Perfect In Every Sense Of The Word // REVIEW: It Only Happens In The Movies by Holly Bourne |A Thousand Words A Million Books || A Young Adult Book Blog

Title: It Only Happens In The Movies
Author: Holly Bourne
Publication Date: October 1st 2017
Publisher: Usbourne Publishing
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Usbourne Publishing (THANK YOU!)
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Blurb Description: Audrey is over romance. Since her parents' relationship imploded her mother's been catatonic, so she takes a cinema job to get out of the house. But there she meets wannabe film-maker Harry. Nobody expects Audrey and Harry to fall in love as hard and fast as they do. But that doesn't mean things are easy. Because real love isn't like the movies...
The greatest love story ever told doesn't feature kissing in the snow or racing to airports. It features pain and confusion and hope and wonder and a ban on cheesy clichés. Oh, and zombies... YA star Holly Bourne tackles real love in this hugely funny and poignant novel.

If you haven’t already seen me ranting OBSESSIVELY about Holly Bourne and all the books she’s written so far, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Holly Bourne writes the MOST REALISTIC TEENAGE GIRLS in her gorgeously awkward and equally hilarious and most importantly, FILLED WITH FEMINISM books that will make you sit up and pay attention because the WORLD NEEDS MORE OF THESE KINDS OF BOOKS.

Yes, see, I RANT OBSESSIVELY ABOUT EVERYTHING RELATED TO HOLLY BOURNE.

Case in point: This Tweet:

BEST. THING. I'VE. EVER. READ.

Thank you for this, @holly_bourneYA - We NEEDED THIS IN A BOOK (or all of them)#OnlyInTheMovies pic.twitter.com/F2523mYdzZ

— Aditi (@AditiNichani) October 12, 2017

I hadn’t even finished the Spinster Club series when the title was revealed for It Only Happens in the Movies and without even knowing what this story was about, I knew I would be reading it. Then, as if Holly Bourne + NEW BOOK wasn’t enough to sell me on reading this book, Usborne went and put ACTUAL FOOD on the cover of this book and I WAS SO EXCITED I HYPERVENTILATED around my room (Bookworm Cave) for a long time.

It Only Happens in the Movies definitely met my expectations of what I expected my latest Holly Bourne book to be like, even though it was more mature and a little different from The Spinster Club Trilogy.

Let’s break it down:

THINGS I LOVED:

1. THE COVER: It’s yellow and happy and it has POPCORN on it? I honestly just wanted to eat popcorn through the entire time I was reading the book but YAY FOR FOOD ON BOOK COVERS. THEY’RE THE BEST. And so uplifting.

2. ALL THINGS FEMINIST AND BRILLIANT: This book analyses MOVIE TROPES FROM A FEMINIST POINT OF VIEW ALL WHILE BEING AWKWARDLY HILARIOUS. Could you really ask for more? Each chapter starts off with a movie trope that we are SO USED TO WATCHING (Eg: The Bad Boy that reforms himself JUST FOR YOU) and then breaks it apart to something that Only Happens in the Movies. It will make you think every time you watch another movie, it will make you think regardless. It is BRILLIANTLY done, even if I am overusing the word because It Only Happens in the Movies DESERVES every bit of praise I give it.

3. ZOMBIE FEMINIST BRIDES: Ever heard of them? No? I don’t blame you. I spent all the time reading this book in awe of everything about it. A zombie bride in the movie our main characters were shooting raged against the patriarchy as a zombie and it was BRILLIANT. It was funny, and even the ZOMBIES MADE YOU THINK ABOUT THE UNEQUALITY IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IT.

4. STRONG FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS: If there’s one thing that Holly Bourne’s The Spinster Club series and It Only Happens in the Movies has in common is these strong, brilliant and REAL female friendships. I love reading about these in books because I have the privilege of having them in real life and it just makes seeing them in books so much more affirming.

5. AUDREY AND HARRY: I loved BOTH of Holly Bourne’s main characters in this book. Audrey was a spectacular narrator, trying to find her own way with her family and dealing with the difference in the world that the movies show you and what she’s been experiencing. Harry, though I would have loved to also see this from his POV was your typical, charming boy and they were SO MUCH FUN TO MEET.

Honestly, you guys, THIS IS THE BOOK YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW YOU WERE LOOKING FOR. It’s awkward, hilarious, real, filled to the brim with feminism, cute boys and girl power. It Only Happens in the Movies is perfect in every sense of the word and YOU NEED TO BE READING THIS. 5 stars.

Holly Bourne writes YA novels and blogs about feminist issues. Her favourite things to complain loudly about are: the stigma of mental health, women's rights, and the under-appreciation of Keanu Reeves' acting ability.

Holly's first two books, Soulmates and The Manifesto on How to be Interesting, have been critically acclaimed and translated into six languages. The first book in the 'Normal' series, Am I Normal Yet?, has been chosen as a World Book Night book for 2016 and has inspired the formation of Spinster Clubs around the country.

Before becoming a full-time author, Holly was editor and relationship advisor for a charity website.