I was lucky enough to meet Eric Smith at a conference a couple of years ago when I was looking for an agent. While he very kindly and graciously passed on my novel, I was super excited to read his book and find out that his book is just as delightful as he was in person. This is such a fun and sweet story, with lovable characters.

I found myself quite bored throughout and therefor had to put it down for awhile.
Maybe I'll pick it back up in the future when I'm more in the mood but there was just something about this that just was not holding my interest.

Put on hold at about 35%

Thank you Netgalley and Inkyard press for an advanced copy of You Can Go Your Own Way in exchange for an honest review. This YA story tells a tale of two high school student rivals who used to be friends. Adam is holding onto his late father's failing Pinball machine arcade. Whitney is the daughter of a tech mogul who is hell bent on obtaining Adam's business so he can open up more internet cafe's. This story has friends to enemies to friends to lovers. Forced proximity all thanks to a snow storm. And a bit of pettiness and snark thrown in. It was hard sometimes to get behind the motivations and connect with the main characters. It's a very quick, perfect for this winter weather read.

Loved loved love, did I say love? This was a new to me author . I will definitely be one clicking more of this author. Thanks Netgalley and to the publisher.

DNF @45% *Because I DNFd this book I won’t be giving it a star rating* Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard press for an egalley copy to review. I was looking forward to reading this one because it sounded like a cute, nerdy read and the online feud aspect reminded me of Tweet Cute. Unfortunately I just wasn’t able to get into this story. I found some of the stuff where Adam was working on his pinball machine and scenes describing the e-Sports cafe interesting, but I felt pretty apathetic and slightly annoyed at the rest of it. I found the pacing was a slow and the chapters were too long, and the Twitter feud felt unrealistic and overly petty. We do get some background as to why Adam and Whitney are feuding, but not to the extreme that we are introduced to. I was looking forward to the romance, stuck-in-the-arcade-in-a-blizzard part but we hadn’t even reached that part yet at the 45% mark and from what I’ve read up to this point, I don’t think that would make sense for these characters. Friendship & reconciliation, sure. But romance? Nah. I hope there are others who like this writing style better and can really enjoy this book. Take my review with a grain of salt, and maybe check it out from your library before buying. I wish this author the best for the future.

I'm a little behind on picking up You Can Go Your Own Way. I'm not sure why I procrastinated it so much. I admire Eric Smith to pieces. Unfortunately, I'm not sure his writing and I get along very well. And that's totally on me and not him or the book. His books are always on the contemporary side. And I'm just not a contemporary fan. I always try them, though, because there are exceptions. Also, I'm not a gamer. Which this books feels geared to. Even though You Can Go Your Own Way wasn't really for me, I know many people who have and/or will love it.

Thank you for the opportunity to review You Can Go Your Own Way.

I love a YA romance story so this book caught my eye. I especially love the trope of two strangers getting stuck in the same place overnight. This was my first book by the author so I am not able to compare it to his last like others have. I enjoyed this book and the fact it was a warm winter-y read without necessarily being holiday driven. However, overall it wasn’t a huge standout for me! 3.5/5 stars

You Can Go Your Own Way alternates between the perspectives of Adam and Whitney, estranged friends who find themselves sparing on social media, as Adam tries to save his deceased father's pinball arcade and Whitney attempts to help her father acquire it for his e-sports café. When her brother destroys a pinball machine at Adam's arcade, Adam blasts him on Twitter, escalating the war. Then a blizzard threatens to derail the plans for the neighborhood Winter Festival, which will bring much needed business into the arcade. When Adam and Whitney find themselves trapped in the arcade during the blizzard, they confront old wounds and rekindle a friendship both sorely missed. Excerpts from The Art and Zen of Pinball Repair give this enemies to lovers romance a quirky twist on the genre.

This is an enemies-to-lovers, only-one-blanket rom-com about being snowed into your family's failing arcade with the girl who used to be your best friend but is the daughter of a competing esports empire trying to purchase your family's business. But more than that, it's about friendship, about grief, and about family and pursing your dreams for yourself. It's also a love letter to all things Philadelphia. Adam and Whitney have great, distinct voices, and Chris is such a cool character (the Swedish fish were a funny touch throughout).

Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing me with a copy of You Can Go Your Own Way in exchange for an honest review!

Okay, but the book is called You Can Go Your Own Way so no matter what this book has a special place in my heart.

You Can Go Your Own Way has two rivals trapped in an arcade during a snowstorm. Sounds perfect, amiright? & for the most part, it was a good read. Definitely cozy and a perfect read for those snowy days. Plus, I loved hearing the band names of some of my favorites from high school.

You Can Go Your Own Way, for me, just suffers from not being very memorable. It's a good-at-the-moment-read, but not something that really sticks out.

"Don't Read the Comments" was one of the first books I read in 2021, so it seems fitting that another Eric Smith book is my first read of 2022. But I'm feeling a little silly because I didn't even catch the cameo by Aaron and Divya from that book until another reviewer pointed it out! I'm DEFINITELY going to have to reread this with a more careful eye once I get my hands on a physical copy!

So... "You Can Go Your Own Way"... I really wanted to love this book. And parts of it I *did* love! I loved all the references to YA authors and books that I know and have read. I loved Chris and his witty words of wisdom and Swedish Fish candies. I loved Whitney's mom and her plant shop. And I really loved learning so much about pinball! (Although I was disappointed when I discovered that "The Art and Zen of Pinball Repair" is not a real book. Maybe Smith can take a page from Rainbow Rowell and actually write this book within his book now?!) I didn't love Whitney's friends or father AT ALL, but every story needs a villain (or two or FIVE), so I guess they're a necessary evil. That is one thing I can say is strong in this book - the character development. All of the characters, even the minor and/or deceased ones, feel real and believable and fleshed-out.

Then, there are all the tropes in this book. Some I enjoyed and felt were done in a plausible way - like the forced proximity. Adam and Whitney are forced to spend time together by the Philadelphia blizzard. While being "snowed in" together isn't really new or fresh, Smith gave the characters a couple of "outs" that either didn't pan out or they made the choice to pass up. They had cell phones. They had other people around that they interacted with. This wasn't snowed in at the family cabin in the mountains, this was snowed in in Old Town Philadelphia, choosing to stay together because relationships were being forged. THAT is new and fresh! And I liked it!

But other tropes I did not enjoy so much - (SPOILER) [ like the friends to enemies to lovers. Nothing about Adam and Whitney's dating relationship REALLY felt believable to me. Sure, going back to being good, close friends again, absolutely! They had a solid foundation that was rocked by the death of Adam's dad that they're slowly rebuilding. But being enemies for almost four years and then just starting to talk again and falling head over heels in love??? It just didn't feel right for the characters. I wish they had just stayed friends.]

Overall, this book was fine. I liked it. But it just... I don't know... fell a little flat for me.

2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this, but this was a miss for me. I couldn't connect with the characters, their relationship changed a bit too quickly to my liking.
Maybe it's because I'm not a gamer and never really was into arcades, but I just couldn't get into the plot. If fell a bit flat.

3/5 stars

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

So I understand what this book was doing and why things were the way they were but I was really hoping for more. More of the Tweet Cute type banter on socials and more of the snow storm moments. Honestly if I would've known how little of the banter I was getting into and how late into the book the snow storm hit I honestly would've passed on the book. Now that's not to say this book was just bad, just not what I was expecting from the summary. I guess I was figuring that the storm was going to be earlier on and that the storm was what pushed them together. Yes they were stuck together because of the storm but they weren't completely alone in some regards and they were friendly before getting stuck together.

Overall this book was a really average read for me, it was good enough to continue reading but I never felt the pull of excitement or love for the characters. One thing I would like to note is that I'm not really the intended audience though I do typically love reading YA. So if you're trying to base your decision to buy or pick up this book maybe look for opinions from others who are part of the intended audience as maybe they enjoyed this more. It was good just lacked a bit of a spark.

Male protags in YA lit are sorely needed- I get asked for them all the time. I enjoyed this contemporary look into these teens' complicated lives. I think it w7ould be a good book for parents of teens to read also as the social media aspect is really clear in this story. Most of us did not have to deal with the 24/7 ness of online life as teens and man, it's complicated. Throw in the setting at an arcade and this is a book perfect for a family book discussion.

So I really enjoyed Eric Smith's debut novel. Even though I really enjoyed You Can Go Your Own Way I didn't enjoy it as much as his last one. The story keeps you interested and the characters are very well done. I just think the only reason why I didn't enjoy this one as much is that it's not as game-based as the last one was. That's what I really enjoyed so much about it and figured this one was going to be the same way.

A heartwarming story about moving on from the past, and looking on to the future. A hopeful moment, where one feels as though the life they are living could change within a moment, and accepting that the change is meant to be despite the pain it might bring.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me at 38%.

The first issue I had was that I wasn't getting ANY hint of the big, snowed-in event and I was nearing 50% in. That felt like a bit of a broken promise to readers, which obviously grated on me. If it's broadcasted in the synopsis, it should be part of story much sooner in. Besides the unrealistic social media interactions, nothing much was happening early on and it didn't grip me soon enough to keep going.

Secondly, these characters didn't feel like genuine teenagers, and that pulled me out of the story, as did the overdo of descriptions (machinery, cityscape, pop culture). I like all of those things, but it was much too much. It almost felt like the author trying to prove his knowledge, instead of creating a believable, immersive story. I wasn't invested in the characters or their trajectories, sadly.

I really like Eric Smith and will try any of his future stories, but unfortunately, this was not a win for me. I do hope it finds its audience.

A thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the e-galley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

A cute YA romance with heavy reliance on some cliche tropes with an underlying deeper exploration of grief and familial relationships. Never did I think I'd enjoy reading long detailed passages about pinball of all things, but it helped emphasize the importance of gaming to both Adam and Whitney and add a little more realism to just why they were both so headstrong about their respective hobbies. Overall a quick and straightforward holiday read.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. "You Can Go Your Own Way" was a predictable teen romcom featuring the friends turned enemies turned lovers trope. It was light and feel good and was a fun read for the holiday time of year.

Charming, sweet, and irresistible!

Summary:
Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.

Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. Her boyfriend dumped her. Her friends seem to have changed overnight. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.

But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops?

Review: You Can Go Your Own Way grabbed my initially because of the title: I’m a sucker for a Fleetwood Mac reference and I make no apologies. It’s a great song. And somehow also manages to capture the essence of the two young adults straining against the push and pull of their shared history and affection for one another.

I enjoyed the dual-pov and the tangible nostalgia that flooded my senses. Highly recommend to restore your senses of love and hope this season!