e-Audio, 8:23:03
Narrated by: Anthony Mark Barrow & Karissa VackerRelease Date: March 5, 2019Published by: Penguin Random House Audio
Read from: April 15-18, 2019Stand-aloneSource: Library (Overdrive/ Libby)TW: N/AFor fans of: Contemporary Romance, Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Stand-alones, YA
Having just been dumped by his girlfriend, British-born Hugo is still determined to take his last-hurrah-before-college train trip across the United States. One snag: the companion ticket is already booked under the name of his ex, Margaret Campbell. Nontransferable, no exceptions.
Enter the new Margaret C. (Mae for short), an aspiring filmmaker with big dreams. After finding Hugo's spare ticket offer online, she's convinced it's the perfect opportunity to expand her horizons.
When the two meet, the attraction is undeniable, and both find more than they bargained for. As Mae pushes Hugo to explore his dreams for his future, he'll encourage her to channel a new, vulnerable side of her art. But when life off the train threatens the bubble they've created for themselves, will they manage to keep their love on track?
*MY THOUGHTS*
This one somehow slipped through my grasp. I didn't hear
about it until it was coming out the next week. And that's seems so weird since
I'm a lover of contemp romances. Especially ones that are diverse somehow.
Whatever the case may be, I hurried to check it out when I saw it was
available.
Hugo thought him and Mae had a great relationship. That is, until she broke up with him right before they decided to go on a train trip across the United States and says she's not going. Unfortunately for Hugo, the tickets are now non-refundable and non-transferrable. So he decides to do something outrageous: Find another Maragaret online and get her to be the stand in. He meets Mae, someone who needs to learn more about herself than she thought. As the train goes on, they learn they both do, but they also need each other.
I guess my main gripe about this was the plot. I mean I get that it was all about making her documentary and things, but I don't feel it was much more than that. For the most part it was a bit boring. I think had I not been driving, I would have DNF'ed it. And then everything started happening at the end and that annoyed me. I almost didn't make it that far to get to all this.
I also didn't feel for their relationship as much as I thought I would. It just seemed to be non-existent and then full-on we're in love and (SPOILER) I'm visiting her at school. Idk it just didn't seem believable to me. I think at this point I would have preferred instalove to that.
As for the characters individually, I actually did like them. I loved Hugo and their family, but I could definitely understand why he felt he needed to get away from them in order to find out who he is. I mean I just have three sisters (no we're not quadruplets lol) and I completely understand that. With Mae I felt her growth throughout the story. It's hard to be criticized about something you're really proud of, and it takes a very strong person to get up and try again anyways. I admired her a little more because of it. I was happy that Smith decided to write this in both of their POV's because had it just been in one of their minds, we would have missed out on alot of this information.
I thought this was your standard contemp troupe: "They meet, they get together, they lose each other, they find each other again." I think this was what stopped me from fully falling for this one. It felt too much like something I had read before. It was too by the book. I would have liked something a bit less standard. Not saying I didn't like it, because Smith's writing style is still very good, I just wish next time she goes outside the box.
I didn't feel like this was anything to write home about, but I did still enjoy it. I would definitely recommend this to my teens who ask for a super sweet, contemp romance read, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for in a read.
Overall, I give this
