It's YA in COLLEGE!!! Can we please rejoice and throw a party now??

Do you guys even know what this book is??? It's a Young Adult book set in college!!! I was ready to sing from the mountaintops at just the idea of it, and then I held it in my hands and felt the proof that it was real-- and now I'm basically still over here throwing confetti. But seriously, we need more books about going to college. It's such an untapped topic about such an important and confusing time in a lot of people's lives.

This book combines so many of my YES things that if you know me you'd be all-- Oh Michelle, this is so you!! I mean, you've got 90's Felicity, starting college (which has a running spot on my PLEASE AUTHORS WRITE THIS List), and Stacey Kade (who I am mildly obsessed with). You could say going into this, I had high expectations.

So, you've got Caroline who just doesn't fit in but desperately wants to. In order to cope with her dad leaving & exiting her life, moving across the country in the middle of her high school years, and the pressure she feels from her mom to succeed socially, she makes up a fake life with fake friends inspired by the TV show, Felicity. Felicity is her favorite binge-watch show, and even though it's almost 20 years old, Caroline relates to the awkwardness of Felicity and dreams of having her own Felicity experience once she goes to college.

As much as I loved reading about what Caroline was going through, I realized that she's not someone I relate to as a person. Yeah, she's shy, and second-guesses herself, and also kind of dislikes herself/wants to be somebody else-- and all that is completely me, but girl takes it to a whole new level of weirdness that I'm never going to be down with. She's just a tad too odd and embarrasses herself in that please-don't-make-me-look-directly-at-it way. In spite of that, I (and I think most people will) hard-core relate to the fact that she didn't know where her place was when it came to social situations. I think most of us have been put in scenarios where we don't feel comfortable and don't feel like we can be our true selves-- or wish we magically had different personalities. I adored (and cringed) reading about those struggles.

The best part for me was when Caroline and Liam "meet" (because yes Caroline pulls a Felicity and follows her "Ben" to college), and we get to see that Liam, who was Mr. Popular in high school, is also having a tough time figuring out where he belongs in the college landscape.

The only thing I wished was different was how the ending just sort of rushed up on me. Maybe this is my fault because I was so immersed in Caroline's drama, but I felt sort of surprised when I realized I was almost at the end. I think I just wanted to see more of her journey, but also I think it was smart for this book to stick to a very narrow view of the college experience.

Honestly, I could talk about this book all day. The "feel" of it captured the first days of college experience perfectly, and it made me super nostalgic for when I was the girl whose parents were helping her carry a TV and mini-fridge up to the 5th floor of Lawrence Hall. This is going to be one of those books I recommend to EVERYBODY.

PS-- You don't have to have watched Felicity to enjoy the book, but I would suggest at least reading over the Wikipedia plot outline for the first season.

OVERALL: Confetti and cake for everyone because we have a YA book set in COLLEGE!!!! Not only that but seriously-- it's SO good!!! It's about this super-awkward girl w/ a Felicity (the TV show) obsession who needs to find herself-- and where better than college??? Totally 100% recommend and wish that you would pass it along to everyone you know!!

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Pink Polka Dot Books ( )

3.5 stars

“What’s wring with reality?”
“Nothing,” I say in a small voice. Unless your reality sucks. Then what’s wrong with wanting something more or better?

This was a super fun, super quick read. I love that we’re seeing so many more college YA books this year and I thought Finding Felicity was an excellent addition. I thought Caroline was a relatable MC and it’s was so easy to follow her just trying to live her life - goingo college, crushing on a guy, dealing with awkwardness and insecurities. I also really liked the seeing Caroline in therapy and talking about her social anxiety and introvert personality, I felt like it was very respectful to her feelings. I liked that we get to know so many characters (Lexi, Liam, Del, Jordan, Tory)- we don’t just see them in passing, we spend time with them and grow to care about them like Caroline does. Caroline’s intense fandom love of Felicity was also really fun to read about. One thing that did annoy me, was I felt like Caroline’s mom really made the whole situation about her instead of Caroline’s feelings. Overall this was an enjoyable contemporary.

I received a copy of the book from Simon & Schuster BFYR via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

The first thing that drew me to the book was the interesting concept of Caroline (main character) creating a fantasy world for herself using characters from her favorite WB show, Felicity (I have to admit, heard of but never watched the show). Then her having to prove to her mom she could make friends at college.

I enjoyed the story...for the most part. I'm not a fan of books that have the S and F words in it. And I wasn't a big fan of some of the side characters, like Tory and Derek. But I did like Lexi. She was a surprising character (not going to say why because of spoilers).

This story, I felt, was one about self discovery. Nobody has their life perfectly planned out, and Caroline learns that. But the journey to how is a must-read.

Recommended for older YA fans. ( )