A review by dhatislandbookworm
How You Get The Girl by Anita Kelly

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was the definition of an aggressively average romance 🤷🏾‍♀️ 

Julie was an average protagonist. And while her journey with her sexuality was well written, I didn’t find her to be super compelling. You can honestly put her in any story and she’d blend in. 
 
Elle was also just an average secondary character/love interest for me. As someone with depression, I did appreciate the way Kelly characterized Elle’s experience, as it mirrored my own. However, despite Elle’s interesting backstory and subplots, her character never quite reached her full potential. 

I wanted more substance from this book. 

We could’ve done without the “dating lessons” plot line and focus more on Elle building a relationship with her cousin/foster child, Vanessa. We could’ve gotten more of them co-coaching the basketball team, who IMMEDIATELY disappeared after the 50% mark. We could’ve explored more of Elle and Vanessa’s familial relationships. 

I do want to give Anita Kelly another chance, as I heard Something Wild and Wonderful is great, but this book was trying to tackle too many topics and it was to the story’s detriment. 
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