No Filter

by Orlagh Collins

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Social media has trained us to "filter" our lives. Picking the parts we want people to see, and carefully projecting the desired image. Emerald had become an expert at filtering her life, but when her mother almost died, Em learned that she was not the only one in her family, who was hiding things.

I so loved this book! I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and I smiled a whole heck of a lot. There was a bunch of "weighty" stuff explored, but the two things that stood out for me in the story were the family dynamics and the romance.

Em was struggling with her home life. Her father actually did her a favor by sending her to stay with her grandmother, because Em finally had someone taking care of her. It was quite lovely seeing the bond between Em and her grandmother renewed, and Gran was a pretty special lady, who had been paying for the sins of her son for some time. I was really happy she and Em were able to find some comfort in each other.

Liam had a pretty decent home life. He had an incredible mother, a nosy, but loving sister, a baby sister, who he adored, and a dad, who eventually grew to understand his son a little better. Sometimes it was really intense in Liam's house, but this family had been through a lot. They lost a lot, but they always had each other.

Now for the BEST part - the romance. This was a first love romance, which is one of my favorites. There is just something about seeing people feel those things for the first time, and sharing all those experiences that are so new with each other. I swear, I was smiling like a fool.

I was so grateful that this story was told in alternating points of view, because it was fantastic being in Liam's head. He was just such a sweet cupcake of a boy, and I was instantly in love with him. I also enjoyed seeing Em drop the filter and be legit with Liam. Being with him gave her things that she was looking for and things that she needed - love, support, and the freedom to just be. She was able to bare her soul without judgement, and Em needed someone like Liam in her life more than she thought she did.

There were a bunch of other things I really liked too:
•I love Ireland, and was happy to spend time in this Dublin seaside town.
•I was fascinated by the slang. I learned a lot of new words.
•I was pretty thrilled with choices Collins made for Em's family. I needed that more than I thought I did.
•A grand gesture!!! Anyone who knows me, knows I get all soft and mushy from a grand gesture.
•The ending left me so happy and satisfied.

Overall: A lovely story of first love, which left me drying my happy tears.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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