My first thought - and I'm not sure if the publisher or NetGalley is to blame for this - is that this book was tagged under Graphic Novel/Comic on the NetGalley website and that's why I requested to read it, that cover art is gorgeous and I wanted more. I probably would not have requested it if I knew it was a straight romance.

That being said, I'm not disappointed I read this. My overall rating is straight down the middle because the plot swung between amazing and terrible.

First, the bad - Poppy's mum is absolutely terrible and any reconciliation is not good enough, why does Poppy have to apologise when her mum told her to give up and weight shamed her for her whole life? A parent's job is to love and nurture their child, not take out their own issues on their child to the point where the child ends up an anxious wreck with no self-confidence. She did not deserve Poppy's forgiveness and expecting adult children to just get over a lifetime of abuse because a parent apologises (decades too late) is not good enough.

Now, the good - Varon really brought to life the villa in France and the writing retreat, all the best scenes were of the women supporting and building each other up. I was really rooting for Poppy to finish the book and take on running The Colony. Oliver was an excellent character and I love their romance. I spotted a certain "twist" from the plane but that made me more excited for Poppy to finally find out. The Poppy in France scenes were my favourite parts of the book and I think Varon handled certain topics delicately and really well.

Poppy Banks has what should be her dream job writing for Thought Buzz (excellent naming choice for a Buzzfeed and Thought Catalog mash-up! 👏). Yet, she would rather write mystery novels than endless listicles accompanied by pressure to hit a number of clicks.

When Poppy's aunt, Margot, dies (it's in the blurb, so not a spoiler) she leaves Poppy a trip to the French Riviera. Once there, Poppy realises that Margot has also left her an incredible villa. There is just one catch! In order to inherit the villa, Poppy has six months to write her novel. Can she do it, or will procrastination and self-sabotage rule the day, again?

What follows is a captivating novel about figuring out who you really are, what you want, and living with intention (side note, this is also name of Varon's brilliant online course). What happens if you do it for the plot twist? Main Character Energy has creativity, romance, complicated familial relationships, and working towards your dreams.

Poppy Banks leaps off the page as a woman intent – again, a word I have chosen deliberately – on making the most of her life after years of simply doing the bare minimum. I loved it! 😍

I knew within the first page that this was going to be a book I would love. Poppy is such a relatable character and I truly felt so many of her emotions, especially from the aspect of family and societal pressure to look and act a certain way.

Poppy and Oliver are characters that I found myself rooting for from their first interaction and along with all of the other characters, I found this to be such an enjoyable read.

Main Character Energy surprised me in the most wonderful way. I went into it, knowing absolutely nothing about it and honestly, that made reading this so much more fun. Jamie Varon's writing style is a delight to read and the way she makes you feel for all of the characters is just amazing. I adored Poppy as the main character but I also quite enjoyed the amazing side characters we got. Poppy's determination to finish her book and her growth over the course of the story was done perfectly; and to be honest? I was in love with her from the first few pages. As a writer myself, I have come, very close myself, to give up on writing, so to see Poppy struggle with the same thing and overcome those doubts felt so nice to see. One thing that I really liked about this book is how much it focused on Poppy, rather than focusing on the romance aspect Personally, I think I enjoyed the book a lot more because of this.

Main Character Energy is a delightful read and the perfect book to curl up on your bed with, on a hot summer day. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more of Jamie Varon's works!

Short, cute and perfect for the summer, this is a quick little novel that will give you a boost of serotonin.

When Poppy’s aunt Margot dies she leaves behind a mysterious villa in Nice, France and a one way ticket to a dream life.

Except Poppy is failing at adulting and her writing is suffering from not only imposter syndrome but a big brother who’s a New York Times best selling author.

Coupled with a mother with a compelling hatred for her sister, Poppy can’t think of a worse thing to do but her love for her aunt and her curiosity lead her to this dream vacation where she finds out she has six months to write her novel before she can inherit the villa or sell.

With a romantic interest in the maddening Oliver who is interested in keeping the property, will Poppy make the right decision?

I really enjoyed this, I guessed 60% of the plot but the rest was really enjoyable and just as twisty as one of Poppy’s novels.

Would recommend!

your life, not feeling good enough, as well as grief and family dynamics, especially mother daughter relationships, were handled so well and so kindly that the story as a whole felt warm and inviting.

This was also a story that just had be highlights passage after passage of just quotable goodness and reminders for life. 'Do it for the plot' being one such brilliant one.

I have followed Jamie Varon on Instagram for years, and I was so excited to read this book. In the end, it fell in the middle for me. There's no doubt that Varon is a wonderful writer, and i love how she puts words on the page. But for some reason, I could not find myself cheering for the main character, and that soured me on this book. I found her sort of whiny and full of excuses, and frankly undeserving of the fairy godmother sort of gifts that ended up being bestowed upon her. I will look out for her next book though--I think she has potential!

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book.

I loved it! It was rather easy to read (the writing style was but not the kindle format). Poppy had quite the journey but I was happy to read how she became the person she is.

I had a nice time reading it and would recommend it!

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review - thank you so much to Netgalley as this was my most-anticipated ARC of this year!

For anyone that is familiar with Jamie Varon's writing and online presence, her perspective on life and joy and living the best way you know how is so wonderful and has always resonated so deeply with me. I've followed for online for years and saved so much of her writing as reminders to myself and this book felt like an natural extension of that. Her unique perspective and way of storytelling made this story so recognisably hers in the best way.

Poppy Banks as a character was so perfectly human, her flaws and insecurities so familiar to me as I'm sure they are many women. This made it such a joy to read from her POV, which felt honest and brave in how she opened herself up these opportunities that terrified her. She was just so relatable.

Not only Poppy, but I loved all of the side characters too - something which rarely happens for me; they each had their own identity and voice in the story. I got rave about specific characters but I'm holding back from giving anything away. The setting of the french riviera and a beautiful country villa just added to the inspiring quality of the story, making it feel a bit more magical.

The themes of insecurity, fear of living your life, not feeling good enough, as well as grief and family dynamics, especially mother daughter relationships, were handled so well and so kindly that the story as a whole felt warm and inviting.

This was also a story that just had be highlights passage after passage of just quotable goodness and reminders for life. 'Do it for the plot' being one such brilliant one.

If all of that isn't enough to convince you, it is a truly easy to digest read - I got off a 12.5hr night shift and went straight into reading this in one sitting and did not want to put it down once!

I can’t wait to share my full thoughts and review on this one!
What a great concept and title for an upcoming women’s function book!
I think many of us go through things that dim our light or make us
defer from our true life’s passion sometimes in life and it will be so interesting and
entertaining to see Poppy get her groove back and become the writer she was meant to be!