Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC of this novel. Regardless of the way I acquired the novel, the thoughts, opinions, and views stated in this review are completely unbiased and one hundred percent my own.

First of all, let's start off with a clean slate. I've followed this author since she was an OG booktuber, and I knew I'd be picking up her novel regardless of reviewer feedback. That does not, however, indicated how my own review will unfold. My feelings towards an author does not sway my opinion of their work. It is my belief that their work should stand alone, and that is how I intend to proceed.

Now that that's out of the way: I went into this novel basically ignorant of the plot. This technique is honestly becoming one of my favorite ways to jump into a new book. It forces me to let go of any expectations, and allows for the plot to deliver more surprises.

The first half of this novel followed what I would call a typical contemporary outline. We watch a group of students who have never met before, as they explore together on a study abroad trip to London. As someone who has not had the opportunity to travel, I ate up these sections of the book. The travel and first-time-explorer experiences of this novel really added to the appeal for me.

We rather quickly realize how naive or MC is, which I don't think was a bad choice but an honest one. The Shane we meet in the beginning of the novel was very relatable to the person I was when I started college. Her naivete is the most abundant in her blunders in all the relationships around her: the new boy, new friends, and most notably her parents.

The second half of the novel is where we deal with suspended disbelief. These sections had a tendency to take me out of the story. I felt like I wanted to look around and ask the person next to me, "Hey, where did this come from?" For a debut novel, this was an admirable attempt at suspended disbelieve, but I'm not sure it quite hit it's intended mark. It's part of the novel I try not to dwell on, because if I skim over it I'm able to get back into the story and focus more on the characters. The characters, dialogue, and descriptive text throughout the novel were very well done. If I hadn't known of the author, I'm not sure I could have guessed that this was her first novel based off of these writing choices alone.

Tiny spoiler ahead in three...two... I've got to comment on how clever this title is and how well it's played with in the novel. I thought Again, but Better was referencing the study abroad trip, and how Shane is trying to make new choices and a new life for herself. But boy oh boy, is the title again (HA) applied when we travel back in time to the study abroad trip, and it's this time that really counts.

Final thoughts: even though I thought the suspended disbelief wasn't executed in the best possible way, it didn't stop me from eating this story up. I wanted to watch Shane grow. I wanted to watch her make mistakes and learn from them. I wanted to watch her become who she was always meant to be. This was such a fun story, set in exactly the right time. College and the years after are so formative. I think as a society we expect everyone to have figured it out by the time they graduate. For some that's the case, but for others more self-exploration is needed, and this novel reminds readers that that's okay. This was such a great first novel for Christine. I can see where and why this novel receives criticism from other reviewers, but I just went with it and made it work (as best as I could) for me. I hope Christine keeps writing; I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.