I am constantly searching for YA romance to pass on to students. They love it much more than I anticipated! And while my shelves are full of fantasy and dystopia, it's lacking in romance.

So, I was super excited about Never Vacation with Your Ex. It seemed like the perfect summer rec to give my students all year long. I was disappointed with the results, although I think I would still recommend it to students. Here's what I thought:

LIKED:
- the family vacation concept. three weeks in Malibu??? sign me up please!
- the volleyball aspect. i liked seeing a girl that's athletic and takes her sport seriously, while also using social media and seeing the struggles that brings.
- dean and kaylee's chemistry WAS off the charts and fun to watch. dean was so cute! i loved seeing his confidence and desire to win kaylee back.

DISLIKED:
- um. kaylee? she was so childish and immature. i think this book would've been structured better if dean had done SOMETHING to make kaylee break up with him. but he was pretty perfect, so it just made kaylee look selfish and stupid. her character grated on me and I felt she didn't deserve dean.
- the parents were clueless and their dynamic irritated me sometimes. the way they openly talked about dean and kaylee's relationship was annoying.
- overall, the concept of the book was irritating. kaylee's idea to "help dean" was stupid. the third act breakup was stupid. it just all felt INCREDIBLY immature. BUT, that is teenagers. so, at the end of the day. i would recommend to a student because i think they'd still eat it up. i ate up worse writing in high school.

Are these authors capable of writing a story with a likable MC?
I think their books are not for me.
I just can’t get past the privileged and selfish white girls they love to write.

This one by far was the worst. I made it through 12% of the book before I said forget it. I don’t recommend this at all.

Kaylee was a bit much from being a serial cheater to deciding to date her best friend and then dumping him it was very much ugh.

To think that he would want to be with her let alone her friend afterwards showed how selfish she was. I wasn''t much of a fan of this book or maybe it was just Kaylee I wasn't a fan of

this book was a cute and easy read to get into for the spring /summer time! I found the MC to be really relatable. Especially to those in similar situations who struggle with portraying a perfect image and the pressures that teens can face at that age. I just felt like something was missing between the two love interests and I wanted more on their background/ dating history together.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This was very cute! I love these authors and appreciate this novel for what it was, unfortunately YA isn’t my thing. I’m looking forward to their next adult novel, but this is excellent for any YA fan!

Shame on me for not looking into this one further before requesting it. That being said it was entirely too angsty and unbelievable for me. 2 months and you're saying I love you? What? Nope.

*3.5⭐️
Well, the blurb definitely got one thing right: if you love The Summer I Turned Pretty and the character of Belly Conklin, you will probably love this book, or, at least, enjoy it. This book is straight up if Belly and Conrad were combined into one character and then that character spent an entire book torturing a much-less self-assured Jeremiah. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, it just gives me complicated feelings.

I actually found myself relating to Kaylee a lot. I’m really tall and am also scared of trying things I think I’ll fail. The main way I could never be her is that she chooses to actively string others (INCLUDING HER BEST FRIEND) along in her journey to never fail by barely trying. She was incredibly insufferable for most of the book, but I did love how Kaylee would often call herself things like “selfish,” basically confirming that she’s aware of her insufferableness and I have to love a character who is very self-aware in her many shortcomings.

Now, for my complicated feelings. While I have a laundry list of complaints, the book was cute. I liked Dean, even if he lacked a backbone for 87% of the book, but even that made me like him because it felt very realistic for someone blinded by love. I also thought their romantic moments were cute, even if some of them felt a little odd for a YA book. I also thought that the two of them together made a cute couple, even if I’m not entirely convinced of Kaylee’s love for Dean. I also think the addition of the beach volleyball and moms conflict was a nice addition.

Overall, this book was a fairly straightforward beach read.

Also, I do think “why” is important..

This is my first time reading a YA book by this duo, and I'm sorry to say that I'm a little disappointed. I loved the concept and the story, but the characters fell a little flat for me. Kaylee, the FMC, was a bit insufferable, and the MMC, Dean, was just so uninteresting. I kept wanting to enjoy this and then just couldn't.

featured here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqnaa5cLfEg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I thought this was super cute but the female main character was a little too immature for me. She was very selfish with her thoughts and actions but I liked the character growth towards the end!

This was a great YA book. Kaylee and Dean's parents are best friends and their families always vacation together. Kaylee and Dean begin dating, but Kaylee dumps him soon after as she feels like she can't commit. They are forced to vacation together again and Kaylee is set on helping Dean get over her. As the each learn more about themselves and the pressures they feel from their families, they have to make decisions about their relationship in the future as well. I thought this book brought up many struggles that teens face as they are transitioning to college and the real world. Kaylee struggled a lot with the pressure of pleasing her parents and living in her mom's volleyball shadow. I really felt connected with her and her struggles throughout the book.

This was such a cute YA romance and such a perfect summer read! It’s fast passes and full of likeable characters and a great family dynamics.

I loved Kaylee. I loved how real and relatable she felt, and empathized with her as she struggled to manage her anxiety and perfectionism related to being a top athlete at such a young age (and battling being in her mother’s shadow!). Dean was such a sweetheart and so lovable. I loved seing their dynamic as they found their way back to being friends again (and maybe more) after a breakup.

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

Mark your TBRs for the latest book by writing duo Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (aka Wibbroka) which comes out tomorrow, April 4th. Never Vacation with Your Ex has all of the summer vibes you could want in a fun YA rom-com!

This book had me wishing for summer so much! The beach vacation, family bonding, and annual traditions reminded me of why I love summertime. Paired with an interesting friends-to-lovers/second chance romance, this is the perfect cutesy summer read!

While I found Kaylee to be a bit whiny in the beginning of the novel, I adored Dean so much that I just had to keep reading! And I’m glad I did! This book didn’t just have our two main characters learning to trust each other again, but also a fun family and friendship element to it as well.

If you’re looking for a cute YA romance to add to your summer TBR then this one is it! I love Wibbroka’s writing style and cannot wait to see what they’ll write next!

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

While I think this book has potential as a cute YA story, I just feel like it fell flat. The characters aren’t very likable overall, and I don’t feel as though I was actually rooting for anyone. And usually I can look beyond that when the characters have good chemistry and the pining is there, but these two had zero chemistry. I’m sure there are people out there that I would recommend this to because of taste differences, but personally it didn’t really do anything for me.

Never Vacation with Your Ex is the perfect poolside read for the summer. Emily Wibberley knocked it out of the ballpark with this friend's to lovers to ex to lovers again story. You'll get goosebumps and left satiated for more!

This just wasn't my cup of tea. The female main character is very unlikeable and the story itself just didn't quite catch me. I was bored through most of it, switched between the eBook and the audio book, which I borrowed through my library, and tried reading this as fast as possible, so I was finally through with it.

Thank you @penguinteen for this gifted copy!

Trucking along on my Netgalleys and I picked this one first for my Readathon. While this quick fun summer read wasn’t my favorite, it did have some good aspects!

Pro: I liked how a social media influence was used as I feel like that’s the “new” thing in recent years. I like this one weighed heavily on the “pressure from the parents” to be perfect storyline. While a lot of that was how the main character was perceiving things, her realizing that to be happy doesn’t mean a perfect life was a good lesson for everyone to learn regardless of age. I loved the beach setting and made me long for some sun (but only for a brief moment).

Cons: Mainly, the parents. They infuriated me. Including their drama with their kids was just so immature and annoying. I hate books where the kids have to be the adults. And the way they were in this one just threw me off for the book.

A cute friends to lovers to exes to lovers story, but the real star for me was finally finding a book that had a volleyball theme - as a competitive player my entire life, this struck a chord with me and sucked me in hook line and sinker. I really enjoyed the flaws of the MCs, and I loved the concept of the family vacation. I knew earlier than maybe I should have that Kaylee and Dean were going to end up back together, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the journey of their relationship. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I really enjoyed this book! It was quick and fun and a good summer read — not just saying that because it’s set during the summer.

I loved seeing Kaylee work through her perfectionism and her need to compare her track in life to her mother’s. I loved seeing Dean’s view on the world and how he didn’t need to turn his passion into a career because then it wouldn’t feel enjoyable to him anymore. I thought the two characters balanced each other really well.

I also enjoyed seeing the family dynamics, one of my favorite tropes are family friends and seeing how the dynamic affects the kids or how the relationship affects the parents. Overall, would recommend and def will pick up these authors’ works in the future.

Never Vacation with Your Ex needs to be your next beach read - lighthearted and fast paced with moments that will make you laugh out loud and try to hold back tears. The characters were enjoyable on all fronts and ultimately, it's a very relatable story.