Begin Again
A Novel
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3.9 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Most Anticipated by Goodreads, Popsugar, Cosmopolitan, BookRiot, E! News, and More!
An Indie Next Pick
Filled with a friend group that feels like family, an empowering journey of finding your own way, and a Just Kiss Already! romance, Emma Lord's Begin Again is an unforgettable YA novel of love and starting again.
As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: Transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, major in psychology, and maintain her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure despite the nerves that have recently thrown her for a loop. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together.
But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Her roommate Shay needs a major, and despite Andie’s impressive track record of being The Fixer, she’s stumped on how to help. And Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack at a time.
But sometimes, when all your plans are in rubble at your feet, you find out what you’re made of. And when Andie starts to find the power of her voice as the anonymous Squire on the school’s legendary pirate radio station–the same one her mom founded, years before she passed away–Andie learns that not all the best laid plans are necessarily the right ones.
"A gratifying romance." - Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eighteen-year-old Andie always dreamed of studying psychology at Blue Ridge State, where her go-getter mother, who died seven years ago, pioneered the college's radio program. After she's rejected, though, she attends Little Fells Community College while her boyfriend, Connor, heads off to Blue Ridge. When she's given the opportunity to transfer, she keeps the good news secret from Connor, hoping to surprise him. But upon arriving at Blue Ridge, she learns that Connor has transferred to Little Fells to be near her. Andie's anxiety at being alone in an unfamiliar place is further complicated by her struggle to maintain a long-distance relationship with Connor, pass a difficult statistics class, and get to know her perpetually sleep-deprived RA, Milo, who inexplicably appears when Andie needs help. Andie jumps at the chance to headline an anonymous advice show at the radio station her mother started, but an emotional mishap jeopardizes her budding collegiate life. Utilizing sparkling humor, familiar romantic tropes, and tidily resolved conflicts, Lord (When You Get the Chance) deftly balances Andie's challenges with an authentic teen voice, leading to a gratifying romance. Andie, Connor, and Milo cue as white. Ages 12–up.
Customer Reviews
An Entertaining Read
A hopeful and heartfelt story that is highly entertaining! One that will keep you wanting to know whats next for Andie!
Andie Rose’s life was full of new beginnings. The first being when her mom died and both her grandmas moved in to help her Dad raise her. The second being when she transferred to Blue Ridge State, her dream school. This was the college her mother attended and had made a big impact, so wanted to follow her in her footsteps.
When Andie’s Mom dies in high school, she feels like people are walking on egg shells around her, so she decides to start up an anonymous advice column in her highschool newspaper which is a huge success. This carries over to college when she does this for the school radio station, her mom had founded. But is it what its all cracked up to be? Can she find her way?
I love how this author weaves important topics such as: grieving a parent’s death, new beginnings, transitioning from high school to college, the ups and down of college, and navigating love and friendships in this highly entertaining YA novel! A great book for high school book clubs or those students who are about to embark on college!
Charming YA Romance
Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
Begin Again by Emma Lord is a delightful Young Adult book about a young woman navigating her life as a transfer student in college. This book is delightful, and I loved it.
Story Recap:
Andie Rose is a planner. She is transferring from the community college to Blue Ridge State to their prestigious psychology program to fulfill her lifetime goal of becoming a self-help guru. It also helps that her boyfriend, Conner is also enrolled at Blue Ridge State.
Once she arrives, she finds out that her boyfriend, Conner has transferred back to the community college because of his grades. Her carefully laid plans are already in disarray as she works to navigate her life at the university as a transfer student.
However, she finds life at Blue Ridge State exciting. Her roommate Shay is welcoming, but not the resident advisor, Milo. Being a fixer, Andie is determined to help Shay find a major, but that becomes more difficult than she expected. Soon she finds herself part of the pirate radio program, The Knights Watch. And her grumpy RA is the Knight, and she eventually becomes The Squire. The radio show is a legacy that her mother was part of many years ago. Andie finds her place at Blue Ridge State and starts to settle in, and then everything goes wrong and she’s wondering about her new life, and her expectations.
My Thoughts:
Emma Lord is such a talented writer and she understands and communicates the angst and insecurities of young adults expertly. In Begin Again, we have, organized, and planner, Andie and sleep-deprived, grumpy Milo in a slow-burn romance that was just what I wanted.
The friend group of Andie, Milo, Shay, and Valeria was wonderful. They worked at a local bagel place called Bagelopolis, and during the very early mornings, produced and performed the pirate radio show, The Knights Watch.
This book tells the story of what it’s like to start in a new college and making friends and finding love.
Recommendation:
I highly recommend, Begin Again to anyone who enjoys young adult romances. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.