I’ll Get Back to You
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The holiday season flew in and out this year - I was worried I wasn’t going to get through any Christmas themed reads! I had the physical copy of this novel but decided to give it a go on audible. I ended up finishing it in just two days and adored it.
Synopsis
Murphy is so thrilled to have her best friend home for the holidays and decides to skip her family vacation to spend time with her - especially for Blackout Friday! Her “girls-night-out” plans are quickly shot when she finds out Kat has also brought her new boyfriend along for the ride. Total bummer.
When all feels lost, Murphy rekindles with an old high school classmate, Ellie. The two immediately hit it off and realize they could help each other in more ways than one - Ellie recently went through a breakup but hasn’t told her parents, and Murphy is failing Professor Meyer’s (aka Ellie’s mother) class AGAIN. While they fake feelings for each other, could it be possible for the real thing to grow?
“Finally, thank you to every woman I’ve kissed and the ones who’ve turned me down on the grounds of being straight, only to come out of the closet several years later. I love you, I resent you, but mostly, I am proud of you.”
Favorites
FIRST, I have to acknowledge the author’s note - how CUTE is Becca Grischow? I felt that I could truly hear her voice and personality in her writing. You can tell, like Murphy, that she is so unapologetically herself. I admire her dedication to where she grew up and her praise for those who disliked her. In my late 20’s, I aspire to reach this level of confidence and will definitely be reading future books of hers!
I really liked the main character, Murphy. She has a real passion for her job even though she’s unsure of what direction the rest of her life is heading. I appreciate that this didn’t seem to create a devastating or life-altering problem for her - she was happy with the simplicity of her coffee shop job and slowly growing her role within it. I also loved that Ellie seemed to find comfort within Murphy immediately. The very second Murphy described wanting more from her job, Ellie was brainstorming.
When Ellie returned to Murphy’s job requesting to use a coupon, I physically giggled. I thought this was so cute and silly and could totally see someone doing this in real life. It was perfectly playful and flirtacious for the girls to get right back into their friendship (and maybe even more").
I absolutely LOVED was when the girls found out that Ellie’s mom had meddled in their “apologies” and rekindling. The entire book, both the girls portrayed Professor Meyer’s as a stern, authoritative, unapproachable woman. We see a bit of this at Thanksgiving dinner, but get a real look at her character when she gifts Murphy the painting and notifies her of her grade.
“She’s the smallest big spoon there ever was. But we fit like this.”
ICKS
The only complaint I have for this book is how quickly everything unfolded. It was a short book, only 320 pages, so I did somewhat anticipate this. That being said, this entire list supposedly happened, all within twenty four hours:
Murphy was re-introduced to her high school classmate, Ellie, the night before Thanksgiving
She snuck her into her workplace and invited her back to her house to stay the night
The next morning, they developed a plan to fake-date for Ellie’s family Thanksgiving dinner
Murphy then had enough time to drop Ellie off at home, run into her mother, who is also Murphy’s professor
Ellie drove BACK to Murphy’s to bake something to bring to Thanksgiving dinner
They “fought” in front of Ellie’s family and did NOT succeed with their plan
Murphy had a fifteen minute long phone call with her best friend in the bathroom
Shortly after, Murphy left unannounced and deleted Ellie’s number
None of these things were unrelatable or far-fetched, though the timeline of it all is what made it feel improbable. I enjoyed their banter and flirtation - I would have adored a longer story where we get to see more growth between them, perhaps over the entire holiday season rather than just that day.
“What do you say when you can’t yet say, “I love you.’”
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed this story and thought it was a great seasonal read. I haven’t read many YA books but I really enjoyed the emphasis of the internal monologues over any spice - this was something new to me. The characters are adorable and I feel that the holiday emotions and friendships can be relatable to many! As we get older, it can be difficult to navigate old relationships with new ones and vice-versa. This book did a great job at portraying true friendship and realistic expectations. It’s also just so relatable to being in your early twenties and everyone coming home from school for the holidays! I would definitely recommend this as a quick winter read to anyone looking for a fast-paced story! For those looking to dive into LGBTQ+ book, I’d say this is a great start where it really gracefully dives into self-discovery and managing new relationships.
