This wasn't my favorite, as I didn't like one of the characters very much, but there were sweet and touching moments to it. Sana was a character I rooted for and I enjoyed her character arc with her family and aspirations. Rachel was hard to read from. She was pretty obnoxious for the most part. I loved the setting of SoCal and the side characters.

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

Love the cover on this one! So great to see such positive LGBTQ+ representation as well as POC representation in one place. I'm always a sucker for a hate to love romance. Will recommend to my teens for sure.

I wish I'd had this book as a teen reader-- a queer enemies-to-lovers story that is fun and effortless to read.

Continue celebrating Pride month with another fantastic LGBTQ title. If you enjoy YA titles featuring diverse characters and contemporary coming-of-age themes, then this one’s for you. Here’s hoping Aminah Mae Safi continues to add to the growing list of books featuring queer Muslim women’s voices. - featured in my Ms. Magazine column 6/3/2019

A tale told in alternative viewpoints and inspired by classic romantic comedies follows the unlikely on-camera romance between an overachieving cheerleader and the senior film project director who secretly hates her. A brilliant romcom for anyone looking for excellent representation, great characters and classic tropes. Highly recommended.

I've been a fan of Safi for a while and follow her on social media. There's something about having an Arab author see the world like you that I would have been so excited about as a young Arab teen. I loved the whole premise of this book and really hope that someone makes it into a movie some day - the whole hate-to-love trope, as well as the deeply personal and unique family and cultural dynamics are so important here. The book never felt pressed, and it flowed so easily. Loved it.

Is this the best enemies to lovers romance I have ever read? No. Was it still satisfying as he...ck? Yes! It was. Will I read the next book Safi publishes? Yes. Will I check out her backlist? Most probably.

Look, the characters here? So unlikable. I honestly couldn't stand them which made reading this book ridiculously difficult. Things they had problems with felt like no-brainers. Again, communication, being a decent human-being to others, etc. And Sana's problem of not picking a college yet because of the internship she wants to do??? I'm not sure why any family would have a problem with it.Why, seriously why was it a huge secret? I had a problem with her dad coming back and people acting like Sana should be happy instead of doing what she did which made sense. 

So much about this book just did not work for me. I mean, don't even get me started on the romance which felt suuuuuper forced. 

Not liking this book makes me so sad because the cover is beautiful and I want to read great f/f books so I can put them in the hands of teens that want them, but this one won't be a first choice for me.

I wanted to love this so much and I really thought I would. Sadly, I didn't. I didn't like the main characters, I disliked them both from their respective introductions and there's no reprieve in sight. I ended up DNFing it, a lot of readers will like watching the character development that I'm sure probably occurs later on in this story, I couldn't make it through well enough to find out myself.

I really thought that I would enjoy this book more than I did....I usually love the whole rivals to love type book but these characters just annoyed me so much. So many misunderstanding and crazy chips on their shoulders and ugh. While it did redeem itself a little by the end it won't ever be a favorite.

I didn't love Not the Girls You're Looking For, but the cover and the description convinced me to try this one. It was okay, but it just wasn't....believable. I'll definitely buy it for my library and recommend it to teens, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Cute enemies-to-lovers story. I do wish Rachel's history had gotten a little more substance. She's clearly bitter at "pretty people" and thinks Sana was playing a prank when asking her out, which is believable for someone in her position except for the fact that it isn't really discussed. Just something as simple as someone else on Sana's cheer leading squad making a comment about Rachel would make it seem more reasonable. As it is, Rachel seems bitter with no actual cause behind it because everyone seems to be nice to her. Also, definitely wish there was a little bit more resolution at the end other than the whole "wait for me for a year" thing. Maybe just a short 1 year later segment? Or at least them driving off into the sunset or something equally smushy romantic?

I really enjoyed a lot of things about this book. The diversity alone makes it a book worth reading, most of the characters were entertaining for the most part, and the book gave me so many Gilmore girls vibes (I feel like I’ve seen this comparison before but I wanted to point it out as well!).. but there was something missing about it that made me not fully connect, and if I’m being honest, it made it pretty forgettable overall for me. I would still recommend it to those who love a well written YA contemporary with diversity and the enemies to lovers romance, but it unfortunately didn’t make it as a favorite for me! It’s disappointing because i was so excited for this book, but I have to be honest with myself and although many things about it were enjoyable, it was missing that secret ingredient that made me fully connect with the characters, romance and story and love it like I was hoping!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great book, I loved the characters and the romance was so great! I loved Sana and Rachel so much, each girl were so relatable with the events that were happening in their lives and how they reacted to them. Sana is worried about whether she wants to become a surgeon because of her family pressure and to make amends for her mother's life or because it's what she really wants, she is also suffering from an unrequited crush on Rachel. Rachel meanwhile is working on finishing her senior film project and worrying about getting enough scholarship money to attend NYU film school. After an incident leaves Rachel and Sana working on the film project together feelings being to develop and both girls adjust to the changes in their lives.

Like so many others, this glorious cover drew me right into this story. It's still such a sad rarity to see f/f YA, let alone a cover that boldly proclaims it be exactly what it is -- a rom-com between two young women. I also enjoyed the premise of hate-to-love, which is an unabashed favorite trope of mine. But something about this held me slightly at arms length, and I think it mostly had to do with the characters. I just didn't really gel with the fact that Rachel would be SO. ANGRY. about a perceived slight from Sana after so many years. Sana.... didn't really do anything? And Rachel was just beyond mean to Sana for so much of the book. I get that this is supressed I LOVE YOU BUT I DON'T WANT TO ADMIT IT energy, but Rachel just felt like Paris Gellar on steroids. I found myself having a hard time fully investing in the story because of this. But I would 110% read more from this author, and if you're on the lookout for f/f romance, you'll want to add this to your TBR list.

This was a really sweet, fun read! I fell in love with the two main characters just as they were falling for each other. In a year with a LOT of really great YA queer romances, this one is a must-read!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I couldn't really get into this story because I didn't like the characters. I didn't understand why Sana liked Rachel or why she even cared about her. Rachel was just rude and hateful. I'm sure this will work for others but it just wasn't for me.

I'd so been looking forward to <i>Tell Me How You Really Feel,</i> especially because I really enjoyed Safi's f/f short story in <i>Fresh Ink</i>, and it absolutely delivered f/f romcom fluffy cuteness.

Rachel and Sana have a sort of hate to love kind of thing going. It's hate on Rachel's side and unrequited crush on Sana's side. What was great about this was that usually it's a nerdy person idolizing a beautiful person, and Safi flips that. Sana's a popular, gorgeous, genius, perfect cheerleader, and Rachel's the snarky, bossy, fat (I'm pretty sure, though the word isn't used. She's definitely not super skinny like on the cover.) outsider. Sana has it bad from the outset, whereas Rachel hates her because of her own issues.

Rachel's not the easiest character to like tbh, but I do always have sympathy for the bitches. She dreams of a career as a director, and she's working on a film for the independent study project she put together in her senior year, which should tell you just how much of an over-achiever she is for the things she actually cares about. As a director, she unleashes a reign of terror on all the kids working with her, and I suspect she also scares her teacher advisor a little bit too.

On top of that, Rachel has a deep-set loathing of beautiful people, one that is very important because it's 1) her character arc to grow out of this and 2) a major plot point for the development of her film. This attitude blocks and complicates her feelings for Sana and her ability to make the sorts of movies she wants to make, ones that are central to the female experience.

Rachel's movie is a modernization of The Iliad, and the book focuses heavily on the way that she chooses to tell that story. That story within a story really lays out the larger story and message of the novel effectively. Initially, I thought her topic was super unoriginal and didn't add much, but the way it evolves over the course of the story is awesome, because you realize why it was like that to start with.

As a couple, I really like Sana and Rachel, but this book didn't quite hit the shippy flails point for me. I didn't get enough of a sense of their connection, partially, I think, because of the way the rom-com formula gets used at a few points. Still, this is one of the only f/f ships I've read that is pure fluff, and this book honestly just made me so happy from beginning to end.

If you want an f/f romance that's pure cuteness (and diverse af to boot!), I'd recommend this one highly.

Sana and Rachel have been enemies ever since freshman year. Sana is a beautiful, perfect cheerleader, while Rachel is a loner film student. They are complete opposites, yet the girls always find themselves connected to each other. After a literal run in, Sana and Rachel are forced to work together on Racheal's final film project. As the two share ideas and get to know each other, their hateful relationship takes a turn. Intense, fun, and romantic, this is a great YA romance featuring lesbian characters.

I really liked that this is a romance first and foremost. Safi does not focus on the fact that it is two girls and doesn't make that the focus. There is no big coming out. There is no conflict based on their sexuality. It is treated as a complete non-issue. So many LGBTQ books are about the character coming out or discovering their sexuality. And those are great too, but I liked that this was just a romance story. The biggest conflict is the girls just getting together and realizing they love one another. It's beautifully written and serious and light at the same time. This definitely earns a spot among other classic YA contemporary romances.

**I received an e-ARC from Netgalley**