ARC Review: "It Started with a Book" by Camilla Isley ★★★★

ARC Review: It Started with a Book by Camilla Isley

We all get that moment where we wish a fictional man were real. But what happens when that character comes to life? Will it be everything we wanted it to be? This delightful light hearted and humorous enemies-to-lovers clean rom-com might be the thing for you! It also features magical realism and many beloved romance tropes. Fans of Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey will enjoy this.

His smile is barely there, just the hint of something more playing at the corners of his lips. “Why do you look at me like that?” I ask on a breath. “Because I can,” he whispers back, his voice low and husky. “Because you want me to.” He leans closer now, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. “Because you look at me the same.”

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
In Illinois, 24-year-old Leighton Witherspoon (no, With-her-books, ba dum tss!) has been ghosted on dating apps, again, and is tired of being the only one in her friend groups still single, third-wheeling everyone else. Aside from being a broke grad student studying a masters degree in Computer Science with specialisation in AI under a misogynistic advisor, Leighton adores books and owns a BookTok account where she posts reviews.

As she is rummaging through her shelves on what to read next, she encounters a book with a damaged cover and missing front pages so the author and book name is unknown. There is only one chapter which contains the epitome of a perfect fictional boyfriend, a 6ft 4, 27-year-old billionaire cowboy Killian St Clair, and an aspiring baker who also has the name Leighton in Lakeville Hills. Every time Leighton falls asleep, she dreams about visiting Lakeville Hills and Killian, and when she wakes up, the events from her dream are mysteriously recorded in the book.

The more she cannot stand Killian, the more they are drawn to each other. When an accident in the dream causes Leighton to wake up, she finds Killian in the real world in bed next to her! Stuck with helping him navigate the real world, fake-dating him and trying to work out what on earth is happening with the book, real feelings are caught. But what if Killian suddenly disappears? What if none of it is real? What if he has been lying to her?

This is told from the first-person past-tense narrative of Leighton.

To all book lovers who have ever wished to be able to talk to a favorite character or meet them—or kiss them—in real life this book is for us.

OVERALL OPINIONS
This was an excellent light read! It’s a unique concept and super adorable! I loved that there was a lot of witty banter and general humour from various films/books and pop culture references. Some of my favourite funny moments were: firstly, when Leighton is so annoyed with Killian that she grabs a pinch of flour and throws it at him “The shocked expression on his face and consequent sneeze are priceless”; secondly, when her spicy dream gets interrupted and she wakes up (which reminded me of that film called Isn’t It Romantic?), and she say “Is this a closed-door romance? Because in that case, I want out.” ; thirdly, when Leighton predicts the “only one bed” situation, which Killian says will not happen but of course it does; fourthly, when she wakes up and discovers Killian is real; finally, when he leans against the wall and knows what he is doing:

He beams at me, raising both eyebrows in an impossibly cute frown. “I’m leaning against a wall.”
If I snapped a picture and posted it on BookTok, I’m pretty sure it’d go viral. He’s the epitome of every hot book boyfriend ever leaning on random surfaces.

Some of the vibes, particularly the Computer Science tech aspect, reminded me of Ali Hazelwood novels depicting the problems women in STEM face, which is always an important issue and I am glad it is once again being addressed in a book.

Indeed, I like that this book covers a lot of relatable things for someone in their early 20s. Having turned 25 myself recently, therefore around the same age as our protagonist, and both reads books and has a master’s degree in Computer Systems Development (a nerd and geek, exactly like her), and also now the single pringle in my friend groups, hates the dating apps, just want a good man to show himself – let’s just say, everything and I mean everything about this book was super relatable to me. This is the age when everyone is either dating or married or having children or you are single and sit by watching this, wishing and waiting it was your turn. That alone is deserving of a high rating because it was done very well. Regardless of whether you read this or not, you should see this quote (girls supporting girls):

“You’re a wonderful person,” I say, squeezing on for emphasis. “Having a man in your life or not isn’t a definition of your worth. Meeting someone you can fall in love with is just dumb luck and doesn’t reflect on your character in any way whatsoever. You rock, girl, and don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.”

I think everyone can also relate to wanting a fictional boyfriend IRL, so this was a great take on the idea, and I adore that this is who the book is dedicated to at the start.

In terms of the plot and story itself, I loved the idea but some of it was executed poorly, which I will explain in more detail below. The scenarios in her dreams were interesting, but the jump between moments ruined the charm and added unanswered questions like “why is Lakeville Hills Leighton so different from normal Leighton?”. The mysterious book left me with many questions and none of it got answered. Characters like Killian and Leighton’s parents were not fleshed out enough.

<< Positives >>
🠚Very unique story concept. Reminds me a little bit of my favourite series of books I read as a kid, “Inkheart” except Maggie and Moe could read characters out of books by telling the story.
🠚There are many readers’ favourite tropes to find in this story: enemies-to-lovers, insta-love, slowburn, fake dating, forced proximity, only one bed, touch-her-and-you-die. There is something for everyone here.
🠚Camilla Isley uses the title of the book, at the beginning of Killian and Leighton’s meet-cute story.
🠚The cover is so cute!
🠚The romance is lovely! It is sweet how many things Killian does for Leighton, from making meals for her to buying her outfits to defending her in front of her advisor to teaching her things.
🠚I liked the “In a romance novel…” this would happen or that would happen “But this is the real life” moments in this book because they can resonate with so many people.
🠚I like that eventually there is this moment where she is like “what if because he is a book character he has been programmed to like me, how will we ever know?”
🠚Gay representation.

<< Negatives >>
A lot of the issues are from this story’s lack of depth and description.
🠚Leighton’s parents are hardly in the book, and there could have been more explored about Leighton hiding the fact she is broke and not doing well from them. This just felt like a missed opportunity to have a “why didn’t you tell us” moment, and left the storyline between her and her parents incomplete as she never visits them again. I am sure her parents would have helped financially in any way they could. Also, Killian never gets introduced to them.
🠚The mysteries of the book are never solved. You would have thought there would be an explanation as to why the book chose her, how the words appear on the page, what exactly about that moment in the dream where Leighton and Killian argue caused them to fall in the lake and wake up in the real world. Was it solely his declaration of love for her and her rejecting him because he was not real, that caused the universe to be like “say less, let’s make him real”? I know it is because of magic and magic is the answer, but I would have liked more of an explanation to the book’s behaviour.
🠚Some may find it difficult to actually get into this story as it was slow-going at the start. The pacing quickens once Killian is IRL.
🠚This is a clean book and when *the moment* finally happens it feels rather anti-climactic. I think I would have preferred it happening earlier because then that would have added to the conflict.
🠚The only real conflict is “this man is not real, even though he is real right now, how long will he stay real,” and the vibe just got too repetitive. And then the later-on conflict where she discovers he lied to her did not feel like such a big deal? I liked the idea that the book makes her question the whole relationship and she relies on what it says so much it becomes an obstacle, but there was not enough of it.
🠚Killian is very accepting of the sudden turn of events leaving him stuck in the real world. I think what would have made a better concept would have been if he had struggled to adapt more, and had homesick vibes – imagine in their arugument he says “What is real is I got dragged into this world because of you! If you do not want to be with me, fine, I will have to find my own way to live here now.”
🠚We never find out if Killian “restores” his memories, or if he instead makes up stories to fill in the gaps in his knowledge: about his parents, the name of his first horse, etc.
🠚The stealing the mascot was hilarious but a little too random for my liking.
🠚The jokes about dead wives, dogs, etc. which did not exist were in poor taste (which, I mean, Leighton does tell Killian off about but still).
🠚Did not gel with any of the side characters, really. Oliver is an exception, he is lovely!

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Leighton꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ She definitely plays the song “Fictional” by Khloe Rose on loop all day every day, belting out the lyrics ♫ “I fall in love with boys I see on a TV screen / The ones in books who are as perfect as they can be / I spend all of my time imagining / What it would be like if they existed” ♫
🠚I do like her. As I’ve mentioned previously, I relate so much to her from her studies to her third-wheeling issues, to feeling lonely. I love her humour. It’s annoying the extent to which she doubts how much he loves her.

Life has turned infinitely more interesting since he stepped out of the pages of that book and into my world. And as scary as it might be to admit it, I’m not ready for this story to end just yet.

-ˋˏ ꒰ Killian꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Save a horse, ride a billionaire cowboy! I love him! He is really sweet, cinnamon roll boyfriend indeed. I love how dedicated he is to making Leighton happy.
🠚HIM READING JANE AUSTEN IS UTTER GREEN FLAG! And he cooks. “Spoon” is lowkey a cute nickname.
🠚I hope he stops dog-earing the books, that is the biggest crime I have ever seen haha. But I like that it shows even fictional boyfriends are not perfect.

“I would love any version of you in any world or dimension that existed. Because I’m in love with you, with your beautiful soul.”

PLAYLIST
Fictional - Khloe Rose | Dancing with your Ghost - Sasha Alex Sloan | Dear Reader - Peggy | Fictional Men - Peggy | L.O.V.E.D.A.R.C.Y - Emmy The Great | What Up - Emmy The Great | Sweeter than Fiction - Taylor Swift | Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift | Guilty as Sin? - Taylor Swift | Belong Together - Mark Ambor | Say You Won’t Let Go - James Arthur | You Are The Reason - Calum Scott | Surrender - Natalie Taylor | i’m yours - Isabel Larosa | Someone to Stay - Vancouver Sleep Clinic | Fine Line - Harry Styles

FAV QUOTES
• I glare at him. “Is this just a game for you?” | “No games, only business, sweetheart.” His voice is low and smooth as he reins in the horse. “And maybe a sprinkle of fun.”
• Today, he’s wearing a black suit. Black shirt, black leather shoes. No tie. He looks like the dark angel of smut incarnated.
• I look over at my supposed enemy, who’s driving me away into the sunset. I take in his strong profile and firm jaw. The perfect line of his mouth, and the way his sun-kissed hair falls in gentle waves over his forehead. He’s dangerously, infuriatingly handsome.
• “What do I have to do to make you stay?” Killian asks. | “Tell me something real,” I whisper, bracing my arms backward onto the piling for support. | Killian reaches out and unties the bow of the hair tie on top of my head. My curls tumble loose. “Right at this moment, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
• he didn’t come with a misogynistic warning sticker—I had to find out the hard way.
• My pulse quickens, and I realize that this isn’t just a dance anymore. Or even a fantasy. Because the way I feel about him right now is anything but fictional. • I surrender to the now, to the dream of being wrapped in the arms of my personal book boyfriend, a living, breathing embodiment of every fictional romance hero I’ve ever swooned over.
• “You’d better stop this little game of yours, Sugar Spoon.” The words are so soft-spoken even I strain to hear them. “Or I might decide to come out and play for real.”
• Of course he had some noble reason to be a jackass.
• “Morning, Sugar,” he rumbles, his voice still gravelly with sleep. It sounds like a secret shared in the dark. It’s a voice that suggests late nights and whispered confessions. The kind that makes the heart trip over on itself and cuts rational thinking off at the knees.
• I’m in the mood for a steamy romantasy novel with dragons. But what if I get too immersed in the story and a fire-breathing dragon pops into my apartment uninvited? One book character to contend with is more than enough.
• Killian winks at me. “That’ll be perfect, won’t it, Sugar?” | “Yep! Just great, Bun.” | Killian raises an eyebrow at the new nickname, prompting a viciously sweet smile from me.
• Our story speaks of evenings spent in comfortable silence, the easy exchanges that come when you truly know someone. This progression of us, from nemeses to lovers back to strangers and then to being the core of each other’s days, it’s written in the spaces between our words, the looks we share.
• We’re together because we want it. We want each other despite our flaws and insecurities. We’re the same people we were when we first met and at the same time we’re completely different.

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I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Camilla Isley, Boldwood Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

“It Started with a Book” is out July 5th