This was a surprising delight. I have not read anything else by Smyth so I had no expectations.

It was like watching an episode of Derry Girls. It was laugh out loud funny with real, developed characters that grew over time. The characters were likable and their actions were understandable. And the social media references were actually current.

This is a story about teenagers, not a romance, and I think maybe my romance-averse teenager would enjoy it. I know the kids in the GSA would.

12/10 would read again

4.5 stars. I was a fan of The Falling in Love Montage and - dare I say - liked this one even more. This is not romance-centric like the author's first book, but rather a coming of age snippet/psychological exploration into one girl who makes it a business to solve everyone else's problems so that she doesn't have to look too closely at her own.

Aideen helps her best friend's nemesis with a favor. The only other witness to this favor then presents Aideen with another classmate who also needs a favor. Aideen embarks on a "social enterprise," that consists of performing favors for the price of favors owed in return (taking advantage of her lack of close friends/invisibility at her school to be able to do things like exact revenge on someone's cheating ex boyfriend with none being the wiser as to the culprit). This enterprise takes more and more of her time, which is fine when her mom is sober... which unfortunately is not always the case. Aideen feels she has to hide her mother's alcoholism for fear of having her little two person family torn apart. Meanwhile, Aideen grows closer to the aforementioned nemesis and there is an undeniable spark between them. Though I admittedly would have liked more of Meabh's perspective in what exactly about Aideen it was that made her start having feelings for her, I can understand the exclusion both because this is the story of Aideen's journey and also not wanting to editorialize.

The characters were fabulous. I loved the developing friendships as well as the letting go of a friendship that is realized to be toxic. This book has a lot of big themes and tackles a great deal of difficult subjects, handling everything with tact and humor in a delicate but powerful way. Nothing felt too heavy despite the difficult subjects, mostly because it was so engaging and our narrator Aideen has a sharp tongue and quick wit that makes us want to root for her every step of the way.

The ending gutted me in the best way.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperTeen for the ARC!

This YA read was thoroughly entertaining, engaging, and relatable.

Aideen was a sixteen year old with many problems. She was struggling academically and personally. Her home life was heartbreaking with an alcoholic mother and an absent father who only provided child support. She often pretended to be sick to take care of her mother after one of her benders. Aideen only had one person she called a friend. But after she aided a classmate with a disturbing favor, Aideen found herself much in demand- demand for other risk taking favors.

Aideen was a very likable character. She tried to fix other classmates’ problems. She also generally sought the good in people even when they were mean to her. Aideen also had low self esteem with regards to her academic ability. I think many teenagers will be able to relate to not only Aideen’s struggles, but the other characters such as Meabh and Kavi. Even though they were successful academically, they often felt alone and misunderstood.

I loved the way these teenagers interacted. Aideen was witty and sarcastic while Meabh was serious about trying to make things better for her school and classmates. She was at times annoying, but behind that annoyance Aideen saw a very caring person and ultimately someone she was found very attractive. Kavi had a great imagination in helping Aideen with her favors and always made sure he had her back. Then there was the teacher, Ms. Devlin, who actually cared about her students and their problems. She often went above and beyond her role in order to help Aideen.

I think many teenagers will relate to this story or at least some aspect of it such as bullying, popularity groups, economic status, failing classes, student council elections, LGBTQIA+ representation, home problems, ending long term friendships, and high school romance. Not My Problem would be a great asset to school libraries and perfect for classroom discussions.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

Aideen tends to disappear into the background. Her bestfriend Holly only pays her attention when it's convenient, her teachers when she's disappointing them, even her own mother who won't answer her messages. Our heroine discovers it's exactly this that becomes her strength as she helps various students in her school with favors that require someone who operates unnoticed.

The novel premise is great in itself- the idea of a girl working through and gaining connections from small favors here and there. The pain of growing friendships and new love are both explored in this novel. I felt the romance took away from the plot a bit as it didn't seem to wholly fit in. The character Meabh kind of felt shoehorned into the story at times.

A certain bright spot of the book is author Ciara Smyth's writing. She is able to create hilarious dialogues that come naturally. Oftentimes you will read books and think, "has this author ever HAD a conversation?". Smyth is able to mimic the ping pong type conversations with ease and grace.

Aideen attends school in Ireland and is barely surviving. Her best friend Holly only has time for her when her new friends are busy. When Meabh, the girl who excels at everything but no one likes, has a melt down at being overloaded, they come up with a solution. Push her down the stairs. From this starts a new friendship and a new identity for Aideen. She becomes the person who can fix things at her school. All she asks is a favor in return. I kept thinking of "Derry Girls" when I envisioned her new gang.

These are situations high schoolers and older can relate to. Dating, best friends, running for student office, parties, detention, and grounding from phones. Aideen has some more serious issues too. A father that occasionally shows up and a mother who drinks when she is unhappy. The book is entertaining as Aideen makes new friends and finds acceptance as a fixer. Ms Devlin, the PE teacher, is great as an adult trying to keep an eye on Aideen and get her through school.

I enjoyed the story which is light and fun but with some serious overriding issues. Aideen's notes excusing herself from PE daily are classic. There is great diversity in the book and it is positive in representation. Aideen is seemingly out as gay. I would say this is for 9th grade and up because of some of the topics covered. Language also puts it more for high schoolers with over 50 uses of the f-word. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review from @NetGalley.

I wasn't a fan of Aideen but I did enjoy reading about how her only friend was drifting apart from her. Her rivalry with Meabh wasn't as interesting as I was hoping it would be.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think there's lots of similar books out there in terms of teen romance, but Ciara Smyth managed to really be creative with the school romance trope and touch on a lot of important social issues along the way. Her protagonist, Aideen, was likable, relatable, but also flawed in such a beautiful real way. Aideen never felt like Ciara Smyth was trying to make her overly sympathetic or too unlikeable, She was just the right mixture of tough and broken I think a lot of readers can relate to. Her hidden struggles are something that are unfortunately all too common in education. But in addition to Aideen, Smyth managed to create a whole cast of authentic characters. And the overall message of it's okay to ask for help felt like something everyone needs a reminder of every once in a while.

I can see using this book in a classroom to talk about several issues, not just for its LGBTQIA+ representation (which is thankfully getting a little bit better recently), but also issues like class differences, dealing with troubled situations at home, falling out of friendships, and finding things in common with people that we might not otherwise think we would.