Blurb:

Twentysomething Abigail Gardner’s life is circling the drain. Her parents are dead, her “like a brother” is in love with her, and her nascent career as an art teacher was fully squashed by an unfortunate viral incident involving sophomores and Spanx. But just as that whirlpool feels poised to suck her down completely, she’s granted a second chance: she lands a teaching job at Excelsior Primm, one of Philadelphia’s oldest and most prestigious preparatory academies. Only problem is, instead of teaching art she’ll be stuck teaching her least favorite subject—literature—and her least favorite theme: tragedy.

Tired of being stuck in her own tragic tale, Abigail starts rewriting every sad ending she can get her hands on, in and out of the classroom. To her surprise, her life soon starts to resemble the fairy tales she adores—great job, hot guy, a career gaining recognition. But when an unexpected plot twist threatens to derail her happy ending, Abigail begins to realize why these conclusions are so hard to come by.

My thoughts:

I couldn’t believe it when I finished this book in just one day! It’s been so long since I’ve done that. I surprised myself! This book was the perfect quick, cozy read with so many wonderful quotes to marvel at. It was exactly what I needed. Reading it felt like quenching my thirst with a nice tall glass of water with extra ice. What can I say about this book? The characters were fun and the banter was playful. I couldn’t help but laugh at every word spoken by Quinn and Mathilda. I loved the portrayal of their friendship. While I know Abigail is an artist, I enjoyed the twist of her being a literature teacher, which took me back to my younger days in middle school when I developed a love for literature too.

Although I enjoyed the story, I wished there was more opportunity to delve into Abigail’s background, and also to experience the story from Nate’s perspective. I also longed for a more indulgent exploration of the romance between Nate and Abigail, as I am an avid romance reader. The romance part of the story felt a bit rushed, and I yearned for more cozy romantic moments. I am a total mush for a good love story. Despite this, there were some parts that felt a bit rushed to me, (like the backstory of that Spanx incident) but I still found great enjoyment in reading the book.

Absolutely! I highly recommend adding this to your tbr list. It’s a great piece that would be fantastic to see unfold as a TV show one day because it definitely has that kind of storytelling quality.

Here’s a look at a few quotes from the book that I highlighted :

“Mathilda’s preference for “keeping things casual” meant she was free to do whatever she wanted. To whomever she wanted. Whenever she wanted. Having this type of freedom was her own version of “self-love,” Mathilda would profess every time someone seemed to bat an eye at her flirty ways.”

“See? There are people who believe in you. Who know you can do this. You know you can do this.”

“Okay, first of all, fuck normal,” he said, giving the table another whack. “Number one, none of us are normal. Number two, if you ever find one of these people who are supposedly normal, go running in the other direction. They’re either a serial killer or they’ll be so painfully boring that you’ll want to turn into one yourself.”

“Though these people were not her people and their problems not her problems, she bore their weight anyway.”

“People didn’t move across countries, donate organs or spend two months’ salaries on seemingly irrelevant gemstones from sierra Leone because love didn’t exist. They didn’t quit the dangerous hobbies they adored, get “real jobs”, or cohabitate with cats because love didn’t exist. They didn’t contort their too-large bodies around hospital beds, throw themselves in front of live ammunition, or reach for their phones during their seemingly last few minutes in this universe because love didn’t fucking exist”

Happy Reading Folks!