I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski // The Best Summer Read Ever

I See London, I See France (I See London, I See France #1), by Sarah Mlynowski
Publication: July 11, 2017, by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 378
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

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.
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 See London, I See France is literally a traveller slash bookworm's dream novel. THIS WAS MY DREAM NOVEL. It was my #1 most anticipated read of all of 2017, and I couldn't wait to devour it during my vacation. Although I didn't spend my vacation in Europe (I really, really wanted to), at least Sarah Mlynowski provided me with the opportunity to pretend that I was exploring London, Paris, Italy and Switzerland. This was seriously my favourite read of last year. (It's crazy to see how I'm writing this review a year later haha.)

This book has a very, VERY important theme: friendship. More books should focus on the reality of friendship in the manner that this one did. Normally, authors tend to show that every girl has a BFF and they are so alike that they will conquer the world and beat all the bullies who are stealing their boyfriends. Trust me on that one; you can find that in literally every cheesy chick-lit story. Mlynowski, as always (I love her writing!), took this premise and showed the reality of friendship and even travelling. Unless you're a millionaire, it is extremely difficult to be travelling to luxury hotels and treating yourself to expensive dinners by the riverside every night. You know what I mean? This book was just so realistic and beautiful. I am in LOVE.

As for the premise which is explored, what the book focused on was a summer trip between two best friends throughout Europe. Sydney and Leela are heading on a trip throughout Switzerland, London, France, and Italy with the main focus of Leela forgetting about her ex-boyfriend, who actually shows up on their flight. THINGS GET CRAZY SOON AFTER, and there are so many plot twists and suspense throughout the book that will surely keep you interested. I am so excited for the sequel to this beauty, and I extremely appreciated the romance and nice pacing that this provided. Therefore, this was definitely a win over a miss.

Even if you do not call yourself an avid fan of contemporary romance, I still recommend I See London, I See France. It is just a beautiful story that is unlike many others and one I will remember for years. In fact, I would really like to reread it!

What is your favourite travel-themed novel?

How to Be Bad by Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski and E. Lockhart

How to Be Bad, by Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski, E. Lockhart
Publication: April 28, 2015, by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

Three bestselling authors--E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle--bring you on the road trip of a lifetime in this dynamic novel packed with fun, friendship, and feminism.
Jesse, Vicks, and Mel each has her own reason for wanting to get away from their nowheresville Florida town. Add in a hot (and harmless) hitchhiker, an impending hurricane, and a close encounter of the gator kind, and the result is one sizzling road trip where the journey is far more important than the destination. Now in a fresh new package, How to Be Bad will take even more readers along for the ride.

My Thoughts:

This is just the most genius bundle of authors all together. E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski are all contemporary favourite authors of mine who just did it. I expected amazingness, but this honestly blew me away. Being published again after years with a brand-new modernized cover that seems to fit the mood that the book presents absolutely, this was fabulous. We have a road trip tale that fits the mood for any time of the year, whether it is the dead middle of winter (in my case) or if you're on the beach. These fabulous ladies talk about the Waffle House, Disney World and the smallest police station on the planet. What more can a girl ask for? (Romance is also included, in case you were wondering).

How to Be Bad did not necessarily teach me how to be bad, you know? Parents, please do not be discouraged with giving this book to your teenage daughter. These girls are rebels but so amazing that you could not help but fall in love with each of their distinct personalities. This is a carefree, feministic novel about the power of girls and how we do not need a man to be labelled as free or caring. These girls drift away from the norm, from being girls in a small town in Florida, to girls driving around with a different meaning than they originally expected.

Three girls. A road trip that seems kind of forbidden. Romance comes along the way and amazing things happen. In three abrupt sentences, I could describe the plot of this book very quickly but it actually has more in it than we expect. Jesse, Vicks and Mel do not know much about each other (mostly) and they all work together at their local Waffle House. When Vicks misses her boyfriend too much and decides to all head to Miami, they head for a trip of a lifetime. 

"Beer is not my friend. Beer made me not a friend to my friends. Beer made me not my own friend." (157)

(That quote is hilarious). THE PLOT OF THIS BOOK. PEOPLE—I READ THIS IN ONE EAGER SITTING. I could not put it down, my feels were exploding all over the place and I just wanted so many things to additionally come from this novel. It was practically perfect. You never know what amazing novel will come to you until you read it. Agh. Now, let's round off the main chicks into three paragraphs because I just love them all.

Jesse: Jesse is that girl who is ready to come out of her shell. She is extremely religious, and us readers see that throughout the novel. Whenever she does something, she decides that she has to look at her decisions from a religious perspective. She is the one who initially decided to make the road trip thing happen. She takes her mom's car, and makes everything happen. I didn't like her character too too much compared to Mel especially, but her story is touching.

Vicks: The absolute badass of the group. She has reasons for what she does and even though I cannot imagine myself as her (no guts, people) it's interesting to look up to her. 

Mel: I love her. She's innocent and just has that right attitude to make readers intrigued to every page/word of the book. She made my experience of the book ten times more fantastic.

"There's this thing the rain does in Florida. It trickles for a few minutes, and then the sky goes suddenly black and before you know it, you're standing in a waterfall. It's not even cold out; the water can be warm." (167)

How to Be Bad was that book that I became so obsessed with after. I need a sequel, a million sequels that will warm my heart. Myracle, Lockhart and Mlynowski all jumbled something that I cannot get over. This was exhilarating, and every single moment is the perfect image of a contemporary novel. I would give this an Oscar or book award. TEENAGE GIRLS, RUN FOR THIS. WHO RUNS THE WORLD? GIRLS.

Do you enjoy collaborations of amazing authors? Have you read anything by these fabulous ladies?

Don't Even Think About It, by Sarah Mlynowski

Don't Even Think About It (Don't Even Think About It #1), by Sarah Mlynowski

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

Publication: March 11, 2014, by Delacorte Press

Format: Hardcover Edition

Goodreads Summary: We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.

So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

Review:

“That's our story.

How we became a we.

And that's what we are these day. A we.

When you're a group that can hear each other's thoughts, the line between I and We gets kind of blurry.” 

  Sarah Mlynowski has always been the literature master of contemporary mixed with paranormalcy and fantasy, at least with little its and bits of fantasy mixed with pretty romance. Don't Even Think About It has a different feel to it, despite the same sort of setting and prettiness involved. 

   I expected a petty read. Something with less importance and a no-plot contemporary. But instead, we got something completely different. Overall, this was a witty sarcastic read for every teen. If you're a beginner with contemporaries, then you should really begin with this one. It gives us a different feel compared to others like Sarah Dessen. This is a very complex chick-lit with various signs of a strong plot forming.

   The students of homeroom class 10B go get the flu shot. Some don't even care about it, and others are afraid of the sudden pain and outcome. One by one, every comes out there like nothing has happened. They all expected various side effects, like pain in the arm or a headache. But instead, many of them scored telepathy powers that gave them the ability to read the minds of the people around them, and some things are definitely not wanted to be heard. One by one, the rest of the students from that class begin to get the powers, especially at random times. There are many secrets that aren't wanted to be heard, and everyone slowly has to deal with it, and not think about the things that people don't want others to hear about, because it just might ruin their minds. So when will that weird side effect go away, and how quickly? Because everyone wants a normal life again.

     Sarah Mlynowski really puts us in a deep situation that gets us thinking. When some asks us, "What superpower would you choose to have," many people answer with the ability to mind read. But turns out, telepathy isn't everything we've always wanted, especially if others can do it, too. It might seem like an unreal fantasy that will never in a million years occur, but on the other hand, it was a very fun read. 

     This author is the master of drama. Like drama is everywhere and screaming and fighting is involved. So, please take a precaution if you hate that sort of stuff.

       But since I'm a teen, I love teen drama. It can be so hilarious to watch/read and it definitely gives the book an extra amount of stars for the rating. It gives the plot a sense and an idea. So yes, telepathy did cause a major problem for the characters, and that includes hearing that your girlfriend was cheating on you during the summer when you were at camp. Shucks. 

       The plot was very intriguing from the beginning. It definitely had a different premise that shocked me. It was absolutely perfect with the right amount of everything.

        The characters really showed a great amount of teamwork throughout the whole book. High-five to all of them! Mackenzie was my favourite (she was hilarious) but they all hold a special place in my heart. YES, also you, BJ!

         The only thing that kind of left me out of giving this a perfect 5 stars was that something large was missing from the whole book. I don't know what it is, but all I can say is that I've read many (MANY) better books. So go figure.

           In conclusion, this book was great, awesome maybe. It was a perfect read for a nice summer day on the hammock! You'll love this if you loved anything by Lauren Morrill!