Happily Ever Island

Crystal Celestari

#HappilyEverIsland #NetGalley #disney #island #vacation #happilyeverafter #CrystalCelestari #fandom #LGBTQ #lesbians #advancedreaderscopy

Amazon Summary:

Welcome to Happily Ever Island, the most pixie-dusted vacation a Disney fan could ever imagine.

Head-in-the-clouds romantic Madison and driven pragmatist Lanie are unlikely best friends, but the two would do anything for each other. So when Madison’s life starts to fall apart, Lanie agrees to join Madison for the test run of Disney’s newest resort experience during their first college spring break: Happily Ever Island—an immersive vacation destination, where guests can become their favorite Disney character for a week. Madison decides to go as the iconic princess herself, Cinderella, with Lanie as bow-wielding Merida. It’s not Lanie’s idea of fun, but she knows Madison needs her, and besides, she could use the break from her strenuous courseload anyway. Plus, maybe she’ll get to shoot things.

But once on the island, Lanie and Madison begin to drift apart. Madison finds herself either missing out or messing up all the enchanting moments she has dreamt her whole life about, and is forever running into their annoyingly perfect (and distractingly cute) vacation’s coordinator, Val. Meanwhile, Lanie unexpectedly finds herself swept up in the magic of it all. She strikes up a secret romance with Prince Charming—but there’s no telling whether he’s just playing a part.

My Review:

10/10

Would you go to Happily Ever Island if you had the chance?

I am a huge Disney fan. So I came across this upcoming book on Netgalley, when I was looking at my auto-approvals. The cover interested me, so I read the blurb. And when I read the blurb, I had extremely high hopes. I honestly didn't have a negative thing to say about this book and here's why.

Firstly, the characters. I liked how the two main characters, Madison and Lanie were completely different but they each shared a common ground. One girl is work oriented, and has a life plan, whereas the other girl doesn't know what she wants. The characters played nicely into one another, one being a noob to Disney and the other a Masterclass expert on Disney. They had great chemistry. This wasn't just about friendship, there is a big component in healthy relationships. I don't want to get into the talk about love, but all you need to know is that the romance in this book, just warms my heart.

The writing. This is the first time I have read a book by Crystal Celestari, and honest to god, it was an amazing book. One of the things in the writing was the chapters, and how they switched perspectives each time. The length of the chapters were just enough for me, because right when I was bored of one character, the author ends it and goes to the other character. It keeps the readers on their toes.

Also on the topic of writing, was how Disneyified it was. The author made Happily Ever Island feel like a real place, that could be on a map. It was surreal. It was like I was on a vacation to Happily Ever Island and I was happy with that. The whole time I was reading this book, I was geeking out.

Finally, This book was also packed with references to SOOOO many Disney things. (it is a Disney book). One example of this was when two characters first meet, they challenge each other in Disney trivia, and it is great fun. I learned new facts about Disney, while they go back and fourth. Another example of references to Disney is the island. It is broken up into sections, and they each have their own movie theme. (below is a photo of the map I got). It is like Disney World. They have Adventureland, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Tommorowland etc.

Overall:

If you aren't familiar with the Disney parks and what they have, some of the things might go over your head. But like if you know things about the parks, it makes the book that much better. Even a non - Disney fan would enjoy this books so much just for the story and the creativity that went into it. Pick up a copy of this book everywhere, on June 7th, 2022.