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kccool12255's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
Wowwww, has it really been three days since I finished reading this? It literally feels like yesterday. (Probably because I've been rereading the ending scenes ever since I finished it.)
August was not a good month or me. I kept trying and trying to finish Uglies (which I do still plan to finish, make no mistake), but I just could not find the time. I've sat around page 100 for like WEEKS now, it's not great. And so, I made the decision to read a book I actually really wanted to read, and just take a little break.
And BOY, was that a good decision.
I planned to one-shot this book, just get one in for September so I could further my reading goal. And I already KNEW I was gonna love this book, confiemd after the first few pages. Instantly, I got sucked into this world, and fell in love with these characters. I was squealing and kicking my feet almost the entire time. I love cute little fluffy rom-com books like this, and anytime I read one, the experience just keeps getting better and better. This book DELIVERED, and I love it so much.
Alright, enough lead-in. Let's get to the review.
The plot of this book is SO CREATIVE. It really subverted my expectations, because even though it's called "Today Tonight Tomorrow", we don't even really get to the "tomorrow" portion. (I mean, KIND OF, but barely.) Not that it's a BAD thing at all, because while the book's pacing is not what I would've done, I really think it works well! I love reading about Howl, but most of all, I love how creative Rachel Lynn Solomon gets with the detours they take. She manages to make a story that takes place over a couple hours feel perfectly paced, and not rushed at all, which is a FEAT.
But these CHARACTERS, man. They steal the show. Rowan may be the most relatable protagonist I've ever read about in a book. I was relating to her TOO much at the beginning, and constantly throughout. But she's so interesting to read about, I love her story, I UNDERSTAND her, and she's absolutely likeable. And NEIL? Even in the BEGINNING when they're still rivals, I loved this man. And his character development is SO. GOOD. Kirby and Mara I also like as characters, and even Brady Becker, who is on-page like TWICE, is a good character. The only character I don't really like is Savannah Bell, and you're not SUPPOSED to like her anyways.
Because I love the characters so much, I'm willing to put aside the really bad naming choices. I'm sorry, but I have to address it. I'll give a little bit of a pass to Rowan Roth, since they actually address her alliterative name and make jokes about it, inspiring Artoo, which I LOVE but when you're about to pair her with a guy named NEIL MCNAIR? I gotta draw the line a little bit there. Although, in fairness, he does change his name to Neil Perlman, so I guess he gets like half-credit. And his sister's name is NATALIE. Also, who the frick is named KIRBY??? And Brady Becker isn't a real name either. No way, no how. Mara's name is normal enough, but her last name is like POMPETTI or something. The ONLY character with a normal name is Savannah Bell. Nevertheless, I love these characters so much, so the names don't really bother me.
The ROMANCE between Rowan and Neil is ALSO amazing, which is to be expected. It's so NICELY done, though! I don't even know what else I can say. It's basically perfect. I love getting to see them develop a relationship as friends, and the TENSION is TOP-NOTCH. Words cannot express how much I looked forward to the yearbook letter. WORTH IT, BABY! And I really expected their kiss scene (which I unfortunately got spoilers for before I read this book, but it made me want to read the book, so it's fine) to be AT the actual graduation, so it subverted my expectations AND it made me swoon. Win-win! I've reread their kiss scene like 5 times, it's SO GOOD. And I love them being the same height, I feel like that's something we don't get a lot of for love interests! And Neil is really nerdy and soft-spoken, ALSO something we don't see a lot in love interests. Basically, this book defies ALL the stereotypes (okay, not all, but most). The funniest thing is that I am in love with Neil's personality, but I would DEFINITELY not be attracted to him in real life. That being said, I love how his freckles are considered attractive, AND that he's an attractive ginger! I LOVE FRECKLED GINGER REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA!!!!
I have one gripe with this book, even though it's basically perfect. ONE gripe. Did we HAVE to include the sex scene? Why does there ALWAYS have to be ONE? Yes, it's a nice segue into the ending, but I didn't want to read it. It could've been closed-door so easily, and while it's not super descriptive, it oculd've been less descriptive. Also, her PARENTS were IN THE HOUSE. (Yes, they were passed out and drunk, BUT STILL.) But whatever. It's right at the end, so it's not the BIGGEST deal, but it's still annoying.
I love this book with all my heart and soul. EASILY my favorite for this year. (Sorry, Prisoner's Throne.) I read it in basically one sitting, two days, so that should tell you all you need to know. I'm only sad that it's over and I never get to read it for the first time again. But this book NEEDS MORE HYPE. IT'S SO FREAKING GOOD. GO READ IT.
August was not a good month or me. I kept trying and trying to finish Uglies (which I do still plan to finish, make no mistake), but I just could not find the time. I've sat around page 100 for like WEEKS now, it's not great. And so, I made the decision to read a book I actually really wanted to read, and just take a little break.
And BOY, was that a good decision.
I planned to one-shot this book, just get one in for September so I could further my reading goal. And I already KNEW I was gonna love this book, confiemd after the first few pages. Instantly, I got sucked into this world, and fell in love with these characters. I was squealing and kicking my feet almost the entire time. I love cute little fluffy rom-com books like this, and anytime I read one, the experience just keeps getting better and better. This book DELIVERED, and I love it so much.
Alright, enough lead-in. Let's get to the review.
The plot of this book is SO CREATIVE. It really subverted my expectations, because even though it's called "Today Tonight Tomorrow", we don't even really get to the "tomorrow" portion. (I mean, KIND OF, but barely.) Not that it's a BAD thing at all, because while the book's pacing is not what I would've done, I really think it works well! I love reading about Howl, but most of all, I love how creative Rachel Lynn Solomon gets with the detours they take. She manages to make a story that takes place over a couple hours feel perfectly paced, and not rushed at all, which is a FEAT.
But these CHARACTERS, man. They steal the show. Rowan may be the most relatable protagonist I've ever read about in a book. I was relating to her TOO much at the beginning, and constantly throughout. But she's so interesting to read about, I love her story, I UNDERSTAND her, and she's absolutely likeable. And NEIL? Even in the BEGINNING when they're still rivals, I loved this man. And his character development is SO. GOOD. Kirby and Mara I also like as characters, and even Brady Becker, who is on-page like TWICE, is a good character. The only character I don't really like is Savannah Bell, and you're not SUPPOSED to like her anyways.
Because I love the characters so much, I'm willing to put aside the really bad naming choices. I'm sorry, but I have to address it. I'll give a little bit of a pass to Rowan Roth, since they actually address her alliterative name and make jokes about it,
The ROMANCE between Rowan and Neil is ALSO amazing, which is to be expected. It's so NICELY done, though! I don't even know what else I can say. It's basically perfect. I love getting to see them develop a relationship as friends, and the TENSION is TOP-NOTCH.
I have one gripe with this book, even though it's basically perfect. ONE gripe.
I love this book with all my heart and soul. EASILY my favorite for this year. (Sorry, Prisoner's Throne.) I read it in basically one sitting, two days, so that should tell you all you need to know. I'm only sad that it's over and I never get to read it for the first time again. But this book NEEDS MORE HYPE. IT'S SO FREAKING GOOD. GO READ IT.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Racism, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Body shaming and Alcohol
esterslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, and Racism
ankiaisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Racism, and Car accident
robin_reads's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Academic rivals to lovers, coming of age, eng of High School .. a scanvenger hunt to celebrate graduating that brings the academic rivals together.
This is very fast paced. Everything happens within twenty-four hours. It's very cute, heartwarming, mentions important topics but still wholesome. An easy read for in between.
Yay for Jewisch rep! And bisexual side characters!
This is very fast paced. Everything happens within twenty-four hours. It's very cute, heartwarming, mentions important topics but still wholesome. An easy read for in between.
Yay for Jewisch rep! And bisexual side characters!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Antisemitism
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Drug use
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
“‘Crush’ is too weak a word to describe how I feel. It doesn’t do you justice, but maybe it works for me. I am the one who is crushed. I’m crushed that we have only ever regarded each other as enemies…”
This was fine. It felt like there was a lot going on, but also nothing at all? I didn’t particularly care about the characters that much. The stakes of the scavenger hunt game weren’t very high so at times it felt boring and dragged on. Rowan had a lot going on and while some people could say that makes her a complex character, I just think it became distracting and too much to keep up with. There were many things she would say out of nowhere and then just not follow up with. If it was that important for her character you’d think there would be more depth, but it felt more like she was just listing her personality traits. This book was super cheesy and the pop culture references were a little much at times. I did think it was funny at some points, mostly cringey, but it did make me laugh a few times. It felt very fast, which is of course because it only takes place in one day, but I’ve read much better books with that same time constraint. It also ended really weirdly. I wasn’t expecting the ending to go on for as long as it did and I thought the ending would be a little more ambiguous than it was. What almost slightly redeemed this for me was Neil’s note to Rowan in her yearbook. I knew it was gonna be cute, but I really wasn’t expecting it to be THAT romantic. That’s probably the only thing I really enjoyed about this book if I’m being honest. Overall, it just wasn’t for me and it’s not even that it’s a YA book set in high school. It’s the characters and the plot. I can see how it would be good for other people, but I’m not one of them.
Favorite Quotes:
“Neil McNair has become my alarm clock, if alarm clocks had freckles and knew all your insecurities.”
“Until I met McNair, I didn’t know patience could feel like a physical piece of me, something he stretches and twists whenever he has a chance.”
“Yet here’s someone I labeled as an enemy who was maybe feeling isolated in the same way.”
“He studies me for a long moment, as though I am a sentence he’s trying to translate into another language.”
“The things that mattered to us for the past four years will shift and evolve, and I imagine they’ll keep doing that forever. It’s terrifying.”
“And whether that makes us friends or just two people who were supposed to meet somewhere but got lost along the way.”
“Neil is softer than I realized, and I’m a barbed-wire fence. Every time he gets too close, I make myself sharper.”
“When he grins, it’s bright enough to light up the night sky. It’s kind of beautiful.”
“‘You like being infuriated. By me.’”
“The fantasy: that my perfect high school boyfriend would be the epitome of romance. The reality: Neil McNair has been here all along.”
“I’ve devoted the past four years to leaving Seattle, but you… You are the best thing about this city. You are going to be the hardest to leave.”
“I’ve given this boy the messiest parts of me, and he’s done nothing but convince me he’ll be careful with them.”
This was fine. It felt like there was a lot going on, but also nothing at all? I didn’t particularly care about the characters that much. The stakes of the scavenger hunt game weren’t very high so at times it felt boring and dragged on. Rowan had a lot going on and while some people could say that makes her a complex character, I just think it became distracting and too much to keep up with. There were many things she would say out of nowhere and then just not follow up with. If it was that important for her character you’d think there would be more depth, but it felt more like she was just listing her personality traits. This book was super cheesy and the pop culture references were a little much at times. I did think it was funny at some points, mostly cringey, but it did make me laugh a few times. It felt very fast, which is of course because it only takes place in one day, but I’ve read much better books with that same time constraint. It also ended really weirdly. I wasn’t expecting the ending to go on for as long as it did and I thought the ending would be a little more ambiguous than it was. What almost slightly redeemed this for me was Neil’s note to Rowan in her yearbook. I knew it was gonna be cute, but I really wasn’t expecting it to be THAT romantic. That’s probably the only thing I really enjoyed about this book if I’m being honest. Overall, it just wasn’t for me and it’s not even that it’s a YA book set in high school. It’s the characters and the plot. I can see how it would be good for other people, but I’m not one of them.
Favorite Quotes:
“Neil McNair has become my alarm clock, if alarm clocks had freckles and knew all your insecurities.”
“Until I met McNair, I didn’t know patience could feel like a physical piece of me, something he stretches and twists whenever he has a chance.”
“Yet here’s someone I labeled as an enemy who was maybe feeling isolated in the same way.”
“He studies me for a long moment, as though I am a sentence he’s trying to translate into another language.”
“The things that mattered to us for the past four years will shift and evolve, and I imagine they’ll keep doing that forever. It’s terrifying.”
“And whether that makes us friends or just two people who were supposed to meet somewhere but got lost along the way.”
“Neil is softer than I realized, and I’m a barbed-wire fence. Every time he gets too close, I make myself sharper.”
“When he grins, it’s bright enough to light up the night sky. It’s kind of beautiful.”
“‘You like being infuriated. By me.’”
“The fantasy: that my perfect high school boyfriend would be the epitome of romance. The reality: Neil McNair has been here all along.”
“I’ve devoted the past four years to leaving Seattle, but you… You are the best thing about this city. You are going to be the hardest to leave.”
“I’ve given this boy the messiest parts of me, and he’s done nothing but convince me he’ll be careful with them.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
riyket75's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
OMG this book is LITERALLY AMAZING!!!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
mswarning's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Racism, and Antisemitism
Minor: Sexual content and Violence
jenna_justi2004's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
My new favorite author. It was so well done. The banter. The perfect slow burn that made you want more of it. The way they spoke to each other. How vulnerable Neil was. How he expressed himself so easily to Rowan. And don’t get me started on how Rowan felt about him unknownly. Her love for romance books. The way she talks about women. And THE JEWISH REP??? I DIDNY THINK IT COULD GET BETTER BUT THERE WERE LESBIANS. AND THEN HARRY STYLES?? Wow just wow. So done well. Amazingly good. Incredibly. Maybe one of the best books I’ve ever read, just magnificent from the first line right down to the last. Might even ask Neil for a few more adjectives to describe how damn spectacular this ride was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Antisemitism
dorogaya's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
as a brunette high achieving academic, yeah <3 thought about the characters for weeks AND i love kirby because she’s khmer and i’m khmer and we’re khmer <333 i love this book it was a fun rollercoaster and just AH beautiful wonderful masterpiece call it what you want
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Antisemitism