Now & When by Sara Bennett Wealer is a sweet, funny story with a unique twist that explores love, friendship, and self-discovery. The story centers around Skyler, a high school junior who has a major crush on Truman, the golden boy she thinks could be her perfect match. But when her phone starts receiving mysterious notifications about her future, things get a lot more complicated—and entertaining.

The premise is cool and different: Skyler’s phone suddenly predicts her future love life, and what she sees isn’t exactly what she expected. Instead of Truman, her phone shows a future where she's somehow with her classmate Josh, a guy who’s her opposite and someone she currently can't stand. This clever twist leads Skyler into hilarious and awkward situations as she starts questioning what she wants and whether her “perfect” future might look different than she imagined.

One of the best things about this book is how real the characters feel. Skyler is relatable in her mix of hope, insecurity, and curiosity. She goes through the typical teenage rollercoaster of emotions, but Wealer does a good job of making these emotions genuine. Josh, meanwhile, starts as the kind of guy who knows exactly how to push her buttons, but as they’re forced into more conversations, you see another side of him emerge that’s surprisingly sweet and thoughtful. Their slow-burn friendship is fun to read and makes for some really sweet moments.

The story also has some deeper layers as it explores how our expectations can shape our reality, and how easy it is to overlook things right in front of us. However, the pacing does slow down a bit here and there, and a few side characters, like Truman, could have used more development to make them feel as layered as Skyler and Josh.

Overall, Now & When is an enjoyable, light-hearted read that also has an emotional core. It’s not just about romance but about learning who you are and being open to what life might throw your way. For anyone who loves a mix of romance and self-discovery with a twist of future mystery, this book is a charming, feel-good choice.

The premise of the romantic comedy YA in school set me up so I’d think I’d enjoy this one, but unfortunately the plot and characters fell flat for me. I enjoyed and wished that the touch of paranormal storyline was expanded upon, though, it’s what made the book the most interesting.

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

No esperaba que la trama de este libro sea realismo mágico, me ha sorprendido. Lamentablemente, toca muy a la ligera temas importantes y por eso le doy esa puntuación.

Skyler Finch no soporta a Truman Alexander, hace todo lo posible para evitarlo y concentrarse en lo más importante, la escuela y su novio, Eli. Sin embargo, por alguna razón inexplicable, el celular de Skylar le envía notificaciones del futuro. . . uno en el que parece estar casada con Truman, y Skyler no puede permitir que eso suceda. Obviamente, tratar de cambiar el futuro no va a estropear el presente, ¿verdad?

El ritmo de la historia es interesante, los personajes son llamativos, son adolescentes y toman malas decisiones, lo cual es entendible para su edad. Se ve que hay química entre los protagonistas, además esta historia no es solo romance sino también sobre la amistad.

Es una pena, porque la idea de la autora es interesante y es lo que más me gustó del libro, pero como dije al inicio toca temas a la ligera que no son manejados bien y eso me decepcionó un poco.

TW: intento de suicidio, ansiedad, infidelidad.

“A high school romance and coming-of-age story with a touch of magical realism.” —School Library Journal

Now & When was advertised as being for fans of Jenny Han, which is what initially drew me to the book, however I was really not a fan of this one. I dont really love the time travel trope and it felt a little too juvenile for my taste at times. I think it might have been more enjoyable if I were in high school.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

I thought this was going to be similar to The Future of Us and I was excited because I loved that book but it was very different. Not in a bad way but also not my favorite! I think some aspects could have been excited better but overall it was an enjoyable story with nice characters!

This had a lot of potential to be super cute, it has a very interesting premise. Skylar's phone sends texts from the future. What to do and why should she follow what the future holds? There were some heavy emotional and mental health things at play too.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

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

Good story line, but I didn't like the protagonist.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The concept of this book was so fun—I love the speculative twist, offering a glimpse at a possible future, and seeing how that changes characters in the present. A fun, heart-warming read!

I wanted to like this one, but it included one of my least favorite storylines: cheating. Once that was revealed I lost interest and just didn't care about what happened anymore. I'm sure this might work for others, but it wasn't for me.

First things first, we are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one is absolutely gorgeous. I was instantly attracted to it when I saw it. This story giving off an enemies-to-lovers vibe was exactly what I needed. I really liked the writing style, and I feel as if the story flowed quite well. I was interested to see what would happen next the whole time, which is super important as a reader.

As for cons, I did not love the characters. I felt very detached from them, but felt the plot made up for it. The premise overall is what drew me in and kept me interested. The concept of cheating also is what takes away from this novel.

Thanks for the E-arc.

the beginning of this book was kind of slow, but also super good. i mean, we got the whole plot of this book in a matter of pages, which i really liked, since it made me feel more connected. but, as she started to get closer and closer to Truman it got to be really good and really hooked me. i mean, this whole story is super cool, since it's not like petty high school drama we see in a lot of YA books, but we got the characters to fight for something they really believe in, aka the garden. and i also really like that she was really close with her friends, and there was more characters then just her and Truman being the main characters. the romance was also super cute and i really loved those two together, but i just wish that there was more romance, since i feel like it went from 0 to 100 really quickly. on the other hand, are we just not gonna talk about how when they were at her sisters apartment and they were like super close to having sex, but then she walked in. like, the sister had to be see something, i mean she was by the front door and they were on the couch.

There's something about Truman Alexander that Skyler Finch finds incredibly annoying. Actually, several things: his voice (grating), his arrogance (total know-it-all), his debate-team obsession (eyeroll), and his preppy vibe (does he iron his shorts?). She does her best to avoid him and focus on the important stuff: friends, school, and her boyfriend, Eli. His promposal was perfect--just like he is--and the future is looking bright. Or is it?

This was a cute book! Predictable characters, but it was well-written. I personally love an unlikeable character. We aren't all likable all the time.

This is difficult to write considering how much I was looking fun to this book. I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope and it is perhaps my favorite, so I was more than excited to only be disappointed. I found myself feeling frustrated often with the cliched main characters. While I understand they are young, I found that they lacked growth and honestly didn't have any redeeming qualities. That killed the story for me and made it a hard read.

Overall rating - 3.5 /5

Trust me enemies to lovers romance is my favourite romance sub genre and this story had so much potential but I am sorry to say that I am disappointed. I really was looking forward to it after reading the blurb and author Sara Bennett Whealer awesome for providing me with the ARC but I could let myself love it the thought it would. There is everything a hit romance book contains and the writing is perfect but there is something missing and that made it impossible for me to give it a five star review. But if you are looking for a YA romance with rivals turned lovers plot then give it a go, it's perfect for the fans of Devi and Ben from Never Have I Ever with a huge twist.

Happy reading!

I was really eager to dive into this one - the plot sounded really interesting a right up my alley and the cover is absolutely gorgeous! However, I'm really sad to say that this one left a lot to be desired.

I went into this thinking that this was going to be a really fun YA enemies-to-lovers romance, with a fun fantasy aspect in regards to the mysterious app that shows our main character the future. While that technically did occur in this, I felt as though it was super light on the romance. The romance between Skyler and Truman felt very abrupt, for lack of a better term. We were told how their relationship came to be way more than we were shown. I also found myself to be scratching my head while trying to pinpoint the real conflict of the story, as we were given a handful throughout the novel. All that aside, I really had a hard time with how some of these conflicts/issues were presented. I don't think the topics of self-harm or depression were handled well at all (those topics felt thrown in, and not thoroughly developed or discussed in an informative or careful way). Also all the body-shaming that was never challenged? Was NOT a fan if I'm being completely honest. After completing this novel I realized something else: the app was NEVER explained. I get that this is nonsensical, but to never have it explained was a bummer!

I found these characters to be extremely unlikeable at times. Like I said before, Skyler and Truman's relationship felt very abrupt, which made it hard for me to become invested in them. All of the characters were EXTREMELY superficial as well. I'm someone who loves a character-driven story, and I do love an unlikeable character, but I felt as though I was grasping at straws trying to find something to like about them. There was one particular scene where Skyler implied that her friend's attempted suicide made her life "less than perfect" - YIKES. I get that these were young characters, I get that they were made to be unlikeable, but I just needed them to have at least ONE redeeming quality, you know?

I was just left wanting a lot more. :(

CONTENT WARNINGS: mention of self-harm, body shaming