While the character growth was obvious, I just found it unbelievable she was “stuck” in the situation she was in with her life a couple years later. The jump from 2011 to 2017 was a surprise for me, and I find the approach that Shane took to find closure a little strange. The constant references to things in 2011 did get a little excessive at some points, and I can definitely see why many people did not enjoy that aspect. While this book received some backlash of how similar Shane is to Christine, I didn’t mind the similarities. The travel aspect of this story was authentic and a joy to read, as you could clearly tell Christine drew from her own abroad experiences. The first half followers her breaking out of her shell and putting herself out in the world, like spending a semester abroad in London, and exploring cities like Rome and Paris. This book is as much of a romance between Shane and Pilot as it is Shane discovering what she wants to do with her life. Along her journey of self discovery, she travels to new countries and experiences everything from first kisses to finding her passion in life. There she meets a slew of new friends and a cute boy named Pilot (like the pen). I think knowing to expect these things before starting to read this heightened my enjoyment of this book.Īgain, But Better follows Shane, who has been doing college all wrong, and is determined to reinvent herself by deciding to study abroad in London. I knew that this book had a magical element in the second half and that the main character, Shane, was heavily based on Christine herself. There were many, many mixed reviews and I didn’t know what to expect. I went into Again, But Better with pretty low expectations. Shawarma was basically why you wanted to come back and study abroad again in the first place.

“I might like you more than the shawarma.”

Again but better book review