At first, I thought that the book was interesting, maybe because it didn’t focus on the unattainable boy Phoebe’s obsessed with… It’s once she starts crushing on someone who’s real and approachable that it kind of goes downhill. It’s not that I have a thing against real relationships; the thing I liked best about the unattainable guy she liked was that she spend so much of her time on him And I’ll admit, Phoebe and Dev had pretty great chemistry. The only thing I didn’t like about their burgeoning relationship was that was almost all they talked about in the book! Crushes this, crushes that, how to flirt, what to wear, to the point where I wanted to scream! Honestly, it was really a relief, those times where the characters didn’t talk about boys and did other things, like books, camp, hobbies, etc. But then again, the book wasn’t trying to hide the fact that it was boy centric; it’s in the blurb for crying out loud! So it’s kind of on me, really, for not liking it…

Another thing I didn’t like about this book was how it seemed to drag on longer than necessary. I felt like I could have been finished halfway through the book, but then “the misunderstanding” happened and made things extra difficult for our protagonist to be with her desired love interest. It really irks me when the couple doesn’t get together because of a small misunderstanding that could be rectified if someone said something. Instead, this misunderstanding ends up making the rest of the book boring and awkward, especially since the protagonist is still obsessed about her crush

Also, at some point in the novel, I forgot the protagonist’s name. And that has never happened to me, even with first person narrative. I don’t know when it happened, but I noticed three quarters in that I couldn’t remember her name, but could remember everyone else’s, from her sister to the random cheerleader named Cassie. It kind of bugged me until someone actually said her name, which probably had a hand in dampening my reading experience. Or maybe it was because I liked the secondary characters better than the protagonist…

In the end, even though I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would, there were just some things that bugged me. I’d still recommend this to people looking for fluffy contemporary and don’t mind slow middles. It just wouldn’t be the first contemporary I’d recommend...

Sixteen year old Phoebe loves books! She loves reading books! She loves dressing up to go to book events. Books are her life so it only makes sense that when she learns that a fellow student, Dev, might have a crush on her, she turns to books to seek advice and guidance.

Both main characters (and the supporting characters - Grace especially) are likable but sometimes they were a little ridiculous. Of course they are teenagers and they are awkward and new to romance. At times I wanted to shake those two knuckleheads. Communication was an issue. Again, this is understandable as both characters are teenagers and learning how to relate and communicate with other. Phoebe is shy and quiet but makes attempts to change to be exciting and daring like the characters in the books she loves. Phoebe could use some self confidence as she tends to be immature and at times holds Dev at arms length when he shows some interest in her. They flirt with each other for what seems like forever. There is a lot of going back and forth between the two characters - too much back and forth for me.

The flirting for forever just did not work for me. I kept putting this book down initially to read other books because I had a hard time getting into this story. This story seemed to drag a little for me. I wanted this book to hurry along and for something to happen already.

What worked in this book was the diversity. Characters come from different ethnicity and sexual orientations. This was a nice touch. I liked that the characters had varied interests and weren't stereotypical. I also liked that the two were not your typical "love interest" type characters. Phoebe is a bookworm, musician who knitted. Dev plays the clarinet - definitely not the star football player or jock (or vampire/werewolf/shapeshifter) as most male leads in YA romances.

I feel this is a book that readers will either love or just feel MEH about. I would have liked this book to move a little faster.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh! I am not sure I could have picked a more perfect book to read.
This was so fun to read, and such an easy one at that - great writing style - kudos!

A girl that loves book and knits is something I can most certainly relate too! I don't knit (although I know how) but I do crochet, and guess what?! I also love books!
A great book to read on a gloomy day, with a cup of hot cocoa, some fluffy socks, and some comfy cushions!
It's really just a loveable book and once you get started, you will not want to stop. All the characters are so likable and the story is a more typical one, but it's done in a way where it doesn't become repetitive., or boring. It's definitely a red I'd recommend

Cute story of a very bookish teen trying to navigate a possible romance while taking her cues from her favorite YA heroines.

Unfortunately this book simply fell under par. It was extremely predictable and just didn't have anything... special. It was a shame because there was potential for a great story but... it just ended up being a stereotypical high school based rom-com... with a distinct lack of the 'com'.

Full review on my blog.

The first book in the new Ever After series, introduces 16-year-old Phoebe, who is obsessed with fantasy books, archery, knitting and junior class president Kris. While employing tactics from fantasy romance to attract Kris, she doesn’t notice that her friend Dev is interested in her. On a camping trip where Phoebe and Dev are paired as counselors, the table begin to turn. The next book in the series is Dramatically Ever After.

In “Bookishly Ever After” we meet Phoebe who believes “Book Boyfriends are Better”. But when her geeky book world collides with her real world she might finally have to take her nose out of her books and see what is right in front of her.

This book did nothing for me. I just finished it and I still have no idea what was happening the whole time.

Loved Loved Loved this book! It was like I was reading about myself when I was in High School! Hope there are more to this series!

This book was super adorable! Of course being a big book reader I was able to relate to the main character phoebe.

Phoebe Martin, 16, is a band-member and book nerd. She reads all the time, maintaining that “normalcy is overrated,” especially in comparison to the romantic encounters of young adult fantasies featuring intrepid females and “swoon-worthy” males. She has a crush on her junior class president Kris Lambert, because he is an exact match to the mental picture she has of the hero of one of her favorite books. Everyone tells her he’s a jerk, but she has apparently been socialized to value looks over inner worth. And besides, shouldn’t someone that good-looking be heroic in character?

Her group of friends try to convince her otherwise. In particular, her BFF Em tries to sell her on Dev, a fellow band member who is sending all sorts of signals out to Phoebe to which she is oblivious. She has known him for a long time, and as she explains to Em, “I mean, he’s really cute, but he’s Dev.”

Meanwhile, Phoebe is making a notebook out of quotes from her favorite YA book moments to function as a “relationship instruction manual” to guide her in potentially romantic situations. The quotes are badly written and wildly unrealistic, but Phoebe lives inside these books so much she doesn’t see that reality can’t actually meet up to those standards, especially when the characters she loves so much are goddesses or fae creatures.

Em says to her, “You know people have been hooking up for millennia without the help of books, right?” - all to no avail. Once again Phoebe insists “fiction is the best kind of reality.” “No,” Em rejoins, “reality is the best kind of reality.”

And thus we proceed, chapter after chapter, until Phoebe finally arrives at the obvious conclusion. The process was a bit painful, being so repetitive and inevitable.

Evaluation: The plot idea wasn’t horrible, but the writing was rather repetitive, unsophisticated, and trite. I had to push myself to get through it, although I think a tween audience might enjoy it quite a bit.

A fun enjoyable book. I liked the different characters, how they were believably flawed but you still rooted for them nonetheless. I liked how Grace had a girlfriend and it was just an accepted part of her character. She had a steady girlfriend throughout the book and it wasn't portrayed as any differently to Emma and Wilhelm. I loved how Phoebe's relationships with her friends, Grace and Emma were just as important in the book as her relationship with Dev and the young campers near the end of the book made me laugh.

The only things I didn't like was how Phoebe made it sound in the beginning of the book that she was the only person in school that read fiction books? It made her sound like a bit of a book snob but in a different way to Kris. It took me a while to get started on this book because of that.

And I didn't like how stupid Phoebe could be sometimes. If all your friends (whose opinions you trust) are telling you that the guy you like is a tool, then they're probably onto something. Likewise, Phoebe's insistence that Dev didn't like her was annoying at times because the opposite was so incredibly obvious. I know it was meant to show Phoebe being insecure but it really just made her look willfully oblivious.

This was a cute contemporary romance and it also demonstrates again how diversity can be included without it being shoehorned in.

“Too bad real boyfriends aren't as awesome as book boyfriends.”

This book was super cute! I don’t think I’ve ever read a cuter book. I just loved it! Was it the most exciting book ever filled with steamy romance, heart pounding action, and fantastic world building? No, but that didn't stop it from being a really cute, funny story. With a title and premise so perfect, there was no way I could resist reading this book. Bookishly Ever After is about a booknerd Phoebe who uses her books to help her with her first crush. It's a sweet story that all of us, especially us booknerds, can relate to. Phoebe and I could totally be best friends. I would love to go to the bookstore with her. I can't really say much more about this book than this book made me really happy. It was super easy to get sucked into the story, the cute moments, Phoebe's nervous mind, and the excellent banter. This book read like a breeze. And, the last half just filled my heart with so much joy. This book is the first in a series and I can't wait to read the next one.

This romance about a high school 'book nerd' moves very slowly to its obvious conclusion. The snippets of the books she is reading seem more interesting than the book itself.

Bookishly Ever After
Writing style: The writing style is easy and fast paced to read but not the most impressive in terms of grammar and individuality. It’s very straightforward but it’s still enjoyable, which is something I enjoy when it comes to contemporary books. I loved the fact that there were excerpts from the books Phoebe were reading in the story. It gave the book an interesting aspect to it.
Characters: This is a character driven story and most of the characters are fun and interesting. Phoebe, the main character, felt realistic to an extent but some of her reactions to things felt a little over the top to me. Although it could be the authors way to convey the fact that she’s meant to be quirky and slightly introverted. Still I enjoyed her and could relate to her love and connection to the books she read. Kris felt like an unnecessary character, especially since he’s the one mentioned in the synopsis but didn’t really make it into the plot until halfway through the book and then he was in one major scene and gone again. We mostly follow Dev and Phoebe and explore their feelings for each other. Dev was adorable, real and so loveable. He felt like the perfect love interest. He’s also Indian and we need more diversity when it comes to love interests, and characters in general, in YA literature. I liked Em because she added to the plot in a genuine way, I know many girls who are just like her. This is why she felt so real to me.
Plot: The plot was overall good but fell a little short in its uniqueness. There’s really nothing new to this plot that I haven’t read before but it was still very enjoyable.

All in all, this book was an entertaining and pleasant read which I would highly recommend to all contemporary lovers out there. I will be inclined to pick up a book from this author again.

Here is a summary of what the book is about.In a perfect world sixteen-year- old Phoebe Martins life would be a book. Preferably one filled with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately her life probably wouldn't even qualify for a quiet contemporary.

Everything changes when Phoebe learns that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her. So, Phoebe turns to the heroines in her favorite books for inspiration, but becoming as awesome as her book characters isn't as easy as it sounds.

When another girl nets Dev for herself right out from under Phoebe's nose, She's crushed. And, to up the suckle, she gets assigned as his co-counselor at a sixth grade camp and has to spend an entire week tied to the hip with the one guy on the planet she wanted to avoid.

Can she make it though the potential danger of romantic bonfires and nature walks, or will her counseling career end in emotional disaster? Can she ever go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?

I felt this was a well written story. It is a page turner.

They say boys in books are just better. I have to disagree having a real relationship is always better even though they can sometimes get messy.

I absolutely love this book. I totally could relate to Phoebe because I am also a book nerd.

I would recommend this book.

I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Happy Reading Everyone!

The title is what inimically caught my eyed, this book was pretty great and I enjoyed it, my only problem was that toward the end it seemed to lag a little.

A typical teen love story. But it was cute. We follow book loving, knitter and archer Phoebe as she crushes on Kyle and then Dev. It was enjoyable if you like YA romance.

As a reader I liked this book because I know what it's like to fall in my love with the perfect character and hope that your perfect love would appear the same way. It want to read all the time then do anything else. It shows how people can change and be someone else after they open up. A book for geeks and nerds like me and people who want to be stuck in a book.

I really wanted to like this book purely because it was a book about a girl who loves books. But it was a bit too fluffy for me. I tried to bear in mind that the target audience for this book is YA, but even for many YA readers, Phoebe was a bit naïve. The author also included several snippets from the books that Phoebe was reading, but they did not seem to add to the overall story all the time. Again, I had great hopes for this book and gave it three stars just because it is a good premise. I think that it will go over decently with the seventh grade to sophomore in high school audience. I can see how people would like this book, but it just wasn't for me.