A book about a bookworm seems like a very fun game, but I must say that this book fell short for me. The story seemed to drag on and on and on, and I found it very hard to finish. Sure it was cute and fun, but the story didn't seem substantial. Aside from the story, I absolutely ADORED Phoebe. Her obsession with books was very relatable, but sometimes childish. Overall I thought this book was nothing special. Sure, it had its moments, but it just seemed like one of those books where nothing really happened.

BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER is such a fun read. Made me so happy to relive my baby book nerd days.
First of all, Phoebe is super funny and SO relatable. There were whole chapters that stirred up memories of my own uncomfortable geek past. It is not just for your average reader who loves books, it is for people who LIVE books. For those of us who bond with these characters that they feel like real friends and we defend to DEATH.
I loved how Phoebe took her nods from her favorite book heroines and sections of those books are mingled with the story. A very cool touch is definitely Phoebe's hand-written notes. I was totally into the story and every look and shouting over every missed opportunity and BAD MOVES. I became very invested in this.
Loved the supporting characters, they gave a great boost to round the story out nicely. I need to continue this journey because I had no clue book two was getting near!

Review goes live 3;17.17 at noon est

This is a fun quick read. Sixteen year old Phoebe loves reading, knitting, and archery, which she took up because her favorite fictional character does archery. She takes notes from her favorite books on romance and relationships and tries to put them to use when she finds out that Dev, a friend of hers in band, likes her. Her friends try to help her out and there are mishaps, friendship and romance in this fun boo

Highly entertaining read. I like that the heroine was capital Q, quirky. I liked the emphasis on how much joy she derives from reading. I enjoyed her circle of friends. I felt like there were too many references to "other" books that she was reading.

"Well, put that to bed, folks. At least Phoebe was listening to the opening lyrics" -LeVar Burton, host of Reading Rainbow

Bookishly Ever After is a cute geek-girl (vice chick lit) novel, romantic and heart breaking at the same time. I was giddy with the delight over the main character, Phoebe, and her crazy personality, one that I kinda was and kinda wished I could have been in high school. Phoebe reads as the pinnacle of geeks - a knitter who makes money from her craft; a reader who is lucky enough to find book after book of characters she identifies with; a somewhat nerdy high schooler who falls for an attractive, popular, non-WASPy guy. So yeah, I was totally rooting for her and this book. I have to admit that I was somewhat underwhelmed by the gentle arc of the storyline, which (as reflected in Phoebe's own many references to other novels) was not unique and which lingered a bit too long in the uncertainty status of the main relationship. What kept me reading was the author's authentic voice, her geeky references, the pleasant and somewhat realistic depiction of high school (yippee for a gay couple, but I defy someone to find me a girl who has pulled the makeover reveal off successfully). My absolutely favorite part of reading this novel was dipping into the author's incredible sub-stories, only half told through Phoebe's book of quotes and mental gymnastics as she moves in and out of relationships. They were rich and left me wanting, like a fantasy worthy kiss that takes place mid-plot. Every time I reflected that the story might be getting too geeky perfect and unrealistic, I remembered that the era of the nerd has arrived. I mean, I too learned how to shoot a bow because of a fan girl crush on a fantasy heroine or three (Alanna, Dane, Kel). And look where it got me!

3.4/5

4 for reading it all the way through in one sitting
2 for story arc as it was very predictable and that took away from the whole package
3 expanding my horizons since I now have a curious desire to knit, which has NEVER happened before
4 for humor/cleverness... the geek in me related strongly to the many references, and delighted in each and every one
4 for voice since the stories, especially the teased ones the narrator mentions, were fun and interesting and felt worthy of a reader's time.

It was a great read. I feel the character development was good and I would recommend to friends.

What an absolute delight.
Phoebe is a devoted bookworm, her nose forever stuck between the pages of her favorite novel while her fingers knit her growing wardrobe of cosplay. Her long suffering friends despair of her noticing anyone other than her "fantasy book boyfriends". But that doesn't stop them from trying to matchmake and Phoebe reacts by taking cues from her fictional heroines.
I adored this book completely and will be buying a copy as soon as it hits the shelves. Phoebe was just like every girl who has ever wondered "What would Hermione do?" or "What would Katniss say here?"
She was a wonderfully rounded character, believable, approachable and likable. It made me wish to be back in high school- and very few things make me wish that!
I can't praise the writing enough, it kept me entertained all the way to the end and I loved all of it. The chapters are quite short so you can fit just one more in before class- or work- or bed. And then one more.
And maybe just one more.

Actualy Rating = 2.5/5

Bookishly Ever After is about a very bookish bookworm so, by default, I should have loved this book. In reality, it just didn't live up to expectations and the more I read the more the story dragged. Sure, it is a cute, fun read, but there was just far too much of it and a lot of what felt like filler.

I absolutely adored Phoebe, though. Her book obsession and constant book referencing is just so relatable. She even dresses up to go to book events (though this is something I've never done). Her excitement over new releases is just adorable. I swear she was just a little bit of me in book form. However, I did find her quite childish and immature at times and she looked to her books for answers to real problems a bit too much.

I really liked the majority of Phoebe's friends. I thought Grace was just great and just so sweet. Plus, she gave Phoebe great advice. However, Em annoyed me. Her advice is pretty rubbish and she's far too pushy!

Dev is a nice enough love interest and it's obvious that he really cares for Phoebe, and vice versa. However, I wanted to knock their heads together. They are so bad at communicating with each other. This book would have been so much shorter, and less of a trawl through, if Dev and Phoebe actually sat down together and talked.

Bookishly Ever After is told from Phoebe's perspective so it was great and easy to relate to, but she is quite an immature narrator. I also felt that the book excerpts at the end of chapters, although a nice addition, could have been left out - in fact, I eventually just started skipping over them.

I did find Bookishly Ever After a very slow read, to the extent that I was getting bored with the story. I also felt that the story lacked any major plot twists and most were actually just a result of miscommunication between Phoebe and Dev. The ending was also a bit anti-climatic for my liking. It sort of just ended and that was that, in a way. However, all the plot points did tie up quite nicely.

Bookishly Ever After was a nice read (despite how negative my review looks). I did find that the story dragged, but Phoebe was still a fantastic and relatable character so I couldn't help but want to finish her story. If you like a very easy, but lengthy, YA contemporary romance then I would recommend Bookishly Ever After. This one just wasn't one of my favourites and it did leave me a bit disappointed.

Beautifully sweet story of first love

Wonderful fully written, funny, and charming this book is a welcome addition to any young girl's library.

Very good. Enjoyed it start to finish, can't wait to read more from this author.

This book follows the story of a bookish band geek and her first non-fiction crush. While cute, it's also incredibly boring and one noted. While I appreciate the realistic simplicity, it just was dull (not even slow because there was no real climax). Also, the fake book excerpts were poorly written.

Like I said before, this is one hell of a cute teen romance novel. It is exactly as what the summary says: girl likes boy but doesn't know how to go about telling him how she feels. I really liked this book because it reminded me of my own teenage days, with those crushes and awkward moments and those little fantasies about having a guy tell you he likes you - and saying it back to him! Phoebe is a really cute character and her group of friends are really funny. The story did progress a bit too slowly at times, but it was still enjoyable! I think the one thing that began to get a little old for me were the number of "excerpts" from the books that Phoebe was reading; while I get the point of it, there were just too many of them and they sometimes hampered the speed of the already-slow story. Overall, a really cute and funny novel about love and friendship, and I would recommend this to preteens/young teens!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Based on the description, I wanted to love this book. Knitterly, introverted, bookish, nerd girl as the protagonist in a teen novel? You've got my attention!!

Sadly, the book did not live up to its description. I stopped rooting for nerd girl, Phoebe, about 1/3 of the way through the book. She was simply too clueless to be believed. Her obsession with fictional book characters, which leads to inserts from fictional books interspersed throughout the book, became overwhelming and took over the narrative. The more minor characters, including Phoebe's friends, felt like they had the potential to be interesting, but were never developed beyond the superficial. I wanted to become involved in the lives of Phoebe and her friends, but I found that there wasn't enough depth there for me to do so. For example, Phoebe's friend Grace is a lesbian cheerleader with great style, but that is as much as I know about her after 378 pages.

Overall, the writing was a bit clunky, the characters were under-developed, and there was little in the way of a plot. This book is listed as the first in a series. I hope that the author explores more of the potential in these characters in her next effort.

To be quite honest, I didn't LOVE this book. I liked the character of Phoebe and all of her fandom craziness, but to be frank, this book just didn't draw me in. It didn't make me feel like how Phoebe feels with her books. This may just be because it's not entirely my style of book and I may just be being harsh, but it's the honest truth for me. It started out ok, but then personally, I found it dragged on for a bit and the plot wasn't really going anywhere.
Still, I think and can understand why other people would love it, but it just wasn't for me.

I got my wish granted on Net Galley for this book and I am so happy I did! This book was a super cute, light read and really good for the Valentine's Day season. Now, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would read it again but let me talk about the main characters for a bit.

Our main character, Phoebe, is a bona fide book nerd. In fact, Phoebe may even be beyond that. She is a whole new level of book obsessed. I've always loved books, and I've had my moments where I would walk around with my face in a book, or shut off the world around me and just do nothing but read for hours. I've ignored my friends and family. I've done nothing but read for many weekends. I have a bookstagram. I have a book blog. I've gone to midnight premieres for movies based off books I loved. When I get married and have a son I will probably name him either Dorian or Rowan, from Throne of Glass (also because those are great names, tbh. You go SJ Maas.) And despite all of this and more, compared to Phoebe I might as well not even be a reader. Because she is the level of book obsessed that surely only a book character can be (If you read/have read this book and are in fact just as obsessed with books as Phoebe, I apologize. Prove me wrong.)

First of all, Phoebe has a HUUUUGE crush on this guy literally only because he looks like the love interest from her favorite novel. While I can see that as a plausibilty, I wouldn't base my crush solely on that and I probably would't even connect the idea right away that he looks like Dorian. I'd be like, hm, he's hot. And then I would assume that until proven otherwise, he was probably a jerk, because let's face it, most very attractive guys know they are, which has unpleasant effects on their personality. Then I would maybe observe to see if he was a decent fellow and then maybe continue my crush. Or I would see he is in fact a jerk and would continue thinking he was attractive, but not crush-worthy. But no. She is in LOVEEEE with him, despite her BFFs warnings about him and other clues. Then she find out Dev has a crush on her, which makes me happy because he is so cute and wonderful and definitely meets all my qualifications.

Now let's move on to how she deals with her crushes. She is painfully awkward with guys she likes, which I understand. That much is realistic. She gets a makeover. Also realistic. To combat that awkwardness, she straight up memorizes lines and pages from several books and literally uses those exact lines, and thinks, what would so and so do now? That is straight up ridiculous (and slightly impressive that she can memorize that much.) She copies pages into her journal and takes notes on it. I could say more on this. but really you'd have to read it, and I don't want to spoil things.

I think my favorite parts of the book occurred at the end at camp. The fifth graders were darn adorable, and her co counselor was equally so. She withdraws from her books a tad bit which is nice, and lots of cutesy moments occur.

Despite the main character, in my opinion, being a hyperbolic representation of a bookworm, Bookishly Ever After was a great book. I found it relatable and enjoyable. And Phoebe was actually a solid character despite her quirkiness. She had other characteristics and hobbies and wasn't just, "The Book Nerd." She was Phoebe Martins. And I would totally be her friend if she were real. The characters were great, the plot was great, and the flirting was adorable. If you relate to an awkward booknerd who has trouble with real life romance, definitely read this. (and if not, read anyway.)

This was really sweet, if a little slow at times. Phoebe is definitely relatable in comparison to how I felt at 16: more comfortable with a book than with people, perhaps drawing some inspiration from her favourite heroines to get through everyday life, staunchly unwilling to believe anyone could realistically have a crush on her. There is a lot of miscommunication and some jumping to conclusions and it's all a little dramatic even though not all that much happens in the storyline.

Also, this line of the synopsis really bugs me: "Phoebe overhauls her personality to become as awesome as her favorite heroines and win Dev’s heart." I don't think this is the point of the book at all. Dev likes Phoebe when she's unapologetically being herself and I think that, more than the attempted "personality overhaul," should be what the blurb highlights.

However, I really liked the excerpts from Phoebe's favourite books - I could see a lot of other YA inspiration in them - and I think this author could probably do something with those paranormal romance ideas she had :)

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.*

This book sounded perfect for me, a book about a girl who always has her nose in a book, perfect.
Unfortunately the reality was I just couldn't get into this book, I tired and tried and found myself skimming so I tried again and found myself skimming again.
I didn't connect to Phoebe or anyone else really the only person I liked was Dev.
I didn't finish this book and therefore won't be posting a review

This book was really cute, and I loved all the book references!

Thank you very much for allowing me to read this title; I am trying to read as widely as possible ahead of the Carnegie/Greenaway nominations and awards for 2018 and your help is much appreciated.
As a Carnegie/Greenaway judge, I'm not allowed to comment about my opinions on specific titles so I can't offer an individual review on any title as I stated on my profile.