Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner!

Beware spoilers ahead!

I have read Kade's series and enjoyed them. Naturally Kade has been on my radar and I constantly keep a look out for her new releases. In 2016 Kade started writing contemporaries. Before reading Finding Felicity I was nervous, as I didn't enjoy her previous contemporaries. I am happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Finding Felicity!

Caroline has finally graduated high school. Her mother and her celebrate by going to their favourite restaurant. Once they reach home her mother reveals a surprise party and encourages Caroline to invite her friends. Only Caroline's 'friends' don't exist. Of course Caroline has to confess to her mother. Caroline's mother is in shock and suggests that she see a therapist.

Dr. Wegman doesn't give Caroline a diagnosis but instead suggestions for college. Caroline sees him for the whole summer before school. He also has her make arrangements to communicate while she's at Ashmore University. Caroline has a semester to prove that she can thrive and make real friends. Otherwise it's game over.

I'm really happy that I enjoyed Finding Felicity! I've been on a roll of reading underwhelming books. Finding Felicity ended that record. As per usual the writing style was good! Finding Felicity is narrated in first person focusing on Caroline's point of view. There were chapter numbers.

First off you don't have to watch Felicity to read this book. Caroline explains the general plot, giving readers enough information to understand everything. I liked how there were so many tv show references! And for once I actually understood them all.

I was so happy when I heard that Finding Felicity is a YA college book! Usually book's with college are NA. I really appreciated it. And it remained me off my college days. There was some diversity here and there! Caroline's RA was a Pakistani muslim. And one of the counselors was half-black.

As mentioned in the synopsis Caroline took the characters from Felicity and told her mother she had 'friends'. There is actually a specific reason Caroline chose this particular university to attend. Caroline has a crush on Liam. They went to high school together, but she couldn't really bring herself to talk to him and Liam had a girlfriend.

Like in Felicity Caroline plans to get with Liam whom she believes is her Ben (one of the characters in Felicity). In order to accomplish this plan Caroline reinvents herself. She buys a whole new wardrobe and puts on a bubbly persona. This was obviously omitted from the synopsis because it sounds very cringey. And most people wouldn't read it.

I'm not gonna lie when I heard about this, I was planning on canceling it. I changed my mind as I'm sure there are some girls who would carry it out Caroline's plan in reality. Thanks to media plenty of girls believe that if they have the right wardrobe and persona, people will like them and they'll get the guy. I liked how the author through Dr. Wegman and people in Caroline's life address this.

Caroline doesn't really know Liam. She's just built up this whole image about him based on the few interactions they had in high school. And Liam was not end game. There were subtle hints throughout all their interactions that Liam wasn't who Caroline thinks he is. I appreciated Caroline standing up for herself when it came to Liam.

In so many contemporary novels authors write their heroines with the abusive love interest. There is another romance which was very subtley hinted. I liked Del a lot better and it was cute to think of them as eventually starting a relationship. 

Caroline's growth was so well done! She actually made some friends and was happy to be at Ashmore. She made a change in herself, without Liam. Liam was certainly a part of Caroline's growth but not in the same magnitude as she initially thought. And minus the whole stalking Liam to college, Caroline was a pretty smart and mature girl.

I related to Caroline quite a bit. When I was growing up I didn't have any real friends. And because of that school life sucked. I definitely had it easier because I have siblings and we're close. I honestly don't know what I would've done if I was an only child like Caroline. Lying about 'friends' certainly wasn't smart but I understand why she did it. And honestly who doesn't do stupid things from time to time?

I loved the relationship that Caroline had with her mother! Her mother cared so much about Caroline and blames a lot of Caroline's problems on herself. Caroline previously lived in New York. Then her parents divorced and the two of them moved to Arizona. I enjoyed reading about her mother's advice! Her mother was actually a huge part of the story and Caroline's life. Which is another rarity in YA. Their make-up at the end was written beautifully!

I was actually quite surprised by Caroline's roommate Lexi. Lexi was not exactly appealing in the beginning. But her character was a huge part of Caroline's development. I enjoyed getting Lexi's back story and reading their interactions. And through some of Caroline's influence Lexi's character also grew. They made such great friends!

Dr. Wegman played a huge role in Finding Felicity. Caroline refers to their therapy sessions throughout the book. And she started realizing how wrong she was, Dr. Wegman was mentioned. I really liked how their was a positive therapy rep throughout the book.

Overall I really enjoyed Finding Felicity! I recommend it for everyone as I'm sure you'll all find something to relate to.        

this broke my heart just a little bit.

Stacey Kade is one of my favorite recent author finds! I’m still working through her backlist, but when I got my hands on her upcoming Finding Felicity, I just had to read it right away!

In Finding Felicity, we meet Carolyn Sands… just graduating from high school and ready to move on to college and reinvent herself. Having moved to Arizona three years ago, she never quite fit in socially and just didn’t ever make any friends, instead, immersing herself in the world of the TV show Felicity (yes that show!). In order to placate her mom’s guilt over uprooting her, she ends up making up fictional friends from the show with her mom none the wiser… that is until her mom organizes a graduation party and her fictional world comes crashing down.

In order to keep her plans in place to attend the college of her choice, she has to promise her mom that she’ll talk with a therapist and prove to her that she has friends.

Easier said than done.

When she arrives at her new school, it’s not at all what she expects and trying to fake it isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. The one person she was hoping to create a bond with is nowhere to be found, and add in a roommate who wants nothing to do with her, and Carolyn is ready to pack her stuff and head home early.

I really like that this is a YA book that is in a college setting. We don’t see enough of those, typically titles jump right to the new adult genre and what I found so refreshing here is it truly is a YA book, and it absolutely touches on the feelings that an incoming freshman to college might be dealing with. While I realize that Carolyn’s situation is somewhat unique, her stresses and fears are not. The fear of fitting in, the fear of making new friends, getting along with your roommate and testing the boundaries around you… not having a parent there to guide and help you make decisions. It’s all on you for the first time, and there can be some serious repercussions if you make the wrong choice.

Kade does an amazing job at really immersing you in what those first few months are actually like. Carolyn’s vulnerability and uncertainty were so stressful for me to read… I could understand it even if that wasn’t my experience, and I really loved the relationship development in this novel. While I was completely on the fence about Lexi at the beginning and worried greatly for Carolyn, I loved watching her relationship with Del develop.

Also I have to call out the Felicity references… if you’re young… you should definitely give the show a watch. I actually loved it (Noel anyone?) and a lot of it will be relatable even all these years later. (lord it debuted in 1998 ahhhhhh). That said, if you haven’t watched the show, it’s not necessary, just a bonus!

This is just a wonderful story of finding yourself, finding your people and learning you don’t have to fake or change who you are just to fit a mold you think people are hoping you will be.

Thank you so much to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

nice, easy read about what it's like to be a college freshman

This was great and I wish I could’ve read it before I myself started university.

Confession: Felicity was, and still remains, one of my favorite TV shows of all time. When I saw this cover, I knew before reading the synopsis that fictional Felicity was going to play some role in the story, and with that being the case, I had to read it. And you know what? Finding Felicity was a fun, heartwarming, and totally relatable YA-goes-to-college book.

For the first time in my life, I want the real thing and not the imagined version in my head.

I related to Caroline on so many levels. My family moved from Brooklyn to a very small town (seriously, 1 square mile) in NJ, where kids in my school had actually shared space in the hospital nursery after they were born (true story). Therefore, I totally sympathized with how difficult it was for Caroline, when she had to move from NY to Arizona. To a place where all the friend groups were already established, and they really weren't looking for any new members. I shared her loneliness, and also, her need to alleviate her mother's fears about the move.

I want someone who loves me because of who I am, not in spite of it. Is that so much to ask?

Just like Caroline, I saw college as a "clean slate", a place where I could be a "new version" of me. This was a part of the story I really liked, because this was where Caroline started her journey of self-discovery. She made many rookie mistakes, but after some missteps, she began to trust her own instincts, and started to find her tribe, and things began to look up.

Here there's only one empty spot, and it's for me. It makes me want to pinch myself to see if this is reality.

I have to commend Kade on the fine cast of characters she assembled. I really enjoyed getting to know them all, but I especially loved Lexi and Del. I wasn't sure about Lexi at first. I actually thought Caroline had lost the roommate lottery there, but the more I got to know Lexi, the more I understood her, and eventually, I sort of loved her. Del won me over from his first scene on page. I wasn't sure if he would pop up again in the story, but I was really happy he did, because he was all sorts of adorable and wonderful.

It's the start of the life I was searching for, even though it's nothing like what I expected.

You DO NOT need to be a fan of the the show to enjoy this book, but as a Felicity fan, I liked looking for the parallels to and mentions of the show. I got all giddy when I saw the show's characters names mentioned here and there, and found it quite amusing when Caroline would ask herself, "What would Felicity do?" Like Felicity, Caroline made an impulsive decision to follow a boy, who she wanted to know better to college. Crazy? Yes. But it also ended up being the place where Caroline finally found herself. She grew, learned from her mistakes, and began to find her place in the world.

Overall: A enjoyable and heartfelt journey of self-discovery, which spoke to this introverted-Felicity-lover.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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I read this in one day, only taking breaks for work and to Google the Felicity wiki. I was a huge fan of Felicity, and Caroline felt like another (much, much younger) version of me. I loved reading her story and watching her come into her own. Now I'm going to have to binge watch Felicity (I have all the dvds, but I'll probably Netflix it Caroline style). Team Noel forever!

Super straight forward but still enjoyed it

I thought this was a very intelligent book. You could really feel the anxiety of the main character and I really liked her therapist. Things went bad, then more bad, then very good, then very bad. It felt like a true portrayal of a first semester at college to me. I love that Felicity was twisted in it. I tried to watch that whole series, but never got through it. But I've seen a bunch of episodes. I'm a Felicity/Noel girl, personally. But I loved the parallels and honestly, it's so now to be obsessed with a TV show. Fandom is huge. I think this one is worth a read.

4.5

I picked up this book because it was described to me as something fans of Rainbow Rowel's Fangirl would like, so I said why the hell not?

I've never identified with a book character so much as I've identified with Caroline here. She is socially awkward doesn't know how to make friends and hides under books, shows and movies.
She has this problem of having invented all this imaginary life for her mother's sake, including friendships brought right out of her favorite show, and when it all crumbles down on her graduation day, she is sent to therapy for the summer and given a trial run at college, Caroline has one semester to prove to her mother and therapist that she can actually form real relationships.

I've always had this thing where I have no problem starting a conversation but I never know how to go on talking to that person. I'm always so envious of people who can simply talk to other about everything and that actually know how to, because I don't, I can't form a friendship to save my life, or I'm way too open or way too closed or way too awkward or way too much, so seeing that portrayed so accurately was amazing.

I only wished this book was longer and actually came with a manual on how to make friends but otherwise this book was just what I needed, it was quick and heartfelt and relatable. I read this in one sitting and enjoyed the fuck out of it.