Sooo good

If you are looking for an angst-filled teen drama - this is the book for you. It’s got my favorite trope - fake dating. The main character, Doe, loves her school and loves to prank the nearby boys school more. She is so passionate about everything, almost to an annoying degree. The love interest, Wells, is adorable and I love their relationship.

I big aspect of this book is Doe’s friend group. They are all unique and act very much like eccentric private school girls actually act (I should know I was one) so props to the amazing author for that.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My only critique is that the first chapter or so had so many names and explanations that I was overwhelmed. Other than that though, LOVED.

There is also a sexual misconduct ion plot so trigger warning for that.

This book is AMAZING. As someone who grew out of YA contemporary romance, this book delivered. It was everything I could ask for in a fake dating, prank war romance between two people on opposite sides of the war.

The pranks were cool, but hands down my focus was on Doe and Wells. They both captured my heart the moment they stepped on to the page. The way their relationship develops from revenge to actual love is so enticing to read about.

Not to mention I love that in the end this book tacked a deeply serious problem in schools. It was not all just fun and games.

I thought that I moved on from YA romance, because often times teenager drama is focus of these novels. This truly felt wholesome.

Weston girls vs Winfield Boys, two rival schools, and two people who are constantly competing against each other. Doe and her band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long prank war against the Winfield Academy boys... particularly against Three, the king of the boys. This is Doe’s senior year and when she finds out that the headmistress has announced that the Weston School will merge with the Winfield Academy to be a co-ed school, Doe spirals into chaos. When she runs into Three’s cousin, the laid back, handsome one of the family named Gabriel Wells... Doe strikes up a bargain. If he will fake date her to get under Three’s skin she will help him steal back a family heirloom that Three has in return. As the pranks escalate... so do the feelings between Doe and Wells, and as her lies spiral out of control Doe will soon have to face the consequences when it all implodes on her and she’ll have to ask herself what truly matters to her, if the boy she’s been fake dating is someone she can truly let herself open up to. There is also a much more serious issue too... one of the teachers has been getting too close and singling out vulnerable female students... and Doe will have to see if she can put aside her rivalry and join forces with her rivals in order to come together and fight for a more critical cause. This was a charming story about friendship, falling in love, and fighting for what you believe in while also understanding how to atone for the things you’ve done. I loved Wells, he absolutely made the book for me. The sweet romance between the two that grew from fake dating to actually caring and supporting one another was really sweet. This is a story about a girl, her fake boyfriend, a prank war, and seeing if this will end badly or not ( it definitely didn’t)!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

When I tell you I had so much fun reading this book!! It was seriously a blast. Sure, there was growth and emotion and even a little bit of difficult subject matter, but overall it was such a good time. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face through most of it.

Doe goes to an all girls boarding school and it’s her senior year. She’s sort of the ringmaster of the rival going on with the boy’s school across the street. And then she finds out that they’re going to merge. Doe just can’t have that.

So she does the unthinkable and dates one of the guys from the boys school. Not just one, one of the most popular ones that’s cousins with her arch-nemesis. Dating Wells has it’s perks. And they both need something out of this arrangement so it’s not like either one is using the other. But what happens when fake dating starts turning into real feelings?

I love love love the fake dating troupe and Wells was seriously the best part about this book! Also, I loved that a chunk of this story took place in Cincinnati! It's always fun to recognize your surroundings as you read and when a book takes place around where you live.

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 huge thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!
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I really really enjoyed this debut novel by Samantha Markum! This is a coming-of-age young adult novel, mixed with a prank war between two rival boarding schools, a fake-dating plot, and whispers of sexual harassment from a teacher at the all-girls school. Markum created a diverse group of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, looking to life beyond high school, but struggling with the legacy that they will leave behind. Doe and her friends definitely do not want to merge their school with the all-boys school across the street, even if it's after their graduation, but there are bigger things at play that may change the goal line.
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The harassment storyline did not really come into play until the final third of the book, and while I don't necessarily agree with everything the characters did, I do think that it read true to what teenagers might do when faced with those circumstances. I would have liked to have spent more time with Wells and Three, or some of Doe's friends, along with a fuller picture of the Headmistress, but ultimately, this is Doe's story and the reader is limited to understanding the world through the lens that she views it from. I imagine for many young adults, they will see parts of themselves in this book.

**Review will be posted April 7th on my blog/Instagram/Goodreads etc.**

WORKED FOR ME!

Love a great young adult contemporary with some romance. This is definitely one of those reads!

The romance was so sweet!! I loved the fake dating (of course) and how clearly smitten these two were from the beginning, even if Doe didn’t realize it yet. Occasionally she was too concerned about the reasons they were fake dating, but that played into her character growth by the end. I adored Wells and Doe. I thought they were authentically teens, making some poor decisions and learning how to apologize and accept help. Doe was a wonderfully strong main character and one of the best parts of this book.

Some serious themes were also handled (see trigger warnings). While it didn’t seem to fit the original plot of the story, it did work to bring these two schools together. I think it could have benefitted from a bit more flow, but I love a good teamwork moment and This May End Badly accomplished that.

I liked the prank wars and competing schools. I adored Doe’s entire group of friends and all of the coming of age growth and conversations throughout. A really superb young adult novel you should check out too!

Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: one fade to black + light innuendo
- Violence: some pranks that cause minor harm
- Trigger/Content Warnings: sexual harassment, grooming by a teacher

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The two words I'd use to describe this book are: dramatic and chaotic. And for both, that was both good and bad at times. The drama surrounding the escalating pranks between the two rival schools that are soon to be merging was full of entertainment and I never knew what they were going to come up with next. However, some of the "fights" between characters felt a bit forced and added to the feeling that there was a lot more going on than there needed to be at times.

Doe was incredibly feisty and I admired her resolve to keep fighting for what she wanted, but she was a really crappy friend for most of the book. Thankfully, she did seem to eventually realize her mistakes and grow a bit.

Ultimately, this was a quick, fun read, and I'll probably pick up this author's next book.

I struggled with the pace of the plot at the beginning, and I guess I just never caught up. Too many characters thrown at the reader too quickly, too many sub plots, just didn’t work for me.

I really wanted to like this novel- the premise is right up my alley! Teen girl masterminding prank wars and fake dating? Let’s go!

Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. Between the (I felt excessive) foul language, references to teen drinking, and a subplot involving a teacher who the girls suspect is preying on his students, I just could not enjoy this one. I wasn’t able to get into the world of the story.

I just kept thinking “Where are the adults!? Who are the teachers?”

That said, it did have some really humorous and heartfelt moments! The banter between Doe and her group of friends was realistic, and I appreciated how the friendships were challenged and strengthened throughout. I really did love Gabriel’s character, and I appreciated the family struggles he had with his cousin.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“I wanted you. Maybe not from the start, but there was never anyone else I wanted. It was no one, and then it was you.”

This May End Badly is written in the first person narrative from the perspective of Doe. Doe, prank mastermind, is a senior at the all-girls boarding Weston School and proud of it. The school has become her safe haven following her parent’s divorce and she isn’t ready to go. The neighboring all-boys boarding school, Winfield Academy, has been Weston’s longtime rival and Doe is constantly at odds with their self-appointed leader and fellow prankster, Three. Chaos ensues when Doe’s headmistress announces that the schools will be merging together next year and Three appears to be all for it. In a plot to get under Three’s skin, Doe and his cousin Wells decide to fake date for mutually beneficial reasons. She lies to her family and friends to keep up the facade and when trouble brews at the school due to an inappropriate teacher, Doe must decide what’s more important to her: winning a rivalry or protecting something much more precious than her school’s legacy.

Thoughts: Summarizing this felt near impossible because there’s just way too much going on and it definitely could’ve benefitted from a tidier plot. I had whiplash trying to keep up with everything going on. What did I like? The fake dating trope is very well done here! Wells is a gem and I
enjoyed the development of his character as Doe got to know him better. The progression of the romance felt natural. I love the boarding school in a small town setting. I also enjoyed Doe’s family and friend group. What didn’t I like? There was weird subplot about a teacher that felt very unnecessary. I understand Markum wanting to add conflict to the book (even though there was already an abundance of conflict going on) but I think this book would’ve been much better without it. It really didn’t fit. There was also some unexplored romantic tension between Doe and Three. Did he like her or are they just kindred spirits? It’s never really said. Overall, this was a decent YA read but not for me. I you may enjoy this if you’re a fan of the fake dating trope and a boarding school setting.

First, thank you so much to NetGalley and to St Martin"s Press for providing me an ARC for This may end Badly.
This next review may contain spoilers!

I really enjoyed this read and loved to get in on the pranks with Doe"s gang. I truly appreciated the narrative that by becoming coed the girls would lose opportunities to shine versus the inclusion at Weston that isn't all that it's cracked up to be. That was a surprise debate during the story that made it hard to side with only one scenario for the school.
I also always get sucked in stories with women that team up to protect each other and I really found that in This may end badly.
Sometimes, when the protagonists are teenagers, I have a harder time relating to their struggles and the importance of them, but this book spoke to me with its plot of feminism, justice, friendship and inclusiveness.

Loved this dynamic book about a boarding school rivalry, friendship, and realizing there are some things more important than a prank war.
This book explores the dynamics of female friendship as different attitudes over combining schools with their arch rival, dating, and life after high school test the limits of a tight knit group that’s known for their pranks. But when a teacher at the school whose always been suspicious begins exhibiting more and more signs of being a sexual predator, friends and rivals must come together to take him down!

I really wanted to like this book and it started off promising, but ultimately fell kind of flat. There were too many storylines to full invest in any of them and the main character was not very likable. and I felt like she got off way too easily from all of her actions.

This was a highly enjoyable YA book that got some good laughs out of me. The characters were very developed, the hijinks were everything you wanted, and you felt drawn into the school while reading. Knocked a star off for the seemingly unnecessary creepy teacher plot - it felt out of place and not tied up in the way it should be. Overall, a great book for young adults and adults to enjoy!

A great prank-filled plotline and a FANTASTIC faking dating trope. Sign me up for boarding school!

There were so many things to love about this book so I'll start with the characters. Our main character, Dorothy (Doe), is the ringleader for a group of girls who prank the neighboring all-boys boarding school. She has a great group of friends, an outgoing personality, and lots of people seem to really like her. Then everything starts going wrong, starting with the announcement that her school and the all-boys school with merge together the following year.

While on the surface Doe has an obsessive behavior about saving her school from dooming itself (aka merging with the boys school), there's really more to it/her than obsession. Her school was her saving grace many years ago and she feels like she owes it to the school and future girls to save it. Plus, she's a little terrified of growing up and moving on with her life. We continually see this theme in her actions and as the people around her point it out. It's a real problem that she has to recognize and work on throughout the book. We see a lot of growth in her towards the end of the book, but I did still feel like there was some unresolved-ness about her future towards the end.

Next, I have to talk about Wells, Doe's fake boyfriend that she's using to pull off the ultimate prank against her archnemesis. He is a great fake boyfriend! Normally fake dating couples are afraid to touch each other or are just very stiff and awkward around one another. Wells just jumps right in with the ear whispering, or the hand holding, or the little kisses (so many cute little kisses). He's a natural fake dater. But I also loved that he felt very natural and free in every scene. He was so easy to like and just made me smile every time he was in a scene.

And I would be remiss if I didn't say Christian Page was coming for my heart for a second. Wouldn't mind reading a book about him.

The pranking plotline was a lot of fun for me. The pranks were unique and made me laugh out loud multiple times. And in general, I thought the plot moved at a good pace. I will mention that this book seemed a little long for some reason? I was reading it on my phone so I'm not entirely sure if this book was actually longer than most contemporary romances, but it just seemed longer time wise. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as I wasn't bored. But I did notice it.

I also want to point out that there is a 'school predator that is a teacher' storyline in this book. It's not really addressed until the end, but it's definitely discussed throughout the book. I'm not entirely sure why Markum chose to include this storyline in the book as it felt like a different vibe from everything else. I don't think it was bad or poorly written for the most part, I'm just not really sure why it was included in the book.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am so happy I got to know the Wellborn boys and the girls of Weston. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

This book provided me with so many laughs. A+++ in the humor department. I gave 4 stars because I felt like there was too much going on at times, making it a bit confusing. Aside from that, I loved the themes in this book! Fake dating? Sign me up! Prank wars amongst rival schools? Yes, please! Looking forward to reading more from Samantha Markum!

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book because from the beginning, I could just tell it was one of the classic high school stories about high school being the best time ever and not wanting to move on from it. Now, I didn’t factor that into my rating since that’s just because I’m old enough to not care about tit and therefore, I’m not the target audience.

I do think, however, that the main character was flawed in a way that it was hard to deal with her at times even though I knew she was going to grow. It was so frustrating to read and while I appreciated her character growth, at times is was just excruciating.

What really made the book fun for me was the fake dating aspect. I LOVED the relationship! I was so scared it was going to take a different route and become a love triangle and I’m so glad that it didn’t! The banter and tension between Wells and Doe was just absolutely iconic and what made me continue reading.

I do respect the discussion about sexual harassment and the predatorily teacher, though there were moments where it felt like a really random plot point without reason and I’m glad that it had some importance near the end.

While I didn’t really care about the pranks as much as I hoped, they were still interesting enough and I liked the forced proximity and all the things that came with fake dating that this plot allowed!

I think the friends were really interesting and I’m glad that they actually disagreed with Doe when she was being frustrating! I don’t think I would have liked the book as much if no one was ever holding her accountable!

I would recommend this if you like a bit of school rivalry and elaborate pranks, fake dating to get back at a common enemy, a flawed but extremely caring and passionate main character that makes a really good leader but has a hard time being a good friend, and some really REALLY fun tension! Like, Wells REALLY made some MOVES.

Such a fun YA book with a unique story that felt fresh. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for providing this ARC.

I went in not knowing what it was about. The title was enough to intrigue me.

I enjoyed it, for the most part. The prank wars and fake dating was fun. The inappropriate teacher behavior was unnecessary, in my opinion. I felt the book didn’t need that heavy inserted into the story. But it was still a good book.

It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did, I enjoyed it.
My favorite character was Wells who was quietly supportive of Doe even when she couldn't see his loyalty and genuine feelings. Wells was also in the midst of a family rivalry with Three, and he was trying to navigate a difficult family dynamic. Doe was a single minded mischief maker in the name of school spirit, and she did mislead almost everyone in her life, so it was sometimes hard to like her or feel sorry for her, but I did appreciate the way she acknowledged her mistakes and stood up for her friends in the end.