Like It Never Happened by Emily Adrian Pages: 368
Published by Dial Books on June 2, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, contemporary, Romance
Source: eARC from Publisher
Stereotypes, sexuality, and destructive rumors collide in this smart YA novel for fans of Sara Zarr’s Story of a Girl, Siobhan Vivian’s The List, and E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.
When Rebecca Rivers lands the lead in her school’s production of The Crucible, she gets to change roles in real life, too. She casts off her old reputation, grows close with her four rowdy cast-mates, and kisses the extremely handsome Charlie Lamb onstage. Even Mr. McFadden, the play’s critical director, can find no fault with Rebecca.
Though “The Essential Five” vow never to date each other, Rebecca can’t help her feelings for Charlie, leaving her both conflicted and lovestruck. But the on and off-stage drama of the cast is eclipsed by a life-altering accusation that threatens to destroy everything…even if some of it is just make believe.
Like it Never Happened is a young adult contemporary book set featuring a high school drama troupe. A group of five friends and the story of their high school years. I really enjoyed reading Like it Never Happened. It reminded me of 90s shows like Salute your Shorts and Clarissa Explains it all, though I am not really sure why. It is set in contemporary 2014/2015, but it really felt like a 90s throw back to me, and I totally loved that. Like it Never Happened is author Emily Adrian’s debut novel, which completely astounded me. She is an excellent writer, and she seemed so well practiced. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us readers next.
Like it never happened follows a group of 5 best friends, and their trials and tribulations in the theater at their school. Right at the start of the book they make a pack to never date one another. But I knew that was going to change at some point. I was a little excited and a little disappointing all at once with the way things played out with Charlie. It was kind of bittersweet and all at once perfect (in a weird way.) My emotions ying yanged all over the place with this book. Emily Adrian did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of high school. I think that is why I had conflicting emotions. Even if something didn’t turn out the way I pictured it in my head, it felt so utterly real.
I loved Rebecca so much. She was me in this book. I am nothing like her, but while I was reading Like it Never Happened I became her. It was pretty freakin’ cool. Charlie left me with mixed feelings. As did Tess a bit and Rebecca’s sister Mary. Like it Never Happened kind of reminded me of Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid, but only a little bit. There are classically high school characters that are rich and each have very distinct personalities. And let’s not forget that they are all drama fanatics so there is a flair for the dramatic in Like it Never Happened, but this was such a great addition to the young adult genre. I really enjoyed Like it Never Happened.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
I was a drama girl in high school, so I bet I’d really like this one!
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I love that this seemed like a throw back to some great shows from the 90’s even though it totally wasn’t. And yay for great writing so much so that you couldn’t even tell this was her debut novel!
Wonderful review Michelle!
So glad to hear you liked this so much Michelle! I’m a total theatre geek and am pretty much always either in a play or practicing for an audition for one, so the theatre aspect of this sounds right up my alley. Definitely going to have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! ♥