Begin Again: A Novel by Emma LordMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was providing both the audio and digital arc of this book via Netgalley. Thank you to Macmillan Young Listeners and Wednesday Books for allowing me the chance to review this book. As always all opinions are my own. I swapped back and forth between the print and audio version of the book and enjoyed both.
Georgina Sadler did a great job with the narration. She gave each character their own voice, which I always appreciate in a book with lots of characters. Andie has a semi-large friend group here and the narrator does a good job making sure they each have a distinct accent or voice so you know who is speaking during dialogue.
Despite this being set in a college environment this is very much a coming of age story. I'll admit I struggled in the beginning with the immaturity of the characters, then I remembered they are freshman in college and thought back to my freshman year and realized I was being a bit harsh with my expectations. The characters were doing exactly what 18-20 years old college students do in college. They are discovering new friends, figuring out life, and discovering who they are and who they want to be. I actually think the author did a good job making the characters relatable to a younger audience.
This follows Andie as she begins her second semester of college. She has recently from community college to Blue Ridge, which happens to be the place where her parents went. She has big plans, and wants to learn more about her mom as she participates in activities her mom founded when she went to school there. Andie wants to be a self-help guru, and her psychology major and natural tendency to fix everyone's problems seem to be a good fit for her plans. Andie does admit that she's a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to dealing with her own problems as she'd rather help others fix their issues than deal with her own. I felt that her 'fixer' tendencies were a bit over the top at times, but it is critical to her character growth arc and she has to stumble a few times along the way until she finds her own path. I loved the side characters and felt they were well developed. I really enjoyed getting to know Andie's friend group who become her found family. They aren't afraid to tell her what she needs to hear, even when she doesn't want to hear it. I really appreciated seeing them all grow and find their way. I was initially worried that Andie was making all of her choices for the wrong reasons, but I was pleasantly surprised as she slowly started to come out of her shell and started to do things for herself not for the shoes she was trying to fill.
This was a really cute YA coming of age with a little romance and a little comedy. I think this will be perfect for a younger audience as it addresses a lot of topics teens and college age students face.
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