e-ARC, 336 pages
Release Date: July 11, 2017Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: July 2-4, 2017I See London, I see France, #1Source: TxLA 2017For fans of: Adventure, Contemporary, Romance, Road Trippin, Realistic Fiction, Rom Coms, YA
I see London, I see France
I see Sydney’s underpants.
Nineteen-year-old Sydney has the perfect summer mapped out. She’s spending the next four and half weeks traveling through Europe with her childhood best friend, Leela. Their plans include Eiffel-Tower selfies, eating cocco gelato, and making out with très hot strangers. Her plans do not include Leela’s cheating ex-boyfriend showing up on the flight to London, falling for the cheating ex-boyfriend’s très hot friend, monitoring her mother’s spiraling mental health via texts, or feeling like the rope in a friendship tug-of-war.
In this hilarious and unforgettable adventure, New York Times bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski tells the story of a girl learning to navigate secret romances, thorny relationships, and the London Tube. As Sydney zigzags through Amsterdam, Switzerland, Italy, and France, she must learn when to hold on, when to keep moving, and when to jump into the Riviera… wearing only her polka dot underpants.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I can admit…. I was SO iffy when I found out about this book. Me and one of Mlynowski’s earlier books didn’t quite get along, but I was still so intrigued by the premise in this one. I decided to give it a shot. If nothing else, I’m glad I got to experience the places that Sydney and Leela went!
“A feeling is like a bruise. After a day or two it’ll be gone.“45%
Leela and Sydney take Europe by storm after Leela’s boyfriend cheats on her. They’re excited to travel all over the country meeting people and doing things they never thought they would. Until they realize that said boyfriend is on the same flight (and same trip!) as them……
“What are you going to do? You gotta live your life, you know?“50%
I absolutely LOVED the travel aspect of this. With my blog name being what it is, that’s expected right? I was SO GLAD Mlynowski was able to sweep me to the places I’ve never been but always dreamed of going! And the way she wrote it “showed” me those places instead of just letting me read about them. (Than you Travel Europe for giving Sydney these interesting places lolol) I was incredibly jealous of them, but I was also super excited of all the places they went and was happy to be going with them.
“Up close, the beach is gorgeous. The water is a clam blue-green and the sand is soft and smooth. There are sunbathers everywhere. […] And everyone is topless. Apparently, it’s not a rumor abour French people. All I see around me are breasts. Big breasts, small breasts, lopsided breasts, old breasts, young breasts. It’s hard not to look at all the breasts.“70%
I also really loved Sydney. There were a couple times I wished she would grow up, but for the most part, she was ok. I really liked seeing her development throughout the book. However, then there was Leela. She was so incredibly annoying and she was such a bad friend to Sydney. She did everything to make herself happy, but nothing to make Sydney happy. It sucked reading that over and over. And it upset me that it took until the literal end to get Sydney to realize this. I know this was a plot device to drag out someone else’s storyline (I won’t saay who) but really? She was just real rude and extra and she really brought down the story for me.
“Are we doing it? Doing what? Taking off our tops? I look around self-consciously. I feel like I’m in Girls Gone Wild Croissant Edition.“70%
I also liked the laugh out loud funny moments. For the most part it was hilarious. But for them to be 19 they also had the sense of humor of 12 year olds, so sometimes that got eye rolls instead of laughs out of me. But I was able to look past that because let’s be real… First time on our own in a different country…. I can bet we’d all be making inappropriate jokes at least some of the time.
Lastly, in the story, I feel I should mention that there are drugs (they hit Amsterdam…) and sex shops, and drinking, but it doesn’t take over the entire story. Normally I’m not a fan of books with too much of these things,(family issues) but this one just skimmed over it because of where they were. I’m glad I didn’t quit reading it when it got to that point.
“You turned down taking care of feet to come to Europe? Shocking!.“75%%
In short, this book was a really quick read and something I’m glad I didn’t miss out on. I can’t wait to see the next adventure they embark on. I totally hope that this is another part to Sydney and you know who’s story!
Overall, I give this
I am SO excited for this book!!!! Sarah Mylnowski is one of my ALL-TIME faves, so I've been eyeing it for the longest time. I'm glad the travel aspect worked so well for you– sometimes I get nervous to read travel books but your review makes me think I won't have the problem that I usually have with them. Also, I kind of love immature humor?? I think I'm a 12 year old boy at heart sometimes– so I probably will like that part. Great review!! I'm even more excited than I was before 🙂