review; this is what happy looks like

This Is What Happy Looks Like
by Jennifer E. Smith

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs?

Review:

This is such a sweet story. Honestly, it was just – it was a wonderful little love story, a coming-of-age story, of two seemingly wildly different people who, at the core, are very much alike. Ellie and Graham are just wonderful protagonists – both are good people who feel a little adrift in the world, and who connect on a deep level after accidentally getting into contact with one another.

I love that the author did not drag out the misunderstandings and the separations and the other things that could have been very cliched. Graham figuring out that Quinn was not the one he was emailing so quickly, and her sending him to Ellie was handled wonderfully. Quinn and Ellie’s argument was very realistic and painful for me as a reader. Graham and Ellie’s separation was done very well – with neither side blaming the other, which I thought was wonderful.

Even Olivia, I really liked that she was not your typical stereotypical villain. She was a foreword thinking career woman, who was also a bit of a sweetheart at the end. I just liked her playful teasing of Graham.

I would definitely recommend this to anybody who is in the need of a feel-good, pick-me-up type read.