Book Review: Only the Lonely

Book: Only the Lonely (From the Files of Madison Finn book #1) by Laura Dower

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Review:

This was a cute story but at times I felt like the main character Madison Finn was making her own life miserable because she over thought almost everything.

The story was set during the summer before Maddie started 7^th grade at a new school. And with her two best friends Aimee and Egg (Walter) away at both dance and computer camps respectively, Maddie felt lonely. Maddie’s situation changed a bit when she met a new friend Fiona who just moved into the neighborhood. Everything was going well for Maddie, she wasn’t over thinking everything and she was actually having fun hanging out with her new friend that is until Aimee and Egg returned from camp. Then she was back to being this neurotic person trying to figure out everything.

She was worried that her old friends wouldn’t like her new friend and vice versa. That could have been easily resolved if Maddie had just invited Fiona over to hang out with her and her old friends so they could get to know each other but that didn't happen and this started to turn into a plot point that was stretched out for perhaps too long. Another thing Maddie was worried about was starting a new school, which is understandable. I remember what it was like starting junior high school it was a bit nerve wracking. But once she got used to it, school wasn't too bad.  

A third thing that had Maddie a bit stressed was Fiona hanging out with the mean girls, not knowing how to deal with this Maddie started to ignore Fiona instead of telling her what was really going on.

This felt like a true take on life as a 12 year old: stressing about life. I enjoyed reading this and decided to check to see if the second book was available but for now it's only available in digital form. So I'll add it to my wishlist and pick it up later because I want to see if Madison grows and stops over thinking so much.