the friendship between her and her best friend Matt.

Ivy is desperately chasing Chasing Evline*, as it’s the only connection she still has to her mom. She’s slowly forgetting more and more about her, which freaks her out. Chasing Eveline’s music helps her get through her pain, which I found such a beautiful aspect of this book.

One day while I waited, I listened to every Chasing Eveline casette I owned. When the final song ended, I drew the hand clutching my mom’s Walkman to my chest. A faint tingle covered every inch of my skin. My river of misery had turned into a sea of tranquility, and I closed my eyes, desperately wanting to savor the feeling. A lyrical life vest had saved me from another day of drowning pain.

* Ha see what I did there

The writing was absolutely beautiful, especially whenever Ivy was listening to Chasing Eveline and was carried away by their music. It was so easy to feel her pain, yet the book still didn’t feel heavy at all. This was mostly due to her friendship with Matt, which was such a delight to read. At first I was a bit worried that romance might blossom between the two (which wouldn’t have been that bad, since their current relationship was good and healthy) since I absolutely loved their friendship and good friendships between girls and boys are such a rarity in YA. But! Romance never blossoms between the two. Not even a minor crush. Nothing.

Ivy and Matt bond over the fact that they’re both trying to get over someone leaving them and their love for Chasing Eveline. The way they meet is super cute and funny, and I’d love to share it with you but you should just read it for yourself. I marked so many scenes and quotes related to their friendship, because they’re absolutely adorable and just #friendshipgoals. They constantly quote and talk in Chasing Eveline lyrics to each other (dorks) and they constantly support each other. At some point Ivy doesn’t go to school because of a family emergency, and Matt is so worried that he ditches school to find out what is happening, and then just stays with her to support her. Matt is just a part of their family, which really warmed my heart.

Ivy’s relationship with her dad is also beautiful. He’s the only family she has left, so of course she’s very worried about him and constantly takes care of him. I can’t say too much about it since I don’t want to spoil anything, but their relationship is a big part of the book. Also!! When Ivy’s mom left he got her the cuttest dog ever and oh my god I would die for that doggo.

While Ivy’s relationships with Matt and her dad are an important part of the book, the plot itself of course is about trying to reunite Chasing Eveline for one last concert. And that would be in Ireland. Of course when you’re two regular teens that’s not easy, so lots of shenanigans ensue. While some of those aren’t entirely realistic, they are fun to read about.

I can’t say anything about the ending without giving it away, but I absolutely loved it. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was incredibly realistic. While some of the shenanigans I mentioned earlier weren’t always entirely realistic, the book as a whole did feel realistic. Not just the ending, but the way the romance was handled as well. It didn’t take over as soon as the love interest was introduced, wasn’t forced nor rushed. Chasing Eveline being so realistic is what made it such a breath of air.

I would definitely recommend this one, whether you love contemporaries or not.

Chasing Eveline is the story about Ivy, a teenage girl who still feels connected to her AWOL mother through the music of her mother’s favourite band, Chasing Eveline. This is what drew me into the story, as music is very important to me personally and I too have a favourite band, whose songs mean the world to me.

The present tense is not my favourite, but I do like the author’s writing style, simple and effective, and quite lyrical in places. Ivy is a very likable and well-explored narrator and though I found her a bit of a headcase at times and she was full of the worst ideas, I could relate to her quite easily. The relationships between her and the other characters were very realistic.

Maybe the storyline was a bit too simple, but it did make me smile and even cry a little bit. I liked the ending too.

A quick enjoyable read!

This book is so cute! Ivy is so awkward and relatable, her platonic friendship with Matt was perfect, and her relationship with her dad captured a lot of what I remember about high school. Plus, the music elements and Sean were both so lovely and so well-written. I got completely lost in this book. A must read - highly recommend!