It’s no secret that Stephanie Morrill is one of my writing role models. Though I’ve read and adored the first book in her Ellie Sweet series twice in the past, I had never wrote a proper review for the book… until now! 🙂

Highlights:

Representation of a Writer’s Life

Being a writer herself (obviously), Mrs. Morrill does an excellent job portraying the life of a teen writer. The more involved I get in the writing community, the more I relate to Ellie’s personal writing experiences in this book. My only wish is that the writing side of her life was more heavily mentioned, as on this reread I was reading more for that aspect.

Ellie’s Relatable Attributes

Ellie Sweet is a well-crafted main character that is easily relatable for teen girls who are interested in writing books, or girls who struggle with their self-esteem. Though I feel like I related more to Ellie the first and second times I read this book (both times in my early twenties), I still see a lot of my teenage self in her.

Portrayal of the Writing Community

I know this section is similar to the first section of this review, but it’s different, trust me. XD
Now that I’m a published author (I wasn’t during the first two reads of this book), I can attest that the portrayal of the writing community in this book is spot on. Young writers often have mentors that “outgrow” them so to speak, and new friends are always being made. Though I’ve never been to a writing conference, from what I’ve read about them via personal testimonies of others, the writing conference in this book is portrayed true to their normal fashion.

Lowlight:

The Love Triangle

During my first two reads of this book, I enjoyed the love triangle that forms between Ellie, popular boy Palmer, and bad boy Chase. Now that I’m a little older, I wasn’t as interested in the day-to-day crush drama that Ellie faced with these two. Both of these boys were jerks at times, both pushing her aside to have flings with other girls. I felt like Ellie deserved better than that, though I also felt that it was a bit unrealistic for Palmer to suddenly have a crush on her as well. The backstory behind Chase’s crush was believable, but upon this re-read I can’t really see why Palmer would have a crush on Ellie. I ended up deducting a half-star from my former rating because of this aspect.

Overall, as I mentioned before, young writers who have a soft spot for love triangles will absolutely love this book.

Rating:

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

Which books like The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet do you recommend? I recently bought a Kindle copy of Stephanie Morrill’s newest historical fiction release, Within These Lines, which I’m super excited to get to!

Be sure to check back next week for my review of book two of the Ellie Sweet series, The Unlikely Debut of Ellie Sweet!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀