The Falling in Love Montage Review (Spoiler-free)

The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars

What's your favourite rom-com movie? I think mine is Isn't it Romantic with Rebel Wilson on Netflix.

The Blurb

Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out.

But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.

Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real. 

The Plot

This is a sapphic, fake-dating YA romance set in Ireland (But to be honest I had no idea where the story was set until the last few pages). The main character's mother has gotten dementia and her father is getting a new wife which wasn't a happy thing for her. The book basically starts with Saoirse going to a party at Oliver's house and meeting Ruby in a bush where they then go try to help a cat out of a tree. Later, they start kissing, but Saoirse has made a rule with herself to not have any serious relationship after a break-up with her ex-best friend Hannah so so she makes a loophole and they decide to do meaningless fake-dating instead with inspiration from classic rom-com movies. 

My Thoughts

Firstly, excuse me, I get that this is a coming-of-age book but what was that ending? That made me drop the rating by half a star. Other than that, it was a good book. I liked the characters and the idea of the falling in love montage. The big fight at the end didn't even annoy me which was good.

The Characters

Saoirse 

Saoirse is the protagonist and it is her perspective that we are reading from. I liked her and I thought she was cool. She also likes horror movies which aren't my thing because I'm a wimp but I expect her for it. Before I started reading this book I pronounced her name as either Say-orse or Sigh-orse. When I stared reading it the book clarified that it was pronounced Seer-sha but my brain couldn't comprehend that so I did a mix of all the pronunciations and just thought of her as Sea-horse. 

Ruby

I think Ruby was my favourite character because she was very laid back and relatable (her name was also easier to pronounce). She had recently come from England to live with her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin Oliver because of some health troubles with her brother. She also likes rom-coms which are more my style.

Oliver

Honestly, I could care less about him. He was a bit unnecessary and he also reminded me a bit of Gatsby, like how he would host grand parties and then not even go to them and stay upstairs alone. 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• The romance
• The sarcastic humour
• The lists of movies to watch and things to do for the montage

Cons

• The ending
• Oliver

Overall

Overall, I think it was for the most part a cute YA romance. I enjoyed reading it.

Who I Would Recommend This To

I would recommend this to people who like queer YA romance books. There's nothing I've read exactly like this book but for the fake dating Written in the Stars by Alexandria Belleflear was good but it is an adult and not a YA (you can see my review for that here). For the sapphic YA romance Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins was really cute.

Content/Trigger Warnings

Dementia (early onset, hereditary), disabled sibling, parental abuse.

My Rating System

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Love 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ = Almost Love

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Really Like

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ = A Bit Better Than Like

⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Like

⭐️⭐️ = Meh

⭐️ = Dislike