Book Review: Ellie is Cool Now by Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren

About the Book:

Title: Ellie is Cool Now

Author: Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren

Page Length: 352

Publication Date: March 21, 2023

Publisher: Forever

Synopsis: In this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, one woman finds that to keep her dream job, she’ll have to face her worst nightmare: high school.

Ellie Jenkins definitely didn’t peak in high school. She was an outsider, an invisible girl with a desperate crush on Mark Wright, a guy who hardly knew her name. Ten years later, she’s living in Los Angeles, trying to write a hit show about cool high school kids, when an invitation for her high school reunion arrives. She doesn’t want to go, but her writing has been suffering and her boss makes her an ultimatum: go to this reunion or lose her big break forever. He even gives her a list of challenges to complete! Ellie takes the bait and returns to the school determined to find friends, fun and to prove to Mark Wright, once and for all, that Ellie is cool now. 

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon

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My Review:

Ellie is Cool Now follows Ellie Jenkins, a successful TV writer who has worked hard to forget about her nerdy, outcast teen years. However, when she is offered a promotion that requires her to attend her high school reunion, she realizes that she can’t escape her past.

The writing and premise of the book are interesting, and the authors do a great job of exploring some deeper topics like bullying, addiction, and the pressures of fitting in. The story is also filled with humor, and the interactions between the characters are fun to read. However, I found the protagonist, Ellie, to be very immature and hard to connect with. Her behavior and choices often felt erratic and irrational, which made it difficult to root for her. The story also had a lot of stereotypical people that didn’t feel like fully fleshed-out characters.

I have mixed feelings about the romance. I wish that there was a bit more development and chemistry as Ellie and Mark take a second chance at romance. And the fact that he showed up with his ex, who he still lives with, rubbed me the wrong way. Also, I didn’t love the friendship between Ellie and Roxy. I feel like Roxy took advantage of Ellie so many times, and Ellie didn’t really stand up for herself.

I enjoyed the themes of forgiveness and self-acceptance, but I felt like a lot of the characters were so immature, and I had to remind myself they were in their late twenties because they acted sooo much younger. I’ve been out of high school for a long while, and this book did not make me eager to attend any reunions in the future.

Overall, I thought the story was an ok read. It’s quick and light and there are some strong messages. Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

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Rating:

Recommendations:

I would suggest checking the content warnings before reading, as there are topics that could prove triggering for some readers.