Having lived in Ireland for a decade with an Irish partner, I crave authentic representation of my place in the world. Most of the time that Ireland is used as the background to a lesfic novel I’ve been disappointed with the result. Having said all that, for me personally, the setting of this novel made it stand out from many others of its kind. The secondary characters, especially Saoirse’s mum and dad, Oliver, and Beth, are all very well fleshed out and bring depth to the story and authenticity to Saoirse’s experiences. Their conversations, shenanigans, and montage dates are a pleasure to read. As this is YA don’t expect explicit sex but both are really sweet together. Saoirse and Ruby are polar opposites who complement each other well and have great chemistry. Possibly not by chance, her name means freedom in Irish. Saoirse is trying to find her own path confronted with the curve balls that life has thrown at her. The novel is written in first person from the point of view of Saoirse, an Irish eighteen-year-old girl navigating a complicated family life along with typical young adult challenges regarding career choice, love, and relationships. But overall, this is a bittersweet coming of age story. Fortunately, it finds a very much needed balance with self-deprecating humour, naivety, friendship, and sweet first love. Despite the cover and title, this novel is far from a sweet romance and deals with difficult issues such as family ties, dementia, coming of age, and first relationships.

The Falling in Love Montage is so right up my street. What they didn’t consider is that the rom-com characters end up falling in love for real… But when she meets Ruby, an English girl spending the summer in Ireland, she agrees to have a summer of fun by recreating every cliché found in rom-com movies. At 18, she has suffered enough by seeing her mum affected by early-onset dementia, a condition she could inherit.

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The falling in love montage review