The Truth About Happily Ever After by Karole Cozzo

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

If there was ever a book written just for me, it's this one. I was so excited when Karole reached out to me asking if I wanted a copy of her book, The Truth About Happily Ever After, because it sounded like the perfect book for me: a fluffy contemporary filled with Disney-inspired theme park magic. And it absolutely was. I do want to put a trigger warning on this for eating disorders, however.

Alyssa plays Cinderella at the famous Enchanted Dominion theme park. She loves her job, her long-distance boyfriend is about to come down for the summer, and everything seems perfect. Until suddenly it isn't. As Alyssa's fairy tale fantasy starts crashing down around her, she has to decide what is more important: the illusion of that fairy tale, or the joy that real life can bring.

Being a former cast member, this book spoke to me on so many levels! Even though I wasn't a character performer, I had many friends that were, and I experienced so many of the things mentioned in this book. While it definitely isn't 100% accurate in terms of cast member life, privileges, etc. it was very close. And I will say that the parts about character performers being under extremely intense scrutiny for appearance, weight, etc. is absolutely true. I really identified with Alyssa. From her love for Lilly Pulitzer and her sorority sisters (proud Alpha Gamma Delta alum here!), to her unwavering optimism and desire to stop at nothing to get what she has her heart set on, I saw myself in her from the very beginning. I loved watching her grow throughout the story, and just about cried at the ending!

I do think I would classify this as New Adult rather than Young Adult, since the main character and all her friends are college students rather than in high school, and there's a decent amount of sexual innuendo. This is actually great because I don't think there are nearly enough NA books and we need more!

I just couldn't put this one down, and flew through it as fast as my schedule would allow. This book was sugary sweet, and I know I will turn to Alyssa and the Enchanted Dominion again and again when I need a fun book to get me out of a reading slump.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Karole Cozzo for sending me a copy of this magical read! Be sure to pick up a copy!