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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, and Medical content
words_with_wendy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cursing and Medical content
Minor: Infidelity
roget's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
What to say about this?
It's like a pinch of Cyrano meets a dash of The Bachelor, but remarkably down to earth and self-aware, given those two aspects. It's funny. It made me laugh audibly multiple times.
The story launches with Sloane arriving in LA to spend an entire summer with Liam, her best friend since early childhood, and his family. While Liam moved a long time before that, they've kept in touch over facetimes, visits, and texting, but it's been two years since they've seen each other in person.
Sloane is excited. She's got a suitcase. She's got a bucket list of activities. She's so ready to reconnect with Liam and have a montage's worth of summery fun memories. And Liam? He's every bit as eager and anxious to be there with her as well.
Only Liam's dad (an executive producer in reality television who doesn't really respect Liam's desires to go into woodworking) pressures him into getting a PA job on set of his new reality dating show--a spinoff from a series Sloane and Liam both fanatically watch. The catch? It's staring a teenage celebrity with a poor reputation. And also now Liam won't have time to hang out nearly as much. On a tour of the set, producers learn that casting made an error, and they're one girl short for the first episode, which is set to film the following day.
Liam's dad swoops in and coaxes, nay, shoves Sloane into it. He dangles offers to introduce her to the right people to help kick start her screenwriting career if she can just stick around and make it to the top four. (ick. Yes. It is ick that he would offer this as a trade when he has the ability to just help her out, considering their families have been friends for years. But as you come to learn, Liam's dad is neck-deep in his own personal selfish, yucky behavior era.) Liam is stressed, confused, and frustrated, but most of all, he just wants Sloane to be okay and live out her dreams.
Sloane's stint on the show gets more and more complicated as her and Liam's feelings do, and the pair find themselves caught in the crosshairs of reality television and Mr. Daniels' poor decision making skills.
This is a friends-to-lovers YA romance with a bit of a strange plot, I'll admit. YA is less so my thing at this stage in life, and the book had a rocky start for me. ("Party in the USA" took a prominent role in the first chapter, and it felt a bit strange and old for someone from Gen Z to be fixated on that song.) But it grew on me! Liam and Sloane are down to earth but believable teens swept up in their first major "are you the one" romance. They make mistakes, they struggle with wanting validation and acknowledgement in a world too busy for them, and they always look out for each other.
I appreciate that the writer was relatively careful with her characters all the way through, and things like boundaries and trust seem more and more important, given the chaos of the reality tv set.
Overall, I felt the story was a bit cheesy, but in the best way. It played with some fun tropes without seeming too tired, and the pacing was spot on. It didn't drag or flounder, and that's probably what put this book over that fourth star for me. The characters were also easy to like (or loathe).
TLDR: T-rated content, super sweet romance, plucky MMC and FMC in a reality show setting that seems to conspire against them.
Many thanks to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. <3
It's like a pinch of Cyrano meets a dash of The Bachelor, but remarkably down to earth and self-aware, given those two aspects. It's funny. It made me laugh audibly multiple times.
The story launches with Sloane arriving in LA to spend an entire summer with Liam, her best friend since early childhood, and his family. While Liam moved a long time before that, they've kept in touch over facetimes, visits, and texting, but it's been two years since they've seen each other in person.
Sloane is excited. She's got a suitcase. She's got a bucket list of activities. She's so ready to reconnect with Liam and have a montage's worth of summery fun memories. And Liam? He's every bit as eager and anxious to be there with her as well.
Only Liam's dad (an executive producer in reality television who doesn't really respect Liam's desires to go into woodworking) pressures him into getting a PA job on set of his new reality dating show--a spinoff from a series Sloane and Liam both fanatically watch. The catch? It's staring a teenage celebrity with a poor reputation. And also now Liam won't have time to hang out nearly as much. On a tour of the set, producers learn that casting made an error, and they're one girl short for the first episode, which is set to film the following day.
Liam's dad swoops in and coaxes, nay, shoves Sloane into it. He dangles offers to introduce her to the right people to help kick start her screenwriting career if she can just stick around and make it to the top four. (ick. Yes. It is ick that he would offer this as a trade when he has the ability to just help her out, considering their families have been friends for years. But as you come to learn, Liam's dad is neck-deep in his own personal selfish, yucky behavior era.) Liam is stressed, confused, and frustrated, but most of all, he just wants Sloane to be okay and live out her dreams.
Sloane's stint on the show gets more and more complicated as her and Liam's feelings do, and the pair find themselves caught in the crosshairs of reality television and Mr. Daniels' poor decision making skills.
This is a friends-to-lovers YA romance with a bit of a strange plot, I'll admit. YA is less so my thing at this stage in life, and the book had a rocky start for me. ("Party in the USA" took a prominent role in the first chapter, and it felt a bit strange and old for someone from Gen Z to be fixated on that song.) But it grew on me! Liam and Sloane are down to earth but believable teens swept up in their first major "are you the one" romance. They make mistakes, they struggle with wanting validation and acknowledgement in a world too busy for them, and they always look out for each other.
I appreciate that the writer was relatively careful with her characters all the way through, and things like boundaries and trust seem more and more important, given the chaos of the reality tv set.
Overall, I felt the story was a bit cheesy, but in the best way. It played with some fun tropes without seeming too tired, and the pacing was spot on. It didn't drag or flounder, and that's probably what put this book over that fourth star for me. The characters were also easy to like (or loathe).
TLDR: T-rated content, super sweet romance, plucky MMC and FMC in a reality show setting that seems to conspire against them.
Many thanks to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Emotional abuse
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