Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant

The Quick Cut: A girl who enjoys writing finds herself suddenly with writer's block after getting into a prestigious art program. She tries to find her way out by writing her own real life romance. A Real Review: It's so easy to slip into another character's life rather than deal with your own. However, you can only do that for so long before your real issues come bubbling back to the surface? How do you deal with the struggle? This is the case for sixteen years old Tessa. Tessa Thompson loves to write stories and share them with her best friend Stephanie. However, between her family and their focus on her brother, she doesn't feel like the lead in her own story. It starts to look up when she's accepted to an art program! When her gift of writing suddenly disappears though, she panics. How can she find her gift of story writing again? This is a cute story with some excellent representation all around. It's rare to see POC representation dealt with so directly and it makes this a refreshing read. Still, I couldn't seem to stop myself from skimming a good majority of the story. One of my favorite part of this story is the big brother Miles. Born with a specific form of cerebral palsy, he's more like a child than an actual adult. This story gives the casual viewer a clear picture of what it's like to have a loved one with the condition. It's not easy, especially on the family members or caretakers. The story shows the good and the difficult - a realistic vision that I wish was seen more in fiction. Tessa is just as confused as anyone is when it comes to identity. I can relate to not being sure who you are, but she looks for the answer in a guy and romanticizes relationships. It's not that simple. For me, it made me hard to fully root for her. A cute romance based story with plenty of representation. My rating: 3.5 out of 5