Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn

Sometimes the hopes, dreams—and stories—of our past can shape our future selves in the most powerful and unexpected ways…

Georgie Mulcahy has returned home from L.A. with her career in flux and her future a disconcertingly blank page. Her once slightly shabby Virginia town has transformed itself in recent years, but some things remain the same—like her wonderful but absent-minded parents forgetting to mention that they’d already offered up their empty house to someone else. When Georgie rediscovers a “friendfic” diary she wrote in high school, filled with the possible lives she imagined for herself, she wonders if it’s time she did some transforming of her own…

Much to her embarrassment, many of the fantastic adventures Georgie once envisioned for Future Georgie revolved around her high school crush—the golden boy younger brother of her current roommate—the town misfit. Yet beyond briefly wondering what happened between them, Georgie finds herself wondering what happened to herself. The Georgie who wrote those pages was daring, confident, eager to grasp opportunities with both hands. Is it too late to become that girl again? To find out, Georgie just might have to pick herself up, dust off some of those teenage ambitions, and see what they spark…

Hardcover, 340 pages

Published January 1, 2023 

by Kensington Publishing Corp.

3/5 stars

This was my February, Book of the Month pick, again a new author for me,and a book that came highly recommended.

Moving back home after suddenly losing her job, Georgie stumbles onto an old piece of writing she penned when a teen, kind of a bucket list for her high school years. Feeling motivated by all the things she didn't do she embarks on a quest to complete some of those things.  It's a journey that she least expects.

Georgie, All Along is a somewhat slow paced story, but it does pack meaning into its pages. I liked Georgie, I liked her spunk, her impulsive personality and her devotion to her friends.  Her friendship with Belle was endearing and the story played out nicely.  

Georgie, All Along is a story of finding one’s self, family and healing from the past.  Ultimately I liked it but didn't love it. It didn't pack the emotional punch I was looking for. I did a hybrid read, listenening to the audio for Georgie's part and that of the other POV was a read - the reader was almost a whisper compared to Georgie and honestly I didn't feel matched the character. 

Take my thoughts with a grain of salt, as most loved it.

This book was part of my 2023 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge