Title: Not Now, Not Ever
Author: Lily Anderson
Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: November 21, 2017
“I was ready to be comfortably in the middle of a story instead of running toward the end. I was done trying to outpace myself.”
Synopsis
Elliot Gabaroche is very clear on what she isn’t going to do this summer.
1. She isn’t going to stay home in Sacramento, where she’d have to sit through her stepmother’s sixth community theater production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
2. She isn’t going to mock trial camp at UCLA.
3. And she certainly isn’t going to the Air Force summer program on her mother’s base in Colorado Springs. As cool as it would be to live-action-role-play Ender’s Game, Ellie’s seen three generations of her family go through USAF boot camp up close, and she knows that it’s much less Luke/Yoda/”feel the force,” and much more one hundred push-ups on three days of no sleep. And that just isn’t appealing, no matter how many Xenomorphs from Alien she’d be able to defeat afterwards.
What she is going to do is pack up her attitude, her favorite Octavia Butler novels, and her Jordans, and go to summer camp. Specifically, a cutthroat academic-decathlon-like competition for a full scholarship to Rayevich College, the only college with a Science Fiction Literature program. And she’s going to start over as Ever Lawrence, on her own terms, without the shadow of all her family’s expectations. Because why do what’s expected of you when you can fight other genius nerds to the death for a shot at the dream you’re sure your family will consider a complete waste of time?
This summer’s going to be great.
Review
This was such a fun book! There was drama and laughs and lots of fantastic banter – everything you could want from an Wildean-inspired tale. Not Now, Not Ever follows Elliot Lawrence Gabaroch as she reinvents herself as Ever Lawrence, and sneaks away to a genius camp for a chance to win a scholarship to her dream school. Ever’s love of scienec fiction writing puts her on the outs of her Air Force legacy family, but Ever is willing to do anything to make her dream come true. But complications arise and hilarity ensures as the teens battle it out for the scholarships. Not Now, Not Ever is an engaging tale of family expectation and reinvention.
Things I Liked
I really liked the inclusion of the quotes from The Importance of Being Earnest. Ever’s familiarity with the play from her stepmom’s recurring roles in local productions was great and didn’t feel forced. I loved seeing her applying the play to her situation.
There was such a great exploration of identity, secrets, and presentation of self – all of which perfectly reflect both Ever’s journey and The Importance of Being Earnest. I liked that we get to see that everyone has secrets and creates a performance for others.
I really loved seeing Ever and Leigh’s friendship develop. I’m always here for friendships in stories and I loved that they didn’t drift into competitive meangirls even when the scholarship prize is so lifechanging.
There was such great banter and humor! I was constantly laughing and smiling, and it made the story so easy to read. I didn’t want to stop. All the flirty banter between Ever and Brandon was fantastic too!
Things I Didn’t Like
It was a little hard to keep track of who all the other teammates were at the beginning of the story. Quite a few of them just ran together and I didn’t really differentiate them until about halfway into the story.
This was just such a fun story and there were so many great characters. The story was dramatic and charming and lively. Not Now, Not Ever is a must read for fans of humorous reads.
About the Author
Lily Anderson is a school librarian and Melvil Dewey fangirl with an ever-growing collection of musical theater tattoos and Harry Potter ephemera. She lives in Northern California, far from her mortal enemy: the snow.
Website | Goodreads | twitter | facebook |
Giveaway
- WIN 1 copy of NOT NOW, NOT EVER by Lily Anderson (US Only)
- Starts: November 14th
- Ends: November 22nd
Click HERE to enter the giveaway!
Follow the Tour
Thank you to the Fantastic Flying Book Club for organizing and hosting this blog tour! Click HERE to follow along with the tour and see what these amazing bloggers have to say about this hilarious Wildean-inspired story!
PreOrder Links
Amazon | Book Depository | B&N | Kobo | iTunes
I received a copy of the book from Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.
Life of a Literary Nerd 
You’re tempting to buy this book now, even though I shouldn’t buy any more! I love your review.
And I’m glad that the author incorporated friendship into a highly competitive playing field, which you don’t always see in these stories.
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It was a really great book!
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