I’m so excited to talk about my newest book obsession and share my The Falling In Love Montage review! This young adult romance novel surprised me in so many ways and I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you so much to Epic Reads for the gifted copy.
The Falling in Love Montage
by Ciara Smyth
young adult | romance | published June 2020
MY RATING: ★★★★★
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The Falling in Love Montage Review
Synopsis
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.
My Thoughts on The Falling in Love Montage
When I first started college, I avoided reading YA books because I thought I was past that “stage.” Looking back, I regret that decision. I’ve found that YA books are so important because no matter what age you are, you can relate to the characters’ core feelings. I really felt that with The Falling in Love Montage; the narrator Saoirse is angsty, sarcastic and confused. She’s in the process of figuring herself out, and hey, aren’t we all?
One of the main reasons I adored this book was that although it is a gay romcom, it’s different from other books like Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (no shade, I loved that one) in that the main character’s sexuality isn’t the whole plot point. I think it’s important for young readers to have books that highlight diverse stories, and the only difference between those and other uber-popular YA romances is who the characters fall in love with.
The Falling in Love Montage wasn’t surprising or out of character for YA romances, but I did love how real and authentic it felt. I only made it out of teenhood a few years ago, so I still know how teenagers these days act and communicate, and more importantly how they text. This novel is accurate and a little bit heart wrenching. It also had some funny moments that had me rereading passages to laugh a little bit more, so The Falling in Love Montage is definitely balanced.
That’s all for my book review for The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth! Check out the rest of my book reviews here.
