e-Audio, 08:12:38
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus & Shakira Shute
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: September 1, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: LibroFM
TW: Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional Abuse, Classism, Biphobia, Child Abuse, Homophobia, Car Accident, Grief, Death of a Parent, Adult/Minor Relationship
For Readers Interested In: Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Romance, Time Travel, Retellings, YAFrom the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl comes a fresh and inventive sapphic romantic comedy that’s What If It’s Us meets Bridgerton.
What if you found a once-in-a-lifetime love…just not in your lifetime?
Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. But after getting dumped by her first love and waitlisted at her dream art school all in one week, she has no intention of putting her heart on the line again to get it back. So when local curmudgeon Mr. Montgomery walks into her family’s Pittsburgh convenience store saying he can help her, Audrey doesn’t know what she’s expecting…but it’s definitely not that she’ll be transported back to 1812 to become a Regency romance heroine.
Lucy Sinclair isn’t expecting to find an oddly dressed girl claiming to be from two hundred years in the future on her family’s estate. But she has to admit it’s a welcome distraction from being courted by a man her father expects her to marry—who offers a future she couldn’t be less interested in. Not that anyone has cared about what or who she’s interested in since her mother died, taking Lucy’s spark with her.
While the two girls try to understand what’s happening and how to send Audrey home, their sparks make a comeback in a most unexpected way. Because as they both try over and over to fall for their suitors and the happily-ever-afters everyone expects of them, they find instead they don’t have to try at all to fall for each other.
But can a most unexpected love story survive even more impossible circumstances?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’m not a huge fan of the classics because of how white and basic they are, but I DO love the classic retellings because they are not. And this one was just that. It was filled with romance, time travel, and other cute things. Some of my faves and some of my not so faves themes and tropes. It’s no wonder why I rated this what I did.
So the number one thing I liked about this was the time travel. It’s more magical realism vs science fiction, even though it’s historical fiction. The way she ends up there is a quarter. Yes, you read that right, a quarter. I was a little underwhelmed by that, not gonna lie. Idk, it was just weird. Idk I wanted it to be something more…. Idk, exciting? lol I mean I know she’s in a store, but it was so like uneventful? And when she finally makes it to the past, she just plops into a field. And while that is ok, the only person that finds her is the love interest. They do walk past people (When she has some jeans on…. OOooooohhhh scandalous lmao) but I think I would have liked it better if she had plopped there and then they ran off. Buttttt I had to remember this was a retelling. Sadly, like I said I’m not a fan of them so I didn’t really understand it lol
Again, I’m not a huge fan of the classics, so I had to go re-read the cliff notes before I read this so I could remember what happened in this lol I think from what I read in the cliff notes the retelling was not at all like it lololol If it actually is, don’t come for me, but it didn’t seem like it to me. I did see that this was labeled as a Bridgeton and Freaky Friday mashup, so maybe that was more the focus? Idk. But whatever the reason is, it made me weary of adding this to my Commissioner’s Corner for modern classic retellings. I don’t want to mislead the teens. Especially if they’re reading these to compare to the originals?
The romance was hella cute tho. This is the main reason I binge read this in one day. I couldn’t stop smiling. Lucy and Audrey were the cutest! That Whitney Houston dance scene made me hold my hand to my heart. One because I was swooning, and one because I agreed lol Whitney Houston is always a bop lol The way they fought for each other at the end also made me swoon. I found myself really rooting for them. Also, I think this book is also a love letter from the author to her wife like her other books. If it’s not, don’t tell me lol I will choose to say it is.
The narrators were the bomb tho. Natalie Naudus has climbed the ladder to be one of my favorite narrators. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything narrated by Shute, but I enjoyed her part too. The accent she had and the way she talked in the past was pretty cool too. I love multiple narrator books, so this was a huge win for me.
This was ok, but I don’t’ remember anything being super stand out about it. I thought it was because I’m not a huge classics fan, but there just wasn’t anything that made this stand out. I will most definitely be reading everything else from Lippincott, but it will be because of my love for She Gets the Girl.
Overall, I give this
