e-Audio, 09:14:02
Narrated by: Tyla Collier & Zeno Robinson
Release Date: September 3, 2024
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Read from: August 31-September 10, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: LibroFM & Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher and the e-ARC from Netgalley, in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Misogyny
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Drama, Mess, Squad Goals, Terrible MCsWhen a teen expresses romantic interest in his best friend, her unexpected reaction sends their relationship into a tailspin in this heartfelt and honest novel giving a new look at first love—and outcomes that aren’t happily ever after.Zeke’s world is crashing down around him, but there’s one thing—or rather one person—keeping him afloat. Imogen. His ride or die. His day one homie. His best friend. The only thing that has kept him from asking Imogen out is her parent’s “no dating until sixteen” rule. Now with Imogen’s sixteenth birthday around the corner, Zeke can finally be her boyfriend. Only, Imogen doesn’t seem to be in tune the unspoken understanding Zeke thought they that in their will-they-won’t-they, they definitely would. Instead, Imogen starts going out with her crush, Trevor, and Zeke makes it his mission to show her she made the wrong choice. Meanwhile, Imogen has been thrown off-kilter by everyone’s reactions to her move in the game she didn’t know she was playing. Suddenly, she’s hit with accusations of leading Zeke on for years, and she doesn’t even have a best friend to lean on after finding out Zeke was always counting down the days until their friendship could turn romantic—shattering her trust. Tensions reach a boiling point at a disastrous party, and Zeke insists Imogen choose between him and Trevor. Torn between the easy option and following her heart, Imogen makes the only call she can…but is she prepared for the consequences?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I REALLY gotta start reading the synopsis of books that I might be interested in. I was so hype for this because I just knew it was going to be a friends to lovers book. But no, don’t kid yourself. If you are going into this and thinking there’s going to be an HEA, DON’T.
Ok so I know y’all are wondering wtf I mean by not knowing to not expect an HEA when this is the title lol But the story gets wild. I was expecting an HEA with someone else. But listen to me when I say, this is NOT what happens. There is no HEA at all in this book. If you’re wondering I would call this a Coming of Age book. It is not a romance, so please don’t think of it like I did.
Now with that being said, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I definitely did. It was messy af, but it was good. Why was it messy? Because Lordt, this kid didn’t learn anything! From anyone. And they didn’t listen AT ALL. The character development does happen, but not until the very end. For which I was disappointed. Because I really read this whole book just to see this person start the same way they ended. It was a hot mess.
To be fair tho, they were not the only terrible person here. This book had TWO bad main characters. Because why did you let this happen in the first place? That’s your bestie and you let them go out like that? I can understand that it was their fault, but you had the chance to say something and you didn’t. And like I could understand if it was a rando, but it was your bestie? Idk that’s sus to me lol And to do it the way you did? My Gawd. I had second hand embarrassment and I wasn’t even there? That was so painful.
The plot to this was a bunch of drama. And I didn’t like that they were “rating” people or the whole “well let me just try this instead.” The sad thing? I knew it was so real. There was nothing fake about this. I’ve seen this happen in real life and just as disappointing as it was IRL it was in this book. But I couldn’t stop reading it? I HAD to know what was going to happen. Because I kept saying, ain’t no way they’re just letting this happen. It was just hit after hit after hit.
The only unrealistic thing in this book was the actual romance that came up. Because Idc how attractive you are, you aren’t going to just fall in love with someone because they looked at you. This was instalove at its finest. And YES, they’re teens, I know. But even they don’t just automatically love someone like this. It was wild and I was upset immediately by this. I just think they could have went about this another way. Because Lordt knows, when they were just trying to figure it out they still didn’t even know what if they liked this other person or not.
I also didn’t like that this innocent person got hurt in all this. While I know this happens all the time, I don’t think that person deserved it. This whole situation could have been avoided but this other person had to go over and beyond and do this extra shit because they were “hurt.” One thing I need y’all to check is your version of hurt and how you can refrain from hurting other people. I hope if nothing else this book starts some conversations on cheating, jealousy, doing shit just because, wrapping it up, and so much other shit. Because this whole thing was a hot mess.
I enjoyed this…. I think? If nothing else it will make people talk. But I think I wanted more for this, like at least an HEA. There is one, but not one you’d expect. This debut was a lot of fun but also a lot of mayhem. I hope more people read this and let me know what they think.
Overall, I give this
