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A review by illstoptheworldandreadwithyou
The Rival by Emma Lord
4.0
It’s the start of Sadie’s freshman year of college, the start of Sadie allowing herself to fully be who she is, the start of a new era without her longstanding rival by her side continuously upping the ante—or so she thinks.
Seb has basically been by her side since birth. Sure, at one point they were friends, but their near-constant battle of one-upmanship has been going on for a decade. She’s supposed to finally be getting a break from him.
But no, sure enough, there he is also going into the interest meeting for the school’s zine that she has been planning to join for years. And there’s only one open spot on staff and that’s only if the zine can manage to get the proper funding from the school to keep itself in print.
Y’all, this is not how Sadie’s freshman year is supposed to go.
At a glance:
- Single POV
- YA / new adult (kissing only)
- Friends to rivals to lovers
- Coming of age
- People pleaser + the one with charm that seems to effortlessly collect admiration wherever he goes
- Neighbors and family friends
- Straight-laced with a comedic perspective + a “meme lord” with an investigative journalism bent
- Queer rep
- Will absolutely make you hungry
Read it for
- Seb (oh my heart)
- Sadie growing the confidence to share herself with those around her
- The banter
- Some open and honest conversations
- The friendships (even with the bumps along the way)
- The food descriptions
- Betty, the pancake proprietor
Recovering people pleasers, consider yourself forewarned: Sadie has to learn to stop making herself responsible for maintaining the balance for everyone. She has to learn not to always subjugate her own needs to those of her family. It’s a learning process for her.
As for the audiobook, I give two thumbs up to Jesse Vilinsky’s narration. She captures the youthfulness and escalating stress levels of Sadie well. I liked her voice for Seb, and it was easy to keep track of which character is speaking during the sections of dialogue.
I received an advance copy of the ebook from Wednesday Books and an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All review opinions are my own.
Seb has basically been by her side since birth. Sure, at one point they were friends, but their near-constant battle of one-upmanship has been going on for a decade. She’s supposed to finally be getting a break from him.
But no, sure enough, there he is also going into the interest meeting for the school’s zine that she has been planning to join for years. And there’s only one open spot on staff and that’s only if the zine can manage to get the proper funding from the school to keep itself in print.
Y’all, this is not how Sadie’s freshman year is supposed to go.
At a glance:
- Single POV
- YA / new adult (kissing only)
- Friends to rivals to lovers
- Coming of age
- People pleaser + the one with charm that seems to effortlessly collect admiration wherever he goes
- Neighbors and family friends
- Straight-laced with a comedic perspective + a “meme lord” with an investigative journalism bent
- Queer rep
- Will absolutely make you hungry
Read it for
- Seb (oh my heart)
- Sadie growing the confidence to share herself with those around her
- The banter
- Some open and honest conversations
- The friendships (even with the bumps along the way)
- The food descriptions
- Betty, the pancake proprietor
Recovering people pleasers, consider yourself forewarned: Sadie has to learn to stop making herself responsible for maintaining the balance for everyone. She has to learn not to always subjugate her own needs to those of her family. It’s a learning process for her.
As for the audiobook, I give two thumbs up to Jesse Vilinsky’s narration. She captures the youthfulness and escalating stress levels of Sadie well. I liked her voice for Seb, and it was easy to keep track of which character is speaking during the sections of dialogue.
I received an advance copy of the ebook from Wednesday Books and an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All review opinions are my own.