Member Reviews

This book was such a fun and adorable read! Although categorized as Young Adult, I would say maybe it leans closer to New Adult due to the content, the maturity of the characters, and that bridging time of being a senior in high school.

I really enjoyed this novel and how the enemies to lovers trope was used. Even though I know this trope IS in YA, I don't often read YA novels including it and from those that I have read, it hasn't necessarily been done well (or realistically) for that age group. However, I could easily imagine how these circumstances could lead to these two characters having this rival relationship.

From start to finish, this was just an overall great read. I found myself wanting to pick this book up each time I put it down and probably would have read it in one sitting if time allowed.

The story was both comical and swoon worthy and had more than just romance as the message.

This novel may be my new favourite from these authors but now I'm even more encouraged to read more of their backlist.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this DRC.
This story was not for me. Did not enjoy the characters or believe their attraction.
#WhatsNottoLove #NetGalley

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This rivals to loves was perfectly balanced. It wasn’t too quick nor was it slow. The romantic scenes were enjoyable but my favourite parts were always the banter. Even even they were starting to fall for each other, the banter never stopped. There was some diversity with the side character but would have liked to see more.

I think I would have liked it more if Ethan has a POV. Allison was sometimes… annoying. A break from being in her head would have made it more bearable. Would have given his character more depth.

This discussion around adults treating teens like useless children was interesting. It’s clear that both Allison and Ethan are capable l, and they’ve proven that over and over. Yet the adults around them still treat them as incompetent. As someone who works with youth and who’s philosophy is that “children are capable” I appreciated that discussion.

Thank you to Penguin teen Canada for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I surprisingly enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Ethan and Allison are very much enemies and it takes a while for their relationship to develop which I appreciated. It’s very slow burn and they are very serious enemies. It was very surprising that the relationship wasn’t rushed even though it’s a contemporary YA standalone which usually they rush the relationship. It did feel abrupt how they got together but overtime it grew on me and I understood a bit more why that was the case. I enjoyed it and I’m happy I got to read it! I got an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book at the time prior to release. Unfortunately my taste in books have changed a good bit in the last couple of years, and I am not reading as many YA books. Also as a mood reader, it can be quite difficult at times to read book around the time of release. If I read and review the book in the future, I will add my review here. Thanks again for the opportunity.

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I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

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I absolutely love enemies to lovers which is the main reason I requested an arc of this book to begin with. This definitely was not what I was expecting, 8 didn’t really feel any chemistry between the main characters which was disappointing.

I also did not understand why the mc was constantly judging everyone, it was rather annoying and I feel like someone who was supposed to be as academically gifted wouldn’t be acting like this.

I have seen others say that they liked other books by this author but as my first read of theirs I probably wouldn’t pick up another

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My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

My Review:

I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – thanks!

I was, admittedly, a bit nervous going into this book. I hadn’t loved the last Wibbroka book, Time of Our Lives, as much as its predecessors and was worried this one would have the same issue with a dual perspective again and be missing the magic I had loved from their first two books. I was so happy to be proven wrong!

This story takes us back to the West Coast, to the familiarity of single perspective, and to a very determined protagonist. If you’d ever wondered about what would have happened if Tristan had never left Chilton and Rory had had an academic rivalry with him, I think this book could be your answer to that. Alison and Ethan are the epitome of academic enemies-to-loves, even if for the first half of the story they are both so oblivious to that.

The writing in this book is so easy to fall into. Wibbroka has this ability to create such strong protagonists and to build up their worlds and slowly chip away at their foundations as the story moves on. Alison knows what she wants, even if at times this knowledge is challenged or skewed. I really enjoyed the character development she undergoes throughout the novel. I love how they flipped the trope of girls changing themselves to be better, and instead give depth to Ethan through his uncertainty and struggle to see what he wants outside of his rivalry with Alison.

Dylan and Alison’s friendship was one of my favourite parts of the story, and the part that resonated with me the most. Senior year is a hard time for anyone, especially when looking ahead to see who from those four years will stay with you in the next chapter of your live. They did an excellent job encapsulating the dilemmas of senior year: fear of losing friendships, of not getting into your dream school, of not knowing who you are or who you want to be. It’s all there in this book.

All in all, this is up there and close to taking the mantel as my favourite Wibbroka book. Fans of their other books will not be disappointed when they pick up this book later in the month. Its reminiscent of teen movies from the 2000/10s, I think most readers will be unable to put it down.

What’s not to Love releases April 20th

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I'm incredibly biased because in general I just refuse to accept single perspective contemporaries where the romantic arc is the driving narrative. Academic rivals to lovers, while something I enjoy in some mediums, again is hard to pull off when we just got the one side. The side we did get was at least the side that was the rival, because her love interest just started to give off more stalker as the book continued and it was revealed that he was only doing things to be close to her and he didn't actually have hobbies or interests of his own that didn't stem from his desire to impress her... It was definitely a flop and it stayed a flop and I wished that it didn't.

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Academic enemies to lovers? If only I hadn’t been homeschooled. I loved this book and it’s take on the enemies to lovers trope…they actually were enemies at one point.

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I'm convinced these two authors can not write a bad book. The way they write and deliver a story is so fluid. It is like I am welcomed into a warm embrace and not released for a long time. I loved every single thing about this book. My only complaint is that I always have to wait so long between books.

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WIBBERLEY AND SIEGEMUND-BROKA THE LITERAL BEST AUTHOR DUO EVER!!! I love them and everything they write! This was a serious enemies to lover trope. The two main MC's, Alison and Ethan, have witty and banter and hard headed competition between them and I loved it because it felt so real. Slowly but surely they open up and have real vulnerabilities that they help each other out with! So happy I got to read this one early and I can't wait for more of their work!

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This was a great book, well written and I enjoyed the story and character iine.

thank you for the advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

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This one was pretty fun! A hate to love where our main character Alison is dreaming of Harvard and uses her obsession to one up rival Ethan for valedictorian and top in every class to get there. While i did find myself a little annoyed by the weird need for Harvard and other Ivy League schools to always play a part in the college discussion in YA, overall the hate to love was so fun in this one. I also loved getting to watch our MC realize she in fact doesn’t know everything and can learn from her older sister and parents and other more seasoned people around her.

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3.5 stars. I'd like to thank Penguin Teen for giving me a copy of this book a long time ago... I actually read this one back in August! I consider myself a fan of this author duo, and while I didn't enjoy What's Not to Love as much as I did Time of Our Lives, it was still cute and fun. Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka's books make me feel like I'm in high school again, swept up into the drama of who scored higher on that test and who got into which college. I also really liked Alison's relationship with her sister and how she started seeing things from another perspective. These authors never talk down to their team readers, and I appreciate how both of the romances I've read from them have ended with a healthy dose of pragmatism. Since college and relationship decisions are really tough, I like knowing that high schoolers will have a model for the "are we going to stay together" conversations that many of them will need to have with their partners.

The part that didn't work for me was how long the main characters hated each other and some of the awful things they did before the transition from hating to dating. It reminded me of what I disliked about The Hating Game, honestly. Regardless, I still recommend this one to enemies-to-lovers fans because all of the elements of this trope are there, and seeing these two get together was worth it in the end!

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DNF, I might be getting too old for stories such as this but I couldn’t get through. Part of me blames the narrator, this is a book I would rather read physically and might pick up sometime, but the audiobook wasn’t for me.

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Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and I love an academia setting. I just loved everything about this YA romcom. I really enjoyed this book.

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I didn’t end up finishing what’s not to love. It was a bit to YA for my taste currently. I do enjoy a good ya but this one felt so young to me, or maybe up I’m just getting to old.

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In What’s Not to Love, Alison and Ethan compete on everything! From tests to debates to even getting into Harvard, they turn it all into a competition. To Alison, beating Ethan makes doing well in school even more rewarding. When they are asked to work on a project together you know fights are coming! This enemies to lovers novel will make you want to hit them both over the head to help them realize they should stop fighting and start kissing. 😂

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I wanted to love this one but I just didn’t. I am a huge enemies to lovers person but this one just took to long. It doesn’t help when you don’t like the main character.

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