Begin Again by Emma Lord
Published: January 24, 2023
Wednesday Books
Pages: 343
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Comedy
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, lots of love, and a copious amount of grilled cheese.
But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Her roommate Shay needs a major, and despite Andie’s impressive track record of being The Fixer, she’s stumped on how to help. And Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack at a time.
But sometimes, when all your plans are in rubble at your feet, you find out what you’re made of. And when Andie starts to find the power of her voice as the anonymous Squire on the school’s legendary pirate radio station–the same one her mom founded, years before she passed away–Andie learns that not all the best laid plans are necessarily the right ones.
“But people who only like to do stuff they’re already great at? They end up limiting themselves. And they end up regretting it.”
Andie is transferring to her dream school late in the year. She didn’t get in initially, but she was accepted as a transfer. Now, she has to do everything to prove she belongs. She meets people, participates in events, and tries to balance school and life. She holds close to her past to motivate her future until she realizes that her future is happening all around her.
This was such a sweet story. I loved Andie. She was easy to identify with. I loved Shay, Val, Milo, and the grandmas as well. The characters in this book were fantastic.
I loved the journey Andie took in this book. Such a beautiful coming-of-age moment. It’s a moment we all have, to varying degrees, and it was lovely.
I loved the scenes between Andie and her dad and the clarity he was able to bring to her life. The themes in this novel were so superb. The writing style, the delivery, and the pacing were perfect.
This was such an easy book to read. I didn’t want to put it down- and I only did it to sleep. I loved the way this story came together. And I loved the concept of taking the past and wearing it into your present.
The dynamic between the characters was beautiful, and I enjoyed watching them all connect. This was a charming story, and I highly recommend this book.