The Falling in Love Montage (book review) // ft. rom-coms and wit

The Falling in Love Montage Review (1)

HAAAAAPYY TUESDAY!!!

What’s crack-a-lacking?! whaaaat i’m not overcompensating for my lack of personality and deteriorating mental health, y0u ARe. sorry for being missing recently but life kinda sucks?? and procrastination may or may not be my new coping mechanism?? i miss blogging so much and even though i have a ton of ideas, i’m finding it really hard to write them down in a form that i’m happy with. i really enjoyed writing this post though and hopefully, it gets me back into that book blogging groove! Today I’m going to be sharing with you, my review of The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth.

Before I get into the review, I just wanted to use this platform to show my support for the Black Lives Matter. I have been signing petitions and educating myself in order to become a better ally and encourage you to do the same.

Books I plan on reading to support black authors:

Clap When you Land
Slay
Dear Martin
Me and White Supremacy
The Poet X

Here is a link to a page containing petitions you can sign, resources and places you can donate.

“Educate Yourself. This Doesn’t Go Away Once The Topic Isn’t ‘Trending’.”

I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review is part of a blog tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. There are more reviews coming, as well as exciting features like guest posts and interviews so be sure to check out the other stops on the tour! There is also a Rafflecopter giveaway for this tour (US only) so check it out as well!

The Falling in Love Montage

By Ciara Smyth// Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out.

But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.

Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real.

Published: 9th June 2020 by Andersen Press

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (3.5 stars) (in no way a bad rating!)

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY | GOODREADS | WATERSTONES

This book is an incredible novel that plays off the classic rom-com cliches but with its own twists and turns. This was a truly fun read that captivated me the whole way through. This was not just a fluffy read focused solely on romance but also discussed some heavier topics like dementia, remarrying, life after school and friendships.

Saroise is a brilliant, real main character who really made this book special. She is stubborn, witty, hurting and extremely relatable despite (and because of) her flaws. I was rooting for Saroise from the start and really enjoyed seeing her character develop through the book.

Ruby is a kind, lovable human being who really brought out Saroise’s best. I can only remember a couple of scenes where Ruby is opening up or where I really got a glimpse of her character since the book is mainly focused on Saroise. Therefore, I didn’t really connect with her and she wasn’t particularly memorable. ~~I may have had to look up her name.~~ However, I loved reading every interaction between Saroise and Ruby and the montage format was super cute.

I also liked seeing Saroise and Oliver’s friendship develop. Their interactions were amusing and funny. Seeing the two open up after years of being enemies was really cute. I related to Oliver a lot and he was a great wingman for Saroise!

I really enjoyed the theme of movies throughout this book and the contrast between Saroise’s horror-loving self to rom-com loving Ruby was really interesting. I loved seeing the two become closer and share parts of themselves with each other from the movies they love to their vulnerabilities.

Overall, The Falling in Love Montage is a pretty incredible book that doesn’t just have a focus on romance but is full of depth. I loved getting to know Saroise and the different characters in the book. The only thing missing for me was that I personally didn’t connect much with the book and it didn’t flood me with emotion. This is a fun, enjoyable read and perfect for the summer; I give this 3.5 stars!

*except without pennies because we be broke

Chat With Me Are you planning on reading The Falling in Love Montage? What is your favourite rom-com? How’s lockdown for you? Any plans for when this is all over? What are you reading at the moment? Divulge your secrets…