Begin Again follows Andie, a mid-year freshman transfer at the ultra-competitive Blue Ridge State, freshly arrived and already off the rails of her immaculate 5-year Life PlanTM. As things go awry with her long-term boyfriend (she transferred here, he transferred back), she hunts for the paths her late mother left on this very college campus so many years ago. She never meant to fall into her footsteps so directly though…

What I Liked:
- The characters!! Milo, Shay, Valeria & Andie — I loved them all!!! (Okay, mostly Milo, but still.) I don’t know how she does it, but Emma writes the best characters. Or I could just have a very similar sense of humor to her and thereby find all her characters wholesome and hilarious.
- I did love the setting of Blue Ridge State. The college campus vibe was very nostalgic for me. Although my school didn’t have a chicken coop, arboreum, or Bagelopolis.
- The radio show plot is really fun! After this and The Ex Talk, I really need to pick up more romances with radio hosts.
- All of the Taylor Swift references, whether hidden or not-so-hidden, were fun for me to stumble upon. I love that Emma Lord is a swiftie too lol.
- Emma has a sweet tooth and loves all things foodie and cute, and it come through in every book. AND I’M NOT COMPLAINING!! I actually could have used more sweets in this one. The disaster patry confections always make me gravitate to my own kitchen to whip up something tasty as well.

What I Didn’t Like:
- No notes! But I did get second-hand stressed from all of Andie’s antics…

Recap:
So basically if you would like to read a wholesome, slightly deranged, fluffy masterpiece filled with Eternal Darkness and couture bagel matchups, Begin Again is for you! I honestly can’t recommend Emma Lord’s writing enough. I feel like she has mastered the balance between cotton candy fun and realistic behavior/problems.

4.5/5 stars

Sadly this was a book that I just couldn't get into, I tried several times before concluding that this particular story wasn't for me - I was mostly just struggling to connect to the characters.

I have throughly enjoy Emma Lords previous books and will continue to pick up her books in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press and Wednesday Books for this opportunity to read an advanced copy.

I've read all of Emma Lord's books and I've enjoyed each and every one. Begin Again was no exception. I will say I guessed the twist/conflict in the story early on, but I still found the ending so satisfying. I adored these characters!

Andie Rose is transferring to her dream school in the middle of her freshman year and she couldn't be more excited. She wants to be there for so many reasons, but one is to join her boyfriend Connor. Who she finds out transferred to their community college to be with her. Oye ve. Now she's on her own ready to make a go at the college experience she always wanted.

I think this is her best book yet. this book was riveting, heart-wrenching, slow-burning goodness. the food descriptions weren't necessarily for me

This cute young adult novel is told from the perspective of college freshman Andie, who transfers mid-year to the college her parents attended and where her boyfriend currently goes, hoping to surprise him - only to find out he has transferred to the community college she just transferred out of. The book takes place over the next few months as Andie settles in, makes friends, and tries to figure herself out.

I loved Emma Lord’s When You Get the Chance, but this one was just not quite as special for me. It was very predictable, and definitely felt extremely on the young side of YA despite featuring a college age character. It was a cute one though, and I enjoyed the characters.

3.75 stars

What a cute coming-of-age story (those are always my favorites). Emma Lord writes YA stories that are full of such warmth and love that it feels like a big hug.

I loved the college atmosphere of this one, making new friends and figuring out classes. Dorm-living and roommates! Andie spends her days finding herself through trying new hobbies, meeting new people, and facing new challenges, just what college should be!

Unfortunately, I think this could have used a bit more grown-up angst. Even though this is technically YA, the characters are adults and figuring out life for themselves for the first time, I think the story was almost too sweet.

Beyond that, I loved all the relationships in this book and I can't wait for more from Emma Lord!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

How do you go from feeling like you FINALLY have it all...to then having to start over from nothing?  How do you even find the strength?  Andie Rose has struggled to pull herself up and bust her butt to get from community college to Blue Ridge State - where her parents went (and fell in love), and where her boyfriend is currently in school.  But the moment Andie arrives, everything just goes WRONG.  How do you make the best out of, well...the worst?

I'm a huge fan of Emma Lord...and she did not disappoint.  I LOVED these characters and loved their chemistry.  I loved the radio station backstory and how tough Andie was to shrug off the disappointment of how things were supposed to be and move on to how things SHOULD be.  Fantastic read.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Emma Lord does it again - this book reminds me more of Tweet Cute (her debut and my favorite) than her other 2 books, in that it is classically sweet however there are some deep themes layered in. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a YA book - this book is set during the MC's freshman year with a few older students sprinkled in - and the slow burn romance comes second (maybe even third!) to Andie's self discovery / journey with grief and dives in to her developing relationship with her friends. The way the author discusses grief between two characters who have suffered enormous loss was very authentic and struck me as more genuine than in most books. Overall, if you enjoy YA you will enjoy this book.

#netgalleyarc This was a fun, end of school vacation read. This book follows the classic romance novel recipe but thankfully is limited in the amount of cheese factor. The characters are likable, believable and not annoying.

DNF at 35%. This is definitely a case of wrong reader and not about the book. I am going to second what my friend Katy wrote in her review and say I think this would be great for younger teens who are looking forward to college. As I am definitely not that demographic, this wasn’t as great a fit for me and that’s totally fair. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

I absolutely love Emma Lord’s books, but this one was too hard to get into. I started the book three times and had to push hard to get through. I liked the start of Andie and Connor’s story, but ending up at different schools soured it for me. I loved that Andie felt connected to her late mother — but the rest of the story dragged for me. It was cringey and the problems seemed too juvenile for people in college.

Andie Rose has a detailed 5 year plan and is on a mission to help everyone in her orbit live their best lives. In fact, that very plan ends with her becoming a self-help mogul. But in order to do that, Andie has to navigate her way through a mid-year college transfer, a long distance boyfriend and a strained relationship with her father. In learning to trust her eclectic support system of family and friends, Andie realizes she must first resolve her own issues before can dispense advice to others. Emma Lord has created a realistic and relatable heroine in Andie and following her journey through her freshman year is both amusing and heartwarming.

I always find Emma's writing charming and her characters relatable. I also love university setting and the premise of this story is *chefs kiss*

3.5

I wasn’t sure what I would think of this book, since I didn’t love the other book I’ve read by Emma Lord, but I wanted to give it a try anyway because the synopsis really appealed to me. This was such a sweet story about growing up, finding true friendship and learning what’s most important in life.

I took far too long to read this, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. I really loved seeing Andie’s growth as a character, and I felt like she was a very likable main character. I adored her friend group and reading about their college experience was so fun. I expected more romance, but what we did get was really sweet🥹 I felt like I could see a little bit of myself in each of these characters and I think that’s what really moved the story along for me, since I just loved reading and learning more about them so much.

I did feel like this story got a little slow at times, but that honestly could just be me not wanting to read it at that particular time because I’m a mood reader🤪

Overall I really enjoyed this story and I personally liked it much more than the other book I’ve read by this author. It felt more mature, I loved the found family aspect, and I found myself much more interested in the storyline. It wasn’t a 5 star read, but I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming story about a group of friends navigating those first years of adulthood and finding their paths in life.

Thank you NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Begin Again by Emma Lord was such a fun read! I started this one in the evening and almost read the whole thing in one sitting. Alas, one must sleep.

I love books that almost feel like a "coming of age" movie. Loved the writing. Loved the characters. Loved the plot execution. This book makes me want to go check out the rest of Emma Lord's backlist.

The main character Andie transfers to her boyfriend's university (also her mom's alma mater) so they can be together only to find out that he's transferred to her campus. That mini-synopsis was enough to have my rom-com loving self hooked.

Andie could very well have been set up like a "not like the other girls" type of girls but she wasn't and I'm sending a hershey's kiss to the author for that. Andie Rose is a perfectionist, she's sunshine incarnate, she loves people and she loves helping. Andie Rose is also a volcano waiting to erupt with a host of mommy issues, daddy issues, boyfriend issues, falling-in-love-with-your-RA issues and identity issues all wrapped up into one. The way each of her issues is explained and resolved unraveled so naturally that I have no complaints and I usually have a lot of those.

Not to mention her friends felt like real friends. They got screen time and character development. Her love interest Milo is her friend before anything else. And this kind of friends to lovers just hits. He was there for her every step of the way and the level of supportive this man was????? Where is my Milo, huh???

I really enjoyed this book and the only reason there's 1 star off is because I wanted to see more of the main couple be a couple after getting together. Not everyone cares about that but it's just something I like before we get the epilogue.

Anyways, I loved being extremely right about the bf. I'm glad my red flag sensors are still working great.

As always, thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Andie transfers mid-year to Blue Ridge State at the same time her boyfriend transfers OUT to go to her community college. What could possibly go wrong?? :) Emma Lord does it again - writes a YA book with heart and a big dose of real life too. Her coming of age stories always have a big dose of reality but also often has wonderful community. We all go through hard things but when you have people who are there for you, it makes those hard things much more manageable and that's what is at the heart of this story. It did feel a little long at times but there's a lot going on so it didn't feel like it dragged, just felt long. It was wonderful on audio and perfect to have on all day as i was lightly doing other things around the house. Another solid YA hit from Lord!

Emma Lord is the reigning queen of the young adult romance genre, and I was really excited to see that "Begin Again" straddles the line between young adult and new adult. Her books are fantastic for readers of all ages and I'm thrilled to think that she might be finding a wider audience with "Begin Again," because this is a book that deserves to be read widely. It is so well written, so honest, and so relatable for anyone navigating those tough years of finding your own path, learning what it means to be an adult, figuring out how high school romances will fit into your "new" more adult life, and ultimately discovering what it means to be true to yourself.

Andie Rose has always been the girl with a plan, and her first year of college has been no different. She busted her butt to be the only freshman transfer accepted at Blue Ridge State after being denied in her first round of applications. She's thrilled to be taking the first real step on her path to becoming a lauded self-help guru.

She didn't anticipate, however, that she might be the one needing help as she jumps both feet forward into her new school and life. Her relationship with high school sweetheart, Connor, has transferred out of Blue Ridge State to the community college she was previously attending, her classes are more difficult than she anticipated, and she's found herself paralyzed by the prospect of following in her beloved mother's footsteps at her alma mater. Andie's mom started a pirate radio station, and now in the wake of her death, Andie feels duty-bound to live up to the legacy she's left behind.

Andie's joined by roommate Shay, who desperately needs to choose a major, RA Milo, whose caffeine addiction borders on concerning and who, if she's being honest, gives her butterflies she has never felt with boyfriend Connor. As she starts her tenure as "The Squire" assistant to The Knight on the still-running radio show her mom founded, Andie will have to give herself some of the same hard advice she doles out to her listeners, and maybe, just maybe realize that the best-laid plans may not be the right path forward for the paths we find ourselves taking.

A must-read for fans of the romance genre, and a sure-fire hit for middle and high school libraries, "Begin Again" is already a contender for the favorite romance of the year! Recommended for fans of Sophie Sullivan, Emily Henry, and Talia Hibbert. Special thanks to NetGalley and to Wednesday books for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "Begin Again" in exchange for an unbiased review.

this book is a story of finding ones self and I really like how are main character stood up for her self and went for what she wanted did she get scared yes did she think about running yes but with the help of her new friends she stick it though and i would love to see how she keeps making a name for herself

I thought this was a really cute YA contemporary romance. YA books are hit or miss for me. I love them but I like them better when they’re on the more mature side. I felt like this was on the younger side, considering the main characters were in college.

I found Andie to be a fun character. I loved her food name substitutes for swearing. I also enjoyed the fact her roommate was a bookstagrammer, that was awesome. I also really wanted to try all the different bagel types they mentioned, there was some that sounded so good!! This book also had some hard lessons to overcome. Overall, I really did find it cute! I think it would be perfect for younger adults going to college soon.

this wasn't as much fun as her other book Meet Cute, but it was still pretty cute. I love a good YA romance story, hope to keep reading Lord's books!