Begin Again

College freshman Andie transfers from the local community college to the revered Blue Ridge State University to be with her boyfriend. She also wants to feel more connected to her Blue Ridge alumni parents; her mom died when Andie was eight, and her father pretty much abandoned her to be raised by her two grandmothers. Unfortunately, Andie quickly learns that her boyfriend has secretly transferred back to the community college, keeping their relationship long-distance. While she tries to determine how to get them back together, she becomes instant BFFs with her roommate, her math tutor, and her grumpy but cute RA. When she's not solving her friends' relationship problems, she is organizing game nights and volunteering at every event to earn enough colorful ribbons that will grant her access to the secret societies that vied for her mom's membership twenty years go. The one thing she is not doing is studying, or figuring out her own dreams separate from being just like her mom. I've enjoyed all of Emma Lord's previous novels, but this one fell a little short. There were several issues that took me out of the story and kept it from being as strong as [b:Tweet Cute 45045129 Tweet Cute Emma Lord https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558456354l/45045129.SY75.jpg 66924806] or [b:When You Get the Chance 54306966 When You Get the Chance Emma Lord https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1619733498l/54306966.SY75.jpg 84741844].Andie wants to study psychology because she is good at giving advice. This is an extremely naïve and misguided view of the profession. In reality, psychologists (or other therapists) don't give advice; they listen to their clients and help them come up with their own solutions. The whole ribbon process feels exclusionary, like rush week at a sorority. Although the reality turns out to be a lot less insidious, the bad feelings lingered.*Andie is extremely extroverted. Within the first few days of her arrival, she has rallied all of her dorm-mates (and students from other dorms) to play nightly games of Werewolf (or Mafia). Her perkiness and tendency to get involved in other people's problems (whether they ask her or not) is mostly portrayed as adorable. I would have hated her if I went to college with her.YMMV if these nit-picks wouldn't bother you (or if you are also a card-carrying extrovert). Lord does portray a strong emotional arc about Andie's relationship with her father, their disparate ways of dealing with grief, and the weird way that losing a loved one changes the way everyone interacts with you. I think readers from the actual targeted age group will find it easy to relate to Andie; I'm reminded that sometimes I am too much of an old curmudgeon for the YA genre.