Beatrice Quinn has been homeschooling her whole life and feels more comfortable around her parent's colleagues than around people her own age. When she gets into Oxford, her parents worry that her social skills aren't up for dealing with college in another country. So they send her to a Shakespeare acting camp for the summer with a checklist of 'normal' teenage experiences to have before she can go to college.

This was a fun YA Romance with plenty of sassy banter, an enemies to lovers plot, and lots of Shakespeare quotes. Bea was a relatable main character and the friends she makes at camp, Mia and Nolan, were great! It is clear the author can write a good story with the right amount of romantic tension and sarcastic flirting. I absolutely loved the Shakespeare quote-off!

However, I had some big issues with the premise of the book. Beatrice is gifted, interested in science, introverted, and displays several behavioral patterns that are often associated with autism. She mentally recites the noble gasses in her head when overwhelmed, eats particular foods on each day of the week, has issues with different fabrics of clothing, and is uncomfortable with being touched. Despite knowing these things, her parents (who are both therapists!) force her to go to acting camp before she can go to her dream school. They want her as far out of her comfort zone as possible, supposedly for her own good. And the list of teenage experiences she needs to achieve are so random. Share a secret, accept an invitation you dont want to, pull a prank, hug three people, ect. How do these show that she is ready to move to England and go to college?

Of course, this is a book so Beatrice accomplishes all the arbitrary goals, grows as a person, and comes out better than she was before. Her parents are so pleased with how much she changes and can't wait to see more of this 'new Beatrice'

The implication that introverts need to change bothers me. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be studious and on your own. Her parents wanting Bea to make friends is fine, but why not let her go to some kind of science camp, where she would excel and meet people she actually has something in common with? I wish this book had done more to celebrate Bea the way she is instead of only the ways she changes to fit in.

Super cute true YA coming of age story about homeschooling, finding yourself, making real friends, and having some fun along the way. I would totally recommend this book to people looking for true young adult books. I loved the characters quirkiness and all of the character's growth throughout the story. If you love Shakespeare, you'll adore Long Story Short!

Beatrice is a sixteen-year-old teenager who has been homeschooled all her life. She's faced with her biggest challenge yet: her parents won't let her go to the university of her dreams unless she leaps out of her comfort zone. How? By going to a theater camp bustling with teenagers. Beatrice is organized, meticulous, and determined to crack this problem like any other—how hard could it be?

Three years ago, I was asked if there was a moment that triggered a trajectory of events that changed my life. I realized that it would be impossible to name one moment without explaining the string of memories that followed it. This was echoed perfectly in Beatrice's story! Though we are very different people, I did find myself relating to Beatrice quite a bit. Serena Kaylor wrote Beatrice's inner monologue so realistically and profoundly that I felt for her. I was grateful to read about a protagonist who has trouble understanding social cues and where she fits in, yet is so ready to put herself out there.

Kaylor captures the unique challenge of making friends when you're barely beginning to understand who you can be. I love everything about this book, especially Bea's friendships and the way they helped her embrace herself while also nudging her to try new things. Beatrice learns that not every experience can be executed with the help of neat lists and a photographic memory...and maybe that's not so bad!

Some of the pacing was a bit frustrating but overall, would definitely recommend this cute YA book! Thank you Serena Kaylor, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC :)

I have never felt so seen by the main character as I do with Beatrice Quinn in this book. I love Bea, I love her autistic traits, and I love everyone in the book for not *changing* her, but rather helping her be more comfortable in her own skin.

Also, I very much enjoyed the men in this book, which is very shocking for me. Nolan and Nik are cool and I support them both.

Some mediocre moments, as this book is Very millennial - such as Bea's alter-ego being named "Athena Ruth Bader Ginsburg"........ why........

4.5 rounded up to a 5.

Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor is the story of a teenage girl as she takes chances, meets new people, and experiences new things the Summer before she *hopefully* heads off to Oxford for college.

Beatrice is an exceptional student who is very gifted when it comes to academics. She's responsible, serious, but also a bit sheltered. When she announces to her parents that she applied and was accepted into Oxford, they're shocked. They aren't sure that she'll be able to survive on her own in an entirely different country from them.

So they challenge her. If Beatrice can spend the Summer on her own at a Shakespeare Camp, then they'll allow her to go to Oxford for school the following year.

While at camp, Beatrice makes great friends with Nolan and Mia. They help her to realize that there's more to life besides school and studying. And then there's her nemesis, Nikhil (aka Nik). He challenges her in ways that no one has before. As someone with very little experience when it comes to Romance, Beatrice isn't sure if they really hate each other or if maybe Nik has feelings for her.

As a grown woman, I'm not sure that I'm the intended audience for this book. I honestly haven't been reading much YA recently. But I'm a sucker for stories about Summer Camps, and Long Story Short did not disappoint. While it's not a typical Summer Camp story, the attendees of the program get into quite a bit of shenanigans.

A Summer is a long time, especially when you're out of your comfort zone for so much of it. I really enjoyed reading about Beatrice's transformation. It's never to late to change and learn new things and this story really reminded me of that.

Thank you to Netgalley for an eArc in exchange for an honest review! I'm so grateful I got to read and enjoy this story.

Long Story Short needs to be on everyone’s summer TBR! This was the summer, theatre kid romance of my dreams. Many young readers will be able to relate to Beatrice’s social awkwardness and her journey to push herself to forge new relationships– I did. Kaylor did a great job of building a cast of diverse, relatable characters that were very accurate to the different personalities you might find at a theater camp. Some of the dialogue between Mia and Beatrice did feel a little forced in terms of creating that “perfect friendship”, but moments of awkward dialogue were far and few between. Nik and Beatrice had chemistry from their very first interaction, and their banter throughout the book was an absolute joy to read!! Long Story Short made me feel like I was at camp surrounded by my closest friends, which is the best feeling that a book can give. Alongside a great romance, there were meaningful discussions about what it means to be a “late-bloomer” and how it affects your place in a society that really values teenage social interactions. Loved this one!

I love this story to the moon and back!
This book was a lovely journey through Beatrice Quinn’s eyes. She suffers from anxiety and was homeschooled - graduating from high school at 14. Up until now, her life has been studying, very little socializing and a self imposed strict food schedule. Now 16, she wants to move across the ocean to study in Oxford, but her parents do not feel she could cope with that kind of change. Beatrice and her parents strike up a deal that will decide whether or not she gets to go. The deal, much to her chagrin, is that she has to spend the summer at a Shakespearean theatre camp. She hopes this means she can work backstage, but her parents have ensured that she would have to be part of the acting crew. She also has a list of eight tasks that must be completed but the end. All chosen to bring her out of her comfort zone.
When she arrives she becomes fast friends (her first friend) with Mia and Nolan. Mia is the best first friend anyone could ever ask for. She’s the best - supportive, positive, easy to talk, non-judgmental - everything you could hope for in a good friend. Nolan is right up there too. His twin sister though, Shelby, is our resident mean girl. I can’t forget the part that brings us our secondary plot line, the enemies to lovers between Beatrice and Nikhil Shah.
The dynamics between the characters is fun, real, and there is loads of chemistry. The character development was my favorite part of the book - We watch Bea grow thought her four week journey and feel so proud of her in the end. It felt like I was right in there with her. There are other character growths, as well, that helped to make the story that much more enjoyable. It is a must read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of the eBook in exchange for an honest review.

There is so much about Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor that makes it the book I never knew I wanted, checking boxes for me with every element of the story. There are the obvious attractors: Summer camp? Check. Enemies-to-Lovers romance? Check. Awkward and wickedly smart heroine? Check. Then there are the components I found while reading that turned me into a gooey marshmallow: Well-developed side characters? Check. Realistic teen dialogue and views? Check. A hero who falls first? Check. Long Story Short, overall? Check check check!

Long Story Short begins as Beatrice Quinn, a 16-year-old emotionally-stunted genius from Berkeley, California, is offered admission at Oxford University. To assuage her parents’ fears about Beatrice’s ability to live on her own, she agrees to a trial summer at a month-long Shakespearean theater camp in rural Connecticut. The deal? If Beatrice can make friends and prove to her parents that she is a normal teen girl, they’ll allow her to leave for England in the fall. With the help of camp veterans Mia Parker and Nolan Walsh, Beatrice (dubbed “Bea” by her friends) sets out to complete the list of teen experiences her parents are judging her “normalcy” by. Infuriating her along the way is Nikhil “Nik” Shah, their theater camp’s literal Romeo, who cannot seem to leave her alone.

I’m admittedly not a fan of “Romeo and Juliet”, so I was worried that Long Story Short’s main couple would mirror the famous lover’s story as is common in books where staging the show is part of the plot. With Bea being in the acting sector and her vast knowledge of Shakespeare, I worried that Kaylor would take an easy path towards Bea and Nik getting together by casting Bea as Juliet. Despite this, I was filled with joy and delight at Bea absolutely bombing auditions and joining the cast as the line prompter. Without play rehearsals to lean on, Bea and Nik’s relationship is built up outside of the theater, focusing on meetings on the lake, in the dining hall, or at a party. Nik, obvious to everybody but Bea, is the first to fall, which leads to gooey moments of flirting through Shakespearean quotes and loaded eye contact. It takes her longer to understand her emotions and for the two to get together, but in their case, it is worth the wait. Bea and Nik are such a well-matched pair of characters, with the other’s strengths complementing their partner’s fault. Where Bea is blunt, Nik is charming; where Nik is arrogant, Bea is grounding. More than that, Bea never has to apologize for her intelligence around him. Nik sees Bea’s genius and finds it attractive, comfortable in his own areas of expertise. This dynamic is one I don’t often see in YA couples from their start, which made his acknowledgement and interest in her smarts another reason I tore through the story.

What I appreciated most about Long Story Short is that it features a love story, and yet, it was Bea’s growth and journey that made up the plot’s focus. I’ll admit that while reading I did wonder if Bea was neurodivergent simply because there were moments when her anti-social tendencies just seemed a bit extreme. This is never addressed in Long Story Short, which felt like a wasted opportunity slightly. Nevertheless, Bea’s crawl from “the only thing I need is math” to a well-balanced life of friends, romance, and interests outside of math gave me the best kind of nostalgia for my own glow-up from socially inept nerd to well-developed college student. Her initial denial of anything wrong with her to figuring out why comments she made would hurt Mia or Nolan were familiar, as was the mistaking of Nik’s flirting for anything else. Knowing that this book is likely a standalone made me cry slightly, as now I need a continuation months to years into the future where we get to how Bea and Nik are doing at Oxford and if their friends did come to visit them.

My largest critique, which admittedly is small, with Long Story Short has to be the blatant obliviousness the main character has towards her privilege, to a degree. It is mentioned that the summer camp is quite expensive to attend. Then, their friend group’s identity is varied but remarked to have privilege in their own ways. Nik is the mixed son of two famous stage actors from New York City; Mia is the black, queer daughter of two doctors for an Atlanta suburb; while Nolan and Shelby’s background is not discussed much, they are able to run in the same crowds as Nik in New York City, where they are also from. There are instances throughout Long Story Short where all of the previously listed characters comment on their privilege and how they’ve benefited from it and where it has failed them. Despite this, Bea uses their privilege against them when upset (although, as far as I can remember, Nik is the only one she confronts), oblivious to her hypocrisy, as all together, she has the most privilege of the entire group. She is the daughter of two (implied successful) sex therapists from Berkeley who was afforded homeschooling and later community college classes because her parents wanted her to be intellectually engaged. I waffle on whether this is lazy writing on Kaylor’s part or something that fits perfectly into Bea’s character. Considering her oftentimes rude and oblivious attitude towards the beginning, before she really makes friends and opens herself up, I’m choosing to be hopeful that this is just Kaylor knowing well who Bea is.

In spirit of the title, my review’s long story short is that I adored this book. Moments could be frustrating, gooey, or hopeful— they all made me feel, the mark of the best of books. I cannot wait for Long Story Short to be published so that I can buy a copy and read about Bea and Nik again.

**I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

A cute, but not overly memorable YA romantic comedy. The set-up (which is described well in the blurb) was maybe overly complex and contrived, but once things got rolling, an enjoyable read.

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review

I must confess… the 1st thing I thought when I saw this book was Taylor Swift’s song. At the time, I was listening to it non-stop, which convinced me to start this. As the song says, long story short, Beatrice Quinn survived!

Beatrice Quinn finished High School at 14 years old, and two years later, she was accepted into Oxford University, her absolute dream. The problem is… her parents don't quite support her. After an agreement, however, she is set to go to a drama camp.

I saw a lot of myself in Beatrice, even if not to the same degree. The scene where she is wearing her new clothes, but something happens, and she goes back to her old clothes? Boy, think about identification.

We also have the romance between Bea and Nik. Seriously, their banter? God-tier. The way they get closer step by step (with funny moments!)? They had me in their hands. Bea’s friends? Chef’s kiss.

To sum it all up, it was a great read. I enjoyed my time reading the book, but I had some opinions… Although it was a nice book, it wasn't much more than this. I read this book some time ago, and it wasn't memorable. There weren't scenes or parts that got to my heart. The ending also felt a little meh (and some parts made me cringe).

All in all, I recommend it to YA readers that want a nice and fast book with an amount of representation in its characters.

My mature readers will love this novel! I will be looking to purchase a hard copy for my classroom library for my students to check out.

Posting about this one over summer is going to be so fun. I loved everything about this story. These are the sweetest characthers, so developed and the banter was perfect. I loved it.

Long Story Short was a charming, quick read that I'd recommend for anyone looking for a summery YA romcom. While I felt some of the characterization fell a little flat at times, overall it was cute and made me nostalgic for my own days at Shakespeare camp (although that might not be relevant to all readers, lol).

**I actually won a giveaway on Goodreads after requesting this book on Netgalley. Thanks!

Thanks to Goodreads giveaways and the publisher for an ARC of this novel! All opinions are my own.

This is a really cute book that was a great escape from the bustle of everyday life! I haven't had too much time to read lately, but every chance I could get I would sit down and read this. It was so dreamy and even though the characters were a bit stereotypical, they were adorable and I wanted them to succeed at every turn. I especially loved the character of Mia because I have a friend in real life, with the same name actually(!), who is just like her! Overall, the perfect book to read when summer just seems to get closer and closer. :)

4.5 stars. This book had me smiling and swooning the entire time! It did take me a bit longer than I thought to warm up to Bea but I loved her and her growth. I also loved her friendship with Mia and Nolan, as well as her relationship with Nik. The hate-to-love romance in this was superb! There was flirting through Shakespeare, jealousy, angst (!), "LI calls them by a name that's different from everyone else", and lots of running away. I loved that it was clear their relationship was more than just acquaintances or even friends but neither (okay maybe just Bea) were willing to admit it. The push-and-pull left me in shambles! Everything was said with an underlying meaning and Bea was the only one who refused to see it for what it was - I promise it's the best. I'm such a fan of the setting as well. It really made me wish I had gone to camp.

Truly the perfect summer read that I'd recommend to everyone! I will absolutely be buying a physical copy for myself.

Special thanks to Rivka and Wednesday Books for the ARC! :)

This was absolutely lovely and I would have given it a higher rating had I not found Bea’s parents and their whole behavior so insufferable. But overall I had fun! The highlight of this book for me was Bea's roommate and best friend, Mia. I literally have no words to describe how much I loved her, she is a princess. 3.5/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for the ARC.

First of all, I think it was really interesting to read about a character who is not labeled as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder, despite being coded as neurodivergent. The author recently tweeted that that was on purpose, and I think it was really well done, especially with the themes of needing to fit in with “normal” teenagers and how there’s not actually such a thing as normal.

Beatrice was such a force of character. She has the wit and charm as well as the smarts and sarcasm that I really enjoy reading. It was a really fun POV! I loved the sort of Taming of the Shrew mixed with Pride and Prejudice vibes the book gave off without being an obvious retelling!

The banter between the two love interests was so much fun to read! I especially loved the Shakespeare-off where she was giving quotes that sort of represented hate while he was just charming and it had me SQUEALING.

I especially loved the friendships and how supportive they were of her without forcing her into some box of “normalcy”. The characters were a delight to have, and I wish we’d gotten more of them!

Adv. Reader Copy Courtesy NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely book! There’s a scene at the start of the novel where one of the main characters, Mia, sees her close friend Nolan for the first time after a year apart. She leaps into his arms with joy and he twirls her around. That’s honestly the feeling you’ll have reading this book if you have ever been uncomfortable around your age group, been a theater nerd, been a lit geek, or love the enemies-to-lovers trope.

The premise is that the young heroine, Beatrice, is clever and sharp-tongued, but as she has been homeschooled for much of her academic career, her education has been deficient in socialization. Before her parents will allow her to go off to college as a minor, she must get out of her comfort zone, attend a summer camp, and complete a task card of teen rituals. Naturally, Beatrice (yes, a nod to the Much Ado About Nothing enemies to lovers rom com template) selects one of the more cerebral options and ends up at a Shakespeare theater camp.

Beatrice gets lucky at this camp, and she even says so. Her roommate Mia and Mia’s friend Nolan are wonderfully kind and accepting. If they judge Bea at all, it’s so obviously affectionate that it isn’t painful to read. Together, this new trio embark on a mission to complete Bea’s teen experience.

Enter Nik (a nod to Benedick and Mr. Darcy, I’m sure). Beatrice, with her lack of social skills and unable to identify the uncomfortable feelings Nik makes her experience, gets their relationship off to a rocky start with some unexpectedly barbed comments directed at him. The banter begins, and it’s clear to everyone except Bea that, even if Nik has landed a verbal punch or two, he really, really wants to her to understand he didn’t mean it. He really, really likes her because she can keep up with him intellectually, because she’s naturally pretty, and because she’s “real.”

Over the course of several weeks as they put on a production of Romeo and Juliet, we learn along with Mia, the joys and value that words, drama, and personal relationships have. The cast of supporting characters really make the book. The author gives us an ethnically diverse cast who really ring true. In addition to the reassuring Mia and the enthusiastic Nolan, you’ll meet Shelby, the villain who isn’t all bad; Ben, a shy love interest to parallel Claudio to Mia’s Hero- at least the first sweet part; and Troy, the total bro who quite casually makes a triangle of out the Nik/Beatrice couple. It would be interesting in the future to see how Beatrice handles learning to balance both academics and a personal life, but as you close this book, you’ll have enjoyed a satisfying comfort read. This is a perfect addition to any YA library.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this! This is such a cute debut novel. Shakespeare, summer camp, enemies to lovers, enemies to friends, neurodivergent characters, queer characters, this book has it all. I loved it so much! It was so cute and brought a few tears to my eyes.

The perfect YA summer romance! I loved all these characters so, so much. I liked the story, the setting all of plot. This book made me smile while I was reading it and made me really happy!