I feel like just as Romance is its own book category, there should be a category of books called Friendship as well. If there was, this would be one of its classics. I discovered this book through my Once Upon a Book Club subscription and yet again, it has delivered a book that I adored.

Let’s hop into the Goodreads synopsis:

As a devotee of classic novels, Mary Porter-Malcolm knows all about Mistakes That Have Been Made, especially by impressionable young women. So when a girl at her new high school nearly succumbs to the wiles of a notorious cad, Mary starts compiling the Scoundrel Survival Guide, a rundown of literary types to be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately, Mary is better at dishing out advice than taking it—and the number one bad boy on her list is terribly debonair. As her best intentions go up in flames, Mary discovers life doesn’t follow the same rules as fiction. If she wants a happy ending IRL, she’ll have to write it herself.

This book was absolutely adorable for so many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons was the main character herself. Mary is such a pure bean in this story. Having spent most of her life going to a small school run by the university her parents teach at, most of Mary’s life knowledge comes from the classic novels that she delves into. When she makes the transition to a public high school, she doesn’t have much of an identity outside of her family and is a bit naive about the world. Mary’s innocence shows throughout the book and though it could be a little annoying at times, it was overall pretty cute and allows for a lot of character growth.

Speaking of classic novels, there were so many literary references in this book and I loved all of them. I really like when authors make references to actual books in their writing because it’s an opportunity to learn about more books and topics that you may not have had a previous interest in.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the overarching theme of friendship. Mary starts out having a pretty shitty friendship with the only other girl at her old school Anjuli, but it’s clear that Mary isn’t aware of how bad of a friend Anjuli actually is. It isn’t until Mary becomes friends with Arden, Lydia, and Teresa that she realizes what true friendship is. These three girls adopt “Lady Mary” into their group and the rest is history. One of the things I really liked about the girls friendship is that there was no point in which Mary felt less valued than any of the other girls. Often when you join a group of friends you can feel less than or like you’re on a trial mode. The girls never made Mary feel that way and immediately brought her into their circle of friendship. Arden, Lydia, and Teresa were always there for each other and Mary and their friendship absolutely beautiful.

Another one of the themes in this book was family and sisterhood. Mary was the second youngest child in a family of five and often felt overshadowed by the rest of her family, especially at her old school. When Mary got to her new high school, she was finally able to escape her family’s legacy and be her own person. This isn’t to say that her family wasn’t supportive. One of my favorite relationships within the book was that of Mary and her younger brother Jace. Even though Jace was younger, he was always so protective of Mary and it was absolutely adorable. My favorite scene is towards the end of the book where Jace gives Mary advice through Jane Austen novels. It’s so cute and pure and my heart absolutely melted as I was reading it.

I’m not going to mention the romantic aspect of the book because I feel like it would take away from the bigger themes of the story, but I will say, that the romantic parts of the story were adorable and the witty banter between Mary and her love interest would always bring a smile to my face.

Though there were a lot of things that I loved about the book, there were some critiques that I had as well. One of my pet peeves about books are when the main conflict are issues that can be solved through simple communication and the biggest conflict in the book was one of those issues. Conflicts like these are easily solved and kind of make for a predictable resolution. I also would have liked to see more interactions between Mary and her older sister Cam. They had one scene together towards the end of the book and I would’ve liked to see more.

All in all, I’d give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars and would recommend it if you’re looking for something light and cute.

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