A review by mjenae
Literally by Lucy Keating

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Things I liked:

1. Elliot. I really, truly liked him, from the beginning. He was never perfect. I don't even remember the author talking about how he looked much, or all the ways he was wonderful. But he was his own person, he was an idiot when it was funny, and he was an absolute gentleman when it counted.
2. The theme—the plot. An author fighting with her own characters about how to write the book? I am 100% here for it. It was the only reason I read the book, actually, and the only reason I kept reading. It was so very intriguing, something I've never seen done before.
3. Annabelle's graduation speech, and the way the whole story settled into a strong ending. It was the most well-written part of the entire book.

Things I didn't like:

1. The romantic element was extremely cliche. It was cliche. It was. And it was on purpose, I know, but it was still cliche. And I really don't care for trite love stories.
2. In general, the prose wasn't much to look at. I found a grammatical error or two. I was slightly disappointed because I loved the idea so much. I'd like to see this story written by a more experienced writer.
3. ...basically, it all comes back to the first thing on this list. This story is a study of how love cannot be perfect, but before that can be realized, everything is perfect. I really wish I could've liked Will, because he seemed great, but he was two-dimensional at best. Most of them were, really. I felt like the author tried hard to flesh out her characters but she only succeeded with Elliot.

TLDR: Probably wouldn't read it again, probably wouldn't reccomend it (except for the writing element), but it was a fun quick read.