Plot Summary

Audrey doesn’t believe in romance movies. Not anymore. Between the painful end of her parents’ fairy-tale romance and the abrupt end to her own relationship, Audrey is basically ready to swear off romance in all its forms. But when she meets Harry, she can’t completely resist his charms, even knowing that he’s a walking, talking collection of movie clichés.

My Thoughts

It Only Happens in the Movies is the second book by Holly Bourne that I’ve read; I recently read and reviewed The Places I’ve Cried In Public. I enjoyed both, but I think on balance I prefer this one slightly. Audrey starts the book unhappy. She’s just been through a break-up, and her mum’s been thrown by the fact her ex-husband wants them to sell their house. The fact that she’s having a hard time makes perfect sense, and her quitting drama in the wake of her relationship ending also seems logical. It was clearly a bad decision—because Audrey is a great actress, and drama is the only thing she really wants to do—but not a surprising one.

The fact that she’d distanced herself from her friends made less sense to me, and when that was resolved it felt like kind of an arbitrary plot point. It wasn’t badly written, but considering how much depth Bourne managed to introduce to Audrey’s other relationships in It Only Happens in the Movies I think she could have done more with the friendships.

I thought Bourne portrayed the complexity of Audrey’s feelings about both of her parents really well; love, concern and frustration mixed in different proportions for each. The way she cared about her half-siblings was really sweet, again, I just wish we’d been able to see more of that! I do also acknowledge that the book would probably have been twice as long for no reason if we’d had all of the elaboration on relationships that I’d have liked to see! Less plot-relevant relationships unfortunately have to be sacrificed sometimes in the name of efficiency. It’s just a shame when the relationships are so interesting!

Despite the difficult topics that get addressed throughout the story, It Only Happens in the Movies is also, frequently, hilarious. I laughed out loud several times while reading, and had to explain the situation to my bemused husband. Bourne’s dialogue is witty, and the characters play off each other really nicely. The way Audrey and Harry’s relationship developed felt incredibly natural for the most part, and I had a great time hanging out with them as they got to know each other. There were some over-exaggerated elements, of course, but nothing that took me completely out of the story.

Bourne’s writing style is straightforward and fun, dealing frankly with topics that teenagers might encounter. Casual drug use, struggling parents, awkward sex, and more, Bourne handles them all thoughtfully. I’d recommend It Only Happens in the Movies to any reader of YA, it’s a great read with a lot going on, and plenty of humour to keep you going through the rough patches.

This is my review of the month for Lovely Audio Books