Abby Day takes a DNA test with her best friends, thinking that nothing much would come of it. But when the results come back her world, as a sixteen year old, is turned upside down. Abby finds out she has an older sister she knew nothing about.

After some internet research, Abby finds her sister online, and realizes that she could not be more different from Savannah ‘Savvy’ Tully. After one brief meet up, Abby and Savvy decide they need more time together to figure out what happened, and why neither of them were told about the other. With summer coming up, meeting at Summer Camp seemed to be the best option. I mean ... what could go wrong.

“I just want to understand. I don’t want all the pain that comes with it. But understanding and pain are woven together, tighter than a knot, and together make something so immovable that it doesn’t matter what I mean and what I don’t. It’s all going to end with me yanking on something that can’t be undone.”

Can you even imagine this happening? You think you know your parents and your family unit until one day after 16 years you realize there was someone else out there that should be part of all your memories. All secrets, all the memories you never will have. I loved the entire premise of this story.

You Have a Match by Emma Lord is technically a young adult novel but I couldn’t get enough of it, while reading. Filled with the craziness of high school, best friends, crushes and first loves this book took me right back to that place. I loved all the kids at camp and hearing how Savvy and Emma were comparing notes to find out the truth. It almost reminded me of a modern parent trap in book form. Plus I had to know why their parents kept them apart all these years. This is the first book I have read by Emma Lord but I also picked up Tweet Cute to read because I just loved her writing style.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the eARC to read and provide an honest review.

I recommend this book for kids 13 + because there is some swearing.

My favourite character in this book is Abby Day because we have the same name and that she is the main character, we get to read what she’s thinking and what's happening on her end of the story.

At first, I wasn’t really into the book because it was a bit boring but when Abby went to the camp and got in trouble for chewing gum by Savvy gave her trouble, after that I started to get more interested. I think the family drama and the parts where Abby and Savvy aren’t happy with each other and all the friend drama with Connie and Leo, are the parts I liked best. Those parts had the most action and I wanted to find out what will happen.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

Review by Abby

You Have a Match has serious Parent Trap vibes. What happens when a DNA test, that you take on a whim, reveals an older sister your parents have never mentioned?

Abby's had a rough year - her grandfather passed away, her grades are slipping, and she feels like she's letting people down - her parents and her BFFs.

Going to summer camp seems like the perfect idea when she learns that Savvy, her older sister is a camp counselor there. Maybe they can figure out what happened to their parents together.

Abby is relatable, passionate about her photography, accident-prone and doggedly determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This is a fast-paced read with a heartwarming storyline.

YOU HAVE A MATCH by Emma Lord is feel good YA novel about Abby who has to deal with her secret sister, her family and her crush during her time at summer camp. Right away this book was giving me The Parent Trap vibes in the best way since I love that movie! There’s long lost sisters, summer camp and feuding parents. I really enjoyed reading this coming of age novel that dealt with so much - friendships, love, loss and family. I read Tweet Cute last year and enjoyed it too so I’m really excited to continue reading Emma’s books!

Love, love, LOVED this book! 10 out of 5 stars!

The tale gripped me quickly and I had it finished in less than 2 days. I appreciated getting a One Year Later, which doesn't seem to happen much in books anymore.

I found myself crying a lot, but they were emotional happy tears.

Thank you for this book!

This book is amazing! I loved the parent trap vibes of the story and watching Abby and Savvy’s relationship grow was amazing. Abby and Leo were great too and the the secondary characters as well. I highly recommend this great book.

I enjoyed Emma Lord’s Tweet Cute”. I found it to be engaging and witty. Based on that experience, I was looking forward to “You have a Match”. Unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations. There were several serious storylines which were initially addressed in an immature manner. I tried, but it was a laborious read.

I really enjoyed this - so much so that I read it in one sitting. I’m going to digest a bit and come back to update but I loved it. The relationships, the characters and their relatability, the drama with the parents - all very well done. And I liked the romance even though it wasn’t the main focus.

This was fine but the writing style didn’t land for me.

The premise was fun and one that I think would be high interest for a lot of readers. I know so many of my students want to be YouTubers and I love a good summer camp setting. I wish the writing worked for me but sometimes it just doesn’t land.. it was discombobulated, paced a little weird, and the characters were eh for me. The mystery part and parent traps vibes were fun but also didn’t get revealed in way that landed for me either or gave satisfying pay off for sticking with the book. There’s so many people and so many books, maybe it’ll work for someone else!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cutest, most heartwarming read! This was super engaging and warm and light and everything I wanted it to be and more. It truly exceeded my expectations. The writing is witty with just enough cultural references to keep it entertaining, but splashes in real life situations like finding a sense of belonging which couldn’t be more relatable. Five stars, highly recommend!

3.5 stars

With the popularity of ancestry DNA testing kits, some test takers have gotten unexpected results. I like how the author incorporated that into a story as the main character in this book finds out she matched with a sibling she didn't know existed. And of course learning something that big is going to have an impact on her life and seeing how the situation played out is what I loved most about the story.

Abby signs up for a DNA testing service mainly because her best friend, aka her secret crush, Leo, is doing it as well. Big shocker when the results indicate she has a sister named Savannah. This sister she never knew about goes by the name Savvy and is a semi-famous Instagrammer. So why was Savvy put up for adoption? Well, neither girl is quite ready to ask the biological parents or the adoptive parents all the details so they hatch a plan to spend time together at a summer camp to try and figure it out. And it just so happens Leo works as a chef at this same summer camp as well. What a coincidence.

I read the author's other book, Tweet Cute, and I ended up giving this book the same star rating although each book had different strengths and weaknesses. While I liked the romance in Tweet Cute, I thought this book lacked proper development when it came to her love life. I actually would have preferred if the story focused only on the relationship of the sisters and the family drama.

Normally I'm game for a summer camp setting (shoutout to The Baby-Sitters Club: Super Special #2!) but it didn't work for me in this book. There were minor characters and storylines at the camp that seemed pointless because they weren't fully fleshed out. Not to sound like a broken record but the family stuff in the story was great, but just about everything else needed some fine tuning.

Overall, I did enjoy this one even though it wasn't a perfect read. With romance not being the number one plot, I think the book best fits in the young adult fiction genre.

I think it’s safe to say that, with her sophomore release, Emma Lord has firmly established herself as a must read YA contemporary author. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love all things YA, but, in truth, contemporary is just a tiny corner of my shelf. But authors like Emma Lord have me itching to grow that section of my library. She has an amazing ability to balance real life with a bit of just slightly far-fetched whimsy. And I love that her characters are multi-faceted and flawed. There was no unattainable perfection in her first book and You Have a Match is no different.

In You Have a Match, we follow Abby Day about to enter the summer before senior year. The past year has been rough following the death of her grandfather. Her grades have been slipping, her friendships are strained, and she might be falling in love with one of her best friends. But nothing could have prepared her for the massive curve ball that came with taking a DNA test on a whim. She has an older sister. An older sister her parents have never told her about. And Abby’s newfound older sister, Savvy, wants to meet.

I loved the premise of this book from the start, but it did take a solid third of the book before the story really started to take off. And then from about the halfway point on, I couldn’t put it down. There wasn’t a single character I didn’t love and several definitely pulled at my heartstrings in that “I remember what being 17 feels like” way. To me, a 36 year old with 4 kids, that’s huge part of what makes a YA contemporary good… making me remember what it felt like to be their age. Oddly, the thing I had the most issue with was the parents. The story behind Savvy’s adoption and the relationship between Abby and Savvy’s parents is the big secret of the book and in the vast overallness of it, I was fully behind that storyline. My issue was in the details. And I know that’s something that some readers won’t ever think about, but as the story started coming out I was just left with so many timeline questions that I couldn’t seem to reconcile in my head. That’s just a thing that bugs me. I couldn’t place how old everyone was and when the major events would have happened to match up with present day.

But, we’re really here for Abby and her journey to define herself, her family, and her future. It’s hard to break out of the normal we create for ourselves and grow into a new normal, a stronger normal, and You Have a Match really highlights that. I truly enjoyed taking that journey with Abby and her friends, through the ups and downs, the laughter and tears, the fights and love. Because all those things are real life and no story is complete with showing us a life with all of them. And a little bit of Parent Trap. Yeah… I said it (and loved it).

Great book for young adults who love realistic fiction! Brings up topics like belonging and identity that many can relate to.

If you like the movie the Parent Trap, then you will like this book. After reading about the camp, it makes me want to join.
This book follows two sisters that do a DNA test and find they are sisters and decide to do some more digging on why their parents never told them, there a year and a half age difference. Amazing book title, right?
Abby is a talented photographer, but she doesn’t share her work because the camera that she got was from her grandpa who died recently.
I read the authors previous book Tweet cute and thought that it was adorable. This was no different. This author made the perfect second book.
This book was more about family and friends rather then romance which was a nice break from the other books that I have been reading.

I enjoyed reading this book. It's a cute story with a really intriguing premise, and I love stories that have are part romance but also part interesting family drama. And family drama doesn't get more interesting than finding out you have a secret sister! This book is told from Abby's point of view, and overall I found her an interesting and relatable character. She's working through a lot of self-doubt and anxiety throughout the book, which is always a mood, but she's also sassy and creative and sometimes into pulling reckless but fun stunts. It puts her at some interesting odds with her newfound sister, Savvy, as the two are complete opposites in personality. Overall I love how genuine the characters in this story feel. Conversations and feel like the real people conversations and banter that we all have with our closest friends, and there is a fun energy about the book. It's got a bit of a Parent Trap vibe to it, which I enjoyed. There are very many pranks. Overall it's a fun time, and I enjoy Emma Lord's writing style.

At times I wished some things would have felt a little more dramatic than they ended up being. A lot of the stuff with romance in the book felt a little too convenient and didn't have enough drama in it to make me as excited about those moments, though there were also sweet moments that were enjoyable to read. As well, there was a lot of buildup around these family secrets and why Abby never knew she had a sister, but the reveal didn't end up feeling as big as I expected it to. Was it a believable situation? Yes. Did it feel like the families involved had made it a little overblown and were behaving out of proportion to the situation, a bit yes. It was still an enjoyable read, but I think I wanted a little more drama than I felt like I got.

That being said, I did like watching Abby and Savvy's relationship grow. It's interesting to think about how you would react if you discovered a secret sibling. Would you want to try and be friends? Would you feel hurt and betrayed? Would this feel like a cool new adventure? It's cool to see how one sister would handle this crazy situation, and if nothing else, it's a a cute, comedic and heartwarming read that will bring a little summer into your winter days. 3.75/5

When her best friend Leo asks Abby to take a DNA test like him, she agrees without thought. But when the results come back and show she has a full-blooded sister that she never knew about, Abby's summer is turned upside down. This was a cute read that reminded me of the camp part of Parent Trap in all the best ways. I loved Tweet Cute by Emma Lord and her follow up is just as fun. She's quickly becoming a go to YA author for me. (And I really want the recipe for lasagna balls- they sound delish!)

I loved the combination of romance and family stories that come through in this book—the setting is evocative, the sister relationship is nuanced and feels true to life, and the love story is sweet. Another great read from Emma Lord!

Emma Lord is on her way to becoming my favorite YA contemporary author, that's for sure. Having read Tweet Cute earlier this year, I was very highly anticipating picking up this one and I was definitely not disappointed.

You Have a Match follows our main character Abby as she discovers via a DNA test that she actually has a biological sister that she has never known about. Her sister, Savvy, immediately reaches out to her and just so happens to mention that she is unfortunately going away to camp for the summer, the very camp that her parents had encouraged her to go to to improve her test scores. In order to not only form a bond with her sister, but also unravel the lie her parents have kept her entire life she decides to attend as well.

Familial bonding plays a huge part in this book (I mean, duh). Being able to see these two polar opposites connect in a way that only siblings can was veryvery touching.

The friends to lovers trope is always one of my favorites to see, however I spent half the time internally screaming at everyone to just communicate with each other.

Overall, I loved You Have a Match and will continue to pick up anything Emma Lord writes in the future.

I enjoyed Tweet Cute and was eager to read Emma Lord's sophomore book. I'm happy to report that You Have a Match does not disappoint. It has the same fun, snappy tone as her first hit. Her characters feel relevant and relatable. The story centers around two girls who realize they share parents, but they have now known about each other their entire lives. At summer camp, they plan to figure out why.

Lord, Emma always makes me feel gooey.

Thank you thank you hold your applause, there will be more puns before this review is over. Emma writes inter-character relationships like no-one’s business. To quote myself: “There are some very complicated relationships going on.”These relationships are the ideal versions of themselves. Even when they’re messy, they’re an ideal sort of messy, everything wrapping up neatly and tied into a bow. But that’s not a bad thing! Sometimes you want a book that’s going to rip out your heart and stomp on it. Sometimes you want a book that’s going to sit you down at the kitchen table and tell you a story while you eat fresh cookies. You Have A Match is definitely the second kind.

So campy (in the literal summer camp sense) and fun! It’s got some parent trap vibes with a mystery twist and relationship drama, all with a dash of “haha I’m a young adult now, what am I gonna do with my life?” (which is a perpetual mood).

I’ll admit, I wasn’t as engaged in this romantic relationship as I was in Tweet Cute. The kids are adorable, but figuring out the whole ‘new sister’ thing took main stage (as it should), and I felt like the LI was a bit conveniently busy/complicated. When he was there though… phew. My heart. But again! The focus of this book is meant to be on the relationship between the two sisters and that is well developed.

As I consult the notes I took while I was reading… apparently I cried six? times? I honestly can’t remember why so much but I think it was just a lot of high emotion scenes that got me RIGHT in the tear ducts.