Friday 25 March 2016

Review: Dear Emma by Katie Heaney

Dear Emma by Katie Heaney

Publishing Date: March 1, 2016
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 320 ages
Young Adult / New Adult Contemporary

The Premise from the Publisher: "Harriet, the author of her college newspaper's pseudonymous student advice column "Dear Emma," is great at telling others what to do, dispensing wisdom for the lovelorn and lonely on her Midwestern campus. Somehow, though, she can't take her own advice, especially after Keith, the guy she's dating, blows her off completely. When Harriet discovers that Keith has started seeing the beautiful and intimidating Remy, she wants to hate her. But she can't help warming to Remy, who soon writes to "Dear Emma" asking for romantic advice. Now Harriet has the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the person who broke her heart. But as she begins to doubt her own motivations and presumably faultless guidance, she's forced to question how much she really knows about love, friendship and well-meaning advice" (GCP). 

My overall thoughts and review: To begin with, just let me mention that I'm going to place this book under new adult, because it takes place in a college setting. I love that some books are branching out and taking place in a college setting which I feel more comfortable with. I love the idea of anonymous student advice columns! Immediately, I loved Harriet. She is so strong-willed and she reminds me a lot of myself. She makes mistakes yes and overthinks things at times, but I guess I see that in myself as well. I also really liked her friendship with Mel and Logan. Although the love story/triangle between Harriet, Keith and Remy takes centre stage for this narrative, there is a lot more than just the love story. It is about friendship and communication with loved ones. Heaney points out the important fact that friendships, or relationships in general, take work, and they require communication on both parts. It is definitely tricky at times, and Heaney even touches on the anxiety one might have when communicating with another person (I really related with that part). I really liked see how Harriet's friendship with Remy blossomed and how things were more or less, resolved with Keith. I thought this was a wonderful book that touched on themes of dating, friendships, but also college life in general. Heaney spoke about finding a part-time job (library work), studying for midterms and how college classes were too. I think this is a great read for those who are fans of Rainbow Rowell, because Heaney's book definitely reminded me of Fangirl.

My rating of the book:  (4/5 stars) 

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was sent to be by Hachette Book Group Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

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