Such a cute book!! I thought it would be like a movie I watched and I felt the same excitement reading this as I do a great movie!! This is a cute must read!!

This is an entertaining book that is part romance, part Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, part bucket list, and part second chances of sorts. Ellie Jenkins is the center character in this narrative that sees her returning to her past for a multitude of reasons.

If you are looking for a book that is both delightful and funny and that puts a new spin on going back home for your high school reunion, then this book is for you. Ellie is a writer for a tv show in LA, and has an opportunity for a job promotion, but in order to get it, she needs to go to her 10-year high school reunion and complete a set of tasks. The only problem - she hated her high school experience. So, these tasks were meant to have her experience high school in a different way by looking closely at the superlatives that were given out in high school and how much growing up may/may not change you from that label.

I flew through reading this. It was lighthearted but had some serious moments too. I enjoyed reading how Ellie was able to accomplish her tasks as well as the evolution of her friendship with her former friend, Roxy. There was some romance, and I'm still a little unsure how I feel about that part of the story.

Thank you to Forever for the opportunity to read and review.

2.5

I thought this book was okay(ish). It wasn’t a young adult book. But it felt like a young adult book to me. The main characters seemed super immature ( and she’s suppose to be 28). The writing felt super young. I thought the plot was okay. But nothing really stood out to me. I feel like this is one of those books I’m not going to remember I read.

I really loved the premise of this book and the authors’ writing styles. It was so fun to learn about each character in a deeper way than you’d expect in a comedy. I would have loved if the format included “the list” through the book, potentially at the end of some chapters as a reference to follow along with. Overall, I loved the story and Ellie!

Ellie is Cool Now brings you Ellie, Hollywood writer cool girl, who goes back home to the midwest for her ten year high school reunion. Her friends task her with a bucket list to accomplish while she's home which leads Ellie to learn about herself, reconnect with old friends and even get a shot with her crush.

I'm having trouble deciding how I feel about this one. There were parts of Ellie I related to, parts of her that drove me nuts and parts that I enjoyed which I suppose is the sign of a good character. She made some seriously questionable decisions but you still wanted to know what was going to happen and how it was all going to play out.

This story was fun, who doesn't love a good reconnection with a high school flame, but there were little details that I struggled with. For example, how many days has passed as it was made to believe that it was just one weekend but it felt like days kept getting added and added.

Overall this would be a fun airplane or vacay read as there's enough serious subject matter to make it not cheesy but the instalove will have you suspending some belief.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
content warning: alcohol abuse, overdose

This was fun, but I struggled to connect to really unlikeable characters. Ellie is in her hometown for a high school reunion on an “assignment” from her TV-writing job. The entire premise seemed to stretch credulity, and the characters’ lack of growth from their high school was almost silly, but this made for an enjoyable challenge for our heroes. Mark and Roxy were great characters to get to know!

Thank you Forever for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ellie is living her best life in LA, she is working as a writer on a popular show and can see her future before her. She is eagerly awaiting a promotion and looking forward to being able to write things she’s passionate about. Her boss is telling her that her attitude sucks and she needs to rehabilitate her attitude toward as she is too much of a cynic in school and her judgement is clouded by her high school days. Ellie was awkward in school and she had a crush on Mark but it never went anywhere in fact Mark had sex with her best friend Roxy which completely devastated her.

Unfortunately for her somehow her boss finds out about the high school reunion at her school and tells her if she attends and completes a list of tasks to complete she will be promoted to Co-Producer of the show. There are 10 items on the list.

I read this book over a couple days. It is a light read and I didn't have high expectations. The main character Ellie doesn’t come across as very emotionally mature .The book is engaging and predictable at times but still a fun read. If you like romcoms or are in need of a fun silly distraction this book should fill that bucket for you. It is a great book to take on a vacation or a book that will leave you feeling satisfied.

3.5/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the arc in exchange for an honest review. Pub Day is March 23. This was a sweet fun read. Ellie, who wasn't the biggest fan of High School, is coerced into returning to her high school reunion in order to score a big promotion at work. Her two close friends give her a list of tasks to complete to get her out of her shell and just maybe change her mind about her High School years.

I thought the premise of this was great, but parts of it get lost along the way. Partway through the book I forgot what was left on the list to complete and I missed Ellie's two friends back in LA. I was hoping for more character development outside of just Ellie. I think because Ellie was the most well-developed character she got on my nerves and seemed like she just wasn't willing to change. I'd have liked for the end to be a little longer and more developed and to have spent some more time with Ellie's best friend Roxy (probably the most interesting character in the book.)

Despite the fact that Ellie had a crush on Mark in high school, they haven't talked in over a decade so their attraction feel likes instalove which was a bummer. This book seemed to be written from an immature stand point, that the author felt like someone who had never been back to a high school reunion and seen people grow up.

Snarky romance about the high school crush that got away. I liked the friends but not Ellie at all, I hated that she was so selfish and wouldn't take any chances even though she had a stable family life. I liked Mark and Roxy.

Ellie is cool now is about Ellie Jenkins who is a writer for a famous TV show. Ellie returns to her hometown for her 10 year high school reunion on a mission. Her boss have given her tasks to accomplish while back in her hometown for her reunion. The tasks are aimed at making Ellie enjoy her high school experience more than she did when she was in high school. She is challenged with completing all of the task in order for her to progress to co-executive producer for the current show she is writing for.

This book was a very easy read and it wasn’t hard to follow along. I enjoyed Ellie for the most part, but there were times throughout the book that I wanted to shake Ellie for acting immature about some situations. I enjoyed that the book was focused on Ellie having to complete a list given to her by her boss that pushed her out of her comfort zone throughout her time at her reunion and back in her hometown.

I wasn’t much of a fan of the friendship between Roxy and Ellie. In my opinion, Roxy took advantage of Ellie many times and Ellie let it happen. I really didn’t like the way the love story between Mark and Ellie panned out. It made me upset to see how Mark treated Liz and how Ellie felt it was okay to just sneak in the way she did to Mark’s life after. It just felt icky to me.

Read this book if you like:
- high school reunion theme
- Main character working in Hollywood
- Romance between old high school crush

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for my advanced copy!

Ellie is Cool Now features the dreaded high school reunion, a list of challenges to earn a promotion, and confronting some tough topics. This was a cute and quick read that I enjoyed but wasn’t quite in love with. Several parts, I felt Ellie was frustrating and immature. Her beliefs and opinions of other people felt no different than how she felt others treated her.

The plot is quite quirky and I feel most can relate to being the “uncool” kid in high school or having tension and awkwardness with other cliques. I’d have liked to seen the chemistry between Ellie and Mark blossom a bit and I craved more from Roxy and her friendship, both past and present, with Ellie. The rest of the cast gave a good feel of high school doesn’t necessarily define you for the rest of your life and appearances don’t always match what goes on behind closed doors.

Did you go to your 10 year reunion?! Was High School the "best 4 years of your life?" If you answered "no" to either of those questions then Ellie is Cool Now might be right up your alley, as it was mine. High School was fine but I certainly have no regrets about not going to my reunion either. Ellie Jenkins, TV writer in Los Angeles, had no plans of attending hers until her Boss found out about it. Saying she needed some "fresh perspective" he dangles a big promotion over her head if she attends. Did I mention the show she writes for is set in High School, oh the irony. Her trusty friends and co-workers Vic and Tina make a list titled "Ellie is Cool Now" with 10 things she needs to do while back home in Ohio for the reunion: Hook up with the prom king, Have better hair than Best Hair, Create a piece of art with Most Artistic. You get the idea. But the biggie is number 10; she needs help with at least one of the items from her high school crush. Enter Mark Wright. Ellie let her fear get in the way and never told Mark how she felt back then. So she's off to Ohio to see if people have changed and if wrongs can be righted.

Ok to be honest I wasn't a huge fan of Ellie in the beginning. Maybe because I'm almost 10 years older than her character (woof) and homegirl really had some growing up to do. BUT at the end I was coming around to her. I loved Mark and even though life was tough and I didn't agree with her lifestyle, I quite liked Roxy (Ellie's former best friend) too. There's some great themes here about growing up, looking back on mistakes (forgiving yourself and others), and having the strength to not play it safe all the time. Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the gifted arc in exchange for an honest review. Pub Day is March 23.

Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!
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I didn’t go to my high school reunion, but not because I hated all of my classmates; I just had to work. Ironically, it is work that forces Ellie to attend her reunion and gain a new perspective on high school and she will earn the promotion that she’s been working toward for the last decade. She is a writer on a Gossip Girl-esq TV show, but in her reality of high school, Ellie was fairly invisible, too afraid to make moves or be the center of attention, but now she’s back with a list of challenges to complete by reunion’s end. I didn’t find Ellie particularly likable, but she does read as real.
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Ellie and Mark have a second chance at getting their romance right for the first time, and he is more than happy to help her complete her list. I wish there was more of a chance to see their chemistry develop, instead of being told it existed in high school and somehow still exists now despite some very questionable circumstances. The book did give a fairly accurate depiction of how people can change over time, and that how one person experiences another as a teenager does not define those same people as adults. I do think it is clear that this novel was originally written for Wattpad and thus the plot moves in bite-sized pieces and can feel somewhat fragmented.

I loved this book!!! I recently moved to LA and I just adore it. I ended up LOVING this book. It is so sweet and I'm so glad I grabbed it!

Ellie Is Cool Now by Victoria Fulton is a new contemporary fiction.

While the premise of this book had me excited, the book didn't hold up and I couldn't finish it.

This is for all the folks that did not peak in high school. I loved this book so much and think it captures getting over teenage pain and struggles so well. The romance was so cute and the entire thing was a home run! Thanks forever. :)

First, a huge thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.
Second, this is such a cute book! I mean who hasn't dreaded a high school reunion and had horrible memories about a secret crush!? We've all been there so that part is very relatable. The part that makes this book not so relatable is her life in LA and her challenge at work. I would gladly do all the things Ellie had to do to get a promotion! The challenge, the boy, even the ex best friend, it creates a cute book that I couldn't put down. I was so excited to see how her week would end but was sad when it ended so quickly...there were several times I wanted to shake Ellie and tell her to grow up and the end was definitely one of them. For that reason I didn't love it but I definitely liked it quite a bit and would suggest it as a fun quick read for my friends.

I really did find this book to be both entertaining and at the same time it made me think as well. in the story we have Elle who is working on a TV show, who is made by the head runner of the show to go to her high school reunion. She’s not really keen on the idea but he says that it’s her opportunity to become Cohen EP once she goes there.

When Ella returns to her hometown it really is not the experience or feelings that she was accept accept expecting at all. She finds that her best friend seems to be caught up in a toxic relationship and she herself finds herself wanting someone that she didn’t think she could have.

It really is an interesting way to look at how do you actually deal with your old feelings from high school and how do you adjust your thoughts about people that you thought you knew from many years ago. Relationships are well handled in the story and I found it very entertaining.

All in all this is a book that entertains as well as makes you think about your own feelings and reactions to things that happened in the past.