Such a fast cute read. This was my first book of these authors and won't be my last. My favorite character was JACE!!! he is such a lovable character. This is easy 4.5 stars for me excited to read more of the Twin River High

This book was cute! Two misfits learn how to get beyond their assumptions about other people and what they *should* do and learn how to love who they are and who they could be with the help of one another?! Adorable. High school is hard and this was definitely reminiscent of that; the bullying, the judgement, the wanting to just make it through, it's not easy. I adored McKenna and Jace and loved watching them come out of their shells and help each other become better versions of themselves.

I do know I struggled a bit with some of it, and I think it's just because it was kind of easy to tell there were two authors, but it was still an adorable book and one that I think is great for YA readers everywhere. Sweet, comforting, and emotional but still funny, I enjoyed it and can't wait to read more from this duo.

Title: Gutter Girl
Author: Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount
Pub. Date: May 10, 2021
Rating: 4.5

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was exactly the kind of book I needed to read.
I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately, so it was really nice to take a step back and just read a super enjoyable YA contemporary.
I breezed through this book – two sittings, roughly half each sitting. It passes so quickly and so much happens and it’s just so enjoyable.

I do wish it had been just a little longer. Things happen quickly – it’s not a bad thing – but I kind of wish that the heavier topics/moments had, had more page time. Like, we see characters dealing with the pressures of living up to expectations and not being able to be who they want to be. But everything is just below the surface. I think a little more time would have truly sealed the deal, and it would have slowed the plot down just a little bit. I could have been in the world longer, with the characters longer.
With that being said, I still thought this book was incredibly cute and fun and kind of felt like basking in the summer sun. it just makes you feel good. I really liked the characters and the journey’s they go through. They have their own burdens, secrets and just shit they have to deal with, all while navigating high school. The progress of their relationship happened pretty quickly and organically – it helped that they had a past – I just wish things had been drawn out a little bit long.

Legit, my only real complaint for this book is just how short and quick everything happens. Though, on the other hand, I loved that it was a quick short read.
So much happens in this book, and a lot of it happens in ways I didn’t expect. I kind of knew the vibe this book was going to give off, and it lived up to those expectations. But it also did more, and that’s fantastic.
I just thoroughly enjoyed this, and I really cannot wait to start the next book in the series – it’s a good thing I have an eARC of it. I’m definitely going to be picking up anything and everything this author duo puts out – I fall into their books every single time I pick one up. I end up inhaling them and then needing more.
You should definitely pick this book up and read it.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing for an arc copy of this title. All opinions are my own.

One sentence review: I highly recommend this fun YA romance for its: a novel storyline, great characters, and tackling of substantive issues like bullying and mental illness in the home.

Okay I really couldn't do this book justice in one sentence. When I read the synopsis that this was about a high school football player, Jace Rovers, who secretly writes fantasy romance - well I was sold. Add in that the social outcast "goth girl", McKenna Storm steps in to protect his identity when he is nearly discovered and I just knew this was a book I had to read.

My thoughts:

- The characters in this story are just the best.
- Having Jace be a fantasy romance writer was a stroke of genius. It was so fun. And the backstory with regards to how he started writing made my heart melt.
- McKenna and her underdog story had me cheering for her from the sidelines
- The authors do a really nice job of illustrating the difficulties on teens when they have a parent who struggles with mental illness.
- I just really thought the overall storyline was a lot of fun while also dealing with some heavy topics.

So in summary, if you are a fan of YA romance I highly recommend this one!

This was SUPER cute and fun to read. The characters and their personalities/struggles were three-dimensional, the dialogue both internal and external was hilarious, quick-witted, and kept me reading. I did not want to stop reading and finished most of it in one day! The setup of a football player who also writes fantasy stories secretly and the high school's "goth girl" (social anxiety rep) who covers for him when someone reads part of his stories out loud intrigued me right away when reading the book blurb and deciding to request the ARC. This creative idea did not disappoint! The plot took turns I did not expect and thoroughly enjoyed.

If I haven't convinced you yet, check my Instagram later today 5/10 (@ram_reads) to see a short video aesthetic and see if that convinces you!


Disclaimer: I received this ARC ebook free of charge from NetGalley and Entangled publishing. It was my choice to read and review.

Content warning from the beginning of the book: "This book depicts elements of bipolar disorder, panic/anxiety, manic episodes, and some consensual sexual content. It's our hope that these elements have been handled sensitively, but if these issues could be considered triggering for you, please take note."

McKenna is known as Goth Girl at her high school. She hasn’t always worn black or been so antisocial and grouchy but when her Dad left after her mom was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she became the parent. McKenna keeps her distance because she doesn’t want anyone to know about her mom and how chaotic her life has become. Jace is known as a great football player in the same school as McKenna. One morning, when they drop their backpacks and inadvertently grab each other’s notebook, McKenna discovers that Jace is a famous online writer. When others find out the famous author attends their school, McKenna steps up to keep Jace’s secret. The relationship they start with that moment gets messy, crazy and sweet. A little cheesy, a little predictable, and a lot of fun to read, 4 stars!

I really enjoyed these authors' collaboration on "In The Penalty Box" and so, I was excited to check this new YA novel out. Told in dual perspectives, we follow star football player Jace who writes fantasy romance stories, and outsider McKenna. Jace loves writing these fantastical romances with action, adventure, swordplay, and kissing yet no one knows he's written one of the most popular stories on Scribbles (a fictional version of Wattpad). Certainly not his overbearing parents, the other kids at school, or his thousands of fans who read it online each week. When his teammate grabs his notebook and starts to read out a kissing scene, McKenna who typically hates the spotlight jumps in to save him and claims the notebook is hers. He convinces her to keep up this ruse and keep his secret for a price, and he'd do anything to keep this under wraps. As the duo starts to fall for one another, he knows he has to keep the biggest, darkest secret: that the main villain the fans love to hate is based on goth girl McKenna.

The actions kick off right away, and I'm immediately drawn into this story, and it's fun and I like it. The characters are deep and complex, yet still tell a light, fun, enjoyable, and emotionally vulnerable YA store. It's so cute and so precious. And I just want more to their story like right now.

Trigger warnings: Book has a character that suffers from Mental Illness.
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Okay... so I really enjoyed this book. It is a YA book that involves a social outcast and the popular football jock. It is a dual person POV. I love books that show me what each MC is thinking. McKenna has wanted to stay under the radar to protect herself from the scrutiny of her peers. Her home life is a little chaotic. She is not able to be the child. She must take care of her Mentally ill parent.
I could relate to this part of the book as I had a parent with Schizophrenia while I was in high school. I was totally embarrassed and isolated myself in due to their unpredictable behavior. Jace is a popular football player with a secret. He writes fantasy romance novels. The story develops on their mutual agreement to assist each other to protect Jace from judgement of their peers. Their relationship develops while they work on the cover for Jace.. I enjoyed the development of the relationship and liked that it showed looking beyond the initial presentation of someone can be surprising.
It is a fast read and will keep you interested wanting to know what happens. Totally recommend this book. Its a cute first love romance book.
***I received an ARC to review this book. ****

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for the arc of Gutter Girl by Kelly Anne Blount and Lynn Rush.

This book had me from the first chapter. Fantasy romance, mental health representation, and young love, who could ask for more?
"Jocktastic Jace Rovers writes books with make-out scenes?" and other great lines pepper this book about two high school students each hiding a secret that they just want to take out of high school with them. For jock Jace Rovers it's that he wants to be a writer, a fantasy romance writer at that. For McKenna Storm it's that her mom is bipolar and that she plans on being an actor. After fate causes these two to run into each other and accidentally switch notebooks Jace's secret is out to McKenna who rescues him from the rest of the school as they try and switch notebooks back. Jace slowly finds out about McKenna's secrets as she helps him hide his writing identity. Eventually bravery and trust win out and the two come clean to the whole school and those around them.

This book had some great one liners and also didn't take itself too seriously. Some of Jace's scenes had a bit too much writerly prose, such as green orbs staring at him, but it was doable because he is a writer. After McKenna breaks things off with Jace for the second time in almost as many days he is done with it, you don't feel like you are being jerked around by made up problems and characters are not going to stand for it either.

Gutter Girl reminds me of some of the best parts from other novels by Rainbow Rowell and Jennifer L Smith and I can't wait for the reread.

ARC FROM NETGALLEY
i’m sad. because i was having such a great expectation for this book. a d they were coming true but then... that end?? why? no plsss it was too american and cringy for me if that makes sense.
all trough the book i thought this was going to be a four stars one. i mean jace and mckenna are super cute? but damm i felt like the end was just rushed and didn’t make it for me

This one is a definite fun one for my nerdy heart. Jace, the star of the football team is not just an athlete. He’s holding on to a massive secret. He writes hugely popular fan fiction, but not just any fan fiction, romantic fantasy.
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He has been writing under a different name maintaining his privacy until one of his teammates discovers his notebooks. Stepping up to claim them as her own is McKenna Storm, but she claims them for a price.
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When they start to fall for each other is he able to keep his biggest surprise of them all that she is the inspiration for his character?
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This is a fun, fast read and available today! This is book one with next book coming soon! Thank you to @entangledteen for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Gutter Girl, by co-authors Lynn Rush, and Kelly Anne Blount, is the first installment in what's being called the Twin River High series. But don't get fooled. Each these books have a beginning, a middle, and a standalone ending. This first story focuses on two 17-year-old Seniors at Twin River High School. McKenna Storm had her world flipped on its head after her father ran away from Kenna and her mother who is dealing with major health issues. McKenna is known as the goth girl in school because she dresses all in black, and wears different hair coloring like pink.

Jace Storm is a star wide receiver on Twin River H.S. football team. He also has a secret. Jace is an incredibly internet famous and equally anonymous fantasy romance author of a book called Kingdom of Swords which has thousands of fans on what's called Scribbles. No one has a clue what Jace has been up to. Not his family, not his friends, nobody. Until Jace bumps into McKenna, and she ends up with his notebook filled with storyline ideas. When she tries to return it to Jace, instead of letting Jace be outed for being a fantasy romance writer, McKenna takes credit.

McKenna has a bubble that has kept everyone out. The fewer people in your life, the less you can get hurt. McKenna's home life is imploding thanks to her mother's inability to accept responsibility for her condition and her refusal to stay on her meds. Let's not spoil anything further. McKenna works her ass off. She is juggling school, workload, managing a home and hasn't had time to truly be a teen. But after she steps forward and tells the world that she's the author of a popular book, her role of Miss Invisible goes bye bye.

Suddenly, McKenna finds herself working out a deal with Jace, who also happens to be her grade school crush, to keep his identity safe. Jace has often wondered what really happened to McKenna six years ago and why she seem to drop off the cliff and change everything about her. But let's be realistic. Were it not for McKenna's best friend Ernie, who is almost perfect in that he never once turned his back on McKenna. He's been by her side through thick and thin and has always had her back no matter what. When McKenna's star rises, he doesn't fade to black. He supports her no matter what.

Won of the best things I can say about Jace is, "don't judge a book by its cover." While his father pushes Jace to do his bidding, Jace knows what he wants. He wants to attend school for creative writing, and he wants to win the award for best fantasy romance novel on Scribbles. A win would jettison Jace's career to the top of the world and give him a chance to do what he's always dreamed about. Plus, he has an adorable younger sister who he never forgets about. He's there for her every night reading to her and telling her about his plans to what's happening next in his book.

The romance is so awkwardly sweet and pure with a subtle undertone of heat. There are some ups and downs and some miscommunications that leave hurt feelings behind. But it's McKenna who pulls off the biggest surprise of the book, and hell no I am not going to spoil it for you!

This book was a quick fluffy read that was fun but had some serious undertones and subjects that were dealt with sensitively.

The plot followed Jace and McKenna. When Jace is found with the book that is online famous and which he writes, people jump at the chance to make fun of him. But McKenna claims the book to be hers to save him. Their friendship deepens and we see some different sides of the characters and their struggles.

The characters were realistic and had backgrounds that were interesting. The writing was readable and simple. There were some things that McKenna did that were annoying and there were some corny bits but overall I enjoyed this book!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc! All opinions are my own.

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Gutter Girl by Rush & Blount

Jace Rovers is the star football player and in with the popular crowd. But he has a secret. He writes romance novels and no one knows.

McKenna Storm is the schools goth girl who avoids everyone and that is how she likes it.

Until one day one of the other football players grabs Jace’s note pad and starts reading aloud one of the kissing scenes that Jace had written. Jace knows he has been caught red handed.
But McKenna grabs the note book and tells everyone that she is the Author.

To continue the ruse Jace and McKenna start spending time together and slowly discover they have feelings for each other.

I don’t read a lot of YA but when I read the blurb I thought that it was an original plot.

I loved this book. I think it was great that Jace was the Author of a Fantasy Romance series that touched on sensitive subjects like bullying and pressures that you get from people in your everyday life.
I felt that Jace had a good head on his shoulders and was very aware of peoples feelings.

McKenna however I felt was a bit immature. She is also dealing with her mother’s mental illness while having an after school job and trying to keep her grades up. You would think that with having to deal with all of that she would handle the disagreements between her and Jace with a bit more maturity. I was really glad they sorted it out.

This book had great characters and a very original story.
Everyone should read this book.

Such a fun and easy novel. The characters were believable and appropriately developed. The title evokes something totally different than what I thought this story would be about. Nice to see the "popular" kids accepting of the not so "popular" kids. The world could use more of this!!!

This took me back to high school! Gutter Girl will have you remembering all the reasons you were so glad to be done with the drama of high school, but grateful for the genuine friendships that came out of it.

McKenna is thrust into the limelight, but all she wants is to stay invisible to everyone except her best friend Ernie. She steps up to cover for Jace, even though she has enough on her plate at home (don't get me started on how I feel about her mother!)

Jace Rovers is the popular jock, but if his friends ever discovered that he's the author of the famous Kingdom of Swords, they'd never let him live it down. So he's forced to allow McKenna to pretend on his behalf.

While the two are secretly in cahoots and covering their tracks, they open up to one another and develop a friendship that rivals what seldom few people find.

This YA Romance had me rooting for both the jock and the goth girl, all while wondering when the secrets would be revealed. There was SO much witty banter and great characters, that I was surprised by the ones that stole by heart in the end. Definitely looking forward to more in this series!

I liked this one but wasn't in love with it. It had some sweet romance and lovely stereotype flipping, but there were also many other parts I wasn't a fan of.

Starting on a positive note, as I mentioned, I love how this book flipped a few gender stereotypes on their heads. The big one was saying how it's totally okay (great, actually) for guys to write fantasy romance novels. One of our main characters, Jace, writes "kissing books" and is terrified for anyone to find out. I love how the authors don't just throw his concerns out the window once his love interest says it's okay for him to write these types of books. They really address his fears and concerns and the stereotype in general. I was so happy about this.

They also vaguely discuss the stereotype behind those who suffer from bipolar disorder. They don't focus on this one as much as guys writing romance novels, but it's mentioned.

I also liked that our characters had some depth to them. It wasn't just popular jock meets uncool, outcast. There was more to them and more to the story and I'm glad we were able to explore that. I think the family dynamics these two face help a lot with their character depth and growth in the book.

Now, down to the nitty-gritty. I was really enjoying the first half of this book and then it went downhill the second half. One big reason for me was the whole make up-break up thing Jace and McKenna had going on. They would break up on a whim and then get back together after a few flowery words. This issue was briefly discussed among the characters, but it didn't smooth over my annoyance.

As well, I would have liked to have seen a little more development in the book with the characters, specifically McKenna. We see some change in Jace, but I would have liked to see how this whole experience changed McKenna a little more. We see it a little, but I think her character was really shorted the development she deserved.

Overall, it's 3.5 out of 5 stars for me. I think I'm interested enough to read the forthcoming books in the series, but I also won't be making them my top priority.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a gifted and advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

Gutter Girl is a nice YA read with a unique set up.

Popular football player Jace writes a popular fantasy romance that's published online. When someone reads a scene from his notebook out loud he's sure his secret life as a writer has been exposed, but then unpopular McKenna steps up and helps him. She claims the notebook is hers.

There are some fun and funny moments, but also a lot more serious topics covered. It was a bit of a slow start for me but the further I read the more I enjoyed the story. I did like that Jace was the author and getting to explore why he had to hide it and what to do when people find out. McKenna has not had it easy and I felt for the experiences that shaped her outlook and affected her quite a bit.

I am looking forward to seeing who future books will be about.

I received this Arc in exchange of a honest review. I found Gutter Girl to be the perfect mix of humor, angst and sweet moments that have me hooked to YA! Can’t wait for the next book in the series.

I am not going to lie by saying that this book was super unpredictable and kept me on the edge, because the end is pretty predictable, because it's a high school romance book, so we all know the ending. But what's unique about this book, is how it tackles new characters, and breaks all sorts of stereotypes! This book cannot really be sorted into a trope like bad girl and nerdy girl, or even footballer and introverted shy girl. The characters are what caught my heart!
The authors have done a wonderful job of establishing a connection between the characters and the readers, within the first few chapters. And I was absolutely rooting for them by the end!
This book is written in dual pov, and we all LOVE that. We follow McKenna Storm, resident goth girl who avoids the spotlight like a virus. But interestingly she is not introverted, or nerdy, or shy. She just is! She has bright pink hair and multiple piercings! You see how they broke the stereotype right there? And of course, the charming Jace Rovers, who is a footballer, yes. But he is not a jerk or a "bad boy." In fact, I had say that he was an incredibly relatable character for me! Fighting to live his dream, struggling to meet his father's expectations, and just sorting out love and trying to get it all together, so he can brave "society."
Written in really easy-flowing language, I breezed through it in a day. If you are looking for a light read, with a little bit of romance, and lots of reference to pop culture, sarcastic characters, and really savage comebacks, and of course cutesy "special" names, go for it! I for one, am definitely looking forward to reading the next book.