Title: Freshers
Author: Tom Ellen, Lucy Ivison
Release Date: August 3, 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis
Uni beckons. Phoebe can’t wait to be a fresher – especially since her crush from school will be there too. She’ll be totally different at Uni: cooler, prettier, smarter … the perfect potential girlfriend. She’ll reinvent herself completely. But Luke’s oblivious, still reeling from the fallout of the break-up with his ex. Thrown head first into a world of new friends, parties and social media disasters – can Phoebe and Luke survive the year, let alone find each other?
Review
A funny nda cute coming of age tale that dives deep into the transition between high school and college. Phoebe is every girl trying to grow into themselves and find their way while simultaneously trying to successfully manage dating. Freshers is a story of friendship along with growing up and growing apart.
It’s their first semester of college and all Phoebe wants is Luke Taylor while Luke has no clue what the hell he wants. Along the way there are mishaps between the two of them, Luke and his ex, and a picture/rating system by the football team. It’s a lot packed into one sorry but it all fit together to make this perfect YA book in a college setting. An European college experience.
Phoebe and her friends, Negin and Frankie, were the girl gang that you hope to someday find. I found myself laughing so much at Frankie’s strange antics. Girlfriend was batsh** crazy and I loved it. Negin was the mom of the group and made not drinking the cool thing to do. The three of them together got into some crazy shenanigans, mostly Phoebe, and I loved how supportive they always were of each other.
Luke Taylor bugged the absolute crap out of me. He was so passive in his life, never knowing what he really wanted but not willing to sit down and think it all through for himself. He caused a real muck of things time and time again, especially in his treatment of Phoebe and his ex Abbey. He kept trying to jump into relationships and friendships when what he really needed was some time alone. Not a fan at all.
While this whole book is centered around this romance, we also get this authentic British college experience which I found absolutely fascinating as an American. There is an Americanized version of this book, but I was nervous about how much would be changed so I went with the original version. This whole book was like a new college experience for me. It also had a bit about Quidditch club, something we ourselves try to emulate on college campuses here as well, and it was this cool and fun club that became a bonding experience for some of the characters.
I loved how the book ended. We get this kind of open ending which I usually dislike but in this case was well needed. Luke was still pulling the same crap but Phoebe learned from her first semester and I’m kind of sad I won’t get to continue her journey with her or her crew.
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