Member Reviews
What a lovely little book. I say that partly because I couldn’t NOT finish it the same day I started it! I had to know not just IF but HOW they ended up, ya know, “winning.” It’s a fun premise, too, beyond the trope of rivals being attracted to one another, to have the scavenger hunt. All of the personal revelations also intrigued me, as did the romance-readers paranoia, as I am exactly like that about my love of love.
The Summary:
Rowan Roth has been rivals with Neil McNair since their Freshman year of high school. She’s competed with Neil (see also: McNightmare) for everything from class president to valedictorian, and now the final win, the senior Howl game, is within her grasp.
To win the game, students must complete a scavenger hunt and return to their school first while eliminating as many of their opponents as they can along the way. As Rowan and Neil quickly become prime targets, they team together, hunting down clues, and realizing maybe they didn’t hate each other as much they thought they did.
The Review:
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a full-hearted, feminist, hate-to-love romance-adventure for over-achievers, Seattle enthusiasts, and anyone with a competitive spirit and a belief in the legitimacy of the romance genre.
If that last thing seems bizarre or redundant, let me explain. Rowan is the type of girl who would give anything for a guy who can show affection without needing to justify his masculinity. She’s fully anti-“heteronormative bullshit” and has backed up this claim by using her class prez power to support all-gender restrooms. She’s an ally to other women including those in the queer community like her best friends. She’s also an aspiring romance writer, and she will be the first to tell you (as she does in many ways throughout this story) that the romance genre was first-made for women, that it serves as a creative outlet for many, and that it can be useful in giving women the language to talk about sex.
Sure, Today Tonight Tomorrow, has the guilty-pleasure tropes we love to hate about the hate-to-love romantic comedies. It is full of moments both cute and awkward and painful and hilarious, but what caught me most was what was underneath this romp of a story-arc.
As these characters bond, they realize the ways they’ve sometimes put their true selves second to their competitive goals. They share their Jewishness and the ways they’ve felt like outsiders because of it. And even when she’s swooning over McNightmare’s muscles, Rowan never backs down on an argument and isn’t afraid to talk about sex and the different expectations set for men and women.
So, read it for the flirting, the hard-crushing, the café and record store young-and-in-love moments. Or read it for the feminism and the validation via our teenage heroine that art created for women is equally relevant to what’s created by and for men. Or read it for all of these reasons. But read it. I don’t think that’s a decision you’ll regret.
This was one of those "opposites attract" romances, which is kind of lampshaded in the book itself. Regardless, I enjoyed that it was reasonably low-stakes, and that the characters had problems that felt novel and relatively fresh for this genre.
Swoon-worthy, fluffy, charming, heart-warming, relatable, humorous - Today Tonight Tomorrow ticked off all the things I want in a rom-com. This book was such an enjoyable read! I finished reading it today morning, and I'm still drooling over the story. 😭
Today Tonight Tomorrow is a 24 hour YA rom-com centering our female lead, Rowan's last day of high-school. It follows the enemies-to-lovers trope. Swipe right for full synopsis.
Rowan is a huge fan of romance novels, JUST LIKE ME, so I knew I'd love reading about her. AND I DID. Her struggles in high-school, no matter how she excelled academically, were so thoughtfully written. The author did a great job of expressing the feelings of students on their very last day of high school too. I related to every bit of the nostalgia that Rowan felt.
I really loved reading about Neil, the male lead as well. The last few chapters made me feel connected to him in such an expected way. The chemistry that Rowan and Neil shared, inspite of being competitors all throughout high-school, was so wonderful to read. The conversations between them on the last few pages of the book made me want to scream saying "AWW MY BABIESS!!"
This book in one word is "unforgettable" 💕 I read it in a day and couldn't put it down at all!
Don't forget to add this book to your tbr and pick it up as soon as it comes out!!! 😍
I was excited to read Today Tonight Tomorrow as the description seemed to indicate it would be a YA romance with one of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers. It was a cute story with an original idea; the main characters (who have been rivals throughout high school) decide to team up to win HOWL, a scavenger hunt/assassins game for the senior class. Over the course of the night, Rowan and Neil realize there may be more to their relationship than they’d originally realized.
Unfortunately I had some issues with the pacing of the story, which at times seemed to drag. I found myself skimming at certain points. On the plus side, Rowan and Neil are strong, likable characters.
Today, Tonight, and Tomorrow is a masterful rom-com. The tight timeframe and high stakes had me devouring it in about 24 hours, and the characters will stay with me way longer. I'm a sucker for a high school graduation romp, and this one delivers all the feels—love, nostalgia, friendship, and hope. A total winner!
An exquisite book that manages to convey so many beautiful feelings at once. Today Tonight Tomorrow has a delicious format usually seen in movies, where all the events happen during the final day of high school for Rowan Roth and Neil McNair.
In the four years the pair have attended the same school they have been rivals competing for everything, from grades, a position on the student council, science projects, and most recently the coveted position for valedictorian.
But, the last day also has a special celebration for all seniors, a game of HOWL - a scavenger hunt assassin game across the city of Seattle, with a major prize of 5 thousand dollars to the winner. And the battle to settle all scores between Rowan and Neil.
Although this is a brief synopsis of Today Tonight Tomorrow I can't begin to encapsulate here how this book is successful in relating those exact feelings that every graduate went through at some point. The giddiness of the last day, paired with fear, regrets, nostalgia, but deep excitement for what's to come. I can't praise Rachel Lynn Solomon's writing skills enough. I hear and talk about books that are unputdownable, this was more than that, I was glad to keep reading it even if it had over 900 pages and never wanted it to end. It was a complete delight to turn every page.
I loved how the game o HOWl made this a tribute to Seattle, where we got to follow the clues and guess the locations with the characters. Loved how Rowan has a great passion for romance novels and how throughout the book she goes from embarrassed about them to defending how important and successful the genre is. I loved the tiny details at the beginning of the chapters that added depth and context to the story.
Today Tonight Tomorrow was fun, refreshing, and clever. Definitely a book that I will come back to and read whenever I want something witty and heartfelt. This is going straight to my favorites of the year list, and I can't recommend it enough.
This is a delightful book, probably my favorite book all year so far. I really enjoyed the characters, the story and the writing. Even the bickering was fun. I highly recommend this book to young and old.
This book was absolutely adorable! I really enjoyed the promise and it was something really fun to read during this isolation time.
I have always found that Rachel Lynn Solomon is able to create some of the best contemporaries that I’ve read. They’re powerful and emotional and really make you feel connected to the characters.
This book is a little different and less emotional than her other books, I definitely felt it was more sweet and about the development of a relationship, which I appreciated and needed in the moment.
Today Tonight Tomorrow was an adventure filled enemies to lovers story. Everyone knows the two competitive people in high school always vying for the top spot. They hate each other and it is palpable. The book spans one night where the relationship they always have known begins to be questioned. Follow along on the ride. This book was cute and so very relatable. As a teacher I see this play out everyday in my classroom. If they only knew what was in store for them...
Four stars
This is a very sweet book featuring characters who are young enough to be ideal and brainy enough to express themselves as witty adults: a charming combo!
Rowan and Neil have been competing to be the best at everything for years, and their relationship has centered on a moderately respectful but still antagonistic motif that they use to push each other and themselves to greater academic and personal heights. It's not until the last day of high school that they recognize what everyone else already knows; there's a lot more to this relationship than they originally thought.
There are no surprises here, and the plot follows the exact direction anyone who has ever read romance (or has ever heard of one) expects, but it's done well. Both characters are engaging, and while Rowan spends more time than I'd have liked 'what-if-ing,' it's easy to want them to find success and security as individuals and - ultimately - together. I did find it a bit jarring that two characters who are so (age appropriately) poor at communicating with each other suddenly become so adept at expressing their feelings at some stage, but I chalk that up to their mutual love of writing and language. The characters are pretty talented with language, it turns out, and it's fun to watch that develop as a part of their movements toward adulthood.
This is a very readable, sweet novel that will please folks who like or even can tolerate YA romance.
This book was fantastic. Our main character, Rowan, is a thick, flawed girl who puts up walls out of fear and romanticizes situations to the point of never being satisfied by what actually happens. Her rival, Neil, is a short (!) freckled redhead who annoys her daily but is a literal angel underneath it all.
This story was a love letter to your hometown, a goodbye to everything you’re comfortable with, a mirror for your ugly parts and for your great parts, and a reminder that every single person contains multitudes. Yes, the enemies-to-lovers situation had me so coiled with suspense that I had goosebumps and choked up a few times. But the themes the author was able to convey in these ~340 pages are so much more than a romance. Feminism, anti-semitism, people, especially women, being judged for “guilty pleasures” (and why they shouldn’t be called that!!), sex positivity... there were so many subtle dialogues that included social issues without feeling forced.
I am so happy we had a male love interest who was not afraid to be vulnerable or even cry. We had a female protagonist that, admittedly, was far less gentle than her love interest. And it’s not always pretty but it’s definitely realistic and we love to see it. Rowan didn’t even have to have a tragic backstory in order to explain why she could be so spiky. She just was that kind of person and by the end of the book, spoiler alert, she was trying to be better. And that’s all you can ask!
The writing was very enjoyable and the characters' voices were strong and defined. The pacing lagged here and there but overall an enjoyable read with a cute concept.
Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals all four years of high school. Any way they could one up the other, they did: book reports, SAT scores, college admissions acceptances, even gym pull-up contests. When Neil is named valedictorian over Rowan, she's determined to beat him at one last thing: Howl, the all night scavenger hunt that takes the seniors all over Seattle looking for clues to win a big cash prize.
During one of the designated "safe zones," Rowan overhears a group of other seniors conspiring to take both her and Neil out of the game. Reluctantly, Rowan and Neil decide to team up until they're the only ones left standing, and then they'll go back to duking it out for the top spot. The only problem is, somewhere along the way, Rowan stops viewing Neil as the sarcastic grump he's always been and starts seeing him for the awkwardly perfect guy she's always hoped for.
This. Was. So. Cute. I adored Solomon's writing style and flew through this in basically one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. Rowan and Neil really felt like those crazy competitive students everyone knew in high school. But after they stopped trying to bring each other down academically is when this really started to shine. Watching the pair go through this scavenger hunt while getting to know one another on a deeper, more personal level was so incredibly sweet and the bantering back and forth the whole time was everything. I also loved the whole premise of Howl and wished my high school had done something like that cause it seemed like a blast. Were there parts that were predictable? Of course, but it didn't lessen my enjoyment overall. If you're looking for a quick, fun ridiculously charming read, I'd definitely recommend.
Man, I love the enemies-to-lovers trope. I do.
The book takes place in Seattle, a dream destination of mine. Add in the scavenger hunt challenge and this book was a perfect recipe for fun!
I'd like to thank the author for including so much about Judaism. I didn't really know anything about that religion before this,
I wished some parts of the book would speed up, it dragged a little at times, but all in all, fun read!
Today, Tonight, Tomorrow is so many more things than just a romance novel. It's a sendoff for every high school senior, a scavenger hunt, an enemies to lovers romance, and an ode to both all books, but especially romance novels. This book threads the needle between feminist and preachy and the main characters Rowan and Neil deal with more than just a scavenger hunt as they team up for the last time to win their school's traditional scavenger hunt for seniors.
Rowan and Neil are so well thought out as characters, with wants, failings, desires, and insecurities. Rowan is our protagonist and as we follow her through the novel we learn more about her life. As an aspiring valedictorian, friend, daughter who struggles to balance all the parts of her life and she plans to head to the East Coast for college.
As someone who's visited Seattle a number of times it was so fun to see places I've been and some I haven't made it to, on the list for the scavenger hunt participants.
This book was a breath of fresh air, both for fans of romance and YA. It was honest and full of struggles that it was a joy to read, and I want more of Neil and Rowan immediately.
*heavy sigh of utter content*
I loved everything about this book. From the very beginning, Solomon used quirky, easy writing to give you a character to relate to and love. I loved Rowan (narrator) and Neil (hate-interest) from the moment they appeared on the page. And their relationship—whew, they are the very definition of “just kiss already.” It was perfect and messy and beautiful and imperfect.
I CRIED. That may have been because it was 5 am and I had just stayed up all night to finish this book. But seriously, Rowan and Neil brought a tear to my eye—okay, yes, tears, multiple. It was just so sweet and WELL WRITTEN. I’m emphasizing this because there is a severe lack of really really good YA romances out there.
Rowan is competitive and real and feminist and a writer (girl after my own heart). Neil is strong and soft and a word nerd (boy after my own heart) and just covered in freckles.
The plot was wonderfully written and exciting. They talked about so much and they also faced some pretty tough things that were handled so well and enhanced the story that much more. Things like books and sex and the end of high school and moving away for college and broken families and being Jewish in a world that isn’t always nice to that faith.
Just. This book. Read it. Love it. Cry a little.
There was a lot to love about this sweet young adult romance. I loved how smart the characters were, but not in an obnoxious way; they recognized their flaws.
I almost gave up on it at the beginning, because I thought it was going to be predictable, but I was very wrong, and I am so glad I finished. The characters felt real and had real issues making the story believable. I think that this one will be a favorite for many. It has romance, friendship, a fun adventure of sorts - as I said, a lot to love.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this one!
I suppose I should've known that this book would be a straight up romance once the main character, Rowan, expressed her adoration for romances. Somehow I was still a surprised as the book followed a typical romance plotline. That's not a criticism of this book, just an observation about my powers of deduction in this case. Both Rowan and Neil are likeable characters, for the most part. Rowan is pretty dense about what's happening, especially given her familiarity with romances, and quite harsh on more than one occasion. Still, I was rooting for her, for them. And also wishing she would change her dress! Although I enjoyed the book myself, it's not something I can put in my middle school library due to the more mature aspects of their romance, some of which Rowan discusses quite freely. I appreciate how comfortable she is with her body and sexuality, but I question how frank she is in unabashedly discussing all that with Neil, including masturbation. That just doesn't feel like any teen girl I know.
What a great story! TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW is at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking, and always wonderful. It was completely unputdownable, and I read it in one siting. It was wonderful to read a love story about two Jewish teens, and, as a former Seattleite, I was overjoyed to find that the book was also a love letter to the city of Seattle. The rivals to romance really worked for me, and I loved the scavenger hunt. The characters and setting were both utterly charming. I can't wait to recommend this one!