it only happens in the movies by holly bourne / review
This is exactly the type of book young girls should be reading and I love that Holly Bourne always challenges particular notions that are problematic in our society and dissects it
- Amazon Reader Review
At home, everything is falling apart for Audrey. With her brother, Dougie, away at Uni, she is left to look out for her mum who has been left heartbroken following the betrayal of her husband, and Audrey's father. He has now made another life for himself with new wife Jessie and twins Albert and Lola, a life his old family seems to be unwelcome to take part in. Audrey is left questioning her father's priorities and whether love is a feeling or a choice. Could it be both? Could he have CHOSEN to leave his family behind, or had he been too caught up in his feelings to notice? So far, the two men in her life, her father and her ex, have broken her trust and made her question the existence of true, ever-lasting love. Following a heartbreak of her own, Audrey is left criticizing romance and the false interpretation of the happy ending in films.
As an escape from her home life, Audrey seeks out a job at the Flicker, a local cinema where the tickets are overpriced, the boss is control freak and one particular employee named Harry catches her attention. Harry is everything she fears: charismatic, flirty and to be honest, a bit of a player. She's sworn off relationships since Milo, the boy that broke her heart and left her humiliated, but something about Harry is so easy to love. She knows he's trouble and is conscious of Rosie, Harry's friend who also seems to be smitten by his charms, but she can't help herself from falling hopelessly in love with him.
I love this book for its honesty, challenging our perceptions of love as bestowed upon us by the media and the perfect 'Hollywood ending'. The plot doesn't shy away from the ugly insecurities, the arguments and indeed, the disastrous endings that are a part of everyday life. I also adore Bourne's approach to feminism in the novel, depicting Audrey as a young woman who is aware of how society expects her to behave and how a celebrity culture encourages women to be sexy and confident, to never show insecurity. In the novel, Audrey refers to the women in romance movies as an unrealistic depiction of how women are supposed to be. She remarks that 'they always look amazing in the morning. They never have stinky breath or hair all over the place, or boogers in their eyes. And they sleep in, like, tiny pyjama short things instead of an ugly oversized T-shirt with jammy bottoms. I mean, AREN'T THEY COLD? Also, they never pick fights with guy's friends about the fact they're sexist slobs. They never fart, let alone fanny fart, or get their period and accidentally bleed reddy-brown splodges onto their jeans. Their fringes are always impeccable. They're always one of the guys somehow and like sport and drinking beer or watching action movies, because that's so real. They never nag the guy about watching football all the time, or say 'Let's watch Love, Rosie because it's my turn to choose'. They're never stroppy and they're never difficult and they're never needy and they're never bloated and they never wear mismatching underwear and they never have cellulite and they never ask to have sex with the lights off because they hate their stomachs'.
This rant caught my heart and made me fall in love with this book. If you're after romance, friendship and, ultimately, realism, this novel is perfect for you. It tells the tale of a broken home, of broken hearts, of friendship and of finding yourself. Amongst all of the heartache, Audrey finds comfort in her friends. Although she attempted to distance herself from her girls after the breakup with Milo, she ultimately finds that there is an unbreakable bond between old friends and sometimes, you just need to talk to a girl. I included the review of an Amazon reader at the top because I completely agree: this novel is exactly what young women should be reading, to show them that it's okay to not be these visions of perfection, because that's just not REAL. If you're after a funny yet heart breaking read about love, relationships and broken families, this book will have you enraptured from the start.
As an escape from her home life, Audrey seeks out a job at the Flicker, a local cinema where the tickets are overpriced, the boss is control freak and one particular employee named Harry catches her attention. Harry is everything she fears: charismatic, flirty and to be honest, a bit of a player. She's sworn off relationships since Milo, the boy that broke her heart and left her humiliated, but something about Harry is so easy to love. She knows he's trouble and is conscious of Rosie, Harry's friend who also seems to be smitten by his charms, but she can't help herself from falling hopelessly in love with him.
I love this book for its honesty, challenging our perceptions of love as bestowed upon us by the media and the perfect 'Hollywood ending'. The plot doesn't shy away from the ugly insecurities, the arguments and indeed, the disastrous endings that are a part of everyday life. I also adore Bourne's approach to feminism in the novel, depicting Audrey as a young woman who is aware of how society expects her to behave and how a celebrity culture encourages women to be sexy and confident, to never show insecurity. In the novel, Audrey refers to the women in romance movies as an unrealistic depiction of how women are supposed to be. She remarks that 'they always look amazing in the morning. They never have stinky breath or hair all over the place, or boogers in their eyes. And they sleep in, like, tiny pyjama short things instead of an ugly oversized T-shirt with jammy bottoms. I mean, AREN'T THEY COLD? Also, they never pick fights with guy's friends about the fact they're sexist slobs. They never fart, let alone fanny fart, or get their period and accidentally bleed reddy-brown splodges onto their jeans. Their fringes are always impeccable. They're always one of the guys somehow and like sport and drinking beer or watching action movies, because that's so real. They never nag the guy about watching football all the time, or say 'Let's watch Love, Rosie because it's my turn to choose'. They're never stroppy and they're never difficult and they're never needy and they're never bloated and they never wear mismatching underwear and they never have cellulite and they never ask to have sex with the lights off because they hate their stomachs'.
This rant caught my heart and made me fall in love with this book. If you're after romance, friendship and, ultimately, realism, this novel is perfect for you. It tells the tale of a broken home, of broken hearts, of friendship and of finding yourself. Amongst all of the heartache, Audrey finds comfort in her friends. Although she attempted to distance herself from her girls after the breakup with Milo, she ultimately finds that there is an unbreakable bond between old friends and sometimes, you just need to talk to a girl. I included the review of an Amazon reader at the top because I completely agree: this novel is exactly what young women should be reading, to show them that it's okay to not be these visions of perfection, because that's just not REAL. If you're after a funny yet heart breaking read about love, relationships and broken families, this book will have you enraptured from the start.