It Started With A Miss
This book follows the main character Annie Adams, a teacher who falls hard and quickly. It shows her journey of struggling with other characters and also giving other characters the help they so desperately need.
The main character Annie is SO relatable, I found myself constantly thinking that's exactly how I'd react or that's exactly how I'd be feeling. I felt proud of her character and loved reading how she was helping others as well as sticking up for herself when she needed to. Annie is a character who most people I'm sure could see a bit of themselves in her, I love being able to relate to the characters when reading because it makes me all the more emersed. It was a nice easy read with struggles that happen to different people daily which gave it a nice amount of depth and seriousness to the story.

There are several issues that I have with this book. But before we get there, let's talk about things I enjoyed - I loved that it was set in Dublin, which I had no idea when I got this book. Having visited Dublin for the very first time just a few months ago, I am still riding on a certain high that this vacation gave me. It also made reading Irish accents somewhat easier as I still had audible memory of hearing them on the streets. Now, let's talk about things I didn't like. The synopsis and the blurb on the cover will make you think that this will be a rom-com. While there is a certain humor in the book, it is certainly not laugh-out-loud and it is certainly NOT a rom-com. The story starts when Annie, our main character, starts teaching English in one of Dublin schools. There she meets dashing James, another teacher, and things start rolling after the whole staff goes out to drinks. However, the relationship between Annie and James starts and ends by Chapter 3 (not a spoiler since it happens so early). Why devote the entire book synopsis to that? Afterward, we are just following Annie as she goes to work, tries to navigate hormonally challenged teenage students in her classroom, goes out with the staff to drink and tries to survive constant wedding planning talk from her recently engaged roommate. The character of Annie is very flat and has zero personality. The synopsis states that she has a history of dating bad men, which was a surprise to me since there is absolutely nothing about it in the book. Where did that come from?
I can go on about other characters (Kieran for one, I am still pissed that Annie never confronted him about the fact that he didn't say anything about the incident she had with Avril since he was there and saw everything), but I will stop here...
What really bothered me about the story is that the author brought up very serious topics (bullying, overdose, homophobia, depression) only as a plot device. I didn't appreciate how they were handled at all. Also, the ending of the story was so abrupt that I seriously thought my copy was missing some pages. But no, it was simply how the story ended.

I really enjoyed this book! It follows a year in the life of a first year teacher, Annie. It has a perfect mix of laughing-out-loud moments and more serious ones. I loved that it shows not only her life at school but also outside school.

If you have ever:
- hooked up with the wrong person at work... have had a problem with a workmate... have had a roomate and her fiancé planning their crazy wedding... or trying to juggle all of this while mantaining your sanity... Then this book is definitely for you!

I received this book from NetGalley to voluntarily read and review. While it's not my favorite book, it wasn't too bad. I enjoyed the story of Annie finding love. The setting is in Dublin so I really thought the use of the dialect to be interesting.

I did find conversations in the first few chapters between Annie and her fellow teachers to be redundant and repetitive.... "How are you getting along? Or"Are you getting on okay?" Or other forms of this question phrased differently.

I did laugh a few times. There are mentions of sexual preferences, bullying. Overall, a decent read.

#netgalley
#itstartedwithamiss

I thought this was book was interesting. I liked the protagonist and I liked the way she was written but I felt like the story was rushed to try and get the story all looped up by the end. I would have liked some more defining in some of the big moments. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to read!

I really enjoyed this book. I was worried it would be a bit generic like many books of this genre but I can honysay this offers something different. Great read.

It Started with a Miss is the story of Annie - as another reviewer noted, there are multiple plot lines in this book so it is hard to finish that initial sentence with something as simple as "the story of Annie and her search for meaning" or "the story of Annie and how she finds hope thru a horrible loss". I really wanted to love this book because the cover is gorgeous and gives off serious rom-com vibes.

The various plot lines don't tie together in a meaningful way, which at first left me waiting for the connection but eventually just left me scratching my head in confusion. When I evaluated my feelings about the book at about 50% thru I noted that I didn't feel any real investment or connection with any of the characters.

Also notable is that the dialect is all over the place. There were big variations between characters that couldn't be accounted for based on where they grew up (for ex: Annie vs. Mags, who grew up together). It was distracting and didn't add to the story.

While I didn't DNF this book, it just wasn't for me- doesn't mean it won't work for others though.

When I first started reading the book it didn’t have a synopsis, but I dove right in due to the cover. The cover was eye catching and had the description of “The perfect laugh-out-loud romantic comedy”. Right up my alley!

I struggled to get into the book as it was a bit different than I expected. I did find some humor, but the story wasn’t as lighthearted and funny as I hoped it would be. I did enjoy the story of Annie and how she was able to work with her students and help them succeed. As for the romance, I didn’t feel much of a spark and it didn’t have me yearning for more. Most characters were predictable, but that didn’t stop the story from being a heartwarming and sweet read.

I want to thank NetGalley, the author and publisher for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

***It Started With A Miss has a lot of story threads. On one hand there is the story of Annie, the first year English teacher in Dublin trying to make a difference for a couple of students who refer to her as Miss. Then there is the story of Annie the daughter, the friend, the roommate, and finally the woman. Parts of Annie’s personality were admirable, while others reminded this reader of the women in Sex and the City. This cover proclaimed the book “The perfect romantic comedy,” however the fact that this American reader found no humor might just be a cultural thing since punctuation and setting indicate a British or Irish author. This isn’t a bad story, but it’s not one I would want to read again. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.