Review: THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE by Jennifer E. Smith

Title: This Is What Happy Looks Like

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Publication date: April 2, 2013

Publisher: Poppy

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? 

Review:

I consider myself to be a romantic. I love romance in my stories and my heart fluttered when I read this synopsis. Normal girl has an accidental exchange with famous boy? Who cares if it resembles a cliché of any sort, it sounds great, does it not? I had even heard that it was a cross between my two favorite Meg Ryan movies, You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. 

Let's just say that it ended up producing more frustration than happiness. 

That is not to say that I did not gobble the book up and finish it in about a day. I did. However, the aftertaste was not pleasant. Movie star Graham Larkin mistypes an email, which results in it being accidentally sent to Ellie O'Neill, a small town girl. Instantly, they strike up a conversation and continue to email back and forth for three months. Graham then pleads to have his next movie set in her hometown in Maine. After a somewhat cliché mixup with Ellie's best friend, Graham rushes to Ellie's house and the two officially meet each other. 

Since this is a spoiler-free environment, there will be no spoilers even though I desperately wish I could rant about everything.

When Graham and Ellie first meet, it's suddenly true love. You must be joking. It's not exactly insta-love, considering they had been emailing about everything, but nothing all at once (yes, I did add my own cliché in there, but I'm pretty sure the author even said it in the book). However, that's not love. Talking with someone over the internet or any electronic device is vastly different than talking in person. I really don't care how close they felt through the emails, they cannot look at each other and then think I AM IN LOVE AND OUR LOVE IS STRONG AND WORTH FIGHTING A MILLION DRAGONS FOR. No. Just no. 

Do you know what makes it even more eye-rolling worthy? Ellie and Graham spend two days together before completely avoiding each other for three weeks. After all that, they only spend TWO DAYS of reveling in their giddy "love" before Ellie freaks out and avoids any contact with Graham for THREE WEEKS. On top of that, she won't email him or her best friend because she can't find any suitable words. We see her drafts, there were at least one in each that was perfectly acceptable. I understand that it can be hard, but it's better than NOT explaining...right?

So basically Ellie freaks out on Graham because of the paparazzi due to the past between her father and mother. This is not a spoiler, don't worry. Her mom was a waitress and her dad is big in politics, they have an affair, her mother moves away to get out of the spotlight, and now has forced this big belief on Ellie that the scandal will ALWAYS be a big deal. I read Yahoo, I get it. Some scandals will be mentioned and cast her father in a bad light. However, that should NOT define your life. Also, I'm not in her position, but really, who cares?

There are a few things that I do wish I could complain about further, but those are definitely spoilers. So if anyone has read this book and wants to have a complain fest with me, I'd be more than happy to rant. 

In total, Graham and Ellie are together for FIVE DAYS and apart for THREE WEEKS while he is in Maine and emailed for THREE MONTHS. Wow, great relationship.

I must mention that they did have an email of sorts beginning the chapters, but they were sorely lacking for me. All in all, there was insta-love, predictability, and an absence of emails which I was wishing for. There was some cuteness splashed in there and there was something that kept pulling me in, but it wasn't unbelievably amazing. I know I basically trashed the book, but there were some redeeming qualities. Enough to make me want to read it again? Probably not.

Verdict: A somewhat cute read that left a bitter aftertaste.

What do you think? Will you read it? Did you like it?