3.5/5 
 So, I need to go to Italy. Now. Please. 
 Not going to lie I was kind of convinced I was going to hate this book the first 50-75 pages or so. Everyone irritated me. However, it got better once the journal was in play. This is one of those books that I feel like would have made a better movie (if done right), like, set in Italy in all. But then again, maybe not because idk how the mystery(ish-it's predictable) would have played out. (view spoiler)[X. 
 (hide spoiler)] 
 Things that I didn't like (So I can end on a positive note): 
 -the romance was meh, like, it was cute but I wasn't all that invested 
 -I have no strong feelings about the characters. at all. They all needed some depth. 
 -We really didn't even actually learn a whole lot the main character herself or Ren for that matter. 
 -I feel like everything happened soooo fast 
 -Hella predictable 
 -Also, not everyone's perfect but sometimes the characters were unnecessarily clueless (*cough* Lina *cough*) 
 Things I liked: 
 -ITALY. I loved the descriptions of places and FOOD!!!!!!! I googled some of the places while reading and that was fun :) 
 -Ren is a cutie 
 -Howard is great too 
 -Lina's interactions with them and then when she talked to the people her mom used to know 
 -Howard and Hadley's friends when they were younger 
 -Howard's friends when he was older 
 -How the book primarily focused on Lina's journey to understanding her mother, dealing with grief, experiencing Italy using the journal (my favorite thing about this book). If you are going to read this, read it for this tbh cus I really enjoyed this part. 
 -(view spoiler)[The finding The Dress scene at the end was so great (hide spoiler)] 
 This is a really good summer read!