Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - We Got the Beat

This was a cute, YA, enemies-to-lovers book, where the characters truly feel and act like high schoolers. Good queer, non-binary, and fat representation across several characters. It’s an easy read and really encapsulates a lot of what makes high school hard: gossip and drama. The values of friendship and respecting everybody’s unique LGBTQIA+ coming out journey were done well.

I do wish the volleyball writing had been more descriptive, it felt like an afterthought despite being a central Topic. <<also, Forgiveness in this book came too easy for certain characters, in my opinion. I wish conflict had been explored between more than just Mackenzie and Jordan. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending; I think it’s because I’m not a fan of a cheesy romantic gesture “fixing” everything but it fits the genre.>>

Content Warnings

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

➽ We Got the Beat is a cute, sapphic Romance about Jordan, an aspiring journalist. Instead of being assigned the editor position in the school newspaper, Jordan is forced to cover the Volleyball beat. The problem: the new team captain is Mackenzie, her former friend who humiliated her when high school started. I loved the premise as it delivered a lot of tension. Jordan sucks it up and tries to grow closer to the Volleyball team so she can write a great article that'll gain her the editor position next year. However, she's still dealing with hurt feelings when it comes to Mackenzie. Their summer friendship and cruel end when Mackenzie left her behind for the popular kids still haunts Jordan and she isn't ready to trust her again. I loved seeing them reconnect and address their past, as Jordan wants to believe things have changed, but also needs to protect her heart.

➽ This was a great, mostly fluffy read and perfect if you need something lighthearted! I loved Jordan's passion for journalism, but also how nerdy she was. Her father owns a comic bookshop and like him, she's a giant Doctor Who fan! It was nice seeing her uncertain about the relationship with her brother, as they were never close. Now that he's in college, there seems to be a chance for them to reconnect. I also liked that Jordan and her friends Audrey and Isaac are committed to their friendship, even when they begin to date other people. I wish they had more depth, but I still liked their bond!

➽ I have to admit that I preferred the author's debut book though! Out of Character had many great, flawed characters, but in We Got the Beat, Jordan and her friends almost acted too mature for sixteen-year-olds. As much as I dislike miscommunication, the communication and dialogue were too perfect at times and didn't always feel realistic. I wish things had been a bit messier, something I loved about the author's debut book. As much as I liked Jordan, she dealt with everything too maturely for a young teen girl, especially at the very end of the book:

She isn't even that angry at Audrey for posting the article and moves on quickly without properly reacting to the news. It was also hard to believe that she forgave Amber so quickly after all the nasty stunts she pulled.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I had so much fun with this book. We have a fat lesbian MC, Jo, who has her eye set on the editor position of the school newspaper. She desperately wants to get into Columbia journalism school, and knows this is the next step. However, when she doesn't get it and her besties Audrey (Korean) and Oliver (Jewish) get the positions instead, her hopes are quite deflated. She is assigned the volleyball beat (I didn't know this lingo before lol so like truly, you learn something new everyday) instead, and has to cover her ex-friend and current enemy, Mackenzie (Mack) West. Mack was actually in the same friends group as Jo's older brother Charlie, who is enjoying his first year of college. Jo and Mack's newfound close proximity for the next four months forces them both to confront their past falling out, and to understand each other better.

While the ex-friends-to-lovers sapphic romance was fine, what really stood out to me was Jo's arc, specifically in regards to her relationship with her mom, and her body as a fat teenager. I appreciated the dialogue that Jo opens up with how her mom talks about bodies, weight, diets, and fitness. Jo says a line that talks about how she feels like her mom talks about movement and food in a way that feels as if she is punishing herself, and it comes off as fat-phobic and not very body respectful or positive.

I also personally really welcomed and applauded the way Jo names how exhausting it is to be the fat person in the room. For example, there's a scene where Jo takes her dog to the dog park, and Jo discusses feeling too approachable as a fat person, in that people think you truly are so grateful that you would even deign to talk to them, that they can just unload anything they want on you. Fat people are not the NPC in your game, and not everyone wants to talk to you! I cackled when she told the lady at the dog park, "Actually, I am fat," in response to "You're not fat." Like who do you think you're helping when you say things like this?! You're framing "fat" as negative, as bad, as unappealing. So shut up! Especially us thin or non-fat folks, please shut up!

The third-act conflict is wild, but I also appreciated how deeply our MC messed up. It speaks to real life. I already know it's not going to be some of yalls favorite, but WHATEVER! Teenagers are fucking messy, stop pretending like they're not. They grow up to be messy adults, so I don't understand the describing the MC as "unlikeable" or "selfish" or "judgmental" - so? So are you! So am I! We are human?! We all have antisocial, judgmental, selfish moments, so I just find those comments unimpressive and unoriginal. Enjoy your "good vibes only" frame you got from TJMaxx. Stop deeming anyone who is not Susie Sunshine "unlikeable". People have a right to be hostile, to be untrustworthy, to be apprehensive. Thanks!

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fanboyriot's review

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funny lighthearted medium-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

5.0

Read For:

Sapphic

Volleyball

Nerd/Jock

Fat Positive

Friends to Enemies to Lovers

Summary: (spoiler-free)

Jordan (the main character) was working on getting a role in her school’s paper, hoping for an editor role to help her career of being a journalist but it doesn’t work out as planned and now has to work with an ex-friend/crush who happens to be the captain of the volleyball team who Jordan was assigned to write for. Is she able to put aside the past or does it all get to her?

This was such an enjoyable book. From the amazing cast of characters who were flawed, unique, and fit so perfectly with one another; to the plot and drama of this book it was all done so well. I loved the characters and how detailed they were, the relationships, both romantic and platonic, were done so well. They all had such a good history and interacted flawlessly with one another.

Jordan has to be one of the nicest journalists (even high school level) to ever exist. Even with her flaws and things she messed up at one point, she owned up to her mistakes and genuinely fixed them and worked on making the situation better.

I loved the ending and how things came together in the last chapter. And of course, this cover was absolutely adorable. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books along with the author for this eARC of this book.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Release Date: 20, February 2024

POV: First Person

Spice: n/a

Rep: Lesbian, Fat MC, Lesbian LI, Korean-American Bisexual SC, Jewish SC, Non-Binary teacher.

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