Hot British Boyfriend

I hate giving this book three stars but it just wasn't a four for me. It's adorable, don't get me wrong, but for me the setting was kind of the best part of the book.

Elle (Ellie) has just gone through the humiliation of her life and can't stand the thought of going back to school in a few weeks with everyone talking about "that party". There is a silver lining to that night though, a spot opens up on the semester abroad program and it's the perfect escape for Ellie and a chance to let things die down before school starts in the fall.

We are transported across the pond to what sounds like a fairy tale manor in a heart of England, complete with secret passages, rooms no one knows about, gargoyles, and cherubs, yes the setting really was my favorite part of this book.

Ellie finds herself in a "school" full of overachievers and is barely hanging on, thankfully she's found some unlikely friends in Dev, Huan, and Sage. They've known each other for months, some of them for years, but this is the first time they've been in the same setting. Ellie quickly realizes she had no idea how far behind she was in academics or in planning her life. Thankfully Sage has a love of all things planning related.

Now here is where the book took a turn for me, I realize Ellie has gone through this (to her at least) life changing event, and ok, yes the video of said moment did follow her all the way to Merry old England but she had this insane opportunity to live and study it what is basically a castle and all she thinks about it boys, and yes this is a YA book, but it reads as much more of a tween book to me.

Now here's the part that really made this a three star book for me versus a four star, there just wasn't anything redeeming about our MC, she was until the very end oblivious to the people around her, the feelings, the experiences, it all just went over her head, she never thought to ask her friends why they were so focused on their studies or why certain things were important to them she was completely self centered. Even in starting a relationship with Will it seemed she was more interested in what people would say or like on her Instagram stories.

The story in itself was cute, a fun easy read, just not a lot of substance. Would I read more by this author absolutely, it was fun and witty and had some zingy one liners that had me chuckling but I just couldn't get past our MC.

While she did wake up and grow up a bit at the very end I felt like it was kind of too little too late. I do find myself wondering if she ever made it to college, if she's still making fairy gardens, and if she and a certain someone stayed together.