RATING: ⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥
Ellie really needs her high school reunion to work out. Her promotion in LA as a show writer depends on whether she can complete a list of tasks while she attends the reunion. It is too bad that she is still holding on to trauma from that awful, awful time.
Now she is back in Ohio, and she is learning quickly that life cannot be scripted.
I had high expectations for this read. The description was giving me updated vibes for Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. What I got did not quite hit the mark.
The premise was enjoyable, and I liked the lightness and pacing of the read. There were some fun comedic elements nicely balanced with more serious themes like self-acceptance and moving on.
The downside is that I could not relate to any of the characters. I get high school trauma. I was totally Ellie at high school, but just like we advise people who peaked in high school and refused to let go, people who equally hold on to that trauma need to let go also. Her crush Mark was not very charismatic, and how he approaches relationships (more like dalliances) leaves much to be desired. Her ex-best friend Roxy is not a very good friend. What had me cheering for Ellie to go back home and find some closure quickly had me hoping she just goes back to LA and finds some closure there.
** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Victoria Fulton, Faith McClaren, Forever Publishing, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **
ABOUT THE BOOK
TV writer Ellie Jenkins worked her butt off to put her nerdy, outcast teen years behind her. So there’s a certain delicious irony in that she works for a hit show about popular high school kids when she was So. Not. Cool. And now she’s been offered the promotion of a lifetime—if she attends her reunion. But Ellie’s memory of High School Hell isn’t nearly as traumatic as the reality . . .
No one at the reunion is what Ellie expected. Not her ex-best friend, who still has the ability to see right through Ellie. And not her secret crush, who has only gotten hotter, sexier, and way more complicated. The only way she’s going to survive this whole weird ordeal is by fixing her bad high school karma, kissing the boy who got away, and getting the hell out of Ohio for good. But Ellie’s discovering that in real life, she can’t just rewrite the script.
MEET VICTORIA FULTON
Together with her bestie Faith McClaren, VICTORIA FULTON is the co-author of the young adult psychological thriller HORROR HOTEL. Victoria and Faith also co-authored the international Wattpad phenomenon and 2018 Watty award-winning rom-com ELLIE IS COOL NOW. Originally from Ohio (where she graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton), Victoria now lives in Los Angeles with her fiancé and their two cat children. When she’s not writing about smooching or serial killers, she’s co-running a PR agency with her other bestie and endlessly scrolling videos on TikTok.
MEET FAITH MCCLAREN
Together with her bestie Victoria Fulton, FAITH MCCLAREN is the co-author of the young adult psychological thriller HORROR HOTEL. Victoria and Faith also co-authored the international Wattpad phenomenon and 2018 Watty award-winning rom-com ELLIE IS COOL NOW. Originally from Texas, Faith now lives in Los Angeles with her guitar-making husband, Pokemon-loving son, and two scruffy dogs. When she isn’t listening to BTS or watching K-dramas, Faith writes contemporary romance novels and volunteers with wolves in a sanctuary outside Los Angeles.
