Scan barcode
my_personal_escape's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Violence and Car accident
chronic_listener's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Violence and Car accident
garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This was a really cute, quick YA romance that was also a love letter to romance novels. And I adored it. Definitely recommended to others!
📝 The rivals to friends to lovers progression was great, the bumps along the way made sense for teenagers, the game of howl was fun and interesting.
💌📚💓 The FMC/narrator really loves romance novels, and advocates for them to basically everyone she knows by the end of the book. And the points made were good ones, and from a feminist perspective. And I'm right there with her so I was all for it!
🎧 POV was first person, just FMC. The narrator did a good job embodying Rowan as she works through her thoughts and feelings.
🌶️ 2/5 This may be a surprise based on my username, but even though I'm rating this book 5 stars, it had virtually no spice!The characters do hook up at the end but it's described in pretty vague terms. But I'm still giving slight spice points because the tension between the MCs and the thrill of the almost kisses and actual kisses was so teenaged "OMG I like him so much eeeee what's going to happen" and I loved it.
🏳️🌈✊ Rowan (and Neil, we later learn ) is Jewish, by her father's side. Her mother's side of the family is Hispanic. Her friends and classmates are multiple different ethnicities and races and sexual orientations.
📝 The rivals to friends to lovers progression was great, the bumps along the way made sense for teenagers, the game of howl was fun and interesting.
💌📚💓 The FMC/narrator really loves romance novels, and advocates for them to basically everyone she knows by the end of the book. And the points made were good ones, and from a feminist perspective. And I'm right there with her so I was all for it!
🎧 POV was first person, just FMC. The narrator did a good job embodying Rowan as she works through her thoughts and feelings.
🌶️ 2/5 This may be a surprise based on my username, but even though I'm rating this book 5 stars, it had virtually no spice!
🏳️🌈✊ Rowan (
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Antisemitism
Minor: Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
fieldofsummer's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A cute story that takes place within 24 hours about change, growing up, and realizing first impressions aren’t always the end all. The writing was okay, but I really wasn’t enjoying Rowan’s point of views nor her character really, and though her “flaws” were pointed out a lot she never fixed them. She was so consistently rude to Neil and some of the things she said should have been addressed more than by a simple sorry.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence and Abandonment
sarahangeline's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Adorable, rivals to lovers, ya,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Violence
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
I listened to the audiobook on Libby and loved it - I highly recommend this format. :)
I deeply related to Rowan, because I have a tendency to hyperfixate on things, like reading, writing reviews, or making bookish content, that I essentially have tunnel vision, and lose sight of everything else. Graduating senior, Salutatorian Rowan Roth has this issue during her senior year, in being so laser-focused on competing with her longtime academic rival Neil McNair, that she doesn't make time to meaningfully interact with her best friends and inevitably feels left behind and isolated. She is navigating wistful feelings about the costs to the opportunities that she sought out, and agrees to work alongside Neil for Howl, a senior game which takes place after the last day of school! Forced proximity with a splash of "it's-always-been-you" will have you swooning by the very end!
I love how RLS weaves in such fantastic Jewish representation in her books, and this one is no different. Rowan discusses the microaggressions and overt antisemitism she has experienced, and it's again an example of people claiming they are allies but still missing the mark and fumbling. I loved the magic in Rowan realizing she found a new friend who could relate to her experiences, because there's truly no better feeling than being validated and affirmed that the comments and behaviors others have displayed were egregious.
I also enjoyed the commentary on the internalized misogyny that young women have too! Rowan is so scared of telling her best friends that romance is her favorite genre, and that she wants to go meet her favorite author. This is so wholesome, because I can only imagine being 17 or 18 and loving romance. When I was 17 and 18, I was absolutely & embarrassingly inoculated with "pick me"/"cool girl" syndrome, so I didn't think her friends were villains either -it's a product of being raised in a patriarchy that belittles everything femmes love. Rowan also is weary of telling love interests about this, because she hates dealing with the aftermath of either having to justify/explain herself, and/or realizing this is just another boy who is not worth it. It's disheartening, and I think all romance readers can relate!
One last thing that I appreciated was Rowan highlighting how romance novels helped her to be sex positive, and to be able to communicate about sex and birth control with her parents and her friends. Romance is so powerful yall.
Anyway, the entire premise of the Howl game being the force that allows Rowan and Neil to let their guards down and actually get to know the other was pure genius. I ate it up!!! It sounded like so much fun, and I'd love to join a scavenger hunt like this! RLS has another hit with this one, and I will continue to read anything she writes!
cw: antisemitism, car accident, drug use, mention of incarcerated parent, mention of physical violence, sexual content (fade-to-black/closed door)
I listened to the audiobook on Libby and loved it - I highly recommend this format. :)
I deeply related to Rowan, because I have a tendency to hyperfixate on things, like reading, writing reviews, or making bookish content, that I essentially have tunnel vision, and lose sight of everything else. Graduating senior, Salutatorian Rowan Roth has this issue during her senior year, in being so laser-focused on competing with her longtime academic rival Neil McNair, that she doesn't make time to meaningfully interact with her best friends and inevitably feels left behind and isolated. She is navigating wistful feelings about the costs to the opportunities that she sought out, and agrees to work alongside Neil for Howl, a senior game which takes place after the last day of school! Forced proximity with a splash of "it's-always-been-you" will have you swooning by the very end!
I love how RLS weaves in such fantastic Jewish representation in her books, and this one is no different. Rowan discusses the microaggressions and overt antisemitism she has experienced, and it's again an example of people claiming they are allies but still missing the mark and fumbling. I loved the magic in Rowan realizing she found a new friend who could relate to her experiences, because there's truly no better feeling than being validated and affirmed that the comments and behaviors others have displayed were egregious.
I also enjoyed the commentary on the internalized misogyny that young women have too! Rowan is so scared of telling her best friends that romance is her favorite genre, and that she wants to go meet her favorite author. This is so wholesome, because I can only imagine being 17 or 18 and loving romance. When I was 17 and 18, I was absolutely & embarrassingly inoculated with "pick me"/"cool girl" syndrome, so I didn't think her friends were villains either -it's a product of being raised in a patriarchy that belittles everything femmes love. Rowan also is weary of telling love interests about this, because she hates dealing with the aftermath of either having to justify/explain herself, and/or realizing this is just another boy who is not worth it. It's disheartening, and I think all romance readers can relate!
One last thing that I appreciated was Rowan highlighting how romance novels helped her to be sex positive, and to be able to communicate about sex and birth control with her parents and her friends. Romance is so powerful yall.
Anyway, the entire premise of the Howl game being the force that allows Rowan and Neil to let their guards down and actually get to know the other was pure genius. I ate it up!!! It sounded like so much fun, and I'd love to join a scavenger hunt like this! RLS has another hit with this one, and I will continue to read anything she writes!
cw: antisemitism, car accident, drug use, mention of incarcerated parent, mention of physical violence, sexual content (fade-to-black/closed door)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Misogyny, Violence, and Antisemitism
Minor: Sexual content
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Antisemitism
yumaa's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, and Antisemitism
Minor: Car accident
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
probably the best contemporary romance novel I've ever read — like Neil, I'm not an avid enjoyer of the genre either, but it does please me to find a good love story every now and then. As someone who has always prioritized her GPA above all else, this book hit a little too close to home.. nevertheless, I enjoyed it, because what is better than enemies to lovers? Enemies to lovers but make it academic <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Antisemitism
Minor: Bullying, Drug use, and Violence
torimc's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Violence