Review of Again, but Better by Christine Riccio

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio

3.2 out of 5 Stars

I remember I read this right around when it came out and I wanted to love it sooooooo badly. Christine is one of my favorite YouTubers of all time and I adore her videos. I have been watching them for so long and I truly appreciate her insights into literature, movies, and all-around storytelling. When she started making videos about her writing experience, I was so happy for her and I am still so happy for her and that this book has come out and was on the NY Times list. For me though, because I know her through her videos, it was strange to read.

Undeniably, the book was a great, humorous, light-hearted contemporary about Shane awkwardly finding her way out of her shell. It was so nice to read about an introverted character, just like it is every time there's an introverted character. (The really nice thing is that Christine did such a tasteful job portraying that introversion.) The story was also set in London for the most part and I adore that city, so it was fun to be back there.

The big big element that I couldn't ignore however that drew my away from the story was that I could hear Christine talking. Shane was Christine, straight down to the username and study abroad and everything in between. The whole plot was almost autobiographical. The other thing that I was not thrilled with was the constant reference to pop culture. They were everywhere. In general, those are not my favorite things in the world. They need to be so carefully done in my opinion and even then, the timing as to be perfect for the reference to land a punch. There were references out the wazoo in this book and it drove me crazy.

At the end of the day, the big question is, would I recommend it?
Depends.

If I were talking to someone who was deeply entrenched in the book community, either actively or by viewing only, I would probably not recommend this one. Christine is just such a well-known persona that someone in the community would likely also hear her voice the entire time.

If it were someone looking for just a good book. Maybe. Definitely maybe. Clearly I won't recommend a contemporary to someone looking for fantasy or something like that. But even with contemporary recs, I think I would only give the title if someone was looking for a plot line similar to this one.

Thanks for reading!