Hello everyone and welcome to my stop of the Freshmen Blog Tour. Read on to learn about the book, the authors, and what I thought of the book (spoiler: I adore it).
SYNOPSIS
Phoebe can’t wait to get to college. On her own, discovering new things, no curfew–she’ll be free. And she’ll be totally different: cooler, prettier, smarter… the perfect potential girlfriend. Convenient: the only person from her high school also going to York is her longtime crush, Luke.
Luke didn’t set out to redefine himself, but as soon as he arrives on campus, he finds himself dumping his long-term long-distance girlfriend. And the changes don’t stop there. In fact, being on a soccer team is the only thing that stays the same.
Just when things start looking up (and Phoebe and Luke start hooking up), drama looms on the horizon. Rumors swirl about the Wall of Shame, a secret text chain run by Luke’s soccer team, filled with compromising photos of girls. As the women on campus determine to expose the team and shut down the account, Luke and Phoebe find themselves grappling with confusing feelings and wondering how they’ll ever make it through freshman year.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison met at the end of high school and quickly became sweethearts. Though they broke up in college, they remain best friends. Lucy is a librarian at a girls’ school in central London, where she gets most of her inspiration. Tom is a journalist and has written for Time Out, Vice, ESPN, Glamour, and many other publications.
Their first book, A Totally Awkward Love Story, was partially inspired by their own high school relationship, with Tom writing Sam’s chapters and Lucy writing Hannah’s. Freshmen is their second novel together. Follow them on Twitter at @lucyivison.
MY THOUGHTS
I’ve always wanted to read more young adult contemporaries taking place during college, so when Freshmen came my way, I couldn’t wait to dive in. I’m pleased to report that I was not disappointed.
While my freshman year of college was vastly different than that of Phoebe and Luke, I think the feelings of displacement, confusion, and loneliness are common amongst everyone starting college. It’s a huge transition time in one’s life and I think Freshmen captured those feelings perfectly. As someone currently transitioning out of college, I’m feeling those things all over again, so it was comforting to read through them.
Freshmen was also enjoyable for its funny (literally laugh out loud) moments. Every character is connected so well to each other and as I got to know them, some of the situations they found themselves in forced me to put the book down and catch my breath from laughing. I won’t go into details, but there is an incident involving a condom and I was actually cry-laughing.
Speaking of characters, Phoebe, Negin, and Frankie were easily my favorites. I would honestly be so interested in a story delving into their friend adventures.
I completely adored Freshmen and I was surprised by the many twists and turns it had. I didn’t at all predict the ending (I think that’s why I loved it so much) and it left me wanting a sequel–something that I hardly ever feel for a contemporary novel. I highly recommend it to everyone who just enjoys a good read, but especially if you’re about to start (or even finish) college.
Rating: ★★★★☆ = Excellent.
TOUR SCHEDULE
6/11: Novel Knight Book Reviews
6/12: Tales of the Ravenous Reader
6/13: Novel Novice
6/14: Selina Falcon
6/15: Mary Had A Little Book Blog
6/18: The Book Nut
6/19: Here’s to Happy Endings
6/20: Ellie’s Infinite Books
6/21: The Desert Bibliophile
6/22: Jessabella Reads
6/23: YA Books Central
Disclaimer: An ARC of Freshmen was sent to me by Random House to review for the Freshmen Blog Tour.
Selina Falcon 