One of the best bond I’ve read so far this year!

The pranks!! The fake dating!! The epic friendships!!! I absolutely loved it all. The banter and dialogue was also next level.

Doe is one of the most distinct and specific characters I’ve read in a long time. I absolutely loved her to bits.

Highly recommended

This May End Badly was pretty good! It’s got all the chaos of a high-stakes prank war, a fake dating scheme, and just the right amount of enemies-to-lovers tension. Doe is a strong, messy, and determined main character, and watching her go from rivalry-obsessed to realizing what really matters is both fun and heartfelt. The friendships shine just as much as the romance, and the book balances humor with serious moments really well. If you like fast-paced, witty, and slightly unhinged boarding school drama, this one’s worth picking up!

This May End Badly is a fun romp of a YA novel with all the wit and teenage shenanigans you could hope for. The premise is one that immediately pulls you in, and the characters keep you reading till the very end. I think there was a lot going on that wasn't necessarily executed expertly, but nevertheless, it was a fun read with strong characters and relationships.

Loved this book. Doe was so messy and flawed but her character growth was pristine. This felt so realistic to his bring 17 can feel. I loved the friendships and romance.

The book was an enjoyable read with a mix of highs and lows that shaped my overall experience. Starting with the positives, the romance was undeniably charming with the tension being spot-on for a fake-dating trope and I found myself genuinely invested in the dynamic. Additionally, the banter was a great mix, being sharp, witty, and realistic.

While there were many great things about this novel, there was a few things that could have been worked on a bit more. Some aspects poorly handled, being both underdeveloped and misplaced, and there was a lack of character growth for the protagonist which felt a bit off-putting. Ultimately, this was a fun and quick read with its share of memorable moments, but the inclusion of a heavy-handed and mishandled subplot did drag it a bit. Nonetheless, feel free to check out and share your thoughts.

An eARC was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have to state first that it took me awhile to get into this book. I believe I'm too old for this book. Endless useless pranks for no real purpose made no sense to me. The main character was insufferable. And I was hoping if I read more she would get better as a person to cheer for. The first few chapters was about Doe avenging a weird plot to prank Three and his school. Their respective schools were merging the following year. So instead of focusing on colleges, her future, or anything remotely important, she wasted her time on getting revenge on this guy. Who probably was focused on his grades, colleges and his future. All of this was very immature and painful to read. And again I would have loved to cheer for her but she was too mean and selfish. I liked Wells and felt bad for him.  I actually felt bad for all the characters.  There was a creepy perverted teacher that was handled in a sensitive manner.  Luckily the ending was good. Arghhh sadly this was not my kind of book. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC. I posted on goodreads and my blog.

I don't know where to start with this story. It was so so good. The character work was fantastic. It dealt with some very heavy topics with style and grace. The rivalry and the friends groups keep you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. It even made me emotional towards the end definitely recommend.

i feel like sometimes books just aren't for you and thats completely and totally ok. not every book will be for every reader and unfortunately thats what happened here.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the DRC of this book. What a hoot! I was definitely entertained with the pranks, bantering and friendship between everyone. One of the better books with the boarding school/prep academy trope along with a few others. I will definitely be looking for more Samantha Markum titles.

This story as about standing up for what’s right, friendship, and fallen in love. It was such a fantastic debut novel and I recommend it to all lovers of YA.

A prank war? Warring all boys and all girls schools? Fake dating? The tropes are troping and I'm here for it.

(3.5 stars, rounded up to 4)

Dorothy "Doe" Saltpeter finds herself navigating the tumultuous waters of senior year at Weston School when news of a merger with rival Winfield Academy shakes up their traditions. Determined to protect her school's legacy, Doe teams up with Winfield's cousin, Wells, to execute a prank involving a fake relationship and a cherished family heirloom. What begins as a playful scheme quickly evolves into a whirlwind of emotions, strained friendships, and a quest for inclusivity within an elite sisterhood.

In "Senior Year Showdown," author Markum skillfully delves into themes of sexuality, gender identity, and the dynamics of single-gender schools. Through Doe's journey, readers explore complex relationships and the collision of different worlds, all while turning pages driven by mounting tension and authentic character development. With nods to diversity and the experiences of supporting characters, Markum delivers a compelling narrative that resonates with realism and emotional depth.

DNF @25%

I don't read YA books too often anymore, especially books set in school. But I've had this arc for so long so I wanted to give it a chance.

It wasn't a bad book but it's definitely one that I'm not into reading anymore. I didn't care about the high school drama or the whole "making a boy jealous" plotline. Again, it's just not a book for me but I can see others enjoying it so I figured I'd just go ahead and DNF it.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU EVER SAW THE BRILLIANT 1998 FILM ALL I WANNA DO!

It has an outstanding cast, (Kirsten Dunst! Rachael Leigh Cook, Monica Keena! Gaby Hoffman! Heather Matarazzo! Lynn Redgrave! Vincent Kartheiser! Matthew Lawrence! Hayden Christensen! Shawn Ashmore!) I mean truly who else are you looking for. It takes place in 1963 and is about a woman’s boarding school that might go co-ed and the girls who try to stop it, mainly by pranks aimed at making the boys look bad. It is hilarious and thoughtful and frankly I don’t know why it wasn’t more popular.

This was one of my favorites back in the heyday of late 90’s teen movies which we have never recovered from as a society and which the film industry has never been able to reproduce.

Anyway this book gave me strong All I Wanna Do vibes and I was not mad about it.

Doe (short for Dorothy) is our main character here, and she’s fabulous. She’s flawed, she’s stubborn, she is COMPLETELY in her own way and totally uninterested in getting out of it. But she’s also just a girl trying to figure out what life after high school will look like, how she’ll survive without her girls by her side every day, and wondering what she’ll do with all the free time she currently dedicates to pranking the Winfield boys.

The friendships were fantastic. Doe and her three friends have been friends forever, but they aren’t afraid to call each other out when one of them is wrong. Wells has his own group, made up largely (completely?) of his cousins. I’ve seen some criticism of Three and his nickname, but listen, I knew a guy who was also something the third and managed to get his nickname down to Trey, because très is three in Spanish and that almost sounds like Trey so you know what? Boys with money are weird.

Doe and Wells do some great fake dating that they pretend isn’t becoming more and more real by the day. They very clearly have feelings for each other but they’re never gonna admit it, so instead it’s just a slowwwww burn all the way through.

Also? This book is just funny. It’s not jokes I can necessarily capture for you, it’s more that the whole vibe is hilarious. The way they talk to each other, the banter, the terms of endearment. The sex talk from Wells’ mom when they aren’t even actually dating? I died.

This is going down as one of my favorites and I will read anything Samantha Markum writes from now until forever.

The beginning of this was fun. The war between schools and the die hard school spirit. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes, but I wish this relationship was a little more developed. I didn’t believe her when she said she finally liked him, and almost felt she had to be convinced? The part about the teacher at the end was unnecessary to the story or the friend group. Could have been cut and the story would have felt less long.

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4 Stars
The description of this book seemed like so much fun and it definitely was. Doe is def one of my new favs, and Wells is now officially on my list of book bf's. Their witty banter was so much fun. On the other hand it was so good at discussing more sensitive topics. Such a fun and exciting read

I unfortunately couldn't get into this one, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to someone else!

I was not expecting to find a new favorite with this book, but MAN I am obsessed. The boarding school setting, the pranks, the drama, and the romance all worked together so well, and I loved it! I laughed, I teared up, and even though I rolled my eyes at Doe sometimes, I couldn’t help but fall in love with her and the other characters. I had to buy a physical copy of this book for my shelves, and I can’t wait to reread it soon!

CW for light sexual content, mentions of gambling addictions (from past, with parent), divorce (past), bullying (past, but still affects main character), homophobia.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of This May End Badly by Samantha Markum.

Thanks Netgalley.

I got this copy a couple years ago when it was available as a read now. It has been on many a TBR and this year I am going to be buckling down and reading my Netgalley shelf because I am embarrased by my Netgalley ratio. It is so freaking low, I am confused as to how I can still get books even from the read now section.

This follows a group of girls who are close friends and they attened an all girl boarding school called Weston. Our main character Doe is a senior and instead of focusing on her life and where she is going to go to college, she is consumed by the decades old rival with the all boys boarding school across the road called Winfield. She is known as the master prankster and the first prank she pulls involves tampons... but that is not the plot.

The whole plot is that during the introductory assembly for the beginning of the school year, the headmistress announces that Weston is going to be merging with Winfield to become a co educational boarding school.

Doe is against it and she feels that she has to make it her mission to make the merger fail. She gets into a fake relationship with a Winfield boy named Wells to make his cousin Three, who is Doe's arch enemy jealous and gets his dad to say no to the merger.

There is one plot line that has nothing to do with the merger but it makes Winfield boys and Weston girls come together. There is a male teacher at Weston who is a sexual predator and one thing all the girls in this school agree on is to never ever be alone with him. Why is there a male teacher at a all girl boarding school to begin with????

The lead up to this particular conclusion happens in the last third of the book while we were focused on Doe and her fake relationship and pranks and her family drama. Also the book has an abrput ending and before finishing the book, I was on the authors Goodreads page and someone asked the question was there going to be anything else on Doe and Wells' relationship. The author answered back that there story was complete.

I get to the end of the book expecting something juicy and cutesy and it ends with Doe thinking about Weston and how it will now be a safe place for girls.

I ended up giving this a three star because while reading it, I knew about the male teacher and the sexual assault thanks to Goodreads reviews, but I did like Doe's family dynamic around Christmas.

This is one of the most fun fake-dating YA romances I've read in a long time! If you're a fan of TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE, definitely check out THIS MAY END BADLY!