Whish You Were Her - Elle McNicoll

18 year old Allegra Brooks has a glittering career in TV and film; she's the star everyone is talking about but nobody knows she's autistic. As the summer approaches, all she craves is the time to be a normal teenager so she decides to head to Lake Pristine for the summer, to spend time with her father in his book store.  Determined to ensure her whereabouts are kept secret, her father insists that his staff don't share Allegra's location; however, with the town's annual book fair looming, this could be trickier than they think.  Factor in that she and one of the booksellers have been anonymously emailing each other and have formed a friendship, and this may not be the quiet holiday Allegra was imagining. 

Oh my goodness, Elle certainly knows how to write YA romance.  Her first YA, Some Like It Cold (you can read my review here), blew me away so when I received an email on Valentine's Day to say I'd been preapproved to read Wish You Were Her, it immediately by-passed my reading pile (huge thanks to Charlie Morris at Macmillan Children's Books for making my weekend).  I curled up with it on Saturday evening, staying up until I could stay awake no longer, and then stayed in bed far too long on Sunday morning, lost in its pages - it was simply wonderful.

Allegra is living what many teenagers would feel is their dream life: fame, fortune and an acting career to marvel at. But it comes at a price (no privacy, no time to herself and no friends). This is made all the more difficult for Allegra who is autistic and only a handful of those closest to her know.  With some time to herself, she wants to spend the summer doing what other teenagers do, which is why she heads to Lake Pristine.  At first, everything is great: she's spending time with her father whom she hasn't seen in years, she's making friends and the emails she's exchanging with one of the booksellers are definitely making her smile - but are her assumptions about who it is right?   

As with Some Like It Cold, I find myself struggling to write my review; not because I didn't like it, quite the opposite - I absolutely adored it and I find myself unable to grasp the right words to express myself, so I'm simply going to list everything that made my heart sing:

I love that Allegra is very relatable;

I love Jonah - everybody needs a Jonah in their life;

I love that Jonah is very different when writing to in person (I can relate to that!);

I love that I got to head back to Lake Pristine: it felt familiar, homely and safe;

I love that you get to catch-up with some familiar characters as well as meet new ones;

I love that neurodivergence is woven seamlessly into the story;

I love that the book had me talking to myself and willing characters on;

I love that I completely escaped the real world whilst reading it;

I love that the book made me cry; 

I love that it's one of those books I needed to just sit with after I'd finished reading it to allow myself to absorb everything;

I love that it left me with a massive book hangover and I've yet to start another book (those of you who know me, will know how rare that is)... 

I could go on and on.

 

At its heart, Wish You Were Her is an enchanting love story full of warmth and hope that captivated me and made my heart sing.  Publishing on the 5th June, it's guaranteed to warm even the coldest of British summer days.  

I still don't think my words have done the book justice, but hopefully you get the gist!