It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Įveryone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago-except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. All major characters are White.Ī wild ride that’s high on drama and deep in self-reflection. Audrey and Harry’s relationship sings with witty banter, electric heat, and feverish emotion, but Audrey’s journey to self-discovery reaps even more rewards, leaving readers with a fresh, realistic look at first love. The pair fall into a whirlwind romance fit for the silver screen-but just like in the movies, there’s no story without high-stakes drama crashing the party.

But the more time they spend together, whether it be vacuuming the movie theater or working on Harry’s zombie movie, the more she finds herself warming to him. She’s through with the notion of romance she’s even focusing her media studies research on why real love is never like in the movies. To Harry’s bewilderment, Audrey refuses to be won over by his charm. Enter Flicker Cinema: Audrey takes a job at the upscale theater, and soon her nights are filled with difficult customers, a demanding manager, and unrepentant flirt Harry Lipton. Audrey quit drama, her favorite class, after her actor boyfriend abruptly dumped her. Two years ago, her father left to be with his pregnant girlfriend, and her mother remains shattered and unstable. Reeling from her parents’ traumatic divorce and her own recent breakup, English teen Audrey vows not to let incorrigible romantic Harry woo her.Īudrey Winters needs an escape from both home and high school.

It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne