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Ever After #3
Practically Ever After
Ever practical Grace Correa has planned the perfect life.
She has Leia, the perfect girlfriend, amazing friends, is part of Pine Central’s glitterati, and has been accepted into her first-choice university guaranteeing one of the best paying jobs in the country. To Grace, life is an equation where everything can be perfectly calculated to ensure maximum success and the perfect future.
The problem is that life has a funny way of getting in the way of plans.
With high school rushing to an end, Grace’s plans start falling apart. The “piece of cake” final design project is anything but easy, everyone seems to need everything from her, her schedule is a mess, and after a massive fight, all signs say that breaking up with Leia is the practical choice for both of them. Especially since long distance college relationships never seem to last. Except…Grace starts to wonder for the first time in her life if she messed up her calculations.
What can a practical person do when love is the least practical choice?
She has Leia, the perfect girlfriend, amazing friends, is part of Pine Central’s glitterati, and has been accepted into her first-choice university guaranteeing one of the best paying jobs in the country. To Grace, life is an equation where everything can be perfectly calculated to ensure maximum success and the perfect future.
The problem is that life has a funny way of getting in the way of plans.
With high school rushing to an end, Grace’s plans start falling apart. The “piece of cake” final design project is anything but easy, everyone seems to need everything from her, her schedule is a mess, and after a massive fight, all signs say that breaking up with Leia is the practical choice for both of them. Especially since long distance college relationships never seem to last. Except…Grace starts to wonder for the first time in her life if she messed up her calculations.
What can a practical person do when love is the least practical choice?
370 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 2019
2 people are currently reading
669 people want to read
About the author
Isabel Bandeira
7 books267 followersIsabel Bandeira grew up surrounded by trees and lakes in Southern New Jersey, right on the edge of the Pine Barrens. Her summers were always spent in Portugal, where the cathedrals, castles, and ancient tombs only fed her fairy tale obsession. Between all those influences and her serious glitter addiction, it wasn’t a surprise when she started writing stories of her own.
In her free time between writing and her day job as a Mechanical Engineer who designs and develops medical devices, she reads, dances, figure skates, and knits.
Isabel lives in New Jersey with her little black cat, too many books, and a closetful of vintage hats. She is represented by Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson. BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER is her debut novel.
In her free time between writing and her day job as a Mechanical Engineer who designs and develops medical devices, she reads, dances, figure skates, and knits.
Isabel lives in New Jersey with her little black cat, too many books, and a closetful of vintage hats. She is represented by Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson. BOOKISHLY EVER AFTER is her debut novel.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 19, 2020
I've been in a weird mood, which is why it took me ages to read this book despite liking it a lot.
I don't really have negatives about this book? I loved getting to see this group of friends one more time. I love their dynamic and the level of communication between them. I also really liked Grace. I was a bit worried she would be insufferable because of how rich she is but that did not bother me in the end. I love how passionate she is about engineering while also being artistic. This is not something I've really seen in a book before and I really really appreciated it. The fact that she is struggling to fit these two things together still felt really genuine. She is still very young and figuring herself out so I did not expect her to know herself perfectly by the end.
This 'realism' is something I truly appreciated here. Grace and her friends feel like real teenagers living real teenage life. This book isn't ramping up to prom or some important game like a lot of YA contemps do. It just followed the last few months of school and that worked perfectly for me.
Also : the relationship. Grace and Leia. I can't explain how much I loved this? First : it's two girls dating, and there is definitely not enough of that. Second : established relationship????? How often do we see this in YA? And often, this is just a set up for a break up and a new love interest. Not here. Here they work on their relationship to repair it and make it work. That blew my mind. It probably shouldn't have but it did ^^
So really, the only criticism I have for this book is that I wasn't super in my feels about it. But that might be due to my weird mood. In the end I reallly liked this.
I don't really have negatives about this book? I loved getting to see this group of friends one more time. I love their dynamic and the level of communication between them. I also really liked Grace. I was a bit worried she would be insufferable because of how rich she is but that did not bother me in the end. I love how passionate she is about engineering while also being artistic. This is not something I've really seen in a book before and I really really appreciated it. The fact that she is struggling to fit these two things together still felt really genuine. She is still very young and figuring herself out so I did not expect her to know herself perfectly by the end.
This 'realism' is something I truly appreciated here. Grace and her friends feel like real teenagers living real teenage life. This book isn't ramping up to prom or some important game like a lot of YA contemps do. It just followed the last few months of school and that worked perfectly for me.
Also : the relationship. Grace and Leia. I can't explain how much I loved this? First : it's two girls dating, and there is definitely not enough of that. Second : established relationship????? How often do we see this in YA? And often, this is just a set up for a break up and a new love interest. Not here. Here they work on their relationship to repair it and make it work. That blew my mind. It probably shouldn't have but it did ^^
So really, the only criticism I have for this book is that I wasn't super in my feels about it. But that might be due to my weird mood. In the end I reallly liked this.
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May 24, 202422 May 2024 - 23 May 2004
DNF - 34%
DNF - 34%
December 26, 2019
I requested this from NetGalley because I had read the first book in the series and enjoyed it, even if it hadn't stuck with me. It helped that the cover for this book is so beautiful.
In this book, Grace is preparing to go to college in the autumn. Before that, she has to deal with everything coming to a head, just as her relationship with her girlfriend goes on the rocks.
I did really enjoy this book. I finished it within two days and not just because I was reading it for a reading challenge. The writing style is easy and accessible and the book is well-paced, always moving things along at a steady pace that didn't leave you twiddling your thumbs waiting for this big thing to happen. There was no big main blow-up in the middle of the book but instead it was far more even.
I found Grace very relatable as she tried to plan everything perfect. She had the mindset that everything would just fit in if she just worked harder or planned better and wow, that is a very familiar thought process. I loved reading her character development. She wasn't an unlikable character at the start of the book but we saw her grow into a better person throughout the book and it was delightful to watch. You would think that her character flaw/character development would be to be more spontaneous but the author did such a good job at showing that Grace's practicality was not a bad thing, it was only a bad thing when it hurt other people. It was a great example of a character's strength being a flaw when it was taken to the extremes and I do love to see that.
Another thing I loved about Grace was how well-rounded her life was. She had a variety of different interests, friends, family and other things going on in her schedule. I was invested in her final project with her and I enjoyed seeing her dance sessions, but I also sympathised with her stress about trying to fit it all in. We saw a lot of the characters from the previous books as side characters, but their stories had continued so they had their own worries and stresses which were going on, separate from Grace's life. I loved seeing Grace and her friends together because they had ups and downs and they were treated as important relationships to Grace as her one with Leia was. Then there was her family and we saw how Grace came to be the way she was, with two very organised parents.
As I mentioned before, the plot was one I really liked because it didn't follow the usual break-up, make-up routine. Grace had to come to terms with what she really wanted out of life, being wrong but also how she had to deal with her own character flaw before dealing with the situation. It wasn't a great big dramatic blow-out but it also wasn't an easy fix either. Grace didn't become a different person, but she learned to adjust when she was wrong and how to be less selfish and it was good to see the character I enjoyed from the start of the book, just happier.
One issue I had with this book, which you might have guessed from the rest of the review, is that we did not see as much of Leia or her personality, as we did the other characters. We heard a lot about Leia, from Grace and from other characters, but due to events in the book, she disappeared off screen for a good third of the book. When I did see her with Grace, I was rooting for them as a couple but I wish we could have seen more of Leia firsthand, rather than through someone else's lens. This was an especially big drawback considering this was the main plot of the book.
This was a light, enjoyable contemporary I would definitely recommend even if you haven't read the other books in the series.
4 stars!
In this book, Grace is preparing to go to college in the autumn. Before that, she has to deal with everything coming to a head, just as her relationship with her girlfriend goes on the rocks.
I did really enjoy this book. I finished it within two days and not just because I was reading it for a reading challenge. The writing style is easy and accessible and the book is well-paced, always moving things along at a steady pace that didn't leave you twiddling your thumbs waiting for this big thing to happen. There was no big main blow-up in the middle of the book but instead it was far more even.
I found Grace very relatable as she tried to plan everything perfect. She had the mindset that everything would just fit in if she just worked harder or planned better and wow, that is a very familiar thought process. I loved reading her character development. She wasn't an unlikable character at the start of the book but we saw her grow into a better person throughout the book and it was delightful to watch. You would think that her character flaw/character development would be to be more spontaneous but the author did such a good job at showing that Grace's practicality was not a bad thing, it was only a bad thing when it hurt other people. It was a great example of a character's strength being a flaw when it was taken to the extremes and I do love to see that.
Another thing I loved about Grace was how well-rounded her life was. She had a variety of different interests, friends, family and other things going on in her schedule. I was invested in her final project with her and I enjoyed seeing her dance sessions, but I also sympathised with her stress about trying to fit it all in. We saw a lot of the characters from the previous books as side characters, but their stories had continued so they had their own worries and stresses which were going on, separate from Grace's life. I loved seeing Grace and her friends together because they had ups and downs and they were treated as important relationships to Grace as her one with Leia was. Then there was her family and we saw how Grace came to be the way she was, with two very organised parents.
As I mentioned before, the plot was one I really liked because it didn't follow the usual break-up, make-up routine. Grace had to come to terms with what she really wanted out of life, being wrong but also how she had to deal with her own character flaw before dealing with the situation. It wasn't a great big dramatic blow-out but it also wasn't an easy fix either. Grace didn't become a different person, but she learned to adjust when she was wrong and how to be less selfish and it was good to see the character I enjoyed from the start of the book, just happier.
One issue I had with this book, which you might have guessed from the rest of the review, is that we did not see as much of Leia or her personality, as we did the other characters. We heard a lot about Leia, from Grace and from other characters, but due to events in the book, she disappeared off screen for a good third of the book. When I did see her with Grace, I was rooting for them as a couple but I wish we could have seen more of Leia firsthand, rather than through someone else's lens. This was an especially big drawback considering this was the main plot of the book.
This was a light, enjoyable contemporary I would definitely recommend even if you haven't read the other books in the series.
4 stars!
October 16, 2019
Practically Ever After deserves praise for its main character's diverse and unstereotypical array of interests, from engineering to fashion to dance and cheerleading, but that same complexity does not extend to the rest of the cast. After the initial overwhelming feeling of meeting so many characters in the first few pages, everyone but Grace quickly settles into a single consistent role, reminiscent of nothing more than a workmanlike My Little Pony fanfiction. Each character fully embodies a single character trait and plays that one role in every scene they're in.
This is most egregious with Grace's love interest, Leia, who feels the least characterized of anyone in the book. This is a fairly natural result of Grace's own choices... Grace spends the first part of the book ignoring Leia at every opportunity, and it's made clear she has no interaction with Leia's friends or hobbies, which results in the reader not knowing much about her either. She exists to give Grace a negative repercussion for her obsessive focus on planning out her life, and then reward her again once she makes some effort to apologize at the end of the book. Grace's love for Leia feels endlessly shallow, culminating in her final list of reasons the two of them should get together again, every one of which amounts to "Leia makes me happy" and none of which give any consideration to Leia's feelings or to what Grace could or should contribute to their relationship. Even their initial conflict is totally forgotten with no plans for how to avoid having it happen again. All of this is, admittedly, in character for the self-assured and self-absorbed Grace, but the book fails to question it.
As for the rest of the book, it feels simultaneously too pat and too low-stakes. Grace is forever having chance encounters that relate suspiciously well to her greater conflicts, from coincidentally meeting a girl with an injured leg while wondering if she wants to focus her life on fixing people's bodies, to watching her parents fight in a way that gives her eerily useful insight into her own relationship problem. The characters cannot shut up about how fleeting high school friendships and romances are, even to the point where one character starts reading a fantasy story about the subject. And despite the book seeming to try for a narrative of Grace taking on more than she can chew, it's just not there... other than her (ultimately salvaged) relationship with Leia, and a brief mention toward the beginning of not being pre-accepted into a college cheerleading team, Grace succeeds at every new commitment she agrees to take on. Various moments foreshadow things going wrong--her dance students grumbling that she doesn't seem to have a plan, her lack of focus on asking glove patients for their own opinions, the ongoing mystery of when she actually sleeps--but none of them come to anything. Grace is supremely capable and it is unclear what she is supposed to learn from that.
(This review is based on an Advanced Reading Copy.)
This is most egregious with Grace's love interest, Leia, who feels the least characterized of anyone in the book. This is a fairly natural result of Grace's own choices... Grace spends the first part of the book ignoring Leia at every opportunity, and it's made clear she has no interaction with Leia's friends or hobbies, which results in the reader not knowing much about her either. She exists to give Grace a negative repercussion for her obsessive focus on planning out her life, and then reward her again once she makes some effort to apologize at the end of the book. Grace's love for Leia feels endlessly shallow, culminating in her final list of reasons the two of them should get together again, every one of which amounts to "Leia makes me happy" and none of which give any consideration to Leia's feelings or to what Grace could or should contribute to their relationship. Even their initial conflict is totally forgotten with no plans for how to avoid having it happen again. All of this is, admittedly, in character for the self-assured and self-absorbed Grace, but the book fails to question it.
As for the rest of the book, it feels simultaneously too pat and too low-stakes. Grace is forever having chance encounters that relate suspiciously well to her greater conflicts, from coincidentally meeting a girl with an injured leg while wondering if she wants to focus her life on fixing people's bodies, to watching her parents fight in a way that gives her eerily useful insight into her own relationship problem. The characters cannot shut up about how fleeting high school friendships and romances are, even to the point where one character starts reading a fantasy story about the subject. And despite the book seeming to try for a narrative of Grace taking on more than she can chew, it's just not there... other than her (ultimately salvaged) relationship with Leia, and a brief mention toward the beginning of not being pre-accepted into a college cheerleading team, Grace succeeds at every new commitment she agrees to take on. Various moments foreshadow things going wrong--her dance students grumbling that she doesn't seem to have a plan, her lack of focus on asking glove patients for their own opinions, the ongoing mystery of when she actually sleeps--but none of them come to anything. Grace is supremely capable and it is unclear what she is supposed to learn from that.
(This review is based on an Advanced Reading Copy.)
November 10, 2019
Started enjoying it in the last quarter.
November 30, 2022
I hadn’t realized how much I missed Isabel Bandeira’s writing until I started reading this book. Good thing I just won signed copies of the series, because now I plan on rereading the other books.
This book was super good! The characters were funny, and I loved how they all picked on Phoebe for her reading habits. Reminded me of myself, honestly.
I was disappointed when the book was over, because Grace is such a unique and interesting person. She’s an engineering nerd who’s also popular and loved to dance. You don’t see too many people like that in real life.
Overall, I’m sad the series is probably over, but that means another good series could be coming! What I want most is a book about Alec and a short story about Phoebe’s trip to India!
I hope this review has been helpful and that you decide to read the series😊
This book was super good! The characters were funny, and I loved how they all picked on Phoebe for her reading habits. Reminded me of myself, honestly.
I was disappointed when the book was over, because Grace is such a unique and interesting person. She’s an engineering nerd who’s also popular and loved to dance. You don’t see too many people like that in real life.
Overall, I’m sad the series is probably over, but that means another good series could be coming! What I want most is a book about Alec and a short story about Phoebe’s trip to India!
I hope this review has been helpful and that you decide to read the series😊
April 17, 2020
I was hoping this book would be a definite win for me, but there were some structural issues at the beginning that made it hard to understand where the book was heading and which characters to hold onto, or let go.
It's about a highschool lesbian couple, who have been the golden couple among their friends, but are starting to unravel. Grace is so focused on success and her future that she's frankly a terrible girlfriend.
It's refreshing to see a queer couple as the established it-couple; but the trade-off was that, unlike in the earlier books in this series, the reader doesn't see Grace and Leia connect or fall in love; instead we're thrown in the deep end, with Grace acting terrible and Leia's character taken for granted almost by the writer as much as the narrator.
It made it difficult to root for them to work things out. I wasn't sure if I was waiting to see someone cheat, fall in love with a different character, or learn how to be single and independent.
That said, I really loved Grace outside of her relationship. She's such an interesting balance of geek and chic, and I could imagine so many amazing futures for her. I also found her shitty-girlfriend status incredibly realistic; I've been and behaved exactly like her when I wasn't feeling connected to a relationship; and some of the horrible things that came out of her mouth have definitely come out of mine.
So I may have cringed my way through the first half of the book.....but also.....it was not....untrue..... ahem. [[sorrynotsorry]].
I really did enjoy the second half of the book, and did root for the story once I understood what it was about.
As a general rule, I don't want to know much about what's coming when I read, but I think in this case, I could have enjoyed it a lot more from page 1 if there had been clearer hints about the direction the book was going to take, so I didn't feel like I was ducking blows from all sides as I read.
I also honestly wish that the lesbian story in this series would have been one with a little more straight-forward romcom arc; I might have been less bothered by Grace being a shitty girlfriend if it had been about a longstanding straight couple. We get so little WLW rep in the book world, and I just wanna see all my queer babies being soft and happy.
It's about a highschool lesbian couple, who have been the golden couple among their friends, but are starting to unravel. Grace is so focused on success and her future that she's frankly a terrible girlfriend.
It's refreshing to see a queer couple as the established it-couple; but the trade-off was that, unlike in the earlier books in this series, the reader doesn't see Grace and Leia connect or fall in love; instead we're thrown in the deep end, with Grace acting terrible and Leia's character taken for granted almost by the writer as much as the narrator.
It made it difficult to root for them to work things out. I wasn't sure if I was waiting to see someone cheat, fall in love with a different character, or learn how to be single and independent.
That said, I really loved Grace outside of her relationship. She's such an interesting balance of geek and chic, and I could imagine so many amazing futures for her. I also found her shitty-girlfriend status incredibly realistic; I've been and behaved exactly like her when I wasn't feeling connected to a relationship; and some of the horrible things that came out of her mouth have definitely come out of mine.
So I may have cringed my way through the first half of the book.....but also.....it was not....untrue..... ahem. [[sorrynotsorry]].
I really did enjoy the second half of the book, and did root for the story once I understood what it was about.
As a general rule, I don't want to know much about what's coming when I read, but I think in this case, I could have enjoyed it a lot more from page 1 if there had been clearer hints about the direction the book was going to take, so I didn't feel like I was ducking blows from all sides as I read.
I also honestly wish that the lesbian story in this series would have been one with a little more straight-forward romcom arc; I might have been less bothered by Grace being a shitty girlfriend if it had been about a longstanding straight couple. We get so little WLW rep in the book world, and I just wanna see all my queer babies being soft and happy.
December 10, 2019
Grace Correa has always been the girl with a plan. She knows exactly what she's going to study in college (at her first choice university, naturally), she picked the perfect extracurriculars to balance her love of dance and make her a more desirable applicant, she is popular and fashionable. Grace even has the perfect group of friends and the perfect girlfriend, Leia.
At the end of her senior year, Grace's perfect life turns into a perfect mess. With responsibilities mounting, projects looming, and pressure on all sides she's no longer sure how to balance everything while making it look effortless--or even if she's balancing the right things.
When a fight with Leia goes too far it seems like breaking up is the obvious choice--especially since long distance college relationships never last. Except Grace is starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, life (and love) don't always have to be perfectly planned in Practically Ever After (2019) by Isabel Bandeira.
Practically Ever After is the final book in Bandeira's contemporary Ever After trilogy which begins with Bookishly Ever After and Dramatically Ever After. Although the books are set sequentially each book follows a different character and all can be read as a standalone.
After playing a supporting role to both Phoebe and Em, Grace finally shares her story as she struggles to balance the perfect plan for her life with the person she thinks she wants to be in the future. As the title suggests, Grace is imminently practical with a no-nonsense outlook that forces her to think very hard about what pursuing her dreams can look like and the risks inherent to following her heart when a future with Leia (who is going to a different college) is uncertain.
Partially informed by the author's own career path, Grace also tries to find a happy medium to balance her interest in dance and cheering with her professional aspiration to become an engineer as she maps out her college plans.
Grace and Leia are used to being a power couple among their friends and it's an interesting contrast watching them try to figure out how to stay together instead of watching them get together over the course of the story.
Practically Ever After is a satisfying conclusion to a light, funny trilogy that celebrates friends, love, and big dreams in all of their forms. Recommended.
Possible Pairings: The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre, Nothing by Annie Barrows, A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody, Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum, Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg, I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo, To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, Royals by Rachel Hawkins, Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks, Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis, The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder, Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon, Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan, Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roate, The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti, Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
At the end of her senior year, Grace's perfect life turns into a perfect mess. With responsibilities mounting, projects looming, and pressure on all sides she's no longer sure how to balance everything while making it look effortless--or even if she's balancing the right things.
When a fight with Leia goes too far it seems like breaking up is the obvious choice--especially since long distance college relationships never last. Except Grace is starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, life (and love) don't always have to be perfectly planned in Practically Ever After (2019) by Isabel Bandeira.
Practically Ever After is the final book in Bandeira's contemporary Ever After trilogy which begins with Bookishly Ever After and Dramatically Ever After. Although the books are set sequentially each book follows a different character and all can be read as a standalone.
After playing a supporting role to both Phoebe and Em, Grace finally shares her story as she struggles to balance the perfect plan for her life with the person she thinks she wants to be in the future. As the title suggests, Grace is imminently practical with a no-nonsense outlook that forces her to think very hard about what pursuing her dreams can look like and the risks inherent to following her heart when a future with Leia (who is going to a different college) is uncertain.
Partially informed by the author's own career path, Grace also tries to find a happy medium to balance her interest in dance and cheering with her professional aspiration to become an engineer as she maps out her college plans.
Grace and Leia are used to being a power couple among their friends and it's an interesting contrast watching them try to figure out how to stay together instead of watching them get together over the course of the story.
Practically Ever After is a satisfying conclusion to a light, funny trilogy that celebrates friends, love, and big dreams in all of their forms. Recommended.
Possible Pairings: The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre, Nothing by Annie Barrows, A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody, Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum, Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg, I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo, To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, Royals by Rachel Hawkins, Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks, Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis, The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder, Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon, Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan, Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roate, The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti, Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes
*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
December 22, 2019
Grace is busy. It's only 2 months before she graduates from high school and her AP tests are over, but still she has no time to spare her girlfriend, Leia, especially after she (Grace) is guilted into replacing a teacher at her aunt's dance studio. Maybe it's all for the best since high school relationships rarely continue past freshman year of college. And if anything, Grace is practical. She makes Pros and Cons lists, to-do lists and lives by her planner notebook.
This is the third in this YA series, the first two being heterosexual pairings of Grace's close female friends, both of whom appear in this book. This book is long. Longer than it needed to be. For the first 50% we learn very little except that Grace is busy. There's only a little about her relationship with Leia and about Leia as a person (they go to different schools so Leia isn't in Grace's day-to-day unless they make plans). There's no mention of them doing anything more than kissing (really? they are 18 and have been dating two years!) Some of this may have been covered in the first two books, but that isn't helpful to the reader who begins (and ends) with book 3.
It's only in the last 25% that the book becomes engaging. Much of what filled the earlier chapters were unnecessary details about Grace's engineering final project and her dance steps. None of this adds significantly to the story. There's a lot here that could have been better, especially since I felt like the author really hit her stride in the last few chapters.
This is the third in this YA series, the first two being heterosexual pairings of Grace's close female friends, both of whom appear in this book. This book is long. Longer than it needed to be. For the first 50% we learn very little except that Grace is busy. There's only a little about her relationship with Leia and about Leia as a person (they go to different schools so Leia isn't in Grace's day-to-day unless they make plans). There's no mention of them doing anything more than kissing (really? they are 18 and have been dating two years!) Some of this may have been covered in the first two books, but that isn't helpful to the reader who begins (and ends) with book 3.
It's only in the last 25% that the book becomes engaging. Much of what filled the earlier chapters were unnecessary details about Grace's engineering final project and her dance steps. None of this adds significantly to the story. There's a lot here that could have been better, especially since I felt like the author really hit her stride in the last few chapters.
October 11, 2020
I loved this book and thought it was so well written!
Practically Ever After is the third book in the ever after series and follows Grace, who is a senior at her school and is someone that has always done the practical thing. As her senior year progresses, Grace finds herself taking on more than she can handle and tries to find a way to do it all. However, she quickly realizes that that is not possible and because of the stress she is under, ends up breaking up with her girlfriend Leia. This leads to Grace feeling miserable and realizing that sometimes, it’s okay to be impractical and that she needs to do what makes her happy. This includes finding a way to make it up to Leia in order to get her back.
The premise of the book was so cute and I really enjoyed reading as Grace figured out what it was that she wanted and that it was okay to change your mind and not always do the most practical thing in life.
Practically Ever After is the third book in the ever after series and follows Grace, who is a senior at her school and is someone that has always done the practical thing. As her senior year progresses, Grace finds herself taking on more than she can handle and tries to find a way to do it all. However, she quickly realizes that that is not possible and because of the stress she is under, ends up breaking up with her girlfriend Leia. This leads to Grace feeling miserable and realizing that sometimes, it’s okay to be impractical and that she needs to do what makes her happy. This includes finding a way to make it up to Leia in order to get her back.
The premise of the book was so cute and I really enjoyed reading as Grace figured out what it was that she wanted and that it was okay to change your mind and not always do the most practical thing in life.
December 18, 2019
High school senior Grace Correa has it all planed out - from the very practical, high paying career that she will be going to college for, to her perfect girlfriend Leia and amazing friends. To Grace life is all about equations and making everything fit. If only life was that way and didn't throw curve balls at our perfect plans...
This was the first book I have read by Isabel Bandeira and it was a sweet, high school romance that I could not put down! Even though it is the third in the series I did not feel like I was missing out on anything by starting with this book. All of us can relate to Grace and take a trip down memory lane relating to everything Grace is going through. I highly recommend this book to anyone!
This book was given to me an an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.
This was the first book I have read by Isabel Bandeira and it was a sweet, high school romance that I could not put down! Even though it is the third in the series I did not feel like I was missing out on anything by starting with this book. All of us can relate to Grace and take a trip down memory lane relating to everything Grace is going through. I highly recommend this book to anyone!
This book was given to me an an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.
November 14, 2019
I am sad to say that this one didn't mesh with me as much as I was hoping. I thought that it really reminded me of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As each character embodies one aspect or trait and they don't revert from that which was really really weird. When I read this I didn't realize that this was a book three and well I hadn't read book two. But I didn't feel lost at all. I did like the story overall but I think that it would work well as a transition book from those that are switching to higher young adult titles. Overall, for me I think this one sets for a take it or leave it title for this reader.
November 29, 2019
This was a great ending to this series. Even if it did take a minute to remember who everyone was. Some of Grace's actions bothered me. Like, I know that if the book had been from Leia's pov that I would've really disliked Grace and probably wouldn't have wanted them to get back together. Also, something about Grace's parents bothered me. The way everyone just expected her to jump when they asked, I feel like that wasn't properly addressed. Other than that, a great f/f contemporary. I'm glad we're finally starting to get more f/f contemporaries that don't center around coming out.
December 21, 2019
The third book in this world and another fun, typical YA romance. Perfect for a light read on a cold winter day with some chocolate and coffee. No need to read in order, but you will not get the other couples backstories.
Full disclosure- I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Full disclosure- I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 9, 2020
I couldn't tell if the time line was in the right order or if the author forgot which month she was writing about. Ugh.
January 12, 2020
Love the growth of the characters and the way that the author wrote the friendships.
November 15, 2021
Booooring.
February 26, 2023
4.5 stars
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