From the blurb:Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out.
But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.
Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real.
Heather's rating:
The Falling in Love Montage is an angsty, wonderful, teen lesbian love story, and isn't that EXACTLY what we all need in our lives right now? I know I needed it.
The Falling in Love Montage is a stunning debut by Ciara Smyth. The lesbian YA scene is pretty barren, and though gay teen romance is becoming more and more mainstream, it was about time that the ladies got their time in the spotlight. Lesbian romance, FTW!
Truthfully, I don't read a lot of young adult or new adult books, and it took me a bit to get out of my "adult" headspace for this one. It came naturally to me to try to defend Saoirse's dad and think that Saoirse was a bit bratty, but then I really tried to envision everything from the position of a teenager in her shoes and it all became a lot easier. Also, be prepared for a lot of 4th wall breaking, which I don't often come across in my adult romances.
The best part of this book was the adorable love story. The meet-cute was squee-worthy, and each classic love montage scene made my heart happy. Plus, big time bonus points for a plus sized, body-confident love interest who was shown as desirable.
I think there was also a lot of personal growth for the MCs in the story, which I really enjoyed. I liked seeing Saoirse change and evolve, and I liked seeing her relationship evolve with all of the secondary characters as well as Ruby. It made the book feel very satisfying and compelling.
In fact, my only problem with the story, and my reason for bumping it half a star, is that it isn't technically genre romance (my romance readers know what that means). It gave me mild flashbacks to What If It's Us. *frustrated groan*
Despite any small issues I had with the book, I truly adored The Falling in Love Montage. I plowed through this book in one day, and though this isn't a light read (I cried on the beach reading this, ya'll), it is angsty, emotional, queer perfection.
*copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
Keep reading, my friends!
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