“I Wish I Had This Book In College”: This Book Is For All The College Girls Out There
*SLIGHT SPOILERS*
This novel definitely made it to my special shelf of books that are my all-time favorites. Christine Riccio’s Again, but Better deserves all of the attention especially if you’re a college student and an aspiring writer like me. From her witty characters to the real page-turning plot, Riccio teaches her young readers that it’s ok to not know what you’re doing all the time and that you need to take risks when offered the chance.
The novel follows Shane Primaveri, a junior in college, who feels that she didn’t “do college” correctly because she didn’t make any new friends or do anything particularly exciting. So, she sets out to study creative writing abroad in London and to hopefully “re-do” her failed years. Ever since Shane was first introduced, I feel there was a lot I could relate to Shane with, starting with her relationship with the idea of being a famous writer.
We learn in the novel that even though she dreams of being a writer, her parents would be furious if they found out she was studying writing instead of premed, like they had planned. I thought of my parents when I read this (anyone else?) because I was so convinced I wanted to be a veterinarian. I took chemistry my sophomore year and said nope, screw that. That’s when I decided that I would study English and Creative Writing and become a teacher, which probably annoyed my teacher parents a little bit (say goodbye to having a rich daughter). I’m glad I decided to switch career paths early on instead of halfway through my college degree, like Shane did. Reading through, Shane is a perfect representation of standing up for what you love doing; you shouldn’t let others dictate what you’re supposed to do with your life. It’s your life and you only get once chance at it, so you might as well do what you absolutely love.
The other thing about Shane that I really loved was how she came to prioritize her work and herself over the love she had for Pilot. The romance between Pilot and Shane seems perfect, at first (which I will get into later because I loved every bit of it) but the story shows that these two are the perfect example of the right person, but at the wrong time:
“‘I can’t handle it. All I’ve been thinking about — is you… Pilot. I’m starting to physically feel the loss of you when we’re apart. You know, I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t had a substantial conversation with my best friend in six days.’”
‘”I’ve been texting you endlessly at work… And I’ve barely posted on my blog. I haven’t done anything substantial to work toward this huge life goal that I somehow miraculously got a second chance at.’”
‘”I can’t choose us because I need to choose me.’”
I had just broken off a 2 ½ year-long relationship with someone I love because I needed to focus on all the work that was building up. I have three more years of college left to go, an undergraduate research grant, and this blog that I am trying to grow. Not only that, but I needed time to learn how to take better care of myself, set new habits, new goals, and actually focus on my writing and my research career. I had spent so much time with this person that I would text him before I finished studying, I stayed up way too late talking to him, and I usually chose to hang out with him over writing anything for myself. This chapter (chap. 20) truly hit me differently because I felt like I was looking through a mirror with the way Shane was describing how she felt.
OK. So Shane and Pilot went through some tough times, but now let’s talk about how cute they are in this book. Although Pilot is a finance major, he loves to write music and play guitar. A romance is bound to happen, and I am here for it. In their relationship, we see a million quirky exchanges, some cute texts, and even some spicy make-out scenes. I think my favorite quirky moment was when Shane wanted to come up with their own “catchy rom-com phrase”: “My smile spreads. ‘Well, I’m glad you asked. See, all the famous book-slash-movie couples have these, like, deep, meaningful moments where they say always in response to some deep, meaningful, cute, adorable question’”.
After discussing this, they came up with “lamppost”. So Shane says, “‘lamppost will be our always.” These dorks are just my favorite now. My absolute favorite moment between the two comes at the very end when Pilot leads Shane through the café where their story had begun and into a room full of fairy lights. On the table were all sorts of objects that represented their relationship, even the Russian doll set of the Beatles that they bought back in 2011 which is where Pilot placed the ring. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was squealing, and my heart was melting because it was so cute.
Overall, I’m going to give Again, But Better a 4.5 star rating because I think this story felt so real; it’s relatable, funny, romantic, and witty altogether. Despite the literal time travel that takes place towards the latter half of the book, I think the experiences of Shane and Pilot are super realistic and very relatable. If you’re a college student, an aspiring writer, a modern romantic, someone who loves to travel, or all of the above, this book is 100% for you.
