Review: In Real Life by Jessica Love

In Real Life by Jessica Love

Expected Publication: March 1, 2016

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

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Synopsis

Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another.

There's just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met.

Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she's supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Las Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him.

Hannah's surprise romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and finds out that Nick has been keeping some major secrets. Hannah knows the real Nick can't be that different from the online Nick she knows and loves, but now she only has night in Sin City to figure out what her feelings for Nick really are, all while discovering how life can change when you break the rules every now and then.

My Thoughts

In a nutshell, I loved this cute and engaging read. In a world where we do everything online, I truly bought into Hannah and her best friend Nick who met years ago online but have never actually met face to face. You see Hannah’s sister and Nick’s brother met at a concert and thought it would be cool for their younger sibs to meet so they did online and haven’t stopped talking since. They are the closest and best of friends who have grown up together and have exchanged their innermost secrets, some that they haven’t even shared with anyone even those they actual “know”. They tried to meet once before but it didn’t work out so when the opportunity arose years later Hannah decides on a whim to go Las Vegas with her sister and her other best friend and go see Nick’s band perform.

Once there Hannah realizes that she doesn’t know Nick as much as she thought. They both soon find out that they didn’t exactly share EVERYTHING with each other and the lies are about to all been exposed. But the biggest ones are the ones that deal with feelings. While Hannah won’t admit it to herself she has huge feelings for Nick, and well Nick as always had them for her but she never wants to go there since the whole distance thing is a major factor. So when finally sees him she can’t deny them anymore and just when she’s willing to say it…she sees his girlfriend. Talk about heart breaking! Least to say that both of them have to sit down and talk about everything, but that’s easier said than done.

I love that we see them trying to deal with everything during a long night out in Vegas. While I feel for Hannah I did kind of get upset when once she found out about his girlfriend she wanted to leave and didn’t care about her sister or friend. It’s like once she didn’t get what she wanted she was done and that was it. On the flip side, I totally identified with her in a not so good way, the way she was a runner. A runner in a sense when things get bad that’s what she does and sadly I was like that for a while but like Hannah at some point, you got to face the music and deal with your problems. This book while it was very cute I loved the message of finding yourself and trusting in others and most importantly being open to all life’s possibilities. Once Hannah stopped and let go she found and got what she wanted all she had to do was stop running, this shows you don’t know what’s in front of you if you consistently have your back to it. I highly recommend this read for anyone who loves a book with the "feels" and all that it entails.