This was a cute YA romance that made me long for summer. Really enjoyed Kaylee’s character growth and how the book dealt with all the pressures that can come with competitive sports in high school. Fun read, perfect for the beach. *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this so much. I loved the writing and just how messy Kaylee is. The anxiety, the yearning, the wanting, the mess. This was amazing. I love Dean and the way their families are close. This was just so great.

I'm going to be 100% that I was interested mostly because of the comp of Forgetting Sarah Marshall despite feeling a previous book was fairly average, but sadly that is exactly what this is for me...fairly average.

I was so excited for this book. After reading mainly fantasy series for the past few months I was so excited to refresh my system with a cute summer romance. While I partially received that, I was also ultimately disappointed. At the onset, I couldn't get into the flow of the story and found no relatable elements. Additionally the main character - for me - was SO incredibly unlikeable. I found myself, on multiple occasions, rolling my eyes and putting the book down because I couldn’t take her selfish whining anymore. The whole book seemed to focus on the same three problems and the main character never understood why people weren’t ever sympathetic for her. The story was incredibly self centered and the overall plot view was incredibly limited. Overall, this book did provide me with the much needed dose of summer and warmth that I have been craving but other than that, this book fell pretty flat for me.

"He's inscribed with memories, context I share with no one else. Our every conversation, every passing glance, reminds me of our years of friendship. It's a melody of endless reprises, of new variations on the wonderfully familiar. It's like nothing else. Until I ruined it, of course."

Never Vacation with Your Ex by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka is exactly what the title implies: a romcom following two former best friends as they navigate their annual family vacation together as exes. While this book isn't groundbreaking in any sense, as a young adult romance it achieves the parameters set by the genre, and is a quick, fun beach read.

Synopsis:
Kaylee Jordan perpetually lives in the shadow her Olympic mother. A pro right out of high school and an Olympic gold-medalist in her twenties, Kaylee's mother has set the volleyball standard, and Kaylee is determined to live up to it. Kaylee trains constantly, habitually checks player rankings, and has become a social media star, partnering with sportswear brands and volleyball companies to promote herself to the public. With her dedicated training schedule and pressure to live up to her mom, Kaylee's life doesn't have time for dating. Sure, she'll hang out with a guy for a month or two, but as soon as things get serious, Kaylee cuts the cord. Volleyball comes first, and everything else is secondary.
So when Kaylee falls for her best friend, she decides to give the relationship a shot, despite warnings from both sets of parents, and her history of breaking hearts. Kaylee and Dean make it a record three months before Kaylee unceremoniously dumps him with no explanation, shattering both their romantic and platonic relationship in a matter of minutes, and leaving both hearts broken. Still, despite her heartache Kaylee knows she made the right decision; relationships distract from training, and falling for someone isn't written in her Olympic plan.
Unfortunately, a month after their breakup, Kaylee's parents remind her that their annual vacation with Dean's family–the Freeman-Yus–is still happening, and for the next three weeks, Kaylee and her ex will sleep across the hall from each other. To avoid absolute misery, Kaylee proposes a plan to keep Dean from wallowing in his room: she's going walk Dean through her patented rules for getting over an ex. Dean agrees under the pretense of spending time with Kaylee, and the two begin their quest to help Dean move on.
Of course, as the days progress, Kaylee finds it harder and harder to encourage Dean to forget their relationship and fall for other people. On top of her newfound jealousy, the two families begin to experience tension as old grudges surface and new fights emerge. Suddenly the always heavy pressure has increased ten-fold for Kaylee, as she battles the image of her perfect life against the very real, not perfect feelings she's been experiencing. As the trip comes to strained end, Kaylee has to weigh her picture-perfect future against the present she so desperately wants, and the roles of both volleyball and Dean in her life.

Thoughts:
While this book does its job, nothing about it left me feeling awed, changed, or inspired. The plot is predictable from the the title, let alone the first page, and the writing wasn't amazing enough to make up for the content. I found Kaylee to be a relatively average narrator, and would have preferred to read from Dean's point of view side-by-side with Kaylee rather than her first person point of view the entire time. I didn't find Kaylee and Dean's relationship realistic or compelling, and would have much gathered they stay friends. The two lacked chemistry in every scene, and I found myself shipping Dean with other characters more than Kaylee.
I also hated the way the parents treated Kaylee. From the get-go they all blamed Kaylee for Dean's mood and the ruined vacation. Sure, she broke up with Dean, but she's a seventeen-year-old girl––blaming her for the choices made between two teenagers is ridiculous and childish. The tension between the moms was channeled into expectations for Kaylee, and everyone calling her out in public situations made me want to strangle someone.

Overall:
In the end, I found the whole situation unrealistic; not only the relationship between Kaylee and Dean, but the families in general. My feelings may be skewed as an adult, but I can't imagine any scenario where good––or even mediocre––parents would put their children into the situation this book presents. However, jaded twenty-two-year-old feelings aside, Never Vacation with Your Ex does make for a classic young adult beach book, and I think for ages 12-17, this would be a cute, fun read.

Kaylee plays volleyball - and she’s really good at it. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, her mother was an Olympic volleyball player (now retired). Kaylee is constantly compared to her mother (and she has a hard time keeping herself from comparing).

It’s not easy living in her mothers shadow, trying to reach that same level of greatness. Kaylee feels like she has to be perfect all the time. Like she can’t make a single mistake.

Her best friend is Dean. They dated and broke up (she has a history of making sure none of her relationships get too serious). Her family is friends with Dean’s family. They were all friends, prior to the breakup. And they all went on vacation together, post breakup. Both sets of parents decided, even with the break up, the summer vacation was on. Awkward for sure. Especially since he still likes/loves her.

Kaylee kept trying to get Dean to move on but she clearly hasn’t moved on herself. She won’t let herself love someone though, because that would mean opening up, being vulnerable, allowing herself to make mistakes (mistakes that her partner could see). The pressure is being perfect seemed to be crushing her. I hated her trying to get Dean to find someone else. I kept thinking “Noooooo.” It wasn’t exactly cringeworthy, but I definitely felt bad for both of them.

I would have liked a chapter or two from Dean (just one POV here - Kaylee) but it was still good from her POV (I’m just a sucker for multiple POVs I think). It was predictable (like these kinds of stories sometimes are) but not necessarily in a bad way.

It was a cute YA romance.

I ended up DNFing this title at 46%. I don’t think this is a bad book necessarily, I was just finding it to be a chore for me to want to pick it up and read it. I didn’t have enough care invested into our MC to want to know what happened with her and dean.

First of all, I want to say that I don’t think this book was for me. However, I do think it could be a great book for a younger reader! I read a lot of YA and NA, but sometimes feel that YA can read a little young for me. This was one of these instances. I found it hard to connect to the main character or the guy, and found the plot to be very surface level. There wasn’t much depth, and the whole “volleyball influencer” plot wasn’t really my thing. It bored me how often it was talked about. The whole second chance romance was okay, but I think it could have been executed better. I think girls aged 9-12 would enjoy this cute book, but it wasn’t my cup of tea, and I didn’t get attached.

At this point whenever the Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka duo couple write a book, I read it. Kaylee breaks up with her best friend only to realize that their families are going on their annual vacation so Kaylee decides to help Dean get over her only for her to start falling for him again. I'm not much of a fan of second-chance romance but when this duo writes it, I'm here for it. I haven't read these authors ya books and this one didn't disappoint. I love their YA writing style a lot more as I feel it's so much smoother and there is a lot of descriptive compared to their adult. It feels a lot more lively and I love it. The pacing was perfect and I enjoyed the storyline in this book. This was a very quick, light read that I think will be perfect for the summer if you want to read it then. Plus it takes place in Malibu and who doesn't love that? I did wish this book was in dual perspective and more dialogue based than it was.

Our main character in this book is Kaylee and let me say that she annoyed me a bit. I did enjoy her story but sometimes her actions made me question her. I know that she is young so I just tried to put myself in her shoes. She did have great development which improved her character. There are many side characters in this book and I enjoyed how involved they were in the book. Our main side character is Dean and I enjoyed his character. He is such a sweetheart but I wish we got his perspective because it would have made his story and the story itself so much better. He is also Bisexual and not the typical man you would read about in books but is a complete cinnamon roll. The romance is a second chance trope with childhood best friends and I have to say that compared to these authors' past books, the romance was not the best. It was okay but I just couldn't truly feel all the chemistry I wanted to feel.

The ending was well done and I thought this was a cute read. I finished this book fairly quickly. If it was published in the summer, it would have been such a great book during the season with all the summery vibes. I think some parts of the book could have been improved but overall this was such a great book. I recommend this book for fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty and Heart Bones.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for advance reader copy of this novel!

Never Vacation With Your Ex is a full of summer fun and second (and third) chance romance. No matter where you are, once you open this book it will feel like your on the beaches of Malibu along with the characters as they spend the summer together freshly broken up and working to mend the damage done to both families that have been inseparable since before the kids were even born. I thought the volleyball, photography, and surfing aspects of this books, as well as seeing how close the two families were and how lovingly they all interacted with each other were really fun and well done. However, after the first couple chapters of hearing Kaylee’s reasoning for breaking up with Dean after only two months together and her refusal to explain it to anyone else despite being asked numerous times it get a little bit annoying. The two main characters are both 17 but act seemingly much more mature in every aspects of their lives (aspiring professional athlete and photographer) except for their relationship where they struggled to clearly communicate and work things out through the entire novel. I found the dynamic between Kaylee and Dean to be a bit upsetting with how openly hurt and hung up on Kaylee he was from the beginning and then how she decided to “help him get over her” only to then fall back in love with him just to break his heart yet again before once more reconciling and getting back together. What I did love was the parents and how they navigated all the conflicts and worked through them together and really showed their kids that they were all still human and made mistakes but were able to admit it and learn/grow from them. Over all I did enjoy this books and plan to read more from this author duo but will probably stick to their adult novels from now on as young adult doesn’t seem to appeal to as much as it once did.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, I just couldn't like the main character and I kept getting annoyed at her point of view. The writing also was too lengthy and just didn't keep my interest.

This book was knock your socks off good.

I’ve never seen such amazing character development in a book like I have with Kaylee Jordan. I mean, she seemed so… superficial at first. She broke hearts constantly. Hell, she even broke her best friend’s heart.

However, you really see her heart as the book progresses. Kaylee is actually one of the most selfless people I’ve ever read about. She wants to help her best friend get over her, keep her family and family friends together, and more. She also has a need to be perfect, and that need crushes her. I love going on the journey of self-discovery with her along with learning the answer to the question that everyone was dying o know: Why the hell did she break up with Dean?

But seriously, this book was fantastic. The romance was swoon worthy, and I miss Dean and Kaylee already.

Also, the Mamma Mia references? I’m here for it. 100 percent.

This book contains second chance romance, vacation vibes, secret dating, and more, check this one out!

If you’re looking for a YA summer read or something to pick up so that you can pretend you’re on vacation, this is for you.

I read this book in less than 24 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved seeing Kaylee work through her perfectionism and balance life with her passion. I admired Dean’s dedication and compassion.

This second chance, friends to lovers to kinda enemies to lovers is a great read.

I have read all six of Wibbroka’s YA books and both of their Adult romances and they are so much fun to read. I definitely advise that you pick them up!

Thank you to PenguinTeen and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Penguin Teen for giving me an eARC of this book!

This book was very, very close to being good. It had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it fell short for me. Admittedly it was very readable (I pretty much finished it in a day), but there was also quite a bit of "hm this page doesn't seem important, skip!" going on. I mean, our MC is a volleyball player and her personality basically ends there. If I'm going to get pages upon pages upon pages of volleyball content, there's a high probability that they will be skipped.

I think the biggest thing for me that fell short was the lack of a second POV. I would have loved having Dean's POV. We get Kaylee's POV of trying to get her ex over her, what about Dean's POV of going along with Kaylee's plan in the hopes of getting back with her?? It would have added some intrigue and also spared me from the several boring pages about a sport I could care less about.

While this is a book I will definitely never be reading again (or recommending to people), it wasn't a horrendous read. It was actually a little bit enjoyable, if you can get over disliking the MC. It was a solid three stars, as it wasn't bad enough to be two, but definitely not good enough to be four. I did not hate my life whilst reading it, therefore it gets three stars.

Ok, so at first glance at the reviews, I can see what people are getting at. Kaylee doesn’t come off as the likable, peppy, sporty teen you would probably expect in a YA romance. Instead, what you get with her is a look at a teen facing increasing pressure and scrutiny as she pursues her dreams of a professional volleyball career in the shadow of her mother’s success (the Olympic gold medal volleyball legend).

In fact, this tension and internal strife within Kaylee is arguably more center stage than the whole romantic set up and premise, and while I get how that’s misleading given the cover and synopsis, but to me, I liked it better. I liked the substance it added And I like that it talked about issues that many teens, especially those playing competitive sports and looking at longer term professional careers face.The way Kaylee discussed social media as a job, the times she mentions having to wear a mask and be perfect, control and reign in her emotions, and all the times her own family makes her feel like she’s responsible for the emotions of others and how they feel about her — it’s a lot for anyone, and especially a teen who is desperately trying to make herself stand out from her mother’s legacy. It <i>can</i> come across as whiney and privileged, and at several times, Kaylee acknowledges this, but at the same time, having these privileges doesn’t mean she can’t have hardships or battles of her own, so I’m not keen on the reviews that harp on this aspect. She doesn’t need to be inundated in trauma in order for her feelings of the overwhelming pressure to feel real and affect her. The conflicting ways she feels about her body and how she’s told to feel about it, at times powerful and strong, at other times not sexy enough, are also very valid and reflect a lot of the sexualization and discourse over young women’s bodies that happens all the time today, even if you aren’t a highly visible public persona or athlete.

Did the romance and chemistry with Dean suffer a bit because of Kaylee’s own internal demons and battles? Yes, however I still had fun with their second chance romance and I liked that in the end, Kaylee is made to really vocalize and work through her feelings with Dean. Could it have been pushed further? Yes, but overall I think Kaylee’s own internal struggles were more valuable thematically. I did want more discussion between Kaylee and her mother, that felt way too short, but still, I liked that these feelings were discussed at all.

I think if you can come into this with more of an open mind than just wanting a straight romance, you’ll enjoy how Kaylee’s internal struggles are laid on the page and reflect a lot of the stress, anxiety, and judgement I think many teens can relate to in some way. Thank you Penguin Random House Audio for my free ALC and Penguin Random House and Netgalley for my galley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, 3.25 / 5, rounding down to 3.

*characters: 6/10
*setting: 9/10
*writing style: 8/10
*plot: 5/10
*intrigue: 5/10
*logic/relationships: 6/10
*enjoyment: 7/10
*overall score: 46÷7=6.5 (3⭐️)

Thoughts:
I usually enjoy books by Emily and Austin, but to be honest, this one is just kinda meh to me! The whole time I was reading, I didn't understand how two teens could be so emotionally attached after only two months of dating. It would have been more believable if it had been 6 months or even a year. Also, Dean's mom was weirdly super involved and opinionated about their relationship/friendship. I didn't understand that. My biggest issue was how much growing up Kaylee needed to do in order to be in a relationship that just never happened - she is super immature and always making excuses for her actions, and by the end of the book, she still is.

This book had so much potential and could have related to a lot of people - but it sadly fell short and didn't quite hit that mark it needed! I would still consider it a fairly decent read for the summer though!

This was just not it for me, I think I’m really moving away from young YA so unfortunately I could not finish this entire story.

I could not get through this book because I did not like the MC at all. I loved The Roughest Draft by these authors, but I just didn’t like Kaylee in this book.

Reviews Posted: March 25, 2023
Goodreads
Storygraph

I don’t know where to begin with this book. I guess I will start by saying that I hated almost everything about this book, and I can’t believe I wasted my time reading it. From the man charter to the romance, there was almost nothing redeemable about the book.

Kaylee has to be one of the worst main characters I have ever read about. She is vapid and self-absorbed and not a single thing about her makes her a likable character. I kept reading hoping that she would have a redemption arc, but nope she remained shallow throughout the whole thing.

The romance was also lacking, I could not understand why no one was calling out her bullshit and how she just flits through life playing with people's emotions. There was absolutely no chemistry between Kaylee and Dean and everything felt so surface-level with them.

Honestly, though everything felt surface-level. The relationships with the parents, friends, and siblings had absolutely no depth to them and I kept waiting to actually feel something fro anyone in the book. Even the conversations Kaylee has with her mother don’t actually resolve anything.

That was one of my biggest issues with the book is nothing is actually resolved. Everyone just keeps seeping all the problems under the rug. I kept screaming “please just have an honest conversation.”

Overall this book lacks any real depth or character development. The writing is all surface-level and bland at best. The fact that I finished this book is astonishing and I probably should have DNFed it.

This tale of a perfectionist high school chronic breaker of hearts getting stuck on a trip with her ex was a bit too juvenile for me but might hit with a younger crowd. Dumping someone and then trying to play matchmaker to assuage your own guilt just isn't a plotline I enjoy. Again, this is very YA and likely geared towards a much younger audience.