A big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an eARC to gobble up and honestly review!
Long Story Short is like a Shakespearean summer camp bonanza, starring Bea, the sixteen-year-old determined to prove to her parents that she's ready for Oxford in the fall. But, naturally, romcom shenanigans and summer camp vibes ensue.
At first, I was worried this would be the classic "makeover" plotline, where the MC changes everything about themselves to win over a guy. But, to my delight, Long Story Short flipped the script! Bea's character development was motivated by her own desire to grow, and not just to impress a dude.
As the story progressed, I loved watching Bea's internal motivations shift and change, and the commentary on the tired "makeover" trope. The book is delightfully nerdy, packed with Shakespeare, theater kids, and summertime vibes galore. Perfect for a beachy escape!
But the real stars of the show are the characters! Bea is a total hoot, with side characters who get their own moments to shine. The friendships in particular are strong, with supportive friends who never push Bea to change, but instead help her grow and call her out when she's being clueless. I love reading about friendships like that!
The only gripe I had were some unnecessary comments about costuming that rubbed me the wrong way. But, all in all, Long Story Short is a 4/5 fun, nerdy, and snark-filled romcom with a big heart and a whole lot of Shakespearean flair. Highly recommend!

Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor is a YA contemporary romance novel. The story follows childhood friends, Mia and Ben, who realize there might be feelings under that friendship. These are likable leads, and their struggles are relatable.

Long Story Short is a heartwarming and relatable story about friendship, first love, and growing up.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

There were parts of this I enjoyed, especially as someone who grew up with a mom who loved Shakespeare, but overall I think i wasn't the right audience for this book. Some of the character portrayals were a bit frustrating but I can see how others may enjoy this for sure!

A fast, easy read. The writing was clunky at times, but the overall story and representation was enjoyable. Recommend.

This was a cute YA romance story. I love any story that dealing with acting, because it brings me back to my high school theatre days.

This was a super cute coming of age story.

Beatrice got accepted into Oxford, but at only 16 and after having spent her life being homeschooled, her parents aren’t convinced she’s ready to go across the country. They make a deal with her: have a real teenage experience at a theater camp over the summer, and she can go to Oxford. Beatrice goes and learns how to come out of her shell, make friends, and even fall a little in love.

This was a fun little read. Beatrice is quirky, and the extroverted cast of characters that make up her new friend group were fun. I liked reading about them putting the play together and the shenanigans they got up to.

If coming of age YAs are your thing, you would probably enjoy this one!

I believe if I was the intended audience for this book, an introverted high schooler who possibly liked theater, I would probably have eaten this up. But I'm not so it was hard not to notice the awkward way our lead was described.
Honestly, I had to check the description a few times early on because I had convinced myself this book featured a neuro divergent MC, one that was possibly autistic or OCD. She ate the same meals every day, wore the same clothes, liked a routine because of the discomfort of change. And she was surrounded by jerks. If anything, her friends accepted her SO MUCH more than her parents did. The first third of the book read like two hippies that had an autistic daughter and had no idea how to handle her. Even if we rule out an actual disorder, if she was just introverted it still is getting old to read stories where introverted characters have to be "fixed" by being uncomfortable for a whole book. When do we get the novel about an extrovert that learns to shut up and sit down?
The romance that is advertised as enemies to lovers is fine, nothing to write home about but I do appreciate that they, for the most part, act like teenagers but I'll be honest, in the hands of a different writer, the Bea and Mia love story could've been very cute...

I would probably get a copy of this for my classroom library but I don't know how to describe the ideal reader. Again, I think this book has an audience but I just am not the intended one.

Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor is a very cute story about a homeschooler named Beatrice who gets accepted into Oxford, but her parents aren't sure that she's ready to be on her own yet. So they challenge her to venture outside her comfort zone. Beatrice ends up making lots of new friends and achieving even more than her parents thought she was capable of. This was such a lovely and heartwarming story. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a cute read! I’ve had this book on my TBR since before it released and I am only just getting my life together to read it. I listened to the audiobook which was decent, but to be honest I think I would’ve enjoyed it better physically reading it.

I liked the camp setting. Honestly what is better than a camp setting for a summer YA book? Nothing! It provided a great way for Bea to find herself and learn more about herself and people.

I totally read this book as Beatrice being autistic, but I’m not sure if that was ever confirmed on page. I saw a lot of my younger self in Beatrice, a lot of the parts that I’m glad I’ve grown out of, so at times this book was a bit hard to read because I don’t really like going back to those emotions. That being said, kudos to Serena Kaylor for writing a social awkward teenager well.

The romance was cute, but TBH I didn’t love how Bea kept pushing Nick away for a big chunk of the book and he kept coming back. It sort of worked since they have the forced proximity, but a few moments Bea was so uncomfortable I was like dude leave her alone.

But this book shined with the friendships and the theater moments. Even though this book wasn’t a perfect fit for me I will read more from Kaylor.

Huge thanks to Netgalley, as well as St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC of ‘Long Story Short’ in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

4.5/5 Stars

Beatrice is everything I want in a protagonist. She’s smart, snarky, strong, and also completely realistic. She can be awkward, she cries, and isn’t perfect. I fell in love with her just reading chapter 1. Her personality is fresh and unique and her voice is perfect. Her character development was amazing. Beatrice was a homeschooled genius, and she struggled socially since she didn’t have to interact with people too much. Her parents sent her to theater camp, and she bloomed. I loved how it wasn’t because of Nik, the love interest. It was purely because of her experiences and herself.

And this isn’t outright said, but it’s clear that Bea is neurodivergent, and I loved the representation since we don’t see that in YA often.

The romance was fantastic. I loved it so freaking much. Talk about slow-burn. Nik came off as a jerk at the beginning of the book, but it became clear that Bea just misunderstood him. Their chemistry was off the charts, and there was So. Much. Banter. They literally had a Shakespearean quotes battle. The best part is, Bea was completely oblivious to both her’s and Nik’s feelings, leading to some serious angst.

Speaking of Nik, I really liked him. I loved that he was half Indian (yay for biracial representation!) and he was just so layered, as with all the characters in this book. He’s a talented actor and I loved his development over the course of the book as well. He’s shown as a privileged jerk, but as we get to know him, you realize that he’s extremely passionate and also just a really sweet person.

And the romance wasn’t the only good relationship in this book. Bea’s friendship with Mia and Nolan was so sweet. They supported each other at all the right times, but still knew when Bea needed a reality check. They all just cared about each other deeply. And Mia is one of my favorite characters. She’s loud and proud, and fierce and kind, basically just an great human being. Nolan was adorable, and hilarious, and also one of my favorites.

The writing was amazing. It sounded like it was being said by a genius, but still a teenager with social anxiety. And it’s never slow, or overly descriptive. It’s always fast paced and entertaining, and since I’m someone with a pretty short attention span, I really appreciated that. And can we please talk about the humor? This was laugh out loud funny, and never in a cringy way.

Overall, an incredible debut. I’m excited to see what else is coming from Serena Kaylor. If you’re a fan of found family, enemies to lovers or theatre and drama, be sure to pick this one up.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me advance access to this title. I really enjoyed reading this story and look forward to reading more from this author. As a reader, I am really motivated by character driven stories and I found myself quickly becoming immersed in these characters’ lives. Full review to come.

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

Long Story Short is perfect for fans of found family, hate-to-love, and is definitely for the theater kids! Theater camp + best friends like Mia and Nolan + bickering with Nik = lots of me smiling stupidly at my phone in public

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

Cute YA story about finding your voice and stepping out of your comfort zone as an introvert. There was a lot in this story that I think readers of all ages could relate to.

This was a cute story of a girl that is trying to I prove to her parents that she ready to go out alone at Oxford. To me, it was clear she was autistic, but it was never stated. I wish that had been discussed some. Overall this was a fun read that made me want to go to theatre camp.

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

While I had a little bit of a hard time relating to the main character, due to the differences in personality, I was completely engrossed in her story. She was expected to come completely out of her comfort zone and attend a theater camp (totally also not my cup of tea). She is expected to make friends at this camp (also a difficult task for me sometimes). She needs to prove to her parents that she can handle going away to a college on the other side of the world at a young age and she won't just bury herself in books and school. A social life is also necessary to be a well rounded person.

I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed figuring out how she would complete each task on the list of "normal teenager" actions that her parents gave her.

I am a sucker for some Shakespeare. I really ended up enjoying this book. Beatrice stole my heart from the beginning and I couldn't wait to see where the story took her. I loved the enemies to lovers plotline, and as I said, I'm a Shakespearean sucker.

Thank you NetGalley! This was a cute YA read! I believe the YA readers will enjoy this due to the school setting and sports!

Thank you, NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for the gifted e-book ❤️

Read this is you like: Coming of age stories, Shakespeare, enemies to lovers, friendship stories

This was such a cute YA story. This was funny and charming. I did struggle in the beginning with Bea. She was a bit unlikable in some of the things she said, but I understand the author was trying to make sure we knew she was sheltered. This has enemies to lovers romance, but also it's a coming of age. Bea had a lot of growth through the book. I highly recommend it!