Such a cute book! Loved the setting, the characters and the storyline. Highly recommend for a funny heartwarming book!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun fluffy read. Yes it was predictable and you saw pretty much everything coming, but the book wasn't about catching you off guard or shocking you. It was just a fun read that made you laugh some times. I enjoyed the character development and the banter. There are a lot of sex jokes, but nothing actually happens (not giving spoilers on if anything happens one way or another, just saying that there are no play by play sex scene). All in all it was a fun read.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book! This is my honest review, all views are my own.
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This May End Badly is a charming, laugh-out-loud story that follows Doe, a senior at the Weston School with a penchant for pranks—specifically, pranking the neighboring Winfield Academy and the condescending, arrogant Three. When a merger between the schools is announced, Doe dedicates it all to putting a stop to it… which includes a fake dating plot with Three’s cousin, Wells, among other schemes and lies.
Overall, this book was good! It kept my attention for the most part, and I really enjoyed the chemistry not only with Doe and Wells, but with the Weston girls as well as the various family ties and bonds. The writing was light and witty, with the dialogue feeling very authentic and the description not being too overbearing at the beginning. The pacing felt a bit wonky because there were different dates being thrown about, then adjusted and shifted. At one point, I thought the plot would end at Christmas, but it was only the first half of the book! Additionally, the ending of the book felt a bit detached from the rest of the novel, as it brought a subplot to the forefront of the characters’ minds and made a big production of it. It wasn’t out of place, but perhaps a bit jarring? I wish it had been elaborated upon differently throughout the book—perhaps different attitudes besides “discomforting yet accepted as a norm”? I don’t know, it was a bit strange.
This May End Badly was otherwise able to nicely wrap up the group’s senior year, and it was a very entertaining ride along the way! A cute and funny 4 star read.

this book hit a lot of my favorite tropes- enemies to lovers, faking dating, prank wars, strong female friendships. it also has the perfect amount of drama to filler. I would highly recommend this book for someone looking for a fun entertaining read.

Doe and Three are seniors at rival prep schools whose prank war goes back generations but no one takes it as seriously as Doe and Three.

When it is announced that the two schools would be merging, Doe decides she’s not going to sit quietly by and watch it happen. Enter Three’s cousin, Wells, and a fake dating plot is born to make Three crazy. I love a good fake dating plot and this one was no exception.

The two groups of friends are the most fun. And while this book is a fun, fake dating, high school rival prank war loaded book, it also doesn’t shy away from topics such as bullying, gender identity, sexual identity and sexual assault.

This was a quick read that I can definitely see being a hit upon its release. Juicy, drama, witty banter - it reads like a fun high school sitcom!!

Markum surprised me with a more nuanced YA romance than I was expecting here. Now, my expectations weren't all that high to begin with, but this somewhat fluffy book centered around a boarding school prank war exceeded them handily. I requested this story expecting to read another iteration of standard teen romance plot A and instead was treated to an enjoyable depth of characters that felt more real than many other YA protagonists. Doe is a flawed heroine who shows real growth through the novel, and it happens in a believable way. My biggest criticism is that I had a bit of difficulty sorting out all the characters at the beginning of the book; the introductions felt a bit rushed so it took me a while to learn who each of the main characters is. This is partly due to the "in media res" type opening scene, which sacrifices some background and description in order to maintain a sense of urgency and danger. Once I got to know the characters a bit better, the book flowed well and I appreciated the overall feeling of realism that Markum was able to achieve in the characters' relationships. I received this book free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There's a lot to like about THIS MAY END BADLY. The main character, Doe, is vibrant, unique, and complicated, and despite her faults, you'll find yourself rooting for her throughout the whole book. She isn't perfect, she makes a ton of terrible decisions, and she has a lot to overcome, but she remains a likable, charming lead throughout that journey. Her friendships are wonderfully drawn, and the dialogue is quick and realistic.

Doe is a Weston Girl -- a senior at a private, all-girls boarding school that promotes empowerment and education, and gives girls a place to thrive. Weston is across the street from Winfield, an all-boys boarding school. No one knows when the rivalry between the two schools started, but Doe and her friends are determined to be the ones to finish it, and they engage in some of the most epic pranks pulled at both schools. Their direct rival is Three, a legacy at Winfield, and his cousins -- they've been trading pranks across both campuses since they were all freshmen, and have gone down as infamous leading up to their senior year.

But the stakes are raised when the administrations of both schools announce that next year, the schools will merge into one co-educational institution. What started as a final year of pranks turns into a desperate attempt to prove that Weston and Winfield can't ever mix. As part of that war, Doe dives into throwing Three off his game like she never has before -- and starts a fake relationship with his cousin, Wells, in an attempt to anger Three as much as humanly possible.

The friendships are the real gem of the book -- Doe and her friends have a rich history and close bond, and that shows throughout the whole narrative. They move seamlessly together as they plot pranks and hang on to the last year they have together before they all split up for college. Shawn and Doe, in particular, have a friendship that made me long for my own all-girls school years.

The one major fault with THIS MAY END BADLY is the use of antagonists -- there are too many of them, and with each addition, the last one doesn't get its due in the narrative. At first, the set up is clear: Doe is up against her arch enemy, Three, and as two ringleaders from opposite sides of a generation long prank war, they'll do anything to win, even if it means hurting others in the process. Then, there's the addition of fighting against the imminent merger of the two schools, which does fit in to the initial rivalry. But the addition of the third and fourth villains are where things start to go off the rails.

When Virginia, a student in the year below Doe and her friends, is introduced, it's in a direct girl against girl cat fight kind of way, and gives Doe a third layer of opposition to fight against. Almost all of Virginia's time on the page is negative, and forces her to come out as a flat antagonist that undoes a lot of the positive representation of teenage, female friendship -- not because Virginia doesn't make good points, but because she isn't given enough time on the page to develop her own voice, outside of how she makes Doe feel.

But the real issue is the way everything wraps up. In the last small chunk of the book, Doe and her friends take on a teacher who has been coming on to young students. It's mentioned lightly earlier, in the way of rumors and an uncomfortable, unconfirmed feeling that the girls get around him, and warnings passed down from the older girls. This is a serious, real thing that happens at schools, and in all-girls environments, but the storyline isn't given the weight it demands, especially given the audience the book is for. Instead of something that is taken seriously, it's rushed through, and treated with the same severity as the other pranks Doe and her friends pull throughout the book. In a quick rush, the girls band together with the boys, and a sexual predator is taken down off-screen, with no thought of the impact its taken on the girls involved. Instead of a serious issue, one that we should encourage young women to recognize and ask for help with, its used as a plot device to push reconciliation and bonding between kids at war with each other, Doe and her friends, and Doe and her parents. It's heartbreaking, because this is a chance for girls to see that this is a real issue that they should stand up for themselves about -- and instead, THIS MAY END BADLY suggests that they can and should keep authorities and parents removed from the situation, and shows them taking on the administration as a bonding exercise.

Unfortunately, if it hadn't been for that, Doe's journey would have had this perfect narrative. Ultimately, the villain Doe needed to overcome was herself - her own trauma, her own experiences, her coping mechanisms, and the way she hurt other people rather than dealing with her own emotions. It's a rich narrative and journey for a teenage girl, and a great display of female friendship. Her relationship with Wells could be great, and when they actually do get a chance to be together, it is, but to make space for some of these other storylines, much of their relationship happens off-screen, so to speak. And, on top of all of that, it was *fun* to read. The rushed ending, and the treatment of sexual misconduct, unfortunately pulls away from all of the great work the novel does before then.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review.

This May End Badly was a cute read - I finished it in less than 24 hours and genuinely enjoyed the plot. Definitely a fun, fast-paced YA book.

I did not really enjoy Doe as the main character, obviously she’s flawed and that’s ok but I just didn’t relate to her much and while there was definitely some redemption in her being so self-centered I just couldn’t connect with her much. I did really like Wells though, what a wonderful book boyfriend. The fighting with Three was also a little overdone, it was very ‘will they, won’t they’ and kind of just randomly fizzled out.

This May End Badly takes place at a boarding school for girls. Doe is about to graduate and is quite the prankster, especially against their all boy rival school.

When the schools announce a merger, the stakes are higher. Doe is determined and angry, so she decides to go for her nemesis personally, by “dating” his cousin.

This fake dating trope was done so well! It had a lot of chemistry, lots of banter, and some great enemies-to-lovers moments.

The pranks were very funny and true to what I’ve heard about people doing in college. I love boarding school settings and this would be perfect to read during the fall (when it takes place.) I wanted to cozy up with hot chocolate.

There were also heavier themes of trauma and sexual assault/grooming. I appreciated the author showcasing some of the signs of teachers grooming students, and I loved how people stood up for each other. It was the definition of stronger together!

I absolutely loved this book!
I thought I would like it, I thought it would be interesting, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I do.
This was so well written, and the story was so good, I absolutely loved Doe and Wells!

This May End Badly is a fantastic debut from Markum, and I can't wait to read more from her.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me quite the book hangover! After I stayed up WAY too late finishing this book, I ended up laying in bed just processing everything. I had such dreams for what college looked like for all of the students and curiosities about what the schools had coming next. The author tackled such complex topics such as depression, anxiety and abuse with the care and respect necessary for teenagers.

A must read for students and teachers!

3.5/5
This was hovering between 3 and 4 stars, but I ended up giving it the latter because A. I love a good FLAWED HEROINE, character development, and girls stewing in their angst. B. The love interest was so dreamy. Perfect book boyfriend much? C. The plot was cute, and well thought out. I liked the idea of rivalry schools facing a merger, and the love each student has for their side expressed in all these unique ways.
What I didn't like: the writing. A little too try-hard-y for me, though that tends to be a pitfall of YA the genre and not just this book. It was bearable (and I liked the angsty, stewy parts). I also didn't like that the story used time skips so liberally. After a huge blowout, and the main character not speaking with her friends for a good month or so, they have one conversation and resolve the frostiness? I was still feeling the residual awkwardness that follows a long fight, and was disoriented by the restoring of closeness.

Two rival boarding schools, Weston and Winfield, are amidst an epic prank war. In an effort to finally one up the boys school, and get back at her arch enemy Three, Doe concocts a plan that has consequences even she didn't see coming. The novel, as a whole, is pretty quintessential Young Adult fare with a slight twist. Teenage hormones and boarding school just never do mix very well.

I thought the author did some wonderful things within the confines of the story. First, the representation was wonderful. There were several LGBTQIA+ representations as well as multiple race representations - things that are becoming more common in young adult fiction but are still novel enough to be worth noting. Markum also did a great job at creating a complicated character in Doe. If I'm being truly transparent, I didn't particularly like Doe for 90% of the book. She's abrasive, bullheaded, and not the greatest friend or daughter. However, she was held accountable for her actions, eventually, and her moment of reckoning and the fallout from it really felt honest.

As a trigger warning, there is content involving sexual assault in this novel. This is perhaps the one area I was not totally thrilled with. While it is important that this topic is addressed and brought to light so that readers learn and know the warning signs, it felt a little implausible to me that there wasn't a single faculty member (especially one with kids at the school) or parent who raised the alarm over the span of 5 years.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. I enjoyed it!

This book was so sweet and entertaining.
Despite how long it took me to finish the book i thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to see others thoughts on the book

Tw/cw: sexual assault, predatory behavior
While I do adore the book and characters at some points I didn’t like the main character, Doe, and the way she handled situations regarding her creepy teacher. At her school there is a teacher where rumors and whispers have been passed down over the years to stay away from him and to not be alone w him, but despite knowing all this Doe insists she can handle him. During one point in the book the love interest insisted he go w doe to when she was going to be alone w this teacher. This part was so frustrating bc he’s offering to be there for support and as extra eyes but she’s so set on going alone bc she didn’t want to be thought of as weak. Accepting support and comfort never makes anyone weak, and I honestly wish doe would’ve seen that offer as something other than needing a guys help since she is a girl.

4.5 stars~~
14/15+
Prank wars, romance, friendship, rivalries, boarding school, and witty characters. Read this book. It's amazing. I have fallen in love with the characters and found myself laughing along with them at times. (Also, this book is not for those of a young age. There is some language and ideas involved. Along with sexual assault.)

It transports you to another place where school ties run thick and rivalries even thicker. Two historic schools across the street. One all girl. One all boy. And, of course, having the schools be there for 200 years, there HAS to be a school prank war. Obviously.

This book had everything that made my heart go pitter-patter (as my heart did in fact fall absolutely in love with this book). The romance was so cute and made me smile and blush throughout the book. Wells and Doe have stolen my heart. It’s gone. In a lockbox where only they can keep it.

The diversity in this book is also amazing!! There was LGBTQ+ and race representation as well which made it outstanding and my heart full!!

This novel also handles some pretty deep topics like sexual assault. It’s not one of those things you hear a whisper about like “oh it happened.” No, it is a major plot point in this book. It was handled very very well, and I did not feel completely uncomfortable when reading it. Nor did I feel super triggered in any way. I mostly felt anger and sadness. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at any warnings there might be in this book, and DO NOT read it if you have a trigger or do not feel comfortable around sexual assault being there. I definitely don't agree with the way the students went about solving the sexual assault.

SPOILER- solved it trying to on there own. I was kind of questioning with the parents why nobody stepped forward. At least tell some parent. I love this book and it definitely makes me want to put it at 5 stars, but it's just that little tiny part that makes me put it at 4.5

The friendship, pranks, rivalries, and romance in this book really really make it one of my favorite books. My full applause goes to Samantha Markum for writing this absolutely amazing book. I will forever be making this a comfort book of mine and will most definitely be purchasing this book when it officially comes out APRIL 2022. She is now one of my favorite authors and I will in fact be buying every single book of hers when they come out!

I will now be self proclaiming myself as a Weston girl and will be dreaming about the pranks I wish I could pull on the Winfield boys. I literally bookmarked my favorite parts (and there’s at least 30 bookmarks). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read this book. It makes me envious of boarding school and prank wars. Mentally, I will be with them. Now I only hope I can see a glimpse in college (no pressure though I can always make it up in my mind). :)

Two rival boarding schools where a group of students from each school are engaged in an epic prank war that leads to a fake dating scheme. I’d say there’s a bit of enemies to lovers mixed into the fake dating making it even better. The rival schools - who have been rivals for centuries might I add - are set to merge the following year and many of the students have strong opinions about it, especially the main character Doe. You could always tell just how much she cared about her school and wanted to protect it even if her intentions were a bit misguided at times. There was never a doubt of passion or love for her school I was a bit sceptical of Doe at first as she’s got quite the overdramatic personality and cares potentially a little too much about keeping the two schools separate; but there was a well-explained backstory that does an excellent job at showing where Doe is coming from and is a big part of the reason she acts the way she does. Having the backstory for Doe near the beginning of the story really helped me understand her better and gave me a better outlook on her throughout the rest of the book.
The one thing I honestly kind of liked is that I couldn’t figure out who the real love interest was right away. It took me about half of the book to figure it out and I liked that it wasn’t overly predictable right away. I definitely had suspicions that the love interest was going to be Doe’s true enemy but noticing the little moments from Wells that showed he truly cared about Doe made me like the two of them together. I loved seeing the slow relationship development of the main characters and watching a fake relationship turn into possible real feelings. Especially when Doe is so dead set on hating the Winfield boys for the majority of the book.
I can’t forget to mention all of the pranks and shenanigans that both school’s students got up to throughout the book. Everyone got incredibly clever and never feared retaliation which lead to some impressive one-upping with pranks. Right from the start you could tell that there was a group of students from both schools who were truly dedicated to these shenanigans and it lead to so many hilarious moments.
I admired the effort both schools put in, and thoroughly worked together, to take down a teacher who has been long suspected of inappropriate behaviour with female students. This is the one part I didn’t love about the story is that all the students, both current and alumni, who had been targets for this teacher had all kept silent. When all of the parents finally found out about what had been going on they were extremely shocked that no one had said anything and I can definitely agree with their feelings. It was sad to think that none if the girls had even thought to come forward to a parent or adult figure outside of school. I appreciated that all of the parents instantly stood up for the girls and confronted to school board about this teacher.
Overall, I did quite enjoy this book and would give it a 4/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for the ARC of This May End Badly in exchange for my honest review.

What a stunning debut for Samantha Markum.

Doe and her friends enter their senior year at Weston determined to win a century-long prank war against the rival all-boy Winfield Academy. Enter Three who leads Winfield’s efforts in the war, and is also Doe’s biggest nemesis. There is nothing Doe wants more than to beat Three and end the war with Weston on top. So when it’s announced the two schools will merge the next year it’s Doe’s worst nightmare. Her focus shifts to protecting the one place she feels at home.

Determined to both end the prank war and show that Weston girls and Winfield boys should not be merged, Doe decides to fake date the cousin of her long time rival. But not everyone views change as a bad thing, and there’s more pressing matters going on in Weston’s halls. Readers follow Doe as she tries to save her school, win a war, keep a boyfriend and decide what her future after senior year hold for her. What could possibly go wrong?

Boarding school theme? Check.
Fake dating? Check.
Enemies to lovers? Check.

This May End Badly checks all the boxes in what I could possibly want in a YA romance these days. Markum wastes no time getting into the thick of the action and the pacing of this novel is definitely strong. At no point did I feel like it dragged, and I hungrily finished it in two sittings.

What makes this book a very solid and promising debut is that everything in it just felt authentic and real. The problems that Doe faces and the emotions she goes through are relatable and engaging. The outcomes aren’t far fetched the ending is satisfying and the conflict comes to a nice conclusion. I often have trouble reading YA romance novels, because I feel like they become a tad unbelievable.

The tension and banter in This May End Badly are so fun and definitely added to the overall enjoyment. She creates strong characters who jump off the page, are complex in their identities and who I honestly liked spending time with. This is a group of friends that I would really look forward to reuniting with in a sequel.

Speaking of characters I want to talk about Doe, the female protagonist. I absolutely adored her. Doe is far from perfect, she’s messy, she’s wrong and a little narrow-sighted, which honestly makes me love her even more. Doe is relatable in her emotions and decisions as a senior not sure what future she has outside the walls of a school that gave her a place to belong. It’s also really nicely shown, that you can have nothing but positive intentions but can still fail to be right. The world changes and sometimes, as hard as change can be and as hard as it hurts, it can be good change. While Doe isn’t really fighting on the “right” side, she is honest in her intentions and when it matters most she puts aside her personal desires. You’ll want to shake some sense into her, but you’ll also want to give her a hug, and I hope we get to see more of her in the future.

I also really enjoyed the romance. Wells was a great love interest and the fake dating trope was perfect. The enemies to lovers tone only added to the tension, and the banter between him and Doe kept me laughing. Their relationship doesn't feel forced or like it progresses too fast which can also happen in fake dating scenarios.

This May End Badly was a 5-star read that I can’t wait to recommend. I had very few issues with it, but I will note them. I loved the role that Christian came to play later in the book, but I wished he had gotten a little more character progression earlier in the story so that he had a bit more impact. I also wish that Doe would’ve gotten a bit more of an apology from her friends. While she was 100% in the wrong, her friends were far from innocent, and I think an apology would have added more emotional payout to their reconciliation.

There does need to be a TW for mentions and discussions of sexual assault. I was a bit nervous for this plot line. It was heavily hinted at for most of the book, and I wondered how exactly it was going to be used as a plot device. I think Markum did a good job, however I do hope that younger girls especially know that it’s okay to get help from your parents in this situation and that trauma does not need to be handled on your own to mean something.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of This May End Badly in exchange for a review.

Oh my god! I had amazing time! This is one of the most hilarious, intelligent, exciting story I’ve devoured!
If you want to get lost in delicious boarding school fights theme meets fake dating troupe with well developed great characters, realistic approach to the sensitive issues such as bullying, sexual assault, dysfunctional family problems, you shouldn’t miss this book! There’s so much rivalry and betrayal and pranks + fake dating my expectations were high and this book surpassed them. Doe and Wells were such amazing characters to follow I'm so obsessed and even though I think this is a stand-alone I need a sequel in my hands ASAP. The end of the novel was one of those movie moments that sounds good and looks good, but as a high school teacher I struggled to turn off the disbelief, which is weird since the fake relationship, boarding school, ultra rich family didn’t bother me a bit. Lol.

This book was absolutely delightful! It was a unique concept, prank wars set on a boarding school campus and it was executed beautifully. The main character was flawed and did end up making some bad decisions, but I think that made her super relatable and more fun to read about. I fell in love with all of the characters. Doe's friend group was so dynamic and fun and Wells was an adorable love interest. This story made me feel warm and fuzzy and you can never go wrong with a book like that. If you're looking for a fun spin on the classic fake dating trope or even just a different take on YA contemporary, I highly recommend this!

✰✰✰✰.75 / 5

This book checks all the boxes: Fake dating? Check. A boys vs. girls school rivalry plus an epic prank war? Check. A dark-haired "bad boy" with a heart of gold? Check. A supportive friend group of badass girls? Check! Witty banter that will have you laughing out loud? CHECK!

This YA romcom centers around Doe, a senior at Weston School, an all girls boarding school that has been her home the past 3 years. But, when its announced that next year Weston will merge with the all boys school across the street—the school Weston has been in a prank war with for decades—Doe is determined to do everything she can to prove that they two schools are just not compatible. In addition to a plan to fake date her nemesis’ cousin and a plot to take down the teacher who has been sexually harassing Weston girls, this book is a page-turner that I finished in 2 days!

This book was a lot of fun and so well written! The characters are a blast, and I really loved Doe and her group of girls. Their banter is so quick and witty, and I love just how much they love and support each other (even when that means calling one another out). Pranking masterminds, these girls pull of some pretty impressive stunts against the Winfield School for Boys. Their little group is pretty diverse, and I particularly loved the LGBT+ representation in terms of Gemma and Doe’s dad. It was really heartwarming to see that on the page, and how Markum make a point that even though Weston would be changing, it would be making it more open for nonbinary or trans students.

Speaking of Winfield, the boys there are also a lot of fun. Doe's main nemesis is Three, a member of the prestigious Wellborn family that makes up most of Doe's rivals. In order to get under his skin, Doe begins to fake date his cousin, Wells, and becomes a lot more involved in the Wellborn family than she anticipated. I LOVED the banter between Three and Doe, and found that there was a lot of sexual tension between them, so much so that a lot of the characters, even the love interest, comment on it. Now maybe I've just been reading too much enemies to lovers romances, but in the beginning I was definitely rooting for Three and Doe to get together. This kind of threw me off for the first part of the book, and therefore lowered my rating a bit. However, in the end I was fully on board with the Doe/Wells relationship!

Another thing I loved about this book was how it held the main character accountable. Doe made a lot of mistakes throughout the book—lying to her friends and family, ignoring her schoolwork, and hurting others around her—and she isn't let off the hook! Her friends call her out, she has to face the consequences of her actions, and she has to work on herself to be better. While it wasn't a great time for Doe in the book, I really loved seeing Doe go through that character growth and admit she made mistakes. And even though she made some questionable decisions, Doe was a great main character, full of spunk and confidence and a lot of heart.

Another huge plot point in this book is how one of the teachers, Mr. Tully, is a sexual predator and taking advantage of the girls at Weston. It's a pretty serious topic and I would recommend looking up TW if needed, but I loved how the Weston girls and Winfield boys came together in the end to take him down. It was super inspiring and heartwarming to see all these girls supporting and helping one another.

This May End Badly is a touching story filled with a lot of heart, humor, and relatable and fully formed characters. I think readers can learn a lot from Doe and her experiences, and feel represented on the page. If you’re looking for a cute YA romance I recommend picking up this book when it’s released!