About:

Happily Ever Afters is  a novel about Tessa, a young high school girl with a passion and gift to write. She attends a new school where she can learn in an environment dedicated to the arts. But, at this new school she struggles with writing new material and starts to doubt her place at school.  In order to regain her writing spirit Tessa and her best friend create a plan for Tessa to experience her own love story in hopes that real life experiences will help Tessa to write again. 

Review:

Elise Bryant is a very talented writer. I enjoyed her style of writing and the voice she gave Tessa. I wasn’t super into the actual storyline but I did find delight in the character development and the care/ detail descriptions in certain scenes. 

I think that the energy Tessa gave certain people in the book who did not deserve her attention was frustrating. Tessa is such an amazing, chill, and artistic young girl who becomes enamored by the popular crowd despite having a solid friend group of her own. At the end of the day she acted like a typical young girl who needs to build up her confidence. Elise definitely succeeded in capturing the tone and struggles of the young Black girl experience. 

There is no doubt in my mind that Sam, Tessa’s new friend, was my favorite character. I am team Sam everyday, allday and I wish I could read more scenes with him and Tessa. His ability to be such a wholesome person was so refreshing.  He was just a young boy working on his cooking craft. There were other great characters but I really like the way Elise placed Sam as such a good friend and ally for Tessa to have in her life. 

Again, I wasn’t too into the storyline because it didn’t excite me or make me want to keep on turning the page. I did appreciate that Elise touches on themes related to  disability, friendship, mental health, and anxiety. This book did remind me of what it was like to be in high school. I was just like Tessa, an antsy girl who had talent but doubted her own skills and was up to crazy antics. Elise also touches on themes related to  disability, friendship, mental health, and anxiety.  

I would suggest reading this book and I am planning to read the next book in the series.