This was a quick read but it took a while to get into. It just felt slow to me and I did not really enjoy the characters. The part I did enjoy though, was that it was dual point of view so you could know what Cass and Sydney were thinking. I couldn't get past the main girl in this book. She was ultimately annoying and acted like she was better than others because she was "different" from them. Overall it wasn't the worst book I have read but it definitely did not have any amazing qualities.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I felt like this was a bit short for how much the story was trying to pack like the characters may have been more impactful if it was a bit longer.

This was a fun and easy read, but sadly it did not stand out to me. I had high hopes for this book, because I find it very necessary for YA books to dive into deeper topics---there are so many kids who need these depictions of grief. But... the character completely took me out of it. Being not like other girls being a heroine's only personality trait is fine at the beginning of a book, but not when there is a lack of growth throughout. But this book had promise! Looking past my issues with Syd, I enjoyed reading!

I love a good road trip story. This one was okay. I didn’t love it but I didn’t dislike it either. The characters were not my favorite. And I feel like miscommunication was the biggest thing with every single character.

This cover kept it on my shelf for longer than need be. It just wasn't drawing me in, but I will say once I finally jumped in, I did really like it!

Fan of music and bands? This one's for you. I loved the connection between the characters.

A lot of trigger warnings to be aware of!

If anything could have save this book it was the length.... I have been on record as saying that I think you need 350 pages MINIMUM to tell a good story in a contemporary setting whether it's a slice of life story or a romance and I get a lot of push back on that, particularly from the romance readers... but this was a hot mess. I'm sure that there is an author alive that could have taken some of the elements present and fashioned a story that worked better, but even then I think the results would have only been marginal.

Told in dual perspective, this is the story of two childhood friends that had a falling out in the early years of their high school experience that are now coming back together the week of their high school graduation as they embark on a whim of a roadtrip to see the band that Caspian's mother used to play in and Sydney can escape the ultimatum her parents have dropped into her lap. If that was all the book was trying to do, it might have succeeded. Instead the first twenty percent of the book is taken up with establishing Caspian getting dumped and the poor relationship that he has with father, and maybe that he'd also like to pursue something in the music industry. Meanwhile Sydney has been the family fuck up and when she's presented with either taking this internship her mother has lined up for her at the hospital where she works or move out of the house she's not entirely sure what she should do.. What happens next is said ill planned road trip that I alluded to earlier where long hidden romantic feelings are sort of explored, the reasoning for their childhood fallout has to be addressed, and the ways that both of their parents have failed them all crammed into 200 pages of navigating the various ways in which neither of them was monetarily ready for this foolish road trip all around the western United States.

It didn't help that I found some of the things happening to be a little unserious, the ways that things were transpiring to just make no logical sense, and the fact that I just could not bring myself to care about these two kids getting together. Even if I could, the reason that their friendship imploded I just couldn't see them forming anything that felt like a healthy relationship. It does help that it's YA... so even if I did believe they could get together I would also believe that five years down the road they would have still decided to call it quits.

Ultimately there was just never enough pagetime for the characters to really feel like they reached their ultimate potential and that's all because I think that there were just a few too many things going on for each of them for any of it to feel like it could satisfy the reader in the end.

This was a good coming of age told in dual pov. I think the male lead’s story was the most interesting part of the book and it would have been stronger told though his pov. It was really interesting and I think the romance would have even been enhanced focusing on his story only.

4/5 stars, a quick read that I could really relate to

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group & Viking Books for Young Readers for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

In the past, young adult contemporary/romance has been really hit or miss for me and so it's not always something that I gravitate towards. But the synopsis of this book intrigued me, especially as it's a really unique young adult contemporary concept. Two ex-best friends Caspian and Sydney have just graduated and are gearing up to start the next phase of their lives, but they're keeping secrets from their families that they're struggling with. When Caspian finds out that his later mother's old band is getting back together for a final reunion tour, he sets off on a road trip on a whim, and Sydney decides to join him for one last run together.

The pacing felt a little off to me in this book, but it wasn't enough for me to not enjoy the story. It was a very quick read, but that doesn't mean that there was always something happening in the story, though there was at points. But there were times when days would pass with a time skip and other times when this book would cover hours, I knew it was a road trip but I wish it had been just a little more consistent. As well, the synopsis makes a few things seem a lot more intense than they actually were, such as describing the road trip as "life-changing." While it didn't feel that way for me reading it, I understand the concept of this as the characters were reconnecting and did discover some things about themselves. I just think there were some things that could have been explored a little more, but I did appreciate themes of anxiety/panic attacks and therapy, and finding your own path away from parents' expectations were discussed in this book.

Caspian and Sydney were both really interesting characters, and I especially enjoyed seeing how their dynamic had evolved from when they were children (that was sometimes touched on). It was definitely different but there was always the same undercurrent of their relationship when they were young. I think that the slow re-connection that happened with them on the road trip was done perfectly, as ex-friend relationships are tricky to navigate, especially when you're suddenly hanging out again and going on a road trip. I loved that things weren't suddenly okay again, but they were still supporting one another and had a connection of understanding. In the end, I think they were both great characters to headline this book and I overall enjoyed them both.

Overall, this was a fun and quick read that definitely makes me want to pick up more young adult contemporary soon. This would be a good young adult read for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six even though it might not go as in-depth with the music as that book does. While I wish there had been more emphasis on certain aspects of the story, it was still really enjoyable and I had a fun time reading this book. I'll definitely bee keeping my eye out for other books by this author.

[TW: death of a parent, drugs, and smoking depicted, depiction of panic attacks, global climate change anxiety, hangover, break up with a partner]

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thank you, NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

After their high school graduation, Cass and Syd are ready for their futures. They are former best friend and while Cass wants to go to college and become an engineer, Syd has lined up a sound intership at an historic music venue. Even though her family thinks she's messed up her life. Cass has also keeping secrets, because, even though his father has forbidden it, he wants to play music, going to San Francisco, playing and making money at the BART station. For him it's a way to be more close to his mother, who was a musician and died in a drunk driving accident, coming back from his gig. But when Syd catches him at the BART station and Cass discovers his mom's old band, the Darlas, is going on a reunion tour, everything changes. Cass invites Syd on a road trip on impulse and they embark into a journey that will change everything, keeping it a secret from family and friends. While travelling, they also start to unravel how and why they became ex best friends and how to reconnect, experience peace and music, nature and friendship and what to do in their lives and futures. Also, maybe, finding each other again.

This contemporary romance is truly, absolutely and without doubts, gorgeous and so captivating. I loved everything in This one's for you and how the author was able to express the characters' struggles, their grief, indecision, love, friendship, connection to the music, nature and each other.
I love these on the road stories and how much people are changed in it and this one isn't different. Cass and Syd are strong and brilliant main characters and I love them, their slowly reconnecting, their love for music, nature and past and present. On the verge of their future, between past and present and future, this road trip is lovely and intense and so captivating. The author was able to express so well their relationship, passions and desires and I felt so captivated by everything.

dnf at 53%
I just, I don’t know honestly this book just wasn’t for me. I tried I really did try to get into it, but I was skimming the page more than reading it. I cannot wrap my head around how to high school seniors can take a cross country trip because essentially they’re scared to confront their parents. There was anxiety representation in this book, though I don’t know if personally, my anxiety would allow me to do anything that the characters did within the first half of the book I read. There were definitely parts of the book I enjoyed, the childhood friends, turned enemy was a fun twist. A the generally premise of the book was intriguing, maybe if the characters were older I could have understood the storyline better but, personally I just could not connect to this book.
Overall, this book just wasn’t for me and I don’t think finishing it would’ve changed my perspective on at all that much however, I do think someone out there could like this book. I just most likely would not recommend it

4/5 stars

TW: parental death, estranged parental relationship, grief, loss, alcohol use

I really enjoyed this coming of age, road trip novel! It was fun time watching Cass and Syd go through the different states and start to uncover more and more about themselves and become closer to who they want to be as young adults versus what their parents wanted them to be/expected them to be. It’s a good time to see them struggle and learn more about themselves while also facing very real consequences of their decisions or rather lack of decision depending on the situation.

My biggest issue with the book is that Cass made a very good point throughout the novel regarding his mom’s death about how her band members let her get in the car which ultimately caused her death and that conversation never happened. It felt like if this was something that kept getting brought up, I would have loved to have seen those thoughts come to a close and maybe an emotional discussion between him and the band about what happened that night because that portion feels very open-ended.

A mild criticism is that I don’t think the romance was necessary. While cute, I think the romance could have been removed and you wouldn’t have lost out on anything. The story could have just been about two best friend reconnecting and going on a journey of self-discovery based off of an impulsive decision. The end especially where we learn why they stop talking and why Syd basically hates him and they both get a different perspectives of how they interpreted the situation, but there was never a conversation that was had — which I feel like was needed considering how hurt both sides were.

I loved this. This broke my heart more and more as I read it and I adored it. I loved the relationship between Caspian and Sydney. I fell in love with Caspian. I loved the way the Darlas just took them under their wing. This is a book about relationships and wanting.

Thank you @penguinteen and @katesweeneywrites for this ARC!

Please note that this review is based on uncorrected text.

"Figured it's okay because the sequins are black. Wouldn't want to spread joy or anything."

Syd is truly my spirit animal. Sarcastic and fully feeling the unknowns. We get to see them both go through this journey of self discovery not alone, but together and I love that, even though they hadn't been friends for a hot minute. And I can't deny myself a good road trip book!

It truly takes you through ALL. THE. FEELS. Frustration. Pride. Sadness. Overwhelmed with emotion. And of course, Happiness. Even though it was a read filled with adventure and turns you weren't expecting, it was still a quick and easy read.

There were a few moments at the beginning where I believed that Cass' mom was somehow touring. I don't think I had fully understood that she was actually gone. I do wish we would've gotten to explore what and how fully affected both Cass and his dad were and not just seeing it in the last couple of chapters.

‼️ This book is set to release on Tuesday FEB 7 2023! ‼️

Rating: I enjoyed the adventure this one took me on! ☺️

I felt like this was a bit short for how much the story was trying to pack like the characters may have been more impactful if it was a bit longer.

Thank you Penguin Teen for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Potential spoilers ahead, but there was a lack of plot twists so I don't really know what it would be spoiling for y'all. Proceed with caution I guess?

I originally gave this book 2.5 stars (rounded to 3), but after writing my review I realized it really wasn't worthy of that extra .5

I want to start this by saying that I really tried to enjoy this book. I stayed up until 2am on a school night to finish this, which would normally indicate a good book, right? Well in this case, not really. I don't know what compelled me to do that. I genuinely don't. It wasn't a very interesting read, and I didn't really care about the characters all that much (if an asteroid were to have taken them all out at some point during the book I would have shrugged and went on with my life).

Perhaps the best thing about this book was that it was a quick and easy read. I know that's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it's the truth. This was probably the reason I stayed up so late to finish a book I didn't even like that much. Might as well get it over with, right?

Anyway: the review.

We had two main characters, Caspian (Cass) and Sydney (Syd). Cass was on the better side of fairly decent. In all honesty, this book would have been way better if we only had Caspian's POV and if Syd just didn't exist. Cass was a mostly likable character (except that part where he y'know, fell for Syd). He was a little stupid in the communication department, but overall not the worst character in the book. We save that title for Syd.

Authors need to stop making their female MC revolve fully around the Not Like Other Girls personality type. It's just not cool anymore (was it ever really cool?) Early on in the book Cass just drops this fun lil sentence: "...with a reverence I've only ever seen her give to dead things." WITH NO CONTEXT. Like okay, fine. Syd is Not Like Other Girls, of course she's into dead things. But we didn't know that at that point, did we? No. We don't get Syd's weird-obsession-with-dead-things speech until like halfway through the book, so we're left hanging with that weird tidbit for a good long while.

Because Syd is Not Like Other Girls, she drew a sharpie tattoo of a skull on the back of her hand at one point. Wow. How edgy. So cool. These characters were supposed to have recently graduated from high school, so like 18ish. Giving yourself sharpie tattoos stopped being cool in like third grade. Unless you're Taylor Swift, but since you're not Taylor Swift, please just stop.

Half the plot revolves around Syd and Cass being sort-of enemies. They used to be besties, and then something happened, and now they're not. And if you want more specifics on what that "something" was, believe me, so do I. And I read the book. Basically, Cass made friends that were Not Syd, and this made Syd upset and so she stopped talking to him. Or something. It was very unclear and Syd was filled with rage for literally no reason. Honestly, Cass was better off without her.

Something I found very weird was the author's way of describing someone's skin tone. Usually authors don't just tell you someone's white. They describe it in some way other than just blatantly saying it. Here's an example: "He's white and big, easily over six feet tall." Now I'm not an expert on fictional writing, but I've read a fair amount and I know there's better ways to say that. In fact, does the skin tone of characters We Don't Care About even matter? Just say the dude's tall and move on.

Compared to Syd, who was just messed up in so many ways that screamed "I need therapy but I'm too stubborn to go," Cass was fairly normal (and more on that later, being "normal" was somehow a plotline). Except that part where he said "When I was a kid I was obsessed with other people's mothers." Excuse me? Now, Cass's mother had died when he was but a wee lad, so it makes some sense that he would be curious about other people's mothers. But it did not have to be written in such a creepy way.

So back to the whole "normal" thing. A big reason why Cass and Syd drifted apart (and yes, "drifted apart" seems the most accurate description, not the huge friendship break-up Syd was making it out to be) was because Cass wanted to be "normal" and Syd was just Not Like Other Girls and was thus very not "normal." And I honestly don't blame Cass for wanting friends who were Not Syd. Girl tapes up articles about dead whales over her bed. Can you really blame Cass for wanting other friends?

Anyway, Cass and Syd randomly reconnect and go on this impulsive road trip to watch Cass's dead mother's band perform multiple times. Isn't that positively cheerful? Throughout this "roadtrip," we see several instances of Syd being a downright Bad Person and Cass just going along with it, and worse, being tricked into thinking he's the problem. Cass apologized for calling Syd out for being a bad person. You'd think maybe Syd would have thought "oh wait maybe I'M the problem." But alas, that didn't happen. In case you're in desperate need of proof that Syd treated Cass like absolute garbage, I present to you the following quotes:

"Why can't Syd ever just hear me when I try to tell her no?"

"Stop pushing me!" I yell, my hands pulling at my hair. "Just fucking stop."

Of course, that last one really hurts Syd's feelings and uh oh, it's Cass's fault because he's a Terrible Person and she's an angel. Obviously.

So looking back through my highlights, there was actually one instance where Syd apologized. But-- and yes, there's a but--Cass apologized first. And his apology is a banger. I mean, he outright tells Syd she's Not Like Other Girls: "The truth is, you aren't like anyone else." Now, this scene was just so bad. I'm sorry, but it was. I already didn't like the romance. I mean why was it even a thing? They had no real connection other than being stupidly horny teens. But back to the apology, that unfortunately for you, dear reader, I'm going to share:

This part is from Syd's POV

Cass catches up to me and skids to a stop and we both stand under the streetlight, trying to catch our breath in the fog. I'm shaking. I turn away from him, back toward the venue, the round bulb lights that twinkle in the distance. A soft, warm, quilted jacket drops onto my shoulders.

"I'm so scared," I say. I bury [my] face in my hands. "And I'm never scared. I don't know how to do this."

"I know," he says, right behind me. "It's my fault. I am so, so sorry."

And then I start to cry again.

"You were right," he says. "I was a coward." I can feel him moving closer, his presence tall and steady at my back. "For a really long time. I thought-"

"My mom-

"My dad-

"I don't know. I was stupid and scared and I just wanted to stop feeling so much." He rests one big hand on my shoulder. "That was a mistake." He takes a deep, sad breath. "Listen. What I said to you in New Orleans was wrong. The truth is, you aren't like anyone else. But I'm so glad you're not."

"I'm sorry too," I say. "You're right, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard. That's not my job. But I still can't-" I look around, trying to find the words to say what I'm feeling. "I'm still so mad at you." I can't let this anger go; it feels like the only thing holding me to the earth.

Cass watches me carefully, like he's afraid I'll run away again.

"It's okay," he says, letting out a shaky breath. "Just please, come back to me."


I just. Don't even know. Cass should NOT want Syd to "come back" to him. She's deranged and needs help. Why is she even mad at him? For having friends that are Not Her? I don't know about you guys, but that's a massive red flag to me. And for the record, what Cass said to her in New Orleans WAS NOT WRONG. He literally just called her out for being a massive dick, and that made her sad :(

So I guess all in all, it wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it was far from the best. Overall, it wasn't that interesting and the plot wasn't exciting. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier that there was a whole psychic moment about Cass's mom that supposedly revealed some Big Thing but then that Big Thing was literally never addressed again and we forgot all about it. So that was fun? Anyway, happy reading, Chickens!

SYNOPSIS: Cass and Syd used to be so close as kids, but now as graduating high school seniors they barely speak. Cass grew up without his mom, and finds the only way he feels connected to her and alive, is by looking up her former bandmates online, stalking them to discover a shred of who she was. As a musician himself, he hides his guitar playing from everyone, opting to sneak to the subway station to play secretly for an audience who doesn't know him or his story. Syd catches him playing one day, and he ends up confessing that his mom's band is forming a reunion tour. They spontaneously decide to road trip to visit the band, to see if Cass can find the closure he's been searching for.

REVIEW: Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself, "Wow, this would be a really great TV show or movie?"? This book was so visual and cool, I'd love to watch it play out on screen, and be able to actually hear the music of the Darla's played aloud. That being said, the story was super slow going most of the time for me, and the tension between the main characters didn't amount to much. The consequences of them following a band and ignoring their worried family members was also miniscule, I understand they were technically adults now, but the consequences and resolution were just kind of disappointing. I wished there was more drama, and climax to the story.

Kate Sweeney’s latest book is titled This One’s For You and follows two former best friends, Sydney and Caspian, as they take a road trip following a band across the county.

Syd and Cas used to be the closest friends but as they grew older, they grew apart. Sydney is an outcast, a weirdo, and nothing but herself. Cas likes to fit in, fade into a group, and not be seen as an outsider. It’s easy to see why they didn’t stay friends.

But when Sydney finds out one of Cas’s biggest secrets, it leads to a road trip that neither of them could have expected. Cas’s mom used to be in a band called the Darlas but she died when he was just an infant.

Now his father refuses to talk about her or her music. Cas was fine not knowing much until he finds a post announcing the Darla reunion tour. Cas doesn’t know what he’ll find but he feels like he has to go. He has to see at least one show. And he impulsively invites his former friend Syd.

This One's for You is such a great young adult romance. The characters were well developed and played off of each other well. A very heartwarming and exciting read.

You compare a book to Nina LaCour and im sold. This is just a beautiful and hopeful book that I resonated so strongly too. As someone who also lost their mother I laughed and cried through this one and just wanted to blast music. Thank you Penguin for the arc.