e-Audio, 07:54:03
Narrated by: Kirby HeyborneRelease Date: April 9, 2019Published by: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Read from: April 26-28, 2019Stand-aloneSource: Library (Overdrive/ Libby)TW: Parent Death (talked about not depicted)For fans of: Contemporary, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Little to no romanceThe Green Street Cinema has always been a sanctuary for Ethan. Maybe it’s because movies help him make sense of real life, or maybe it’s because the cinema is the one place he can go to still feel close to his dad, a film professor who died three years ago. Either way, it’s a place worth fighting for, especially when developers threaten to tear it down to build a luxury condos.
They say it’s structurally unsound and riddled with health code violations. They clearly don’t understand that the crumbling columns and even Brando, the giant rat with a taste for sour patch kids, are a part of the fabric of this place that holds together the misfits and the dreamers of the changing neighborhood the cinema house has served for so many years.
Now it’s up to the employees of the Green Street Cinema–Sweet Lou the organist with a penchant for not-so-sweet language; Anjo the projectionist, nicknamed the Oracle for her opaque-but-always-true proclamations; Griffin and Lucas who work the concessions, if they work at all; and Ethan, known as “Wendy,” the leader of these Lost Boys–to save the place they love.
It’s going to take a movie miracle if the Green Street is going to have a happy ending. And when Raina, Ethan’s oldest friend (and possible soul mate?), comes back home from Hollywood where she’s been starring in B-movies about time-traveling cats, Ethan thinks that miracle just may have been delivered. But life and love aren’t always like the movies. And when the employees of the Green Street ask what happens in the end to the Lost Boys, Ethan has to share three words he’s not been ready to say.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Originally I added this to my TBR because of the cover. And then I started it later on because of the cover. (I was going to the movies to see Avengers: Endgame, so this cover just made me more excited.) I love books about movies and movies about books. Unfortunately, this one didn’t make it to my “love” column.
The Green Street Cinema has been around for Ethan’s entire life and its always felt like somewhere he can go when he has no where else. But when developers in the area are looking to tear it down to put condos in its place, Ethan decides he wants to do save it, as he is the acting manager. It’s going to be much harder than it sounds being so much in debt and all the health codes they’re violating. All the employees have to work together and try to save this place they have all grown to care about.
My biggest complaint about this one was the plot. I don’t mind contemporaries where there’s no romance as long as there is something huge that happens. This one had no such thing. It followed the synopsis exactly and SPOILER they don’t even end up saving it. I thought there was going to be some outrageous thing that happens where they get to keep it, but no. It literally went exactly as the synopsis says. END SPOILER
However, I did like Ethan and knowing more about him and his life. (Although for half the book I forgot what his real name was…) I liked the way he was trying to keep the place alive just as he was doing his dad’s memory. It was a sweet gesture that just went south. I also liked Raina because she didn’t let the fame go to her head and she seemed just as sweet and down to earth as Ethan was. I was glad they had each other, as friends and maybe something more in the end.
This contemporary was just ok and didn’t give me anything to write home about. I was satisfied, but not impressed. It was an easy read but I’m not sure I would pick it up again.
Overall, I give this
There will be no quotes because I read it via audio.