DNF 115 pgs - Let me just say first off, that I really liked the format of the book as it's just a series of text exchanges and emails. It's always fun when authors experiment in the way that they tell a story and this format makes the book a really quick read. I do wish there had been dates, though, instead of just time stamps--perhaps there will be in the finished copy. With that being said, I didn't like either of the main characters. I didn't really feel like they had a super healthy relationship and they both just seemed like caricatures to me. I would not say that either of these girls are good role models which I know they don't have to be, but when I'm shaking my head every other page saying, "What are you doing???"...it's definitely not going to be a book I recommend to my 16-year-old cousin.

Note: I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting format; should appeal to all audiences used to communicating via messaging and email.

This is the most diverse book I've read all year. I really need to start reading more diverse books.

Anyway... I really wanted to love this book. I think mostly just because it has an abundance of diversity. Diversity isn't something I normally read, as I'm sure y'all know.

I Hate Everyone But You appealed to me because of the text and email format. Y'all know I'm a sucker for books like that.

But I had a hard time with this one. I couldn't relate to Ava or Gen. Their personalities were so different, so it was interesting to see how they were friends. Opposites do attract and all that! Haha. Ava seemed like she was a little off-the-wall type and Gen was more of a loose-morals-I'm-lost type. Don't get me wrong, I definitely liked Gen more than Ava, but being in neither of their positions, I just can't relate to them.

One thing I didn't like is how the plot didn't really go anywhere, other than focusing on their friendship. I liked seeing the college experience, but it didn't appear often. It was mostly banter between the two, and their separate issues, without having a clear end in sight. Sure, they had bumps in their friendship, but it wasn't anything to write home about. Towards the end, I totally felt more sympathy for Gen because of reasons. But it just didn't have a goal it was moving towards.

I loved how it provided insight into the ignorance that can appear in the LGBTQ community. Unless you experience it, you will have questions. The best way to combat the ignorance is awareness.

Overall, I definitely have mixed feelings about this book. There were aspects of this book I completely loved, but I couldn't really click with either of the characters. That was somewhat of a let down for me.

I loved this book. It reminded me of how important friendship is when you're young and how so much changes when you go to college. Great coming of age story with pertinent issues. LGBTQIA, depression, leaving home, friendship, relationships all covered in emails and texts between two best friends.

This book hit home for me. As a bisexual college student with anxiety and depression, I was able to connect with both main characters. I found solace in Ava's struggles with her OCD, depression, and anxiety and I was even moved enough to be put on anxiety medicine before my next semester starts. I found Gen's coming out applicable. I loved all of it. I've never had a friendship like Gen and Ava, but they make me wish that I stayed in touch with high school friends throughout my college years. The chemistry between them was palpable and made me laugh and cry continuously through the book. With Ava not knowing anything about sexuality and Gen constantly correcting her and helping her understand to Ava rushing into a sorority that was obviously not the right choice for her, a banter that is unforgettable was created. The writing style of emails and texts really helps the reader to sit back and think, "They are not in the same space." and that alone contributes to the story line. I gave this book a 4/5 because occasionally it seemed a little corny and some of their arguments seemed like fillers. Other than that, this book is a fantastic read for anyone unsure about college, thinking of coming out of the closet, or anyone that wants a story that will really feel like it is about someone that you are close to. A great coming-of-age story for all ages.

This is a very quirky book about sex, drugs, alcohol, friendship, gender identity, etc, explored through letters that girls exchange on the brink of becoming adults. It is at times funny, clever and raunchy, offering occasional insight, more often bewilderment, disappointment, and hurt as they try to figure out how they fit into the world.

It's a fast read, a bit weird for me, but might be the perfect cup of tea for the right audience.

I adored this book! The format is all texts and emails, so I absolutely flew through this book. I really, really loved the story. It's about two best friends who go to colleges on each side of the country, both really different girls, but loyal to each other always. I feel like you're either an Ava or a Gen. I'm definitely an Ava. I loved the way the authors touched on her anxiety without being overly like "THIS CHARACTER HAS ANXIETY AND SHE GOES TO THERAPY AND SHE TAKES MEDS AND IT'S ALL GOOD." As someone with anxiety, who goes to therapy, and takes meds, I thought it was real. And I loved the way Gen really looks out for Ava when she's going through an episode.

While Ava is struggling with making friends and living away from home (#relatable), Gen is struggling with defining (or...not defining) her sexuality and exploring her freedom from her alcoholic parents on the other side of the country. Each girl definitely has their faults and the way their friendship is portrayed is very realistic and authentic, but at the end of the day, they have too much of a history to ever part ways for good.

I loved the way this book depicted freshman year of college, first relationships, new friendships, and the way you act with your lifelong best friend. I can't wait for this to officially come out so I can recommend it to everyone I know!

Good book. I believe that my students will enjoy it.

3.5 Stars

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reading copy of I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin. I can't wait to start this book. Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin are YouTubers. I have not seen anything of theirs but after reading this book I would like to.

This book is about two best friends Ava and Gen. They went to high school together and this novel takes place over their time apart attending two different colleges. This book is formatted through emails and text messages and was a nice change of pace. I love that the main focus of the plot was on friendship rather than relationships (although there are relationship talks within it).

For a book that is very light hearted and an easy read it did cover a lot of topics and issues that many teens/adults face. There are frequent discussions of sexuality and mental health. There are also conversations about past and present decisions that both girls make about their futures. I also liked that Gen was very openly feminist and was a voice to the LGBTQ+ community. Whereas, Ava is very conservative in her logic and doesn't understand all elements of a queer lifestyle. This was relevant to me as I wouldn't say I am ignorant to LGBTQ+ issues/lifestyles but their are aspects that I would definitely never classify myself as an expert. I am learning just like a lot of other people.

I think that someone who suffers from mental health issues (such as anxiety, OCD, and depression) and people who identify as LGBTQ+ (especially polyamory) would enjoy this book and be able to relate to these characters as this is an own voices novel.

This book was great! I devoured the story and couldn't stop reading Gen and Ava's emails and text messages. The story is told through text messages and emails of two friends, Gen and Ava, who are starting their first year of college apart from each other. There are many important topics addressed such as OCD and anxiety, sexuality - bisexual and polyamorous.

I love reading dialogue. So I had no problem with the writing style, the story of Gen & Ava's first semester of college, apart from each other is told in texts & emails. They had me LOLing!

However, some of the queer comments rubbed me the wrong way. Especially from Ava, who wasn't knowledgeable of the LGBTQIAP+ community. I understand her comments but they hurt me like they hurt Gen. Gen comes out as bisexual but, is discovering herself & her sexuality. This is own voices because the author, Gaby is also bisexual.

There is also a transgender man included in this story and transphobia is addressed.

Great characters, realistic & relatable. I could really relate to Ava because she struggles with anxiety & social anxiety (like myself) I saw a lot of myself in Ava, the anxiety rep is own voices because Allison struggles with anxiety & OCD, like Ava.

This story felt very genuine & I loved it and want more! If you're a fan of Just Between Us, Allison and Gaby's YouTube channel, you'll enjoy this book!

In modern day epistolary format (using emails and texts) <i>I Hate Everyone But You</i> tells the story of Ava and Gen's first semester of college. They are best friends attending college thousands of miles apart, Ava in California and Gen in Massachusetts, finding themselves, making mistakes and doing all of the things your typical 18 year old is want to do.

Overall, I thought this book was very well done. Though I am likely a bit old to be a member of the target audience, I still felt the characters were very relateable and authentic. I really liked the dynamic between the Ava and Gen, and the book does a great job of exploring a number of tricky subjects (sexuality, drug use, polyamory, alcoholism, trans issues, relationships) without seeming pedantic or preachy.

The best thing about this book is that it is truly about the friendship between these two young women. It is too rare, in books, that we see a friendship that is given adequate weight in a person's life.

While I loved (loved!!!) the inclusionary elements of the novel (so much representation!!), I just couldn't seem to like either of the characters. This is a shame, because I do enjoy an epistolary novel. The pacing was well done, as was the character development, however, both protagonists were simply annoying. I understand the need for flawed, realistic characters, but there is nothing that makes me want to read more about them (based on the ending, I assume there is another book coming). If the author's had dialed back everything they tried to cram in the novel, I think it would be a much better novel.

I was excited to read this book, but once I started it, I learned that the writing style and format really was not for me. Aside from the fact that the ebook format made it difficult to tell which girl was talking, emails and texts are not my preferred story telling method. I thought I might be able to make it work and read it, but it really unfortunately is not for me and I didn't finish the book.

BFFs Ava and Gen are headed off to college. While Ava is staying in California, Gen is headed off to Boston to attend a small liberal arts school. Through emails and text messages, we watch Ava and Gen grow up and learn to live without each others’ constant presence.

Now, apparently, Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin are YouTubers. Apparently, they promote their own channel in this book. I’d never heard of them (or their channel) prior to reading this book, so that just went totally over my head. I will, however, get into the nitty gritty of what I liked and disliked about this debut.

My first thoughts, upon starting this book, were that Ava and Gen are probably very realistic eighteen-year-olds, but they were both borderline intolerable for me. Both of them were judgmental and annoying and reminded me that I’m not eighteen years old anymore. I hope I wasn’t like that when I was their age, but I probably was. I do not want to go back to look at my old Livejournal because I’ll probably die of embarrassment.

Ava is dealing with her mental illness while being away from home and away from her best friend. She suffers from OCD, anxiety, depression, and possibly other conditions -- we never hear about her actual diagnosis, only fleeting mentions of her conversations with therapists or symptoms she exhibited at a party or in class. In an attempt to make friends at college, Ava joins a sorority. Soon after, she begins her first real relationship with a goofy frat boy.

In Boston, Gen is coming to terms with her sexuality. After living a (mostly) heterosexual life in California, she realizes that she’s also really into women and embraces her new-found bisexuality with open arms. This was really great, but I wonder if the authors took this a bit too far. (More on that later.) Aside from her sexuality, Gen doesn’t really get her own storyline. Everything that happens to her is at least tangentially tied to her sexuality.

Ava and Gen are total opposites that somehow work as best friends. While Ava is very cautious and overthinks everything (much like me), Gen is very reckless in all aspects of her life. I thought that this would make me like Gen less, but I actually preferred her over Ava for the first half of the book or so. Unfortunately, in the second half of the book, Gen really disappointed me. Although it was great when she gently called Ava out on being problematic, I thought she became a little unreasonable as the book continued. Suddenly, Ava wasn’t even allowed to ask questions because Gen would freak out at anything other than blind, unwavering support.

Ava constantly had to apologize to Gen, even when (at least in my opinion) she’d done nothing wrong. You should be able to comment on your best friend’s life. You should be able to tell her she’s making a mess of things before she does something that she can’t take back. You should be able to ask her questions about her life without her cutting off all communication like a petulant child. I’m sorry, but the relationship between Ava and Gen was not a healthy one, and it had nothing to do with Ava’s mental illness.

It’s so hard to talk about this without digging into some spoilers, but let me try. When Ava expresses some concern about the people that Gen is choosing to involve herself with, Gen jumps down her throat. “YOU’RE NOT GAY, YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND!” she screams (via email or text) when Ava’s concern is nothing to do with the gender of the person Gen’s seeing, but more to do with the implications of the relationship. And even when Ava’s right, she has to apologize before Gen will talk to her again.

So, Gen comes out to Ava via email as she tells her about her recent sexual exploits. Shortly after, Gen begins to have sex with basically everyone she meets. By her own admission, she’s attracted to everyone regardless of gender, sexual orientation, age, personality... anything. Gen is very quick to call Ava out when she references a common stereotype or says something mildly offensive, but I worry that Gen’s character falls into common bisexual tropes.

Bi doesn’t have to mean promiscuous. It doesn’t mean that the character should be attracted to literally every person they meet. It shouldn’t mean that the character is solely interested in hookups without any commitment whatsoever. It doesn’t have to mean that the character destroys the rest of their life in search of their next conquest. Gen actually cuts off contact with Ava when Ava expresses (very reasonable) concerns about Gen’s behavior. Ava is painted as the villain who just doesn’t understand when Gen is obviously spiraling out of control.

I appreciate what the authors tried to do with representation. In a lot of areas, they succeeded. There are gay, bisexual, and trans characters that actually play major roles in the story. There are characters of different races and ethnicities, just as there would be on any normal college campus. Ava’s mental illness representation was great because it was just another part of her and not something that was a huge deal. I just wish that Gen’s sexual experimentation had been handled better, because, as a grown woman, I could only think of the danger she was putting herself in by going home with strange men and women.

I guess, in the end, I appreciate with the authors were trying to do. For me, the book was a miss. For someone closer to the characters’ age, it might be more of a hit. Life has sure changed since I started college. That much is for sure.

I liked this while I was reading it, but in the end found it a little forgettable.

I would only recommend it to select kids, but it is a powerful novel about growing up and discovering who you really are. Not everyone is the same after high school (nor should we be), and this novel illustrates changes as these girls grow up and away in an interesting and modern format that will appeal to teens. Full review on Goodreads.

Told through text messages and emails, the story of two best friends who head off to their freshman year of college. This was a very interesting story in the way that the authors tackled many topics faced by teenagers today. Is these two best friends head into the world separated from each other, they rely on their communication to hold on to their identities is there identity seem to be changing. Ava and Gen are both very different characters, their connection started in high school and they are both trying very hard to hold on to the relationship they once had his they are making new friends and experiencing new opportunities with those around them. I like the format and the style, and I felt like it covered some relevant subject matter in society today. I also felt the format read quickly and I enjoyed reading the text messages and emails.

I LOVE epistolary format books, so when I read about this modern-day epistolary novel, I jumped on the chance to read it. Told in email and texts/instant messaging, this book is the story of two best friends who are starting their first year of college on opposite coasts.

I found the 2 characters, Ava and Gen, to be very relatable and I grew to love them both, even though they both pissed me off at times. There were a lot of topics that the authors touched up on in this book, and at times I felt like it was too much, yet this is something everyone goes through. Ava struggles with her mental illness and Gen struggles with her sexuality. On top of that they have the struggles of being college freshman, figuring out where they fit in, staying in touch with each other.... The list just goes on.

The only real problem I had with the book was how long it took to really grab my attention. At the beginning nothing was happening and it just felt monotonous reading their messages to each other. But once things started happening, the book picked up and really sucked me in. I would count down to when I could read more of it. Also, it took me some time to figure out who was who in the texts because they only showed icons and not their names. But as I read more I was able to tell based off the writing who was who and it made it easier.

This was a great book to read; I really enjoyed it, I've recommended it to my best friend, and I already plan to read it again. Definitely recommend this book to those who are fans of books such as Perks Of Being A Wallflower.

Please note: I received I HATE EVERYONE BUT YOU from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and the authors.

Every once in awhile you come across a book that touches you in a way that you don’t expect, and the aftershocks vibrate through your mind for days. I HATE EVERYONE BUT YOU is one of these books. I had heard a lot of buzz about this book because the authors are popular on social media – they simply lit up Buzzfeed, Twitter, and their Youtube channel “Just Between Us” with their fresh comedy. Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin are engaging, authentic, and hilarious best friends to watch and that’s how I felt about reading I HATE EVERYONE BUT YOU. I was a fly on their proverbial book wall, as they embarked on one escapade after another, sprinkled with timely observations about navigating a friendship across the country, dealing with finding your own identity, as well struggling with mental illness and sexual self-awareness.

The book style is set in modern day language of texting and emailing. It takes some getting used to reading the format, but before you know it, you're flipping through pages and pages of funny observations about navigating the adult world with all of its pitfalls and broken promises. I gave it four out of five stars because even though the format is through texting and email, I felt that the authors could have given the reader a bit more context with the setting. There were times I felt like I was reading a string of texts without really grasping the full meaning. That’s the difficulty in reading a book in an epistolary style (think “Dracula” or “World War Z”).

Ava and Gen are besties that are polar opposites: Ava looks before she leaps and Gen flings herself out there without a second thought. They explore current topical issues such as gender identity, alcohol and drug use, making wise choices (sorority or no sorority and drugs or no drugs), as well as the ups and downs of love and relationships (all kinds). I found myself laughing out loud so much, it was safer not to drink my coffee and read I HATE EVERYONE BUT YOU at the same time. Highly recommend.