I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I liked parts of this book, but all together it was a bit of a chaotic mess. It wasn’t really clear WHAT the main plot line or point of the story was. The idea of this prank war between rival schools was fun and entertaining…until it wasn’t, and suddenly it sort of dropped away quickly. I wasn’t really sure the point of Doe and Three’s relationship-they have this intense rivalry and hatred, but there’s literally no reason for it and nothing comes of it-I really thought it would be like an enemies to lovers sort of thing, but nothing. I really really disliked the main character. Honestly, she came across as an immature, whiny baby. I did, though LOVE Wells-I could’ve done with more of him in this book! I appreciated the students rallying together to fight an injustice, but I HATED that they sort of joked about a teacher being a predator for the majority of the book until the end.

For as fun and funny as this book is, there’s also a sense of foreboding, like the car crash you see coming but can’t do anything to stop. That really upped the stakes and made this book much more than a prank war between two tony boarding schools. Watching Doe make one mistake after another, even with her good intentions, you know it’s only a matter of time before it blows up in her face. And boy, does it explode. But she’s got a great support system in her friends and parents and even Wells and Three, even when they’re not speaking to her. Those true connections were nice to see.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I finished this book in only 2 days. Couldn't put it down. It's the cutest story about friendship and standing up for yourself. Plus a good ole fake dating troupe and snappy humour!

One of my new all-time favorites in YA! Markum's voice is pitch perfect for teens that feel both modern and timeless. I loved the boarding school setting and Weston-Winfield rivalry, the supportive and complex friendships, the messy but swoony romance, even the depictions of different kinds of families. So much was touched on in one fun, delightful book, and I cannot wait for whatever Samantha Markum writes next.

Weston girl and Winfield boys do not mix. An age-old rivalry and prank war has kept the neighboring boarding schools on their toes. So what happens when a pending merger is announced? The war escalates.
Doe lives for the rivalry and nothing is more important than ensuring future Weston girls have the safe space that she has found. She can't imagine anything worse than Winfield boys on the Weston campus. Plotting out a fake relationship with her nemesis's cousin is just one of many ways to get under Winfield boys' skin.
I didn't care for one underlying theme (redacted to avoid spoilers), but I can imagine the potential for the issue would be a realistic concern. For me, it wasn't a completely necessary filler to move the plot along.
Fans of Mean Girls or She's the Man will enjoy this read. While Doe isn't the most lovable of characters, she has a good character arc and the prank war setting kept me thoroughly entertained. Her fake relationship with Wells adds a good layer of potential young love.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy and GoodReads for the giveaway win. All thoughts in this review are my own.

This was definitely one of the better YA novels I've read recently and a strong debut. There was romance, revenge, and hijinks, but the author also smoothly tackled social issues that will speak to young adults, as well as older adults.

There were a lot of secondary characters that supported the main character, Doe (Dorothy.) She had a strong group of friends that felt real in the way they challenged each other. There were the Winfield Academy boys who were the victims and perpetrators of vengeful hijinks. Parents who weren't oblivious caricatures. And, lastly, Doe's fun and rather swoon-worthy faux-romance with Wells. One of those dreaded Winfield boys.

I found myself laughing, swooning, and cheering throughout the story. I found Doe to be a complicated character in a realistic way. She embraced diversity but wanted Weston to stay the same. She advocated for students using their voices but was frustrated with those who didn't see things her way. It paved a way for her character growth and a great story overall.

This May End Badly has its funny and playful moments, but in the end, it has some important messages that reflect the world today and why progress isn't the villain some want to believe.

Doe isn't sure what she is getting into when she makes a deal with a boy from the neighboring school. She loves to prank the guys and the school they attend and loathes the wealthy young men from one of the school's most influential donors. It is almost like she is dealing with the devil, a very handsome one that she finds herself attracted to. Before she knows it she is in deep. This may very well end badly. The book was a slow starter for me as a reader and predictable in places. Doe is an interesting character as is Wells. This is an interesting young adult story that will attract those who like to prank and have deep school loyalties. Thanks to #NetGalley#This MayEndBadly for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was interesting, but I also think I am not the target audience. I guess the giveaway should've been that it is set in highschool. That being said, in addition to having a prank war, I think it touched on some important concepts - making mistakes, obsessing over things, and then how to apologize and come back from it, which are things many people in highschool face. The MC made mistakes and owned up to it, which I appreciate. It was nuanced in that sense. However, I do not like how the students took it upon themselves to get the head minister to answer to a faculty's predatory behavior. While the rest of the book was mostly realistic, this was wild that the students had to state an ultimatum. Other than that, it was a relatively interesting and decent read. I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This May End Badly was a great debut YA novel by Samantha Markum. While there was drama, romance and humor, the highlight is the characters’ growth throughout the story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Doe is a senior at the all girls Weston school. She and her friends have always embraced the rivalry with the all boys Winfield Academy next door. But once they find out the schools are scheduled to merge the following year, Doe takes it personally. After all, being a Weston girl gave her a sense of belonging after some rough middle school years. When her Winfield rival Three throws down the gauntlet, Doe goes all in. She finally ends up making a deal with Three’s cousin Wells. They’ll fake date to help Wells out, and then Doe can get under Three’s skin, too. The pranks go forward from there, and the consequences get bigger as the story goes on.

This May End Badly has fierce rival schools, strong friendships, fake dating, and hilarious pranks. But it also shows Doe making mistake after mistake, some with good reason but some out of selfishness. On top of everything else going on, she’s supposed to be figuring out what she wants to do with the rest of her life. There are no easy solutions, and Doe has to do a lot of hard work to get to her happy for now ending.

Usually the romance plot line is most important to me, but Doe’s relationship with Wells was not always front and center, which was ok. Wells was swoony, but fell flat in some situations. Doe’s growth is the focus of the book, and it’s great to see how she gets from point A to point B to point C while dealing with each and every bump along the way.

I enjoyed This May End Badly. It was a fairly realistic view of high school life in a boarding school setting, while creating a cast of colorful characters whose heartfelt friendships are the soul of this story. It’s these friendships that allow Doe to develop and grow throughout the book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you St. Martin Press and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions expressed are my own. This review does NOT contain any spoilers. :)

☆☆.5 Overall / DNF around halfway through


I never want to be the person that DNF’s an ARC, but sadly this book was one that I could not finish. I was really excited for this book because it reminded me of some other YA plotlines that I loved, but unfortunately there was just so much going on that I could not wrap my head around everything.

The thing that stopped me from pushing through to the end of the book was the subplot involving the misconduct of a male teacher. It did not make sense to me from the beginning that these suspicions of the teacher were not brought to the attention of the Headmistress or other adults in charge way before this book takes place, or even leading up to the point where I stopped. Students should not have to tiptoe around a person in a position of power because they do not have “solid evidence,” - especially at an all girls private school where their mission is to protect, nurture, and advance these young girls. I did not think originally that this subplot would bother me, but I think it’s the way that the author writes about it that I just could not keep reading.

I do recognize that these are my thoughts and experiences with the book, and this may just not have been the book for me, and I am not discouraging others from reading it. These were just my thoughts and ultimately what lead me to DNF. If you do choose to read this book and that plotline is something you are iffy or uncomfortable around, I would personally look for a more in depth list of content warnings.

I requested this book because the premise of a high school prank war seemed really run and unique. I enjoyed the setting and the relationship between Doe and Wells was cute to read about.

I did have several issues. First there were just sooooo many side characters. Both Doe and Wells had huge friend groups and huge families. None of the side characters were well developed and I honestly found myself skimming over their names since I couldn't keep them all straight. The side characters could have been edited down and better explored.

My second issue was the fake dating plot. The reasoning behind it was a bit ridiculous and incredibly immature. This leads me to my dislike of Doe as a main character. She was just AWFUL! She was mean to her friends, self-centered, obsessive, rude and overall unlikable. Even throughout the book, there was no real growth from her. She remained the same person and in the end all of her friends and boyfriend just accepted that she was terrible.

My final complaint is the school sexual abuse storyline. I feel like it came out of left field, made no sense, and was really just thrown in. I don't think this story did this difficult topic justice at all. The take home message with "students should just take matters into their own hands and leave out their parents from these difficult conversations" which I feel is not a productive message to send.

Overall, this was a miss for me in YA romance despite having a decent plot to start with.

I loved this book so much! This was a very fun story of rivalry and friendship, with a touch of family.
Two boarding schools, all-girls and all-boys, with a pretty intense rivalry that spans decades are going to merge at the end of the current school year. What do you do when this is school that you love so much, that it has been your personal mission to see it on the winning side of the rivalry for the past three years? You escalate things, of course - or that’s what Doe does. She is determined to see that this merger does not happen and that the Weston girls come out on top. This involves prank wars, fake dating to get under your enemy’s skin because, why not?) meeting your fake boyfriends parents, lying, and maybe even law breaking. Will things go too far? Of course!
At the heart of the book is the friendship between Doe and her friends. The girls have a great dynamic with one another - funny and loyal. The chemistry between Doe and Wells, our fake-dating couple, is instant and natural. You will find yourself rooting for them from the beginning.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with and eBook in exchange for an honest review.

This May End Badly is a strong debut from author Samantha Markum that combines fake-dating, boarding schools, and friendship. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more of Markum's future work.

Follow along with Doe, a senior at an all-girls boarding school, along with her motley group of friends whose lives have revolved around a century-long rivalry with the boy's school across the street ever since they met.
But when Doe embarks on a fake-dating scheme to get under her worst enemy's skin, she must contend with the lies she's told, as well as the future of her beloved friendships and school.

wildly entertaining and easy to devour prepare to stay up all night just to stay engrossed in Doe's world for as long as you can before returning to reality.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for my review. All statements are my own thoughts and beliefs and I can't wait to speak with everyone wise enough to mark your Calander and consume this story as soon as possible!

Epic pranks, fake dating and a merger of rival schools...what could go wrong?

The spoiler-free answer is just about all of it. I enjoyed This May End Badly and flew through it.

There are a lot of characters to keep straight, I felt like the focus on Doe, Wells and Three left me forgetting who was who. I wanted more from the friendships here, but I did really enjoy the prank creativity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy and the opportunity to share my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was a delight. I am excited to recommend this book in an upcoming must read 2022 YA titles.

This was good! It got a bit political about certain topics but I liked how it was wrapped up.

I also liked how the main enemies were really enemies to friends and the main character stopped focusing so much on the rivalry.

I liked the romances book and the unexpected bit of who fell for Three. I'm trying not to list any spoilers for those who haven't read this yet.

I did love the colleges those two characters ended up with at the end especially since I grew up in that area and know how notorious that rivalry is.

It would be great if there was a sequel to see how that plays out.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing the chance to read and review. This was a four star rating.

An entertaining and hilarious YA romp made up of rivalries, pranks, fake dating and more. Lots to connect with.

"This May End Badly" by Samantha Markum is the ultimate high school YA novel. The story follows high school senior Doe and her friend group as they navigate their last year at their beloved all-girl boarding school, Weston. When it is announced that The Weston School will be merging with their long-time rivals Winfield Academy – the all-boys boarding school across the street – Doe and her friends must pull out all the stops to make sure the merger doesn't happen.

What ensues is an entertaining story filled with pranks, true friendship, a fake-dating trope, and so much more.

I really enjoyed this story. Doe's relationship with her friends was extremely realistic – I loved how her friends held her accountable for her actions. The relationship between Wells and Doe was adorable, though there could have been a lot of potential with the relationship between Three and Doe. I think the side-plot with the male teacher was very self-aware. Overall, a pleasant YA read.

Doe and her pals are distressed to learn that their boarding school is going to be merged with a boys boarding school. They pull pranks, they fake date, they do lots of things that keep this jumping. There's. subplot about a teacher who has been grooming and preying on the girls, who sadly feel unheard for too long. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read for the YA crowd.

Can I just say how thankful I am that YA books are talking about toxic families more and more these days? The whole Wellborn backstory was totally relatable (I mean, not the ridiculously-rich part), and author Samantha Markum doesn't let Three or Wells off the hook for their "bad" behavior.

My favorite thing about This May End Badly is the character development. We really get to know so many of these characters with rich details sprinkled throughout the book (not just dumped at the beginning). Doe is hard to like for most of the book, but her off-screen relationships with each of the girls, her dad, and even Wells show that there is more to her than the narrator shows us, and I appreciate that.

CW: sexual assault and gooming from a person in authority