"Witty and engaging. Will hook readers immediately." — School Library Journal (starred review)
"Often hilarious, tart, and sarcastic; often heart-tuggingly poignant; always completely authentic and compulsively readable." — Horn Book Magazine
“Engaging and enjoyable. A noteworthy take on vulnerability and seeking help that doesn’t offer platitudes.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for The Falling in Love Montage: “An emotionally stirring queer romance with witty, playful dialogue.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Delightfully brash and no-nonsense. Pleasantly and audaciously fills a gap in queer romance.”
— Kirkus Reviews
"A meet-cute in the style of Jenny Han, and just as sweet and cinematic as YA rom-com fans will expect." — Booklist
“A snarky and sincere romp through meet-cutes and grand romantic gestures, this book is a must-read for fans of Becky Albertali and Morgan Matson.” — Ashley Poston, author of Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl
“A joyous, hilarious, big-hearted book with the kind of electric, rollicking voice that makes you want to live in its pages forever.” — Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee
“A charming romp of a rom-com about the delights and terrors of falling in love. Saoirse is a heroine for the ages; she is smart, flawed, funny, and—when she lets her guard down—achingly vulnerable. This book will make your heart sing. Read it.” — Misa Sugiura, award-winning author of It's Not Like It's a Secret and This Time Will Be Different
“A book that manages to be both tenderly gutting and absolutely hilarious. I want to be best friends with Saoirse Clarke.” — Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights
“A slow-burn summer romance narrated by a beautifully snarky heroine who likes to pretend that she doesn’t have a heart of gold. This book was made for those endless-feeling summer nights.” — Aminah Mae Safi, author of Not the Girls You're Looking For and Tell Me How You Really Feel
“Everything I wanted and so much more. How refreshing to read about two girls who like girls who find each other in the perfect meet cute. You’ll want to read this one again and again.” — Jaye Robin Brown, author of Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit and The Meaning of Birds
“The romantic story all queer girls deserve: funny, flirty, and absolutely perfect.” — Camryn Garrett, author of Full Disclosure
"Often hilarious, tart, and sarcastic; often heart-tuggingly poignant; always completely authentic and compulsively readable."
A charming romp of a rom-com about the delights and terrors of falling in love. Saoirse is a heroine for the ages; she is smart, flawed, funny, and—when she lets her guard down—achingly vulnerable. This book will make your heart sing. Read it.
"A meet-cute in the style of Jenny Han, and just as sweet and cinematic as YA rom-com fans will expect."
A book that manages to be both tenderly gutting and absolutely hilarious. I want to be best friends with Saoirse Clarke.
A joyous, hilarious, big-hearted book with the kind of electric, rollicking voice that makes you want to live in its pages forever.
A snarky and sincere romp through meet-cutes and grand romantic gestures, this book is a must-read for fans of Becky Albertali and Morgan Matson.
"A meet-cute in the style of Jenny Han, and just as sweet and cinematic as YA rom-com fans will expect."
A snarky and sincere romp through meet-cutes and grand romantic gestures, this book is a must-read for fans of Becky Albertali and Morgan Matson.
A charming romp of a rom-com about the delights and terrors of falling in love. Saoirse is a heroine for the ages; she is smart, flawed, funny, and—when she lets her guard down—achingly vulnerable. This book will make your heart sing. Read it.
A book that manages to be both tenderly gutting and absolutely hilarious. I want to be best friends with Saoirse Clarke.
The romantic story all queer girls deserve: funny, flirty, and absolutely perfect.
A slow-burn summer romance narrated by a beautifully snarky heroine who likes to pretend that she doesn’t have a heart of gold. This book was made for those endless-feeling summer nights.
A slow-burn summer romance narrated by a beautifully snarky heroine who likes to pretend that she doesn’t have a heart of gold. This book was made for those endless-feeling summer nights.
Everything I wanted and so much more. How refreshing to read about two girls who like girls who find each other in the perfect meet cute. You’ll want to read this one again and again.
★ 04/01/2021
Gr 8 Up—In this witty and engaging novel, Irish author Smyth creates a flawed teen girl, Aideen, who makes a credible journey from self-protectively tough to ready and willing to face her main problem: her single mother's neglectful alcoholism. When Aideen makes a snap decision to help the principal's overachieving, overscheduled, and generally disliked daughter, she begins doing secret favors for classmates in return for them owing her their help. She develops unexpected feelings for one of her clients and makes a new friend in Kavi, who is chatty and humorous but also has his own problems as, Aideen discovers, everyone does. The story unfolds effortlessly, detailing both suspenseful and hilarious moments, as does real life. Populated with believable high school friends and very few adults, Aideen and most other characters are white, and Kavi is Indian. Here, Aideen's lesbian identity is not a plot point, but a detail that gives her authenticity. VERDICT This engaging novel will hook readers immediately. Recommended for all collections serving teens.—Francisca Goldsmith, Lib. Ronin, Worcester, MA
Irish actor Sarah Jane Drummey performs Ciara Smyth's dialogue-rich novel using varied pacing for the trio of characters at its heart. The story is told from underachieving Aideen's perspective. She, perfectionist Meabh, and exceedingly chatty Kavi find themselves in an unexpected friendship that offers each the opportunity to grow emotionally as they make changes in distressing areas of their own lives—as well as in other students' lives. Drummey’s delivery of this well-crafted story’s dry wit and authentic pathos provides easy access to its nonstop high jinks, truly awful mistakes, and range of homelife situations that differ in degrees of pain. Listeners will discover that concerns about identity, classism, and wokeness are not limited to North America. F.M.R.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Irish actor Sarah Jane Drummey performs Ciara Smyth's dialogue-rich novel using varied pacing for the trio of characters at its heart. The story is told from underachieving Aideen's perspective. She, perfectionist Meabh, and exceedingly chatty Kavi find themselves in an unexpected friendship that offers each the opportunity to grow emotionally as they make changes in distressing areas of their own lives—as well as in other students' lives. Drummey’s delivery of this well-crafted story’s dry wit and authentic pathos provides easy access to its nonstop high jinks, truly awful mistakes, and range of homelife situations that differ in degrees of pain. Listeners will discover that concerns about identity, classism, and wokeness are not limited to North America. F.M.R.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
2021-03-13
Sixteen-year-old Irish student Aideen Cleary faces some big obstacles.
After walking in on perfectionist classmate Meabh Kowalska, daughter of the school principal, crying in the toilets, Aideen gets roped into a drastic plan to help her fix her problems. Aided by Kavi Thakrar, a witness to Aideen’s pushing Meabh down the stairs—part of their harebrained scheme—Aideen soon finds herself running a favor-for-favor business for the student body. She silently struggles with her own home life while solving the issues of others to cope with her feelings of helplessness. Smyth paints a snapshot of someone who appears to have everything sorted but on the inside is falling apart at the seams. Aideen begins somewhat rough at the edges and soon becomes a character readers can easily root for: Between her mother’s drinking problem and her own failing grades, Aideen deals with issues faced by many young people. A spark of emotional authenticity runs throughout, making the narrative engaging and enjoyable. The language used is very Irish, featuring sentence structures and colloquialisms that set the cultural scene in a completely natural way. Aideen and Meabh are both lesbian, and while Aideen mentions experiencing some homophobia in the past, it is not the focus of the story; ethnic diversity is similarly part of the background texture.
A noteworthy take on vulnerability and seeking help that doesn’t offer platitudes. (Fiction. 13-18)
