I wasn’t very fond of the main character, Lucy. I know I was supposed to take her side in all of the squabbles with her travelmate yet nearly every time I thought Lucy was the one being kind of petty and short-tempered and coming across as spoiled. She ditches Charlene left and right, she dates a guy a friend already had her eye on, she cheats on someone, the one time she finally gets fed up enough with Jessie to lash out, I thought well finally, here’s maybe a moment where I can get behind this girl, but no, she almost immediately felt the need to apologize to him. Too often I found myself shaking my head at her actions. There’s a point in the book where it seems like life will become more difficult for Lucy and I wish the book had leaned more into that, unfortunately, the ending didn’t do much to improve my opinion of her, wrapping things up so easily that it just added to the sense of how priviledged she is.

I liked Jessie even less than I liked Lucy, at least she felt like a fully formed character. There’s almost no backstory revealed about this guy and few personality traits beyond him being noncommunicative, prone to ghosting, and being a street musician who didn’t even seem to have aspirations to be a musician. For me, his character was too underwritten, but if you’re in a phase of liking broody boys who treat the girl in their life like an afterthought, you might have a higher tolerance for him than I did.

This modern re-telling of A Room With A View loosely follows the basic structure of the orignal though this mostly stays on the surface of things, it doesn’t really get into independence coming at a cost, there’s no sense of class differences in the love story, and the crime scene in A Room With A View was pivotal in pushing the lovers together whereas here the crime scene doesn’t add or change anything, it’s barely given a thought before they move on from it, it just seemed tacked in here for the sake of the re-telling rather than necessary.

I did think Italy was nicely described, and I liked Charlene, the character you’re supposed to like least, which I guess maybe right there suggests that this book and I simply weren’t compatible enough. ( )

2.5 Stars

Well sadly this was a weak makeover of one of my favourite classics, [b:A Room with a View|3087|A Room with a View|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388781285l/3087._SY75_.jpg|4574872].

Our modern Lucy is a bit annoying at times so I found it hard to get behind her. It's a shame because the reimagining itself was pretty good. Unfortunately the powerful metamorphosis of Lucy in the classic felt a little diluted in the modern version. Maybe because the original was set in a time where women had very little right to make decisions about their lives and the fact that she took control of her future was cause for a big fanfare in my heart. A good addition to the library nonetheless. ( )

1 Devil’s Bargain Backpacker’s Tour of Europe
1 Responsible (but Cranky) Chaperone/Travel Companion
1 Know-It-All Travel Guide Blogger/Writer Obsessed with “Authenticity”

Florence!
A Room Without a View
1 Devil-May-Care Musician Drifter Love Interest
Kissing in Romantical Fiesole
Rome!
Many 'Roman Holiday' references

COLLEGE!
1 Guilt-Induced Business Major
1 Renounced Love of the Stage (Temporary)
1 Overly Involved Father
1 Major Role in Rent
Drama Kid Friends
1 Perfect on Paper But All Wrong Boyfriend ( )

Recommend to fans of Stephanie Perkins and Sarah Dessen. A modern retelling of A Room with a View. ( )

A very sweet novel, with wonderful descriptions of all things Italian. I though Lucy to be a bit naïve for the responsibility of international travel with the daughter of her mom's co-worker, but I guess that goes with the Room with a View like theme. ( )