Review: Becoming Mila by Estelle Maskame

Attention! Becoming Mila by Estelle Maskame is the wholesome coming-of-age summer romance you do not want to miss this year!

Mila is sixteen, lives in LA and feels as though her main identifier is being her father’s daughter. Due to his flourishing Hollywood career, she is constantly thrust into the spotlight herself. When a mishap in front of the press threatens to shine a bad light on her father’s new Blockbuster, Mila is sent away to relatives in Nashville, Tennessee. It is there that she starts reconnecting with old friends, making new acquaintances and meeting the absolutely infuriating yet somehow charming Blake. She also starts questioning her own identity so far away from a world where she has to be perfect every step of the way. And if that wasn’t stressful enough, there are some family secrets coming to light, that Mila doesn’t quite know how to deal with…

This is the ultimate summer read for 2021. I laughed, I cried, and I felt for the characters all the way through. And the best part? There are two more books to come! Estelle Maskame created a world full of characters who are—for lack of a better word—utterly wholesome. Mila is highly relatable, despite her brush with celebrities. She tries to figure out the answers to questions, like “Who am I? Where do I belong? How do I fit into this society/world?” and I do believe that every teenager asks themselves those exact same questions. Seeing Mila navigate a life so far from what she has always known and what she is used to is an absolute joy. From going to bonfires to tailgate parties and honky tonks, Mila has a lot to experience and a lot to discover. Thankfully, she has old friends and new friends by her side to show her the ropes. Readers may or may not also be treated to a devastatingly swoonworthy romance that I absolutely refuse to spoil a single thing about because you’ll have to do the sighing and swooning for yourself.

During her time in Tennessee, Mila is able to reconnect with her aunt and grandfather and also starts discovering some well and deeply hidden family secrets where her parents are concerned. It is a plot twist that slowly creeps up on you, and which makes the story even more profound and interesting.

Becoming Mila was unputdownable for me and I read it in one sitting. I had the best time going on this adventure with Mila and I am already desperately waiting for book two because I cannot wait to go back to this gorgeous world Estelle has created and I am sure that you will feel the absolute same. For all of my LGBTQIA+ readers, I would like to mention that there is a reference in here to a book series about a certain boy wizard, so take care of yourselves.

Becoming Mila is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up Becoming Mila? Tell us in the comments below!

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Synopsis | Goodreads

Set in Los Angeles and Nashville over a long, hot summer, Becoming Mila is the first book in an irresistibly addictive and exhilarating new trilogy from Estelle Maskame, shimmering with love, friendship, family frictions – and lots of romance.

Sixteen-year-old Mila lives in LA with her mom and A-list actor dad, whose fame constantly thrusts their lives into the media spotlight. But when Mila’s antics around town make waves ahead of her dad’s next big movie, something needs to be done. So Mila is dispatched 2,000 miles away to Nashville, Tennessee, where she can cool off for the summer with her aunt and grandfather. The perfect solution – right?

Mila’s not so sure. She’s dreading the idea of a summer away from her friends, not to mention being shipped to the other side of the country. Apprehensive and out-of-sorts when she arrives, it doesn’t take long for her to get off on the wrong foot with the mayor’s son, Blake. In spectacular style.

But Blake’s no stranger to Mila’s issues. He knows exactly what life’s like with a parent in the public eye – the pressures and politics, dramas and dynamics … Perhaps Mila and Blake have far more in common than either of them care to admit.

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