Beatrice Quinn is a handful for her parents to deal with at the age of sixteen. Not because she's going through the normal rebellious stage that other teens her age do. No, it's because she's a mathematical genius who got her high school degree at fourteen and was accepted to Oxford University two years later. Most parents would be ecstatic for their child to get accepted to such a prestigious school at such a young age, but moving out and becoming independent in a foreign country with very little social skills is a bit of a problem. As a homeschooled student, Beatrice focused more on books and intellect. Her personality is very analytical and straightforward, leaving very little room for building close connections with others. She's been completely happy with that-up until now. Now her inability to pick up social cues and form connections with others may prevent her from her dreams in England.

I have a particular weakness for nerdy/socially awkward heroines and Beatrice certainly fit that bill. I think her awkwardness was more than just the lack of social skills. That plays into it, sure, but this is a girl that has probably never felt as if she never fit in anywhere her entire life. Not only was she far ahead of her peers intellectually and academically, she couldn't be more different from both of her parents. As marriage therapists working in Berkley, their world revolves around messy emotions and how to manage them. Beatrice tends to shy away from uncomfortable feelings.

Now that she's free from her high school obligations she just wants to leave the stifling environment of her parents house and find somewhere that she finally fits in. I would imagine it's incredibly lonely and isolating to not have one single person in the world you can relate to. You really feel for Beatrice's intense desire to move on to the next stage in her life where she can grow intellectually and hopefully truly feel at peace. One thing that bothered me a little was that the emphasis was put on her homeschooling being the major cause of her socializing deficiency. This is a stereotype, not a developmental handicap. You are perfectly able to make friends and have normal teen experiences while doing in-home learning.

Getting approval to attend Oxford comes with conditions. She must attend an acting summer camp where she will be forced to engage with other people her age and practice at a variety of skills including making friends. As an introvert, the thought of being forced to act on stage is absolutely terrifying to her, but she's willing to do anything it takes. Once there, Beatrice bumbles nervously through meeting new people and trying to fit in. It's both endearing and awkward to watch her open herself up to new acquaintences and occasionally embarrass herself. She just brushes herself off and keeps trying. The more she persists, the more empowering the challenges become. Because she can see that even if she fails, it's a learning experience. She's learning how to find her own personal fashion sense as she understands who she is a little bit better. It was very sweet how her new friends helped her navigate through her new experiences with so much patience.

Beatrice clashes with the golden boy of camp immediately. She meets Nik at the welcome party and they immediately make a bad impression on each other. She snipes at him and blames nepotism as the reason he gets all of the leading roles. He makes an unflattering comment on her looks. Enemy status achieved. They spend the majority of the book circling around each other with distrust. There isn't a huge amount of noticeable development in their relationship, though it's not for a lack of trying on his part. He does try to understand her a little better but he's always firmly rebuffed by her. She's pretty much completely clueless recognizing his interest in her which did make me a bit impatient. Even when told by her friends, she brushes it off as nonsense and continues to hang on to her misjudgment of him. I do wish that there could have been a bit more tangible romance between the two of them earlier on, but the Shakespeare quote challenge they did was super cute and original.

Beatrice is pushed out of her comfort zone and beyond during the summer. Although she'll probably never be a social butterfly (and that's perfectly okay) she learned that she is capable of much more than she was giving herself credit for. She was no longer trapped by her routines, she adapted to change better, and she realized that people can't be put in neat and tidy boxes. Although she never could have conceived having anything in common with impulsive, creative theater kids, they still bonded. You can celebrate each other's differences rather than allowing them to separate you. They were just as impressed with her intelligence as she was with their creative sides. By the end of the book you see her mature quite a bit, but more importantly, she didn't have a complete personality transplant. She was still that quirky girl inside, just with more confidence and strength.

Overall, I really enjoyed this debut author's first book and would definitely read more from her in the future. Her writing style is in the same vein as Emma Lord, so if you enjoyed Tweet Cute or You Have a Match, this could be the perfect book for you.

This was quite cute! A nice YA romance, taking place at a Shakespeare camp, in which the Beatrice/Benvolio inspired romance, and other depicted relationships, benefit from references to Shakespeare without being direct retellings of anything in particular. The friendships and camp life lessons were all fun to read. I thought that the main character suffered from seeming a little stereotypical as an "awkward genius", but on the other hand a lot of her personal preferences and situational reactions were explicable responses to her life experience.

I actually received a copy of this super cute story a long time ago through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was super excited to read it, I started it, but since I knew the release day was still a few months back, I prioritized some other books, and then this one sneaked up on me.

I was still able to read it this month and it did not disappoint!

This story is so cute you guys really need to check it out.

Long Story Short is honestly the perfect summer read.

It’s cute. It’s got a ton of teenage angst. It has a fun camp. A “mean” girl. A cute guy with an even cuter accent. And to top it all off, it has a Shakespeare play.

What else could you need?

We have Beatrice, a really smart girl who has been homeschooled, but she is now looking to go out into the world and go to her dream university, Oxford University.

She believes she is ready to go out into the world and learn new ways to find solutions to mathematical problems, something she is been dreaming of doing for a long time.

Only problem with that?

Her parents.

They don’t think a 16 year-old who has been homeschooled has the social capacity of not only going to college, but going to college in a different country.

They believe she should stay home and slowly ease into being more social and interacting with more people her age.

She doesn’t agree with them and she knows the only way to convince them she his ready is to agree to their idea/challenge for her. If Beatrice can make it through one summer camp and show them she can make friends and have a “normal” teenage experience, then she will be allowed to move to another country to go to the school of her dreams.

Bea is not super thrilled with the idea of spending time with people her age, specially at a theater camp, but if this is what will take for her to go to Oxford, then she will.

She has a list of things she needs to accomplish to prove to her parents she is okay to be on her own across the pond, and she is determined to cross all the items on her said list, and thankfully once she gets to camp she quickly meets a few fellow teenagers who are willing to help her.

But this wouldn’t be a story if she gets to the camp, checks off all her items and proves she is capable of living on her own.

Just as quickly as she makes friends, she also encounters a “mean girl.” Shelby, is not really a mean girl, she is just a bit jealous of all the attention Beatrice gets and therefore she is a bit mean to her.

It also doesn’t help that the guy Shelby wanted to have a summer fling with, Nik, seems to be really interested in Bae.

Cue in, all the drama!

Beatrice needs to learn to trust herself, but also let others in, not just on the surface, but really let people in her life, to be her friends and to trust that they have her back as her real friends.

It is easier said than done, but if she is going to survive this camp, her feelings, and England, then she is gonna have to actually try to live this experience as a normal teenager without any ulterior motive.

Long Story Short is an easy quick, cute, summer book that should definitely be in your TBR list. You will love these characters and will really appreciate Bae and Nik’s relationship. Those two really give me hope for their future.

I just want them to be together forever!!

I loved this book and could not put it down. The characters were great and I fell in love with all of them, and as someone who would NEVER be able to get on stage at theatre camp (or even go to a theatre camp!) I could relate to Beatrice as well. I did find her character growth a bit unrealistic, but that didn't take away from the enjoyment of the book. I highly recommend!

4 stars ☆ This was such a cute and fun read.

Enemies to lovers, them producing a Romeo and Juliet play in summer/theatre camp and their banter was just amazing. It's such a perfect summer read. I've been more focused/interested in Bea because I've seen her grow, learn and adapt to her teenage life since she's been homeschooled her whole life. I've also felt seen by her panic attacks and being anti-social which is why I've been emotionally attached to her in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the ARC !!

Another book that makes my love for Shakespeare grow.

16-year-old Beatrice is one of the most brilliant homeschooled teenagers I've met in the book world — but she lacks one thing — friends and a boyfriend. But this doesn't matter to her; all she wants is to get into Oxford. On the other hand, her parents are worried that she'll go off to England and not be able to do what teenagers do — have fun. Striking up a deal with Beatrice — she has to go to theatre camp and prove that she can associate with the outside world, along with a to-do list.

She accepts the challenge but soon realizes that interacting with real people doesn't always involve math. Aside from a few friends she connects with, she meets Nik — the popular kid and the one and only Romeo. A few witty banters led these two into a relationship they would cherish.

This was a beautiful YA Rom—Com, which I will definitely recommend you read.

Thank you, Wednesday Books, for gifting me an ARC Copy!

Sweet characters, amazing development. Enemies to lovers. What more can you ask for?! This book was so much more than I anticipated. Love!!

Serena Kaylor’s debut, Long Story Short, is a cute theater camp romp with fun characters, but an unconvincing romance. Despite its flaws, however, it’s the perfect read to end your summer.

Beatrice Quinn has spent most of her life in her bedroom. Literally. After a lifetime of being homeschooled, she hasn’t had much interactions with kids her own age. This is completely by choice. As a statistical math genius, Beatrice prefers the company of her textbooks. When she is accepted into Oxford, however, she decides that she’s ready to spread her wings.

But her parents aren’t so sure. Before they send her halfway across the world, they want to see that she can make friends her own age. With that purpose in mind, they send her to a place that will force her out of her shell—theater camp. Shakespeare theater camp, no less.

Beatrice arrives at camp armed with a thorough knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays (thanks to her photographic memory) but no idea how to act or make friends. Can she hit all the teenage benchmarks in one month? Can she convince her parents that she’s ready for college, or is she doomed to stay in her bedroom for another year?

At camp, Beatrice instantly bonds with her roommate, Mia, and Mia’s best friend Nolan. On the first night, she also has a run-in with Nik, the gorgeous British-Indian son of the camp owners and a shoe-in for the lead role, Romeo. He tells everyone that Bea isn’t pretty enough to play Rosaline, which crushes her. But as the camp goes on, he finds ways to spend more and more time with her. He even challenges her to a Shakespeare-off, asking for a kiss if he wins. What is Beatrice supposed to think?

With Nik’s character, I think that the author aimed for Mr. Darcy vibes—a hero who is mean to the heroine at first, but is secretly in love with her all along. For me, it didn’t work. I found Nik unnecessarily mean, and while he starts to be nicer towards the end, he never does anything to redeem himself, the way Darcy saves Lydia in the end. Overall, I disliked him as a character, which made it hard for me to root for the main couple.

Beatrice is a struggle for me. On the one hand, she’s totally relatable to us introverts. Wearing short shorts makes her want to die. She avoids all conversations with new people. She eats cookies for dinner. It’s painful, but feels realistic. And her journey towards feeling more comfortable in her skin is beautiful to watch. I loved how she grew and made new friendships without changing too much or comprising who she is.

On the other hand, she was almost too perfect? She’s insanely smart, she draws in two best friends immediately, the hot guy quickly falls for her, and she’s good at acting on her first try. While I could buy into some of it, all of it kept her from being as relatable, and it turned me off at times.

Despite some quibbles with the characters, I still enjoyed this book. All of the Shakespeare references were fun, the theater kids were larger than life (in the most amazing ways), and I adore both Mia and Nolan. If you are a book nerd and want to finish your summer strong before school starts, I recommend this book!

Long Story Short is a fun YA read. Bea learns more about who she is and is becoming at a summer theater camp.

I really enjoyed this! I'll be honest that I requested the story because i ADORED the cover and the title is a Taylor Swift song. But I'm very glad I did, because this was a great YA romance and I adored it. It was a quick read that I finished in one sitting. The banter was great and I really enjoyed the characters!

i love summer-y YA contemporaries! i didnt like the main character, but the story was super easy and fun to read. i love anything camp and anything where the main character has to get out of their shell! the romance was also sweet.

This is a cute book. The heroine's journey out of her shell is inspirational. The drama camp setting is fun and provides the opportunity for plenty of references to Shakespeare. The characters are appealing. Even the mean girl has another side to her character. It's a great book for those who are fans of theater, the enemies-to-lovers trope, and/or found family.

A young (16-year old) genius with designs on Oxford must navigate a Shakespeare Theater camp entirely out of her comfort zone in order to prove to her protective parents that she’s capable of attending university outside of the country in Serena Kaylor wonderful debut novel, Long Story Short.

Home-schooled Beatrice, who is probably on the spectrum, has a photographic memory, unemotionally deals with life, and wants to attend Oxford more than anything else in her life. Behind her parents backs she applies, completes the interview, and receives an acceptance and then must face her parents who don’t believe she’s ready to attend an out-of-state college much less an out-of-country college. However, they reach an agreement. If she can attend a Shakespeare Theater camp during the summer and complete a number of socially-oriented tasks then they’ll let her go.

At camp, Beatrice finds her first ever friend in a Mia, a bi-sexual Black girl whose dream is to be an actress despite her doctor parents who think she should pursue something a little more rational and secure. Nolan, the gay twin brother of her other roommate, ice queen Shelby, also becomes a good friend. Between Mia and Nolan, they help Beatrice navigate a new world that includes Nik, the British son of the camp’s owners, new clothes, and slowly new confidence.

What a sweet, fun romance! While Beatrice out of her comfort zone can be prickly, she’s completely understandable and adorable. I ached for her often when she’s faced with so many elements completely out of her comfort zone and yet fighting an inside war with herself that suggests that she needs to face these elements head-on.

Filled with teenage angst, jealousy and competition but also friendship, love, and loyalty, Long Story Short is a feel-good novel that made me smile almost constantly. I only wish I knew as many Shakespeare quotes and Bea and Nik did!

While there were some bits that might have been predictable, they were predictable in a good way and added to my overall enjoyment of the book. I look forward to whatever Serena Kaylor offers in the future.

Fun stuff!

I received and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was absolutely wonderful. A coming of ages story about stepping out of your comfort zone.

I loved the banter between Beatrice and Nik. Nolan gives me all the feels. Mia is the best type of friend a person could ask for. This brought me to tears with nostalgia. Great lines throughout the book; great lessons to learn too.

Good characters, intriguing storyline, YA (no spice), little bit of teenage romance, theater summer camp, teenage experience checklist, teenage nemesis, beautiful and devoted best friends


Always check content warnings

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this digital ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Statistics + Shakespeare + Summer camp = Sold. The description of this drew me in so quickly that I was quite excited to read it, and it did not disappoint. Beatrice had true growth as a person and it was really nice to experience. I found her to be quite annoying at first, but knowing that she was homeschooled, neurodivergent in ways that were extremely specific to social skills, and had a lot of motivation to achieve a specific goal, made it so that I was willing to overlook some of the quirks that rubbed me the wrong way knowing that they would be addressed more fully as the book went on. Well, at least I had hoped - and I was right! I appreciate that Serena did not specifically diagnose Beatrice, because I don't think it was necessary, and it was nice to not have something very specifically pathological related to why she struggled a bit with social cues and boundaries in communication.

I loved seeing how Beatrice developed her first friendships and found an appreciation for an art form that I love so much - and I have a soft spot in my heart for R&J, as cliched as it can be. It has all of the tropes that I love, and they were done quite well. It has a very cute HEA/HFN, and nothing too triggering sticks out to me. I think it is a great example of teenagers coming into their own, truly teenagers being teenagers, and even though I am quite a bit older than these characters at this point, I still found myself relating to the story deeply. This was a really nice book that resonated with me on personal levels and it was just a lot of fun.

Beatrice Quinn is a homeschooled genius who secretly applied to Oxford because she doesn’t think her parents will let her go. See, Bea isn’t good with people—hence the homeschooling. She doesn’t have friends and was bullied when she was learning in groups. Her parents are concerned she won’t be all right an ocean away from them, but agree to consider letting her go if Bea is willing to do a challenge over the summer to prove she can be a normal teenager. She must enroll in the acting concentration of a Shakespeare summer camp and complete a list of tasks to show she’s Oxford ready, including things like make a friend, accept a dare, perform a prank, and get three hugs.

At camp, Bea immediately clashes with golden boy and star camper, Nikhil. Let the enemies to maybe more summer camp antics begin!

There were a lot of fun elements in this book. I adore a theater setting. The friends Bea makes at camp, her roommate and a boy in the costume department, were fantastic. Exactly the kind of friends you’d want, although at moments they seemed almost too perfect. Nik and Bea had a lot of swoony moments and it’s great to see real-life depictions of anxiety in books. I know teens are struggling with this more than ever now, and it’s great to have books for them to turn to.

I expected to love this one, but ultimately I’m not sure. Clearly something was going on with Bea—maybe she was on the spectrum?—but the way her parents chose to address her issues without backstory to explain their decisions seemed strange to me. Especially since they were both therapists, albeit sex therapists. And as a theater major, the camp exercises and Bea’s acting arc didn’t ring true to me.

I think Romeo and Juliet enthusiasts will enjoy this one, and it would be a great book for teens who struggle with anxiety and want to read about a character pushing themselves out of their comfort zone.

Thank you so much to @Wednesdaybooks and @netgalley for a copy of this one.

*I received an e-arc via Netgalley from the author and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity!*

A YA summer romcom that gave me all the feels! This debut by Serena Kaylor was everything that I had wished for. There was friendship, romance, witty banter, a fun setting, and an unforgettable cast of characters! It should be noted that the main character has neurodiverse tendencies, although she’s not given a diagnosis in the book. The author tweeted that she herself is actually autistic and that nobody’s experience is the same. She also mentioned that a lot of the character’s behaviors and tendencies were mined from her own.

Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Quinn has grown up being homeschooled in Berkley, California. She’s a statistical genius and has dreamed of going to Oxford University to study math. She always thought that the hard part would be getting into this highly prestigious school in England, not convincing her parents to let her go. Math has always made sense to Beatrice, but making friends has been a problem she can’t solve, and her parents are worried about sending her so far from home. They decide to send her to the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy with a list of teenage milestones to check off during her stay. She has six weeks to convince her parents that she can be a “normal” teenager and won’t spend the rest of her life hiding out, or she won’t be able to follow her dreams of attending Oxford in the fall, and will have to put off college for a year.

Upon her arrival at camp, Beatrice discovers that there’s no mathematical equation that can predict teenage interactions or relationships. She’s quickly adopted by some of the theater kids, but unfortunately makes an enemy of the very handsome, popular son of the camp founders, who also happens to be British. With her future on the line, she finds herself way out of her comfort zone and participating in things like double dog dares, and Shakespeare quote battles! Before camp ends, will Beatrice come to the understanding that you can’t learn everything in life from a textbook?

I was smitten with Beatrice! She’s so smart and quirky, and she had me in stitches. I loved that although she initially starts checking items off the teenage list to please her parents, eventually it becomes something she does for herself. The side characters are also amazing, and I’m so glad that Bea made some supportive friends. I also enjoyed the sweet romance in the story as well.

It was so difficult to put this one down, I loved it so much! A fun read that’s sure to put some sunshine into your summer! Available now, so be sure to pick it up or request from your local library.

Beatrice can solve complex equations, has read all of Shakespeare, and has secretly gotten into Oxford University at the age of sixteen, but her anxiety and reliance on routines as a coping mechanism means she’s never made a friend, let alone eaten something other than mushroom pizza on a Friday night. However Beatrice did not calculate for this: in order for her parents to allow her to move to England for school, they are sending her to a theater camp in Connecticut with a detailed list of “normal teenager” things that she needs to accomplish. But no list can prepare Beatrice for summer camp in the woods with a group of eclectic, strange, and passionate theater kids. From her chatty roommate to the annoying–and annoying gorgeous–star of the camp play, pranks and dares, new clothes, new friends, and new feelings...Beatrice is in for the ride of her life.

This was such a charming YA novel, perfect for the theater and camp kid in all of us. I adored Beatrice–her prickly, no nonsense, neurodivergent way of processing the world was so refreshing to read on the page–and nearly every character was just pitch perfect. Mia is such an incredible friend to Beatrice–sometimes almost unbelievably so, her maturity exceeds her age–and I love the ease with which Nolan brings Bea into the fold without making her feel like she was lacking before. And Nikhil! What a perfect swoony nemesis, we should all be so lucky to find ourselves in a Shakespeare battle with him where the punishment for the loser (or it is a prize?) is a kiss.

This is one of the best books I've read this year! I was pulled into this world from the beginning of the book and felt all of the character's emotions. Bea is now one of my favourite characters. I also love how the book includes lines from Romeo and Juliet so that I can imagine how the characters are interpreting the play. This book is a love letter to all theatre geeks, especially Shakespeare geeks.

This was my first by Serena Kaylor and it definitely won't be my last. This was so so fun from start to finish. There were so many things to love about this: the friendships we saw with Mia and Nolan and the comedic relief they brought, the banter and the Shakespeare-off. There were so many awkward moments that had me cringing and I got some definite Meangirls vibes. Overall, this was a super sweet story that I highly recommend to YA fans.

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

4.5/5 stars