Scan barcode
A review by samwlabb
Analee, In Real Life by Janelle Milanes
4.0
As a fan of The Victoria in My Head, I was looking forward to Milanes follow up.
Analee, in Real Life explored some of my favorite things - friendship, family, and grief. It even featured some romance, but this was solidly a book about Analee working through her feelings and finding herself.
As anyone would, Analee took her mother's death quite badly. She cocooned herself in grief, sort of holding most people at arm's length. The only place she found some comfort was when playing her MMORPG. There, she had a friend she could confide in, and was a fierce warrior. In real life, Analee was crippled by her low self-esteem, grieving lost her best friend, mourning the emotional loss of her father, and struggling to accept her new blended family.
I always adore a good fake-dating "showmance", but it was more interesting the way this one was used in the book. It wasn't really about the romance, but rather a catalyst to push Analee in the direction of change. Being with Seb opened her eyes to many things she just wasn't seeing. I enjoyed the friendship and the romance that bloomed between them, but I really appreciated the way his friendship put her on her journey back from grief. It was a long journey, but Analee gained perspective on her friendships, Avery, Harlow, her mom, her dad, and most importantly, herself.
This book was also a lot of fun. The banter between Harrison and Analee, her outings with Seb, and many Harlow's daily doings made me smile. However, I will not lie, that I was sort of sad with the way a few things went down there towards the end. It's not that I don't think Milanes made a big statement for Analee by making those choices. I just would have liked it better if we could have gotten a similar result in a different way.
Overall: I enjoyed this story, which was heartbreaking at times, but also very heartwarming.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
Analee, in Real Life explored some of my favorite things - friendship, family, and grief. It even featured some romance, but this was solidly a book about Analee working through her feelings and finding herself.
As anyone would, Analee took her mother's death quite badly. She cocooned herself in grief, sort of holding most people at arm's length. The only place she found some comfort was when playing her MMORPG. There, she had a friend she could confide in, and was a fierce warrior. In real life, Analee was crippled by her low self-esteem, grieving lost her best friend, mourning the emotional loss of her father, and struggling to accept her new blended family.
I always adore a good fake-dating "showmance", but it was more interesting the way this one was used in the book. It wasn't really about the romance, but rather a catalyst to push Analee in the direction of change. Being with Seb opened her eyes to many things she just wasn't seeing. I enjoyed the friendship and the romance that bloomed between them, but I really appreciated the way his friendship put her on her journey back from grief. It was a long journey, but Analee gained perspective on her friendships, Avery, Harlow, her mom, her dad, and most importantly, herself.
This book was also a lot of fun. The banter between Harrison and Analee, her outings with Seb, and many Harlow's daily doings made me smile. However, I will not lie, that I was sort of sad with the way a few things went down there towards the end. It's not that I don't think Milanes made a big statement for Analee by making those choices. I just would have liked it better if we could have gotten a similar result in a different way.
Overall: I enjoyed this story, which was heartbreaking at times, but also very heartwarming.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS