This is What Happy Looks Like
Jennifer E. Smith
When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill and email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?
Some things I didn't like about this book:
I didn't like the ending that much which I was really sad about, because the ending is usually my favorite part of a book. We all knew that Graham and Ellie were never going to see each other again so there was really no point to the book because as soon as Graham left Ellie was going to become depressed that she couldn't see him and would become closed off and reserved and stop emailing Graham and they would slowly loose contact. Well, at least that's what I thought was going to happen. I wanted him to go to Boston with her and become a street artist or something, anything really. As long as they didn't leave each other. Which they did end up doing.
Some things I did like about this book:
My Rating: 3.5/5
Honestly, I was expecting a little bit more from this book. I thought it was going to be more of a cutesy romance....actually, I shouldn't say that. I just thought that I would feel more when the book ended, like a heartwarming punch in the gut.
I didn't really care that the book was over because they were leaving each other and I knew that probably would never see each other again. They only really got together towards the end of the book, and the book ended the day after the 4th of July so it wasn't really a summer romance. They were just boyfriend and girlfriend for, like, a day.
I liked how the book was actually about her becoming happy at the end, though. I thought that the title of the book really played a key role in the story line of how she started out pretty lonely and depressed and then at the end of the book she realized that she didn't need a lot of things to make her happy.
I didn't really care that the book was over because they were leaving each other and I knew that probably would never see each other again. They only really got together towards the end of the book, and the book ended the day after the 4th of July so it wasn't really a summer romance. They were just boyfriend and girlfriend for, like, a day.
I liked how the book was actually about her becoming happy at the end, though. I thought that the title of the book really played a key role in the story line of how she started out pretty lonely and depressed and then at the end of the book she realized that she didn't need a lot of things to make her happy.
Some things I didn't like about this book:
Ellie and Quinn's fight. I mean, come on. I know that they are best friends, but some things are just personal. I don't get mad when my friends tell me that they've been texting each other. And I know that he was a complete stranger and Ellie really connected with him, or whatever that means. But, Ellie wanted to keep this one thing to herself and Quinn just needed to respect that.
But on the other hand, I would feel a little out of the loop and frustrated if my best friend had been emailing some random stranger and was hitting it off and I didn't know about it. I would feel hurt that she didn't trust me enough to tell me about it, so I see where Quinn is coming from.
But from a third-person's point of view, friends are supposed to work things out and I know that fights can last for a long time, but this conflict seems like something that should have just blown over in a week or two, not for more than a month.
I mean, really girls. Get it together.
The fact that Graham convinced an entire movie crew, agents, publicity and everyone else involved in creating a movie to film in a random location that they had never even heard off seems a little far-fetched to me. And was he really that great of friends with Ellie back then? Because at the time, it seemed like they hadn't been emailing for a long time and all this seemed to have happen pretty quickly to me. I'm sure that Jennifer E. Smith mentioned it somewhere in there that they had been emailing for several months, but it takes more than a short sentence to convince me that they have become that close.
I'm just saying.
I didn't like the ending that much which I was really sad about, because the ending is usually my favorite part of a book. We all knew that Graham and Ellie were never going to see each other again so there was really no point to the book because as soon as Graham left Ellie was going to become depressed that she couldn't see him and would become closed off and reserved and stop emailing Graham and they would slowly loose contact. Well, at least that's what I thought was going to happen. I wanted him to go to Boston with her and become a street artist or something, anything really. As long as they didn't leave each other. Which they did end up doing.
Some things I did like about this book:
I loved the part when Graham goes to visit Ellie after he botched his date with Quinn and they have the whole scene with Ellie's beagle, Bagel, and they basically reenact their emails when Graham mentions Wilbur the Pig. It was very cute and I think it was a good way for Graham to tell Ellie that it was him, the mystery man from the other side of the country that had been sending her emails for months.
I loved the whole inside joke between them about the whoopie pies and how Graham was amazed that Ellie had never even tried the state treat! And then near the end of the book, they go to dinner at the Lobster Pot and he had arranged for there to be whoopie pies and makes the bet with Ellie so she can go to her writing class at Harvard. I thought that was really cute and romantic.
Overall, I thought that this book was pretty good, though it wasn't my favorite. I like Jennifer E. Smith's writing style and her other books The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and The Geography of You and Me look like cute romantic books that are perfect summer reads, so I would like to check those out!
-Bookie Cookie
Reading. Writing. Eating.
I loved the whole inside joke between them about the whoopie pies and how Graham was amazed that Ellie had never even tried the state treat! And then near the end of the book, they go to dinner at the Lobster Pot and he had arranged for there to be whoopie pies and makes the bet with Ellie so she can go to her writing class at Harvard. I thought that was really cute and romantic.
Overall, I thought that this book was pretty good, though it wasn't my favorite. I like Jennifer E. Smith's writing style and her other books The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and The Geography of You and Me look like cute romantic books that are perfect summer reads, so I would like to check those out!
-Bookie Cookie
Reading. Writing. Eating.
