Thanks to Viking Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

This story follows Caleb and Emma, who used to be best friends but had a falling out several years ago. In present day, they both start liking a girl (Juliet), so they decide to make it a competition to see who can romance her first.

Unfortunately, I think this concept was my biggest problem with the book. First of all, it made me immediately feel kinda icky. Caleb and Emma sometimes talked about Juliet like she was a prize to be won, which I didn’t like. They admitted it was a bad thing to do, and other people called them out on it too, and they apologized to Juliet for it, so it’s not like the book is glorifying this act, but still – I wish it’d been done a little differently.

I think the issue is that their reasons for “liking” Juliet didn’t feel… right. They were both instantly attracted to Juliet for absolutely no reason. All she did was be clumsy and pretty and Caleb and Emma were both like “Omg she’s amazing I wanna date her! 😍”. Juliet does absolutely nothing and those 2 immediately fall for her. I don’t get it, but perhaps I’m just too ace for this (though Caleb is supposedly in the ace-spec too, and was instantly attracted to Juliet after 1 conversation, so idk. Everybody feels attraction differently, though; I’m not trying to police anyone’s sexuality!).

They then spent half of the book constantly talking about how adorable Juliet is. And like, yeah, it’s kinda funny to see these 2 simp for the new girl and talk about how she’s so cute they want to smash their own faces into the ground, ha ha, but like… goddamn it. They couldn’t go 5 pages without mentioning how perfect Juliet is. It started feeling exaggerated and cartoonish, especially given the fact that they were instantly into her, for basically no reason.

Caleb and Emma’s individual romances with Juliet were definitely the weakest part of this book. I understand that these romances were just a plot device for the *real* romance of this story (the one between Caleb and Emma themselves), but I just wish their relationships with Juliet had been done differently. I think this would’ve worked better if we had more buildup for Juliet’s relationships with the MCs. Instead of having both Caleb and Emma *instantly* fall for Juliet, we should’ve gotten a bit of development in each of those relationships: 1) so we could actually get some reason for them to be falling for her, and 2) so it didn’t feel so weird that they’re competing for her love. If they had developed friendships, then actually started liking Juliet after getting to know her, then found out the other likes her too, and only then decided to compete, this whole thing would’ve felt less… icky, because there was some actual relationships already established with Juliet. Instead, it’s just insta love + using this poor girl as a pawn by competing for her feelings. And, sure, they acknowledge that this isn’t a good thing to do, but they do it anyways. The author could’ve definitely made it less questionable by better developing Caleb and Emma’s relationships with Juliet.



Regarding Caleb and Emma’s romance: it was very clear from the start that they still harbored feelings for each other, even though their friendship had ended years prior (apparently on a very bad note). I enjoyed learning more about their past, and I liked seeing them both looking out for each other, even though they were no longer friends. The idea that they’ll always be each other’s person, no matter what, was really sweet and well developed.

Unfortunately, though, (and I hate to say this)… I didn’t feel anything about their romance. 🧍 I’M SO SAAAADDDDD. 😭 They were so sweet – I especially liked this part near the end:

“When Emma left my life, she took half of me with her. For years, there’s been this emptiness lurking under my skin, in the vessels around my heart, in the essence of my soul. Whether it’s platonic, romantic, whatever, Emma is my other half. She’ll always have bits and pieces of me that I can’t reclaim unless I’m with her.”

. However, for some reason, I just didn’t feel *a thing* while reading their scenes together. Their “Always and forever” thing didn’t hit. I didn’t feel a single butterfly when they admitted their feelings, or when they kissed. Their cheesy moments (like when they helped each other shower, or when Caleb told that bully “Touch her again and I’ll break you”, or their love confession in the middle of an argument) just left me staring blankly at the page… Them getting steamy after 1 kiss (and 4 years of animosity) just made me feel… too ace for this shit lol.

I genuinely don’t know what happened! Like, in my head, I could tell they were super cute together, and I was rooting for them, but I still didn’t feel a singular butterfly in my stomach, and I’m sad about it. 😢😢😢 However, I think this might be a *me* problem; I haven’t been loving any books, recently. I hoped this one would reignite my love for romance, and leave me giggling and kicking my feet, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. I still think other people could love this romance, though! And I hope they do, because I still really like Amanda Woody and I can’t WAIT to read their next book!



Now for the things I liked:
✘ I thought Emma and Caleb were great MCs! I related a lot more to Caleb, but I liked them both. I enjoyed reading about their struggles and their family lives, and seeing how their different personalities complemented each other so well.
✘ The conflicts in this book made sense – the reason for their fallout was logical and well established, and their little argument later on was well integrated into the story, too. I appreciate that Amanda Woody always writes 3rd act conflicts that actually make sense for the story and characters, and aren’t there just for the sake of having a stupid 3rd act breakup.
✘ The SCs were enjoyable and well portrayed, especially Caleb and Emma’s parents.
✘ I also thought this book had some amusing lines.
✘ The queer representation was obviously amazing, and I loved all the conversations about it.

Overall, this is a fun book, with lots of great rep and a sweet romance. Definitely pick it up if it sounds like something you’d enjoy!