e-Audio, 08:56:26
Narrated by: Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan & Shubhangi Karmakar
Release Date: November 12, 2024
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: November 20-23, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Infidelity, misogyny, Racism, Gaslighting, Toxic Relationship, Classism, Sexism
For Readers Interested In: Romance, 2sLGBTQ+ (Lesbian), Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary Romance, YAIn this sapphic dual POV Young Adult romance by Adiba Jaigirdar, Meghna and Rani (ex-best-friends-turned-rivals) realize they’re dating the same guy, so they team up to beat and expose him at a big science competition!
Meghna Rahman is tired of constantly being compared to her infuriatingly perfect ex best friend now rival. Everyone, except, at least, her boyfriend Zak, seems to think that Rani Choudhury can do no wrong—even her own parents! It doesn’t help that Rani is always accepted into the Young Scientist Exhibition, while Meghna’s projects never make it. But this year, she finally has a chance at defeating Rani in something.
Rani Choudhury is tired of feeling like she doesn’t have much say in her life—not when it comes to how her mom wants her to look and act or how her parents encourage her to date incredibly charming close family friend Zak. She would much rather focus on her coding, especially once she places high enough at the Young Scientist Exhibition to go on to the European Young Scientist Exhibition
When Meghna and Rani figure out that Zak has been playing them both, they decide to do something no one would see coming: they team up. They’ll compete in the EYSE as partners, creating an app that exposes cheaters and a project that exposes Zak. But with years of silence and pressure between them, working together will prove difficult. Especially once each girl starts to realize that the feelings they had for the other may have been more than platonic…
Hey, no one ever said science was easy!
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was drawn in to this one immediately by the cover. Idk what it is about this one, but I love it so much! Two brown girls looking at each other in longing, and there’s books and a computer there? Ugh so cute. And the pages inside are just as cute. Trust me!
Ok so this starts off when two girls find out the dude they think they’re dating is also dating someone else. And the someone else is actually a certain someone they don’t like. This whole part of the plot was weird to me because even though they found this out, it seemed like neither one of them wanted to break up with the asshole. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. They both kept making excuses. And like I’m sorry, once I find out something like that, the very thought of them pisses me off. They were truly weirding me out.
They took FOREVER to get together too. I wasn’t as into as I could have been because they were fighting for so long. And that one girl was ANNOYING. I said like 7 times while I was reading it, Girl leave them both alone lol She was so insecure and mean and it made me hate her. And its usually hard for me to outright hate a character, but not this time.
The two of them together was cute tho. But we don’t spend enough time with them at all. By then its the end. I went into this thinking it was a romance and a little disappointed because it was not. Just like she said it they were giving him that if they went through with doing the project the way they originally were going to, I thought it was really ironic that she said that because that’s what the whole book ended up being about.
But overall I did like the messaging that girls can do what ever they want and of course the women in STEM overall thing. But to have it be about this and still mostly about how this stupid boy almost ruined everything for them and then didn’t even treat them right was a bit counter productive. I’m glad she talked about some of the struggles they were going through tho.
This was disappointing, but still good. Idk how to explain that, really. I think I was expecting something else. I wanted them to find the dude, break up with him and then find each other immediately. But we didn’t even get a variation of this. I hope if nothing else this review will put you in a different mindset so you don’t go in thinking you’re getting one thing and get something else. And just a reminder to everyone, I am not an enemies to lovers girlie, so this very well may just not have been my jam. Idk, read it and let me know what you think.
Overall, I give this
