A big thank you to NetGalley for sending me a free electronic arc of this book!

My rating: 6/10 stars

At the heart of it, Better Together is a really heart-touching sweet story about sisterhood and the healing of past family trauma, which I enjoyed.

I will say that as I began to work my way through the first couple of chapters, I initially didn’t think that I was going to enjoy this book very much. I was concerned that the book was going to be full of cliches and that the characters would end up being quite one-dimensional, but I ended up being quite wrong about that, which made me very happy! Also, this was finally a book where I understood (almost) all of the pop-culture references, so yay!

Siri and Jamie are by far the best part of this novel. The two sisters are incredibly fleshed out characters in regards to their own strengths, inner demons and paths that they are on, and they are both very multi-dimensional. While Siri struggles with finding her own exceptionality outside of her dancing, and feeling like she can’t measure up, Jamie is battling a voice that is telling her that she is failing at everything, and doesn’t allow herself to feel any emotions.

There were some aspects of this book that I thought were a bit strange, such as Siri’s inability to swear, and using words like “excrement” or “intercourse”. Although I do totally understand that Siri’s not a character that likes to swear, I had a hard time believing that those would be the replacement words of choice. Although I will say that eventually they kind of grew on me, and I just chuckled when they came up by the end of the story. Also, Jamie’s unnecessary and spontaneous vomiting really grossed me out, nuff said.

Siri and her love interest, Dawn were just the absolute cutest, in my opinion and I shipped them very much. I wasn't quite as invested in Jamie and Zarar's relationship, but they were also mildly sweet together.

I also really enjoyed how the book’s ending was rounded off. At the end both Siri and Jamie write letters to each other and their family members as part of their therapy together. I really felt like they did a great job of mirroring the pent-up hurt that they both felt, and the sadness that they were both transforming into growing in their relationships and forgiving past wounds. I thought that where they both ended up at the end was really quite perfect: it wasn’t too book-ending sappy, but it accurately reflected the healing that had already taken place, as well as the work that was still ahead of them in terms of reconciling their family.

Also, I really loved seeing Shane and Pilot again from Again but Better. I thought that was a really sweet easter egg, and kind of explains the weird magic-transformation thing that went on if both stories take place in the same universe.

I actually liked this book better than Again but Better. It wasn’t amazing by any means but it was an enjoyable enough read even though I found the characters annoying half the time and the writing was just all right. What I liked best was the reactions the girls had as they went through everything and their growth over the course of the book. I also really liked Zarar as a character, he was just so fun to read about and I think he’s mostly the reason I gave the book three stars. I just wish there was more of him in the story.

The story itself was alright. I honestly could have done without the magic bit, or at least would have preferred it done a bit differently, but I loved the concept of a mash between The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday even though I thought it could have been executed better.

Overall, it was a decent enough read but I don’t think I’ll be reading it again.

I remain to believe that Christine Riccio will keep on giving us more book that emits positive vibes.

The question is, when is the next one coming?

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately, I am not going to be reviewing this one. When I requested this one I did not notice it was a Teen/YA book and I do not think it would be fair for me to leave a bad review just because I generally do like that genre anymore. Thank you and again sorry about that.

I was excited to receive this ARC, as I enjoyed aspects of Riccio’s first novel and was intrigued by the premise. However, I had a similar experience reading this book as I did with Again, But Better; the concept was interesting, but the execution was disappointing. I found the dialogue to be unrealistic and hard to believe, I struggled to understand and root for the main and supporting characters, and I found aspects of the story and plot problematic.

An ARC was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was an okay read. The story was interesting but to me most of the characters were annoying and I didn't really connect to them. I didn't feel like the writing was that great. I know I have a copy of the arc but the usage of words and grammar errors were pretty jarring and kind of took me out of the story. Also, don't know why one of the main characters couldn't use poop instead of excrement if she didn't want to curse. It was such a bizarre word choice to me. Overall, it was an easy read and I was entertained.

DNF at 70 pages.
Siri is a ballet dancer and injures her back and cannot do ballet anymore. She doesn’t know what else to do with her life. Her mom forces her to go on a retreat that is about rediscovering yourself. This retreat takes place in Colorado. Jamie is an aspiring stand up comedian and she bombs a gig. She has to move back in with her grandmother and her grandmother tells her to either go to the retreat or get therapy. She decides on going to the retreat. That’s how Siri and Jamie end up at the same place running into each other. This book is Freaky Friday meets The Parent Trap with some magic sprinkled in.
First of all, I loved Again, But Better and was so excited to be approved for this book on Netgalley. I have to say this definitely has a good plot line and the right idea. Now, the execution was bad. The characters are one dimensional and annoying. Christine creates the girls doing the opposite of one another. Siri doesn’t curse, but uses the words such as excrement and intercourse, while Jamie is swearing like a sailor on every page. Also, can we say, couldn’t have Christine picked other words other than excrement or intercourse to convey Siri doesn’t curse? There are so many other non-curse words to choose from. Then, Siri doesn’t think Jamie is real and was an imaginary friend and ends up thinking Jamie could be a ghost. I think the execution on why the sisters were separated was weird and silly. I really, really don’t recommend this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are entirely my own. Better Together is a parent trap retelling that is very fun, chaotic, messy, funny, and real. I love how real, honest, and flawed all the characters are. It makes them more relatable. I don't think this book is for everyone because it does feel very chaotic and the characters can be irritating at times. However, I think it is supposed to be that way. All in all, I thought it was a good book and I enjoyed it.

Better Together is a fun story with a sister switch up that included romance and family drama.

I wanted to like this book, but it had a lot going on. I felt like Christine Riccio tried too hard to make Jamie quirky, and it was hard to relate to Jamie. I enjoyed Siri’s development and watching her learn more about herself.

Both of the love interests helped the sisters grow, and I enjoyed getting to know them. I think they helped speed up both Jamie and Siri’s journeys of self discovery.

I did not like their mom. I don’t want to spoil anything but I don’t think what she did is something that is redeemable. Both parents were toxic and I’m happy that Jamie and Siri were able to find each other again.

Overall this was a quick and fun read with sister bonding!

I was intrigued by the premise and cover and this was my first read by Christine Riccio unfortunately it didn't work for me.
Writing has some painful dialogue and overall feeling I get from this book was like I was reading fanfic.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the idea of Freaky Friday and the Parent Trap all in one! Two sisters find each other at a retreat and decide to avenge their separation by trading places. This was fun, romantic, and cute. However, it felt way too dramatic for my taste. It felt dragged out at times and took me a while to finish it.

The synopsis sounded like something I would honestly love, but the delivery of the story itself was bad. I don't understand what happened between the author's first book and this one, but it was not good.

I’m going to first say thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and the amazing Christine Riccio for the opportunity to read and give an honest review for this book! I absolutely adored this book, and can’t wait for a physical copy to be in my hands. Christine did such an amazing job with this book. It was heartfelt, angsty, breathtaking at points, dramatic, made me feel all the feels, and was well worth picking up and adding this story to my life. I devoured this book, feel like part of me was lost to the book with no way to recover it, and am glad that I let Siri and Jamie into my life. I really liked all the Game of Thrones references, as a huge fan of George R.R. Martin’s series. It made me relate even more to the girls. I relate heavier to Siri, but had moments where I felt like I could be in Jamie’s shoes. I loved the heavy Parent Trap vibes, which was my main reason for wanting to read this. I think Christine outdid herself with novel two, and she has made my autobuy author list. Her writing style is fabulous, easily relatable to, and I connect with her characters in a way I usually don’t connect with many characters. I liked the connection to her other work, even if it is brief. And once again, I can’t wait to have a physical copy.

This book was a whole lot of fun! While it started out a little slow, I loved the Parent Trap/Freaky Friday aspect. This book about sisters was just, ah, so good. I had such a fun time reading it and can't wait to have it on my bookshelf.

Siri and Jamie are both flawed, but relatable. There's teenage angst, learning what it means to grow up, learning what it means to be a sister. It was good.

I was willing to give CR another chance, as I wasn’t the biggest fan of her first book. But after this, I think it’s safe to say her writing/storytelling style just isn’t for me.

Once again, I failed to connect to any of the characters, found many aspects of the story completely absurd, and thought the writing was very immature and uninspired.

I actually found this book to be worse than CR’s first one, as there was nothing enjoyable about reading this.

This is a contemporary teen novel that really focuses on family relationships and finding yourself. It follows two sisters, Siri and Jamie who have been estranged since they were 4 and 6. It pays homage to the Parent Trap by having the two sisters run into each other randomly at camp years later. It is there the sisters decide to pull a trick and switch places. At the same time, both sisters have found themselves somewhat lost in life, unsure about what to do with their futures. This book discusses the struggles both sisters have gone through from their broken family. Their journeys are filled with humor, heartache, romance, and forgiveness.

Overall the book was fun. The chapters were shorter, which seems to be better for dual POVs. The two main leads came off a little as caricatures, but Riccio did a good job of making them distinct and different. The one main problem I had was that the book was just too long. It felt like it should really be around 300 pages and I felt myself skimming a lot. But if you enjoy humorous contemporary novels this would be a good pick for you.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

I am a person who did like Again, But Better. Which is why it made me so sad to dislike this book. I thought this would be even better than that one, and I was so disappointed. This book follows two siblings named Jamie and Siri. Siri lives with their mother and doesn't know Jamie exists and Jamie lives with the Dad. This book crossed the parent trap with freaky Friday, and it didn't need to. She should have done one or the other. The first 25% of this book was the two of them dramatically screaming instead of conversating. People would vomit throughout the book when a conversation got uncomfortable.

I really didn't like the cursing thing either. I am not against cursing, just the way it was done in this book. Jamie would over curse, for example she says, "HOLY FUCKING BUCKET SHITBALLS JESUS CHRIST MARY JOSEPH." Then, Siri would do this sort of opposite cursing. Instead of saying fucking, she would say intercoursing, or instead of shit, she would say excrement. Why couldn't she just say crap or shoot instead of shit like a normal person?

Also, Siri is told her entire life that Jamie was her imaginary friend as a toddler. This is the definition of gaslighting and it is never addressed.

Then, we got to the point where they wanted to switch places, and do the parent trap thing, even though they are not twins. They were together for a week before the switch and didn't even communicate and get to know one another at all. They threw themselves into each other's lives in such a chaotic way. After all the switching, she added in the freaky Friday trope, and it wasn't needed. Just because you CAN combine two things doesn't mean you SHOULD.

After all that, there is a joke about bombing a plane and a scene with a phone vibrating that is compared to a seizure. If this were not an ARC, I would have DNFd it long before the end.

I wanted to like this book but just couldn't get into it. I didn't get too far in before putting it aside in favor of reading another book.

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

Okay, so, I'm just going to dive into the deep end and tell you that I was definitely getting 'The Parent Trap' and 'Freaky Friday' vibes throughout Better Together and honestly I loved it all. Heck, now I want to dive into those said movies just to continue geeking out. The only thing that would've made it better is if the parents weren't completely horrible people for most of this book. Oh and for the girls, themselves, to be a bit more likable.

Don't get me wrong - they definitely had their cute moments but those little moments couldn't outweigh all the horrible ones for me. Again, these 'parents' were completely horrible and were barely even parenting in this book. As someone who comes from a family of divorced parents, I have never been left alone all freaking day just to see my mom or dad at night or in the morning for 2 milliseconds. Sorry, it just doesn't happen. It wouldn't even matter how old I was. Plus, there was no way in hell my parents would ever split up me and my older siblings. The idea would've been laughable.

Back to the book though. I liked how the two sisters sort of got along throughout the book but I'm gonna have to say that Grams and Papa stole the show for me. Also Dawn because, intercourse, I love her to pieces. In the end, it was still a good book that I ended up devouring.. but I wanted more cute moments.

I really hate to say this, but I did not like this book. I have been a fan of Riccio's YouTube videos for years, but I just don't think that enjoyment transfers to her book. I was a fan of her first book, but this one was just a bit too much for me. I thought it was just like a normal parent trap switch type book and then it just becomes magical? IDK, I just don't think this book was for me. However, others might have a better experience than I did.