I enjoyed the story and fell in love with the characters.. A real life, modern day plot made this a pretty good read.

"You can't be all things to all people. You can only be yourself."

Lemon Lavender is Not Fine was an interesting read, involving a fleshed-out main character and a lovely writing style. I enjoyed Lemon's character development, and felt that she sounded and acted like a true teen, which I think is missing from a lot of YA novels. I also appreciated the friendship between Isobel and Lemon as it felt natural and real, though I got angry at times because Lemon would ignore the advice given to her or Isobel wasn't as comforting to Lemon as she could be, but that's what makes it feel real. A lot of times teenagers don't understand each other's problems or are too preoccupied with their own issues.

A lot of this book made me sad and dragged a bit in the middle, but the ending was written well. I felt awful for Lemon who had little to no support in regards to her bullying, especially from the adults in her life. I think Graham and Isobel could have been developed a bit more. I also hated the fights between girls over boys. It's so juvenile and doesn't feel authentic to teenagers, where girls oftentimes build each other up instead of tearing each other down.

I do think this may appeal to the younger side of YA, just because today's young adult novels tend to appeal to an older audience. But this definitely would be a suitable YA for middle school or young high schoolers.

4/5 stars

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.

Such a great YA read. Lemon Lavender is a fantastic character. Well done!
Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Lemon Lavender was never going to blend in. Not with a name like that. Lemons life is turned upside down when her perfect sister runs away from college. Her family has been left distraught and lavender seems to be the only one picking up the pieces.

Then a new student arrives at school. Graham is the best thing that has happened to Lemon for a little while and as they spend time together their relationship grows.

Unfortunately Lemon becomes the victim of another students notorious gossip vlog. Upending her life even more than it already is. But this time Lemon is going to have to make a stand. Is she ready?

As someone who works in education and sees the mean girl mentality daily. This really resonated with me. The anxiety and feeling of uselessness was palpable and incredibly believable. I really enjoyed this YA fiction.

This book took me straight back to being a worried teenager at school, when all of life's problems (being liked, cute boys etc) seemed to be all-consuming. And that's coming from a gal with a fairly normal name! For someone who wants to stay as lowkey as possible, I physically felt her second-hand embarrassment at everything that goes on.

I did feel like with the spotlight on LL that some of the other characters felt a bit flat, but that didn't take away from the book for me.

Being a teenager is hard enough but when your named Lemon Lavender it’s difficult to go unnoticed. Which is something Lemon has tried to do her whole life, going under the radar while her older sister excels at being perfect. Until Meg Lavender leaves university and decides to travel Europe leaving a trail of destruction behind.

Very keen on keeping up appearances, Lemon is tasked with maintains the family secret at her fathers request. With little confidence, Lemon’s life quickly changes when new boy Graham takes an interest in her and the two embark on a relationship.

In this YA novel, Lemon begins to learn that sometimes it isn’t possible to go unnoticed when there are people waiting to gossip. This book was a great read and I routed for Lemon throughout in this coming of age story. A lovely little read that really tugs the heartstrings and gives an insight into being a teen in the digital age.

Lemon Lavender cannot catch a break. First, you have her name- once you hear it, you never forget it. This isn't good for a girl who just wants to stay out of the spotlight. Lemon's seemingly perfect sister, Meg, drops out of college and heads for Europe, cutting all ties with her family along the way. The entire Lavender family struggles to find their new normal after this. Lemon is now trying to make it through high school drama, cute boys (Graham 😍), and now running her household.
Elle Pallmore did such a great job writing the characters in this book, that I found myself so hurt when things weren't going Lemon's way! I honestly had to put the book down a handful of times out of frustration for poor Lemon. My heart hurt so badly for her for the bulk of the book, but I was thrilled with the ending! Everything wraps up perfectly and left me cheering for Lemon. I love that the ending gives me room to imagine what Lemon could be up to now.

I have so many feelings about this book. Poor Lemon struggles to get by on a daily basis and I just wish she had her parents and sister to lean on for support, but they are useless in that respect. But overall, I loved it and do reccomend this book to anyone who likes drama/romance. First off, all the characters made me so angry with all their dumb reactions. First rule of friends, always stick together no matter what. But no. poor Lemon has to deal with all that torture on her own. Granted, because she is so quick to judge and react harshly towards her friends perceived actions of blaming her. But her friends also let her down when they dont disprove all the false rumors flying around. Second, the book actually made me cry as the bullying escalated. I hated how she had to deal with all her mother and fathers issues, all on her own. As if she were an adult capable of dealing with all that drama. Her sister honestly screwed her over by not being there to help her, or at least talk to her. Overall I thought it was a great book. Easy to read. Easy to relate to the characters. But at the same time, not si predictable that I could figure out the ending. Really glad I got the chance to read this. Thanks Netgalley for opportunity to read this in exchange of an honest review.

I liked this book; the characters and the way it was written. It spoke to a somewhat shy and unassuming girl and how she tried to develop her confidence despite the trials and tribulations going on in her life. Very realistic these days.

This is estentially the struggle of a teenage girl trying to survive in the shadow of her run away older sister whilest keeping it all a secret.

I haven't read a YA in a while so I wasn't sure if I would still enjoy them but I did. The character was well thought out and developed well and the story tackled some of the issues facing teenagers today. I especially liked that it raised the issue that trying to blend in and keep you head down so no one notices you isn't always they right thing to do or the only option.

Though it was difficult to read at times due to the subject matter and heartbreak, I really enjoyed this book. I thought there was good character development, loved the dialogues and there was a good flow to the book. Lemon goes through quite a bit- a difficult home life and bullying at school. The story shows the challenges and struggles of teenagers growing up- especially in a time of social media that can add a whole new level to these challenges. The subject matter is an important one to cover and needs to be read about. Recommended. Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really don't know how I feel about this one? I have really mixed feelings. Though the character (Lemon) could be relatable to most teens now days, I feel the execution of the over all story was poor. It was too childish even for the "Young Adult" audience. It was too basic.
This is my honest opinion.

*Given in exchange for honest Review by Netgalley & Publisher

<i>Lemon Lavender is Not Fine</i> is a coming-of-age novel about a girl whose name is, to her annoyance, Lemon Lavender. This story, even from the beginning of the page I felt invested in Lemon Lavender. The author does a really good job of character development, and you could definitely see a change from the begging Lavender to the ending Lavender. The story will break your heart at points, as the main character has to deal with bullying (both in school, and online). I found myself at times being very frustrated with Lemon and the decisions she made. But I can't say some of her decisions weren't predictable (at least, in terms of Lemon's state of mind at that point) or even warranted.

I would say where it could use some work is her relationship with Graham. I didn't really get to know him that much, and I thought their relationship was cute at the beginning. However, it's hard to root for Lemon/Graham end game, when you don't know what one half is thinking. Some of his decisions made me frustrated, maybe even outright mad at him. But, I don't know, he was there at the end so that counts I guess?

There were also parts of the story that seemed unrealistic, especially in terms of the school and how they handled the situation. Their reasoning didn't seem to make sense in terms of what was happening and what would be apparent to the school at that time.

Overall, I would give this book a 3.5/5.

<i>Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review <i>

This book was such a page turner, where we learn about Lemon and her family, friends, and life. With misguided parents, you just hope for a happy ending. Growing up can be a tough time and this book explore it beautifully. Aunt Vee even has some wise saying that I think will stick with a lot of young adults who read this.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Lemon Lavender would like to be invisible but, with a name like that, how can she be?

She has so many secrets to keep - her supposedly perfect sister is missing, her Mum spends most of her time in bed and her Dad is so angry he's impossible to live with.

The last thing she needs is to meet a new boy at school - a distractingly handsome boy - who seems to like her, despite her best efforts. This new boy has also caught the eye of the school's popular girls who would do anything to get what they want.

When they set to work to pull Lemon's reputation apart and expose all of her secrets, how will she cope?

I thought this book was charming and had some good points to make about how the modern "mean girls" can easily hurt others through social media. I grew to really like Lemon and rooted for her through the tough times.

Thanks Net Galley for the preview!

I really enjoyed this book! I related to Lemon in so many different ways and really felt her voice was honest. Her internal struggle accurately depicted how many teenagers navigate school. I loved the meet cute between Lemon and Graham and felt like he was charming but not over the top. I really respected the way she stuck up for herself with her father. I feel like there is a lot more story left in these characters but also had good closure with the ending. I'd buy a sequel!

I'm not wild about this one. It seemed young, even for YA. It felt more like MG. The writing itself was choppy and not well done. The characters felt incomplete and not fully fleshed out. There was a lot of victim-blaming without any commentary which was pretty offputting.

Lemon Lavender Is Not Fine by Elle Pallmore is an interesting young adult romance, and my first book by this author. Lemon Lavender is struggling with her life. Her sister Meg runs away from college, her mom is a zombie, and her dad is angry and blames it all on Lemon. Lemon prefers to remain invisible, especially at school. Her life changes when she runs into the new student Graham. I found this book to be very emotional at times, but I loved the ending. I enjoyed watching Lemon grow as a person, and look forward to reading more books by this author.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

2.5 rating

Okay I don’t know how to fully feel about this book. There are plenty of moments that I didn’t like especially when it came to the girl on girl hate. I didn’t like that I only realize she was 16 after it was mentioned around 80 to 90% of the book, I totally thought that she was like 17 or 18. There were so many typical high school tropes in this and it felt like a really bad rendition of Mean Girls.

I think the only sane character throughout all this was Isabel and that’s because she would literally sit there and call lemon out on her lack of desire to do anything productive and positive. I definitely think that Lemon was a self deprecating character, and she really didn’t realize the effect that her behavior had on the rest of the world. I do think though that played a great role in character development and having Isabel call her out like that and have her realize is a great way to sort out at the end of the novel.

I genuinely think only parts that I really liked of this book were the first 20% in the last 10% but the rest of the book just wasn’t that great

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Lemon Lavender Is Not fine is a cute, "coming of age" story. The characters were interesting and easy to relate to. The writing style was unique and easy to follow. easy cute read for sure.