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celxna's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
madgulbin's review against another edition
DNF. I thought this was one of their adult books and I think it would have been better as an adult book but the friends to lovers then exs then enemies to lovers was just too childish to me on top of it actually being YA. No rating bc i'm sure this is actually good just not my jam. Still love their writing.
sylviaafayee's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kthornette's review
2.0
Look, I love Wibbroka, but the 3.27 rating is not comforting at all. (And that it was a 3.29 when I started writing this review). I’ll just look at some other reviews for this book and say whether I agree.
For starters, did I hate the book? No.
Is it the worst Wibbroka? No. But did I like it? Meh.
Was Kaylee “insufferable?” She wasn’t that likeable but I didn’t hate her. Girlie had some flaws. It’s understandable why people didn’t like her. She is pretty self-centred.
The trope: friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to maybe friends-to lovers. Hands down the best part of the book. I haven’t seen this trope done before so it was really unique to read. If the characters were more intriguing and those I was rooting for, I would’ve liked it more.
The Mamma Mia and ABBA respect was also another perk to the book.
For starters, did I hate the book? No.
Is it the worst Wibbroka? No. But did I like it? Meh.
Was Kaylee “insufferable?” She wasn’t that likeable but I didn’t hate her. Girlie had some flaws. It’s understandable why people didn’t like her. She is pretty self-centred.
The trope: friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to maybe friends-to lovers. Hands down the best part of the book. I haven’t seen this trope done before so it was really unique to read. If the characters were more intriguing and those I was rooting for, I would’ve liked it more.
The Mamma Mia and ABBA respect was also another perk to the book.
lookinabook's review
2.0
This story is arguably hard to get right. I think if they had stuck to their enemies or friends to lovers tropes of the past they would’ve pulled something off here, but this one fell short.
The FMC was pretty one dimensional, hard to empathize with, and generally frustrating. I normally love unlikable female MC’s, but this one didn’t work because we were supposed to like her, just because she’s the main character. But she didn’t really have a personality. That may sound harsh, but her whole personality was volleyball, faking being fine and perfect with literally everything all the time, and apparently being in a lot of short term flings that all also seemed as surface level as her. I saw another reviewer call her shallow, and in many ways she was because she was so out of touch with her actual emotions at all times it was rough. I’m not sure this works in a rom com, maybe in a thriller or drama it would’ve been better, but again the character wasn’t fleshed out enough in general.
The love interest/ex bf Dean was also extremely boring and contrived. I honestly didn’t care about him at all. He sounded moody and/or kinda pathetic the whole book and I didn’t feel anything for him. I was glad toward the end when he finally told Kaylee he was worth more than the way she had treated him, but he literally cried during it and then got back with her like the next day so it sorta didn’t work. Honestly it could’ve been great if he’d literally moved on and been happy without her because she didn’t actually do anything to redeem herself - short of confessing she was scared of commitment (not a redemption arc in my book). I also didn’t think he sounded very interesting. Maybe that’s unfair because I grew up in LA surrounded by hipster dudes just like that who all had a passion for photography and it just wasn’t enough to impress me in any way.
The story was a little boring and redundant. Kaylee spends every scene shutting down her own feelings and actively reordering her thoughts instead of being a real person, and that never really changes. Their vacation with the families was uneventful and even the parents big fight or tension was lackluster. I’m kinda disappointed the authors didn’t go bigger with that one. What sort of grown adults who’ve known each other for decades get into a huge falling out like that over different career path choices? I didn’t really care about them to be honest. The one thing I will say was it was totally realistic to me that Dean’s mom would put the responsibility of Dean’s emotional state onto Kaylee, I’ve met many mothers with sons and that’s nothing new.
I liked the little sisters characters the best. Kinda would rather just read their stories.
Main points:
- Romance was non existent
- characters weren’t well written and were kind of boring
- as a result the story was boring
- I liked the setting but I’m partial to LA because it’s my hometown
- the summer vibes were nice but that’s about it
The FMC was pretty one dimensional, hard to empathize with, and generally frustrating. I normally love unlikable female MC’s, but this one didn’t work because we were supposed to like her, just because she’s the main character. But she didn’t really have a personality. That may sound harsh, but her whole personality was volleyball, faking being fine and perfect with literally everything all the time, and apparently being in a lot of short term flings that all also seemed as surface level as her. I saw another reviewer call her shallow, and in many ways she was because she was so out of touch with her actual emotions at all times it was rough. I’m not sure this works in a rom com, maybe in a thriller or drama it would’ve been better, but again the character wasn’t fleshed out enough in general.
The love interest/ex bf Dean was also extremely boring and contrived. I honestly didn’t care about him at all. He sounded moody and/or kinda pathetic the whole book and I didn’t feel anything for him. I was glad toward the end when he finally told Kaylee he was worth more than the way she had treated him, but he literally cried during it and then got back with her like the next day so it sorta didn’t work. Honestly it could’ve been great if he’d literally moved on and been happy without her because she didn’t actually do anything to redeem herself - short of confessing she was scared of commitment (not a redemption arc in my book). I also didn’t think he sounded very interesting. Maybe that’s unfair because I grew up in LA surrounded by hipster dudes just like that who all had a passion for photography and it just wasn’t enough to impress me in any way.
The story was a little boring and redundant. Kaylee spends every scene shutting down her own feelings and actively reordering her thoughts instead of being a real person, and that never really changes. Their vacation with the families was uneventful and even the parents big fight or tension was lackluster. I’m kinda disappointed the authors didn’t go bigger with that one. What sort of grown adults who’ve known each other for decades get into a huge falling out like that over different career path choices? I didn’t really care about them to be honest. The one thing I will say was it was totally realistic to me that Dean’s mom would put the responsibility of Dean’s emotional state onto Kaylee, I’ve met many mothers with sons and that’s nothing new.
I liked the little sisters characters the best. Kinda would rather just read their stories.
Main points:
- Romance was non existent
- characters weren’t well written and were kind of boring
- as a result the story was boring
- I liked the setting but I’m partial to LA because it’s my hometown
- the summer vibes were nice but that’s about it
kcmmp13's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I enjoyed the young adult second-chance romance. Kaylee is crazy busy with school and extracurriculars. Her one reprieve is the time she spends on vacation in Malibu with another family. The only negative this year is that she just broke up with the son of that other family and she didn't really give him a reason. The drama at the start had me hooked to see what would become of these two as they try to navigate their "friendship" while with their families.
Kaylee's genius plan to deal with each other is to teach him how to get over her. This was a little presumptuous of her, but it made for a good book. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Kaylee and Dean. You could tell that over time, feelings were changing. I also liked how Kaylee's character wasn't only a social media influencer, but that it intertwined with her playing volleyball.
Kaylee's genius plan to deal with each other is to teach him how to get over her. This was a little presumptuous of her, but it made for a good book. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Kaylee and Dean. You could tell that over time, feelings were changing. I also liked how Kaylee's character wasn't only a social media influencer, but that it intertwined with her playing volleyball.
sassyykassie's review against another edition
4.0
*Thank you Penguin Randomhouse for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*
I loved Emily and Austin's What's Not to Love so when this showed up, I was super excited to get my hands on it. This story follows Kaylee and Dean whose two families vacation together every year... even the summer following their not so easy break up.
Although I couldn't help but wish these characters were just a tad older because the idea of a two month relationship being a long time gave me a little chuckle, I can't help but applaud Emily and Austin once again for making teen characters feel three dimensional and relatable even to someone not in that age category while also not making them feel like they were adults in teen bodies.
I loved the family dynamics taking place in this book. The romance was fun and cute while also handling those big "who am I" questions we all felt at the end of high school when the schools are telling us we should know what we want to do with our lives. Absolutely loved this one.
I loved Emily and Austin's What's Not to Love so when this showed up, I was super excited to get my hands on it. This story follows Kaylee and Dean whose two families vacation together every year... even the summer following their not so easy break up.
Although I couldn't help but wish these characters were just a tad older because the idea of a two month relationship being a long time gave me a little chuckle, I can't help but applaud Emily and Austin once again for making teen characters feel three dimensional and relatable even to someone not in that age category while also not making them feel like they were adults in teen bodies.
I loved the family dynamics taking place in this book. The romance was fun and cute while also handling those big "who am I" questions we all felt at the end of high school when the schools are telling us we should know what we want to do with our lives. Absolutely loved this one.
therese_nook68's review against another edition
5.0
5/5
I really enjoyed this book! It was quick and fun and a good summer read — not just saying that because it’s set during the summer.
I loved seeing Kaylee work through her perfectionism and her need to compare her track in life to her mother’s. I loved seeing Dean’s view on the world and how he didn’t need to turn his passion into a career because then it wouldn’t feel enjoyable to him anymore. I thought the two characters balanced each other really well.
I also enjoyed seeing the family dynamics, one of my favorite tropes are family friends and seeing how the dynamic affects the kids or how the relationship affects the parents. Overall, would recommend and def will pick up these authors’ works in the future.
I really enjoyed this book! It was quick and fun and a good summer read — not just saying that because it’s set during the summer.
I loved seeing Kaylee work through her perfectionism and her need to compare her track in life to her mother’s. I loved seeing Dean’s view on the world and how he didn’t need to turn his passion into a career because then it wouldn’t feel enjoyable to him anymore. I thought the two characters balanced each other really well.
I also enjoyed seeing the family dynamics, one of my favorite tropes are family friends and seeing how the dynamic affects the kids or how the relationship affects the parents. Overall, would recommend and def will pick up these authors’ works in the future.
lesliejane's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. While there wasn't anything glaringly bad with the book, I just could not connect to it. I don't know if it's the age of the main characters or their personalities, but I found something really off putting and had no interest in finishing