I tried so hard to like this, but it got on every. Single. Nerve. I wanted to strangle everyone; the book was so predictable; there's nothing here that you haven't read in other cheesy YA romances. I'm actually just proud of myself for finishing this.

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE
I've been waiting for this book to come out since it was announced in 2014. The synopsis promised a book for book addicts to love and to be able to relate to. Unfortunately, I just wanted to RIP EVERYONE'S THROATS OUT *coughs* get the book over with when I finally got around to read it. While I did LOVE the idea of the book, there were just too many tropes and stereotypes in it. So, no. Nuh-uh, not for me. So let me elaborate on my violent instincts:

1. Every single stereotype in this book deserves a kick in the nuts. Okay, books can't avoid character stereotypes. It's a given! The best a book can do is to tone this down, right? Well, this book did the exact opposite. The tropes were so strong and wrong and unrealistic and I JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO GO AWAY. Let's take our booknerd heroine, for example. Reading while you're having lunch? Acceptable. Using books and book characters as a guide for flirting and for life in general?! Weird. As. Heck. IT WAS TOO MUCH EVEN FOR MY BOOK-LOVING BRAIN.

(Also, I would like to give a special shoutout to the cheerleaders-can't-be-bookworms trope very much highlighted in the book. Fuck you, I'm both. Excuse my French, I just needed this to be out there.)

2. The book is pretty much a copy-pasted compilation of typical YA contemporary romance scenes. *WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS* There's nothing in the storyline here that I haven't already read about in other YA books. We've got your typical homecoming scenes, camping scenes, makeover scenes--what else is missing? This book has all of those things and all the other scenes I'm sick of in contemporary.

3. I only liked one character out a BAJILLION of them. There were SO MANY side characters, and personally, I thought some of them were a biiiiit unnecessary. Their personalities just blended in together for me, and you don't really need lots of characters who are all basically the same person.

The ONLY character I liked was the love interest, who was, thank the gods, sweet, cute, and actually made sense. He was pretty much the only saving grace of the entire story for me.

SHOULD YOU GET THIS BOOK?
Well, for me? Clearly the answer is no. BUUUUT I do understand the appeal of the story. It's a bookworm's dream, if you will. If you're a big fan of YA contemporary romances, sure, go ahead and give this one a try!

Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

If this wasn't the most accurate contemporary book I've ever read, I'm not sure what is! lol I say this because of how much I related to it, even as a grown adult. And I'm not talking about just the books, I mean the awkwardness and building myself up with quotes as well lol This book definitely described my life and it was very cute to read about something that hit so close to home!

A book about a girl who loves books? Well, yes please, as that’s all too familiar. This has fun characters, wonderful dialogue that’s fluid and natural. This book hits you in all the good feels

I requested this title back before my blogging break. I have ended up with a number of titles that are overwhelming to catch up on now I am back from my blogging break. I am regretfully not going to be reading and reviewing this title, but now I am back from my blogging break, I am looking forward to reading and reviewing some of your future titles. Thank you so much for the opportunity and apologies.

Wasn't my cup of tea. But I think I should have known this going in. I think younger readers may enjoy it.

A wonderful and nerdy ya contemporary book. The writing isn't the most complex, but it was still entertaining.

A girl who loves books? Count me in.

The whole storyline is based on Phoebe having a crush on her friend Dev.

Their romance is cute and awkward and the kind of adorable that I love.

The only thing I want a fan of is how much the book dragged sometimes, I feel like there’s parts in that didn’t need to be there

I was really excited to finally read a book with a bookworm character! But, wow... it was really disappointing to see another character being racist and so rude. This book was not for me.

A sinfully enjoyable read. The characters are well written and the storyline was developed. And don't be surprised if you're left fanning yourself while reading it...

A very sweet contemporary set against the backdrop of fairytale tropes. It put an interesting new spin on teen romance. I loved getting to follow Phoebe's journey. As a fellow former band nerd I loved getting to follow her in her band hijinks. Highly recommend for fans of Meg Cabot.

Love the title, love the cover art, love the description, but man was this a tough on to read. Most avid ya book loving girls would relate to Pheobe a bookish shy introvert., but I have to honestly say she was super annoying. It was painfully predictable and the writing was not that spectacular either. The potential was there, but it fell flat for me.

I really enjoyed reading Bookishly Ever After, it was sooooo cute! Relatable, swoony, diverse, and the perfect book to start off 2016. Phoebe reminded me so much of my high school self, as I’m sure many other bookworms can relate. I didn’t read YA in high school (2000-2004, I’m ancient) but I did read a lot of Harry Potter and spy thrillers; I was quiet, somewhere in the middle of the social hierarchy, had a great group of friends (def crushed on one of them), and had a fantasy crush on a super hot guy one year older than me who didn’t know I existed. So yes, I relate :P

One cool thing about this book is that we got to read parts of Phoebe’s favorite books! She was using all the romance tropes and tips in her fantasy and paranormal books for dating advice, and honestly I wanted to read those books too! I really appreciated that the author didn’t name drop current titles, which would make the book feel dated. Instead, she created original titles and excerpts with very familiar characters and storylines, so you definitely got the point. And Phoebe is a YA nut, I love it! I’ve had the feelings she experiences while reading and talking about books, and the scene waiting for her favorite author’s book signing was pitch perfect. I loved the way Bookishly Ever After embraced bookworm culture.

I also loved that Phoebe was’t just a bookworm though; she knits, she practices archery, she goes to dances, and she has close relationships with her friends and family. I loved her group of friends! They tended to be cliches on the outside but so much more once you got to know them. Grace is a popular blonde cheerleader with a girlfriend, Em is the dramatic but loyal theater geek, Alec is a quiet Jewish guy (and the character I feel like we got to know the least), and Dev is the Indian love interest with a flair for musical theater and good natured teasing. It’s a well-rounded group! The background characters aren’t as notable; there are mean girls, vapid jocks, and run of the mill parents. Also you guys: the romance and flirting and omg-I-think-my-friend-has-a-crush-on-me-do-I-like-him-back was SO GREAT! Phoebe was awkward but not in a cringeworthy way and Dev was adorable. I loved their relationship when Phoebe actually let her guard down once in awhile and acted like herself.

There *is* quite a bit of miscommunication which made me want to shake Phoebe because OH MY GOD GIRL, but you know how these books go. And the journey was flirty and cute as heck. We even get a really fun camp counselor sequence in the second half! It reminded me of working with 5th graders and talking Twilight and Harry Potter with them. Connecting with favorite books is great no matter the age of the reader.

I did not get an email informing me that I received this book. I apologize for not reviewing it. I was checking my shelves now and was surprised to see it here.

DNF'd this book and at this time I do not plan to ever continue or finish the book as I requested and began the book in four years ago.

Unfortunately, I read this book back in 2017 but completely forgot to upload a review on here, so can't remember exactly what I was going to say about it!

This was just an okay read for me. I disliked as many things as I liked and didn't feel strongly enough about the book to really warrant adding an in-depth review to the blog.

I saw this on Netgalley and ended up 'wishing' for the book. It was later became available and I got access. I actually forgot about it by then but I still got a bit excited because books about bookish people! Gotta love that! Took me a while to finally get around this though (because life) but here we are!

<i>Bookishly Ever After</i> follows Phoebe, your usual booknerd. She's got her nose into her books all the time. She's got this group of friends who doesn't read at all. She's got a crush on this guy in school who kind of looks like her book boyfriend/book crush. She also uses books to interact with the guy she likes. And I like the idea of this as a whole. Kind of like me at some points, maybe? lol. (totally minus using books for reference in real life interactions).

As a whole, this really feels like your very typical YA contemporary romance. Just plain cute romance with the female protagonist being completely oblivious of her friend's feelings for her despite his really cute ways of approaching her. I LOVED DEV! He's probably the reason I went through with this book until the end. I like how he would talk to Phoebe about the books she reads and how he tries to read them as well (probably what I'd like from a guy, but the guy I like already reads and we read almost the same things so extra points for that I guess. lol).

Throughout the book, I'd say it's interesting to see how Phoebe's feelings really got through a few highs and lows -- kind of part excitement and part disappointment. I can really see myself having the same feelings with the awkward introvert that I am.

Aside from the romance, I really like Phoebe's relationship with her friends and family. There wasn't much on her family's side but her sister was featured enough and I liked it! But not into the intimate kind of relationship (which is disappointing if that's what you want to see. It's really more of just a snippet of her sister and how she's there to help her with Phoebe's fandom that is reading). As for her relationship with her friends, there's really a lot of it here! They were there really pushing Phoebe to Dev and I was so into it!! They keep on pointing out the things he's doing for her!!

However, there will really be all those somewhat cringe times when there will be snippets of the books Phoebe is reading. I'm not sure if it was just me and I'm so done with YA romance but it as really cringe-y for me. Phoebe's footnotes was a nice touch but it also didn't sit well with me. But it's probably just a me thing. Gotta skip all those cringe-y Phoebe fangirling over the books she's reading.

OVERALL, <i>Bookishly Ever After</i> is an adorable book that is somewhat relatable (I guess, lol). I love Dev, the love interest. And I like the really innocent relationship Dev and Phoebe had. The development of their relationship and Phoebe's feelings for him was really good. I'd recommend it if you want a quick, somewhat adorable YA romance.

I tried so hard to like this book but alas it just wasn't for me, highly predictable story telling with a very cheesy storyline, I normally love a cheesy romance, they are my bread and butter but I just felt this story was lacking. Whilst I appreciated the nod to bookworms at times if felt like it was just overdone. Whilst I didn't like the story I think fans of YA contemporary romance would probably love it and appreciate the heroines love of books and her creative use of using them to help her date.

The heroine in this book is basically me, as a teenager. Rabid knitter and reader? Check. Music lover and player? Check check. Dramatic crush magnet? Checkity-check-check. And she's even an archer, which I am not, since the last time I tried archery a boy made fun of me during gym class and I ended up shooting the arrow through a door, two targets away from me, through my tears. But the drama I felt at 15 was pretty soundly reflected in this. It may not be super original, and in fact it not only revels in YA tropes but literally writes in extra scenes of them from imaginary YA novels... but that just made me adore it more. Four fluffy hilarious back-to-high-school stars. Very clean, and a book I would definitely recommend to my students who are just as bookish as me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.