Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

This book was hard to get through. I'll start with the writing and work my way into the plot and other things that bugged me. The thing that jumped out at me first was the way Sira replaced curses with words such as "excrement" instead of shit and it translated really strangely. I'm not used to reading a first-person POV where someone uses that in their thoughts and motivations. Jamie wasn't any better for me. The choppy paragraphs and long-winded sentences had me scratching my head, but I pushed on. There were points where I didn't know where the characters were because it wasn't described well or the setting shifted without explanation. Some of the sentences didn't make sense. Did this need more editing? Maybe??? I don't know if the grammar was the issue. It was just the style of writing that came off juvenile.

“Are you intercoursing kidding me?”- yes, this sentence happened.

I couldn't root for any of the characters. In fact, I strongly disliked them both. Siri was humorless and Jamie was rude. Both of them were flat and unmemorable. I barely made it through the first few chapters, but I vowed to only DNF books during strenuous circumstances. I kind of wished I did though.

The plot was lazy and strung together with instances that felt convoluted and useless. I didn't enjoy reading this one. I wish I got my time back :/

I liked Again, but Better, so I was looking forward to Riccio's next book. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Better Together was a NA, bittersweet, mash-up of The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday. It focuses on two sisters, Jamie and Siri, who were separated in their parent's nasty divorce and haven't seen each other in years. When they re-meet at a wellness retreat calamity ensues. I loved the concept of this book, but I thought the overall execution of the plot left a little to be desired. The first half was slow going, and it started out with some pretty unlikable characters- Jamie was obnoxious and Siri was in the midst of a nervous breakdown. The second half definitely picked up, and both Siri and Jamie went through personal transformations, but plot-wise not a lot happened, and it felt like very little of the action actually acted as a catalyst for their changes. By the end, I genuinely enjoyed Siri as a character, and I was rooting for Jamie to be better and work through her issues. I thought both love interests were endearing, and felt the connections between them, but I wish they would have dealt more with their parents. Wasn't that the whole point of them switching places? My favorite thing about this book was that it really showed the complexities of dealing with deep trauma and how much personal effort it takes to work through it. Though there was a definite sense of resolution, none of the problems magically went away by the end, which I appreciated because it was realistic and 100% human. Overall, there were moments in this book that I really liked, but as a whole it was just kinda meh.

I love the dual sided cover for this one, and I thought the premise was interesting.

However, other than that, this one didn't work for me. I am outside of the target demographic, but Better Together is situated in a strange place where Siri's point of view skews younger YA and Jamie's does not, especially since the characters are new adult age.

I started out with this one on audio and really struggled, I didn't love the narration of Siri's voice, and found the pacing made Jamie not all funny, but cringe inducing instead. I thought that switching to read it visually would help, but it didn't, and I ended up putting this one aside at about the 50% mark.

The three things that did me in, though, was the "creative swearing," the personality inconsistencies, and just how terrible (neglectful? abusive?) the parents were.

I think this book would appeal to people who are bigger fans of the parent trap than am I, and who have a higher tolerance for creative swearing and glitter than I do.

If you are looking for a sweet and fun read along the vein of "The Parent Trap" this is the book for you. Sisters who were separated when small and each lived with only one parent with no knowledge of each other have a chance encounter as adults. They decide to switch lives and the fun just gets started there.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and the advanced audiobook.

I was not a big fan of Riccio's debut novel but I thought the premise for Better Together seemed fun and interesting enough take on a familiar story, so I decided to give it a go. It had a lot of potential but didn't really deliver. The writing is not great, but it's not terrible in the way some reviews seem to suggest. I think that the characters and a lot of language reads very juvenile and, well, a little ridiculous.

Siri is intolerable, but Jamie was a good balance to have. Karissa Vacker is the saving grace. I would not have made it through this book if it weren't for the audiobook.

After not loving Riccio’s first book, I had high hopes for this one because a lot of the problems I had with the first book seemed like standard debut issues. Unfortunately, this sophomore release is much worse. The characters are annoying and poorly written, and the storyline is nonsensical. There are some funny moments, but they’re not worth it.

I really wanted to like this. I wanted to give Riccio another shot after DNF'ing her debut, Again, But Better, but Better Together didn't do the trick. I found the writing to not be the best and the characters were insufferable. Like the mom tells Siri that her twin sister is actually her imaginary friend? What is this?! This book had so much potential bc I liked the idea of a Parent Trap/Freaky Friday kind of thing but this was just not good at all.

I fell in love with the cover and was curious after finding out this book took place in California & New Jersey (2 of my favorite places ever). However, this book did not live up to my expectations. I found the main characters insufferable, both so whiny! Then, the big switch, did not seem believable at all. The fact that everyone was not aware except their love interests seemed so ridiculous. Similarly, the parents divorcing and splitting their kids up also seemed just as ridiculous and did not sit right with me. Overall, this was not the book for me.

So the first half of this book was painful. Jaime and Siri are so unlikeable, I considered DNFing this book multiple times. Now, I'm down for an unlikeable MC, but this was dramatically painful. Siri is an aggressive, uptight person with a superiority complex. And Jamie is ridiculously annoying and overbearingly "quirky". Jaime gives me the "pick me girl" vibes and it's not cute. 

Honestly, the first 100 pages of this book were getting introduced to these characters, setting them up for this camp thing, the meeting, and all that jazz. I was not interested. It wasn't until after they met and made their plan to switch places that I began to care at all for these characters. 

This was going to be a 1 or 2 star review, but after they took each other's places and the Freaky Friday body switch happened, then I got really interested in the plot. And somehow, their characters improved. Like, the beginning of this book versus the end is dramatically different, almost like it was meant to be two different books. The changes these characters went through were extensive and saved the entire story. Instead of being annoying, we also get to see Jaime as vulnerable and fearful. Siri loses her pretentious attitude and becomes more open minded and accepting. It was like a day and night difference. 

Once I started enjoying this book, I started seeing all the things I liked about it. We have bisexual and disability representation through Siri. As well as interracial relationships for both Siri and Jaime. Therapy is mentioned in a positive light and we have anxiety rep, depression, and more mental health representation. But, even with all that goodness, this book has a lot of issues. 

For one, Siri's work around for cussing is SO FREAKING ANNOYING. And it's not explained WHY she does this until the book is almost over! Like how hard is it to explain why she doesn't curse and says these stupid substitutes like "excrement" or "intercourse". I also had an issue that this book is being marketed as YA, but Siri is 18 almost 19, and Jaime is 20 and turns 21 in the book. Like, this is most definitely a New Adult novel and if it had been written a little more maturely, then an adult novel. Like these characters are renting apartments and working, which teenagers can do, but I'm not sure how relatable this is to a 15 year old picking up this book. It just felt like it was meant to be an adult novel but was "written down" for teenagers. It doesn't sit right with me. 

And while I loved Jaime's journey to begin accepting people in her life and opening up, Zarar deserves so much better. As her main love interest, Zarar is strung along for days by Jaime and she's honest about not wanting to date, but then agrees to date him. And then ghosts him. It's clear he's smitten with Jaime but lets her walk all over him until the end. I was getting so frustrated, because he was such a sweet and considerate character and partner. And Jaime all together is very cold and manipulative. This is discussed in the book, but it was kind of agonizing watching her push her loved ones out of her life to try and protect herself, while simultaneously hurting everyone around her. 

And while Siri was awful to read in the beginning, I began to prefer her POVs after she arrives in California. The 180 degree switch was intense and much needed, but also surprising. I liked reading Jaime's POVs originally but after she began to string Zarar along, and Siri got a personality makeover, I was done with Jaime. 

I can't even put into words how strange this book was. Like it was good, but not that good. I enjoyed most of what I read, but also hated certain parts and characters. There were good life lessons, but a lot of filler in between. I have to rate it three stars because it's just so "eh". I've seen a lot of people DNFing this book and not enjoying it, which is fair, but I don't want to convey that its bad. It's not - it's just not great.

This book really missed the mark for me. Based on the premise and the fact that I like the author as a BookTuber, I really wanted to love it, but its execution was sloppy and needed much more editing.

There were some small issues with the writing, such as questionable work choices and similes/metaphors that just needed to be cut, but there were also a lot of bigger problems that ruined the reading experience for me.

The way the magic was incorporated felt off. The switch was all planned and prep AND THEN we get a magic glamour? WHY? Why get the reader invested in one scenario only to switch to something else? I really wish the magic glamour would have happened FIRST, therefore necessitating the plan to switch places. This would have been a lot less jarring and I would have been on board.

Overall, there were just SO MANY THINGS that did not make a bit of sense. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but there is a line. I didn't buy the choices of the parents. The need to separate so completely that the sisters couldn't know each other was never justified in a satisfying way. PLUS, the mother's decision to GASLIGHT HER FOUR-YEAR-OLD CHILD into believing her memories of her sister were fake and were actually about an imaginary friend was just mind-blowingly short-sighted. So did this women convince EVERYONE IN HER LIFE who knew she had two daughters to pretend the other never existed? How is that easier than helping your daughter through her very real grief/loss?

I also didn't buy that the grandparents would orchestrate this whole meeting of the sisters. Why wouldn't they just TALK TO THEM instead of letting them loose in a situation that was bound to cause them more harm than good? Just, WHAT?

I also didn't understand Siri's complete 180 from hating Jamie's guts when she's a stranger to wanting desperately to be best friend sisters with her. If that's how Siri's going to be, we need to see that need for familial connection first. Otherwise, it feels fabricated.

Overall, everything felt very contrived and the writing wasn't good enough to save it. Wish this would have spent a lot more time cooking in the oven before being served to the world. It could have been SO MUCH BETTER. I think Riccio's editors need to be a lot more critical and helpful in guiding her manuscripts to a more grounded place in order to make her books the best they can be. Very disappointing.

Better Together is the story of two sisters parent trapping their parents. But they're not trying to get them back together, they're just trying to confront them for the bullshit they've put both girls through. I really wanted to like this book. I almost DNF'd it in the first 25%, but I pushed through. The writing was really jarring at times and there were a lot of 'quirky' things about the characters that I think just didn't work. I had a good time reading this after a bit, but I wouldn't say that this was a good book.

Title: Better Together
Author: Christine Riccio
Pub. Date: June 1, 2021
Rating: 3.5

This will be a spoiler free review. I split my reading between an eARC and Audiobook. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday books for providing and eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My expectations were high.
My excitement was through the roof.
I really loved Christine’s debut - Again, but Better, so I was really looking forward to Better Together.

This didn’t meet my expectations in the slightest. While I did end up enjoying the book (it was a really rocky start) the beginning just kind of hurt the book for me. The first part of this book is rough. It’s hard to get through. The MCs aren’t really likeable, the euphemisms Siri uses to curse are atrocious. No one talks like that. I can understand not wanting or liking to swear, but “gluteus Maximus trench” “underworld” “excrement” and “you’ve got to be intercoursing kidding” are just fucking obnoxious. It’s not quirky or cute or anything. It’s just obnoxious.
On top of that – knowing she’s dealing with a lot piror to smacking into her sister – she’s still whiny and insecure and irritating. Maybe I just can’t relate at all, but I wanted to take her by the shoulders and tell her to get over herself. That’s unfair of me to say, since she’s dealing with something really traumatic for her, and it’s not something easily to just move past, but omfg I just wanted her to buck up.
Jamie is crass and abrasive to the point you just want her to stop talking. Her ego is self-inflated, she has little respect for anyone and seems to think the world exists for her, and her alone. She thinks she has the world figured out – keep everyone at a distance, don’t let anyone in, and all will be well with her life. Her stand-up comedy was okay, but it never had me laughing. I feel like if you’re going to write comedy, you need to be good at it. I just never really bought into it as Jamie’s career choice. It’s an interesting choice you don’t read about often, but I didn’t find it funny, and shouldn’t it make the reader react?

And while they’re both seriously fucked up emotionally, I felt very little sympathy for either of them.
But more on them later.

Let’s talk plot.
So much happens in this book. It’s obviously Parent Trap meets Freaky Friday - which I’m not upset about and knew going in. And true to Christine form, there’s a little touch of magic (an element I love).
But a lot happens.
Arguably almost too much. The plot felt a little jumbled. I’m sitting here thinking about it and honestly, I’m not entirely sure how we got from Point A to Point B. It was a whirlwind - which isn’t helped by the fact that the beginning was incredibly difficult to get through.
I nearly DNF’d this book. I really wasn’t impressed, I wasn’t a fan of the characters, found the male love interest to be so-so (my opinion of him does change for the better, later) and I really wasn’t a fan of the whole Timothee Chalamet cameo.

Can we just address that for a second? Personal preference aside (he does absolutely nothing for me, I don’t understand why people love him) it was weird that he was a character in this. I really didn’t like this element, found it to be very strange and completely random. Okay, cool, Siri like’s Billie Eilish, but she doesn’t have a speaking part in this book. It just read weird, and I really wasn’t a fan. It felt like Christine was just making an assumption, and maybe so am I, but he comes across as pretentious and above having what basically equates to a high-end outdoor barbecue. I just hated the whole interaction and continued incorporation of him in this book.

Also, is this actually being marketed as YA? Upper YA sure, but it definitely read more like a NA Contemporary – especially when it comes to Jamie and Zarar. All the characters are 18+ dealing with some heavy emotional and traumatic stuff.

For me, this book only got interesting after Jamie and Siri switch places, and the Freaky Friday element comes into play. The whole stint at the camp was boring and it was nothing more than a tool to get them to “accidentally” meet. I wasn’t invested until they stepped into each other’s shoes. But even then, it was mild investment at best.
I did eventually get sucked in, I started liking Jamie and Siri more – it was almost like, if they’d be each other from the get-go, they would have been infinitely more likeable. But, honestly, probably not.
This is when I started to like Zarar and I found myself wishing I could be Jamie lol. Shocking, I know. I really loved the two of them together, found them to be really cute. Their dynamic worked really well, and it was so clear how much he was into her.

Jamie and Siri became much more tolerable – likeable in the second half of this book. They’re still pretty annoying at times, but I started to root for them feel for them. There was definitely still a disconnect between myself and the story, but I no longer wanted to listen to it, just to see how bad it could be. I kept hoping that it would get better – and it did. Just not as much as I’d hoped.

The very ending felt a bit anticlimactic, and I was left underwhelmed, but everything leading up to the culmination of the Parent Trap/Freaky Friday plot had me invested. I found myself wanting to know what happens next.

I wish I’d loved this as much as I did Again, but Better. I’m glad that my opinion changed as I read the book. I honestly thought I was going to have to give it a 1- or 2-star rating. Do I regret reading it? No, I’m glad I did, and I’ll still probably read whatever Christine writes next. I just had high hopes and they weren’t met. This book has a lot of issues, and I can only hope that Christine’s characters grow to become more likeable as she hones her craft.

I don’t want to recommend not reading this book – it’s definitely worth the chance. The emotionally charged scenes towards the end are really good and keep you wanting to know more, to see what happens. Just know, that the first part of this book is going to be brutal, the “cussing” is going to drive you insane, and the character personalities leave a lot to be desired. But if you can push past the first ~150 pages or so, the book finds a groove and takes off. It’s out now, so you don’t have to wait.

okay so I was really excited for this one, i mean its parent trap meets freaky Friday every millennials dream right?
it just wasn't my cup of tea, it didn't meet the expectations I had for it. I ended up dnf'ing the book, it just wasn't meshing together at all, some people did love it I just wasn't one of the ones who did.

For me it felt like characters and writing wasn't together, it just felt very like it was everywhere but where it needed to be. The way the other made the sisters complete polar opposites, like one likes something so the other absolutely hates it?!? it just really didnt make sense and here is the one thing that really made me not like this book, are you ready its doozey yes i just said that. haaha



Spoiler !

so not only is Siri's mother (yes thats her name insert cringe emoji) just bad at parenting she makes Siri feel like shes crazy by having her believe shes crazy and that the sister she meets in camp is her "imaginary friend"
i really wish i was making this up, i just the struggle i had with this book was unbelievable.

I really like Christine Riccio as a booktuber – even though she can definitely be a bit ‘much’ at times (but then again I’m also very ‘much’ at times so 😅). I haven’t read Again, But Better – her first book – but I heard that didn’t receive high praise. And now after trying to read Better Together, I know I won’t want to read Again, But Better.

It was just all around bad. From characters who definitely should’ve spent more time in the drafts to a plot that most definitely should’ve also been worked on more. The twins, Siri and Jamie, were two very boring and annoying characters. I didn’t get this far, but other reviewers mentioned that they’re named after the Lannister twins… and I’m guessing you know them. So, yeah, that was interesting to read.

Siri has this awful ‘habit’ (is it that or is it just bad writing?) where, instead of swearing, she’ll say the weirdest things. Like ‘excrement’ instead of the ‘s’ word, ‘underworld’ and not ‘hell’ and it’s like… you could just have the characters say they don’t like to swear and have them not swear on page, it’s totally fine. You don’t have to have this super weird thing of making it a ‘quirky’ characteristic – when it totally isn’t! This kept happening so often in her chapters and it really just put me off so much. There’s literally this line that reads “Are you intercoursing kidding me?” And I honestly never want to read that again be because it’s just so wrong.

Apparently Jamie is meant to be funny because she’s a stand-up comedian? I did not see it in the slightest. And I’ve watched some stand-up comedy and obviously every comedian won’t be every person’s cup of tea. From the little bit I read of Jamie’s set, I definitely wouldn’t be a fan.

I didn’t get so far into the book to get much of the but I know I would’ve (maybe) liked it because I do love the comps (Freaky Friday meets The Parent Trap). Like cool, cool, great. Just not with these characters.

I think for now this book is a DNF for me. I really enjoy the premise because who doesn’t love The Parent Trap?! But this one just isn’t for me right now.

The Review

This was the modern retelling of The Parent Trap that YA fans never knew they needed. A wonderful blend of classic twin-switching storytelling with more modern and emotionally driven character arcs that speak to many of the issues facing young adults these days. The author perfectly captures the raw pain and emotions between siblings, especially when faced with such heartbreaking circumstances as being separated from one another through a painful divorce or discovering one’s place in the world when you’ve felt incomplete for such a long time.

What really stood out to me in this book was the depth to which the author explored these characters. The concept of relationships was truly the key to this narrative, from the relationship each sister had with one another after all those years spent apart to the conflicted relationship they had with each of their parents, to the romantic moment each share with a new friend in their crisscrossed lives as the story progresses. The author does an incredible job of setting up just the right pace that highlights the rising emotional struggle these characters are forced to endure, and the theme of finding strength within the bonds of the family makes this story shine as the perfect summer YA read.

The Verdict

A masterful, emotionally-driven and engaging YA read, author Christine Riccio’s “Better Together” is a brilliant story and one of 2021’s “Best YA” contenders. With the balance of YA contemporary romance and a hint of magic, the story also has a wonderfully beautiful and heartfelt LGBTQ romance story that is the perfect read to begin PRIDE month. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

This book was weird. I found it hard to keep focused on reading the story but I wanted to see if it could redeem itself but it just didn't.

I felt I had read this story before which the concept of this story has been done many times before as I saw as I read it.

I just felt this story was WAY out there and just not enjoyable to read.

I was not expecting so many emotions to get engaged here, but, boy, does Riccio truly explore the full gamut of emotions that one can encounter when suddenly finding oneself face-to-face with a long-lost sister. The fact that both Siri and Jamie happen to be in very difficult times in their lives only adds to the intensity. And it's not just the sisters who get explored, their family and friends also get a chance to be fully-realized characters with emotions that affect the outcome of the story. It makes for some really engaging moments that only get better as you know more about the characters.
It does feel at times like Riccio wasn't sure if she wanted to make a more lighthearted book with darker themes or a drama-filled exploration with moments of lightness. It was somewhat jarring to go from light fun with friends to eveything is dark and foreboding in a matter of pages, so it just barely misses out on the perfect score. But it's otherwise a very good, very memorable read with solid plot points and excellent writing.

Many happy thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the early read!

While this book has moments of joy, humor, and heartfelt moments - all and all, I don't think this story is quite for me. Felt a little haphazard and disconnected at times but I do think this a great read for younger audiences.

*Thank you to the publishers and to netgalley for the e-arc for this review as always*

This was my second book by Christine Riccio that I’ve read and even though i did have a bit of a high expectation going into this, i felt that it was in the middle.

I’ll explain why in sections as i break this down:

The plot: it’s the parent trap/ freaky Friday wrapped into one as two girls separated as young kids in their parents turbulent divorce are reunited years later as a retreat and there is where the switch up happens, while i did enjoy the concept, i felt that adding magic to it was a miss. Though it was mentioned a few times throughout the story, i felt that of magic would be involved, then at least it would’ve been expanded a bit more rather than a few mentioned here and there.

The characters: both Jamie and Siri have different personalities and though named after GoT characters(siblings no less) it was interesting to see how both of the girls’ lives were pre- retreat and how they lived in each other shoes post retreat. It was also interesting to see how a family goes through life in the aftermath of a divorce years later and how even after everything, it shows not only the family dynamic but to those that were affected by the divorce and during the switch as well.

The writing: comparing to again but better to this (which i know it’ll probably happen a lot here), i did see a sense of improvement from her debut and granted i know it’s not easy to have a debut novel and now a second book coming out, though i would’ve been fine with the minimal pop culture references here and there.

Overall final thoughts: i did enjoy the book, though i may not have it in my top favorites necessarily, this was a fun read and if you enjoy switching places with some nostalgia then this is for you. Also, would i be able to check more of her work should she publish again? Never say never.