Andie is finally living her dream when she transfers to a competitive college from community college mid-year. She will finally have it all—her long-term boyfriend, a psychology degree, and the ability to follow in her late mother’s footsteps as she dives into radio on her way to becoming a self-help expert. Of course, not a single thing goes as planned. As Andie adjusts to the changes, she re-evaluates what it is she actually wants and whether it’s actually her goal or whether she’s just trying to live up to her mom’s legacy.

I’ve read all of Emma Lord’s YA books and they are all delightful. Her characters seem to be aging up—this is our first in college. The chaotic feeling of freshman year, when you’re distracted by all of the new shiny things and academics take a hit, was written perfectly. I found myself getting sympathetic anxiety. Yes, there is romance, but it’s secondary—Andie’s growth as a person and the development of new friendships and mentorships are far more important. Available 1/24/23. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the eARC.

First I want to thank St. Martin's Press for providing me an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Begin Again is a story of Andie who has a plan to transfer to a new school to be with her boyfriend, retrace her mothers steps, graduate and become an iconic self-help figure. When she arrives on campus the plan goes off the rails and Andie has to learn to adapt and figure out a new plan for her life with the help of her new friends.

Being Again
Pub Date: 1/24/2023
What I Loved:
Milo - This is the type of person you are lucky to meet in college. Helping as many people as possible, pushing Andie to be the best version of herself, being an all around good guy and an "alter-ego" to boot
The Knights Watch - Who doesn't love a college pirate radio station/show?! This aspect of the story was fun to experience and watch grow
The All-Knighters - Who doesn't love a punny trivia team name? Also I enjoyed how the people on the team became the core of Andie's support system in school and they all supported each other.
Shay - I had some great roommates in college but Andie absolutely lucked out with someone like Shay. She is fun, supportive, and becomes a true friend to Andie.
Family - Family both real and chosen play a huge role in this book and I loved hearing about Milo's huge family and Andie's grandmas, they had a small part but made a BIG impact.
Ribbons - Different activities to get ribbons to join a secret society!?! If only my college had something like this cause I would have been ALL ABOUT IT!

I just loved this book! I had such a great college experience and I feel like this book encompassed that feeling perfectly. Even though Andie has a lot to learn when she gets to college I love how she is able to rely on trusted friends to help her become the best version of herself and get her out of her comfort zone. If you are looking for a sweet college romance with pirate radio, secret societies and general college shenanigans I would recommend this book to you. Also anyone who has read and loved Emma Lord's other books, you will not be disappointed!

This is definitely YA for teens, not adults - it was very cheesy (even for YA). The main character Andie was just annoying and not relatable. I felt like they were in high school, not college. would recommend it to teens only.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Andie knows what she wants and has the plan to execute it. But when you're 18. you still have a lot to learn about life and how to roll with the unexpected.

***

Such a cute novel for any young adult who doesn't know where life will take them just yet. Major bonus for any Taylor Swift fan and loves to find references!

This was a solid 4.5-5 star read or me. I loved this book. It made me nostalgic for the beginning of college.
I thought that Emma's writing style was really good. I enjoyed reading her book and I would love to read more of them. I think they are really strong YA books.
I especially liked this book because one of the main parts of this book was about Andie finding herself, finding her place and found family, and reflecting on her position within her relationships.
I enjoyed the friendships and really the romance aspect was background. It was an enjoyable read.

A cute heartfelt YA read!

I loved that this book focused a lot on personal growth, finding who you are and friendships. I did not like the agonizing relationship between Conner and Andie.

Overall Begin again was an enjoyable read! I loved Andie’s growth and the friendships she made and think this book will be really popular for younger teens!

This is a sweet 𝐘𝐀 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 book about 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 and 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 which MC Andie does when she starts university.

I am a huge fan of Lord and her writings; her books have historically had a hook- 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐄 had a hilarious Twitter feud and a bakery with mouth watering recipes, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 had a secret insta influencer sibling and a stint at summer camp and 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 had a Broadway loving teen with a Mamma Mia like plot to find her birth mother. All are set in New York, which acts as a character in itself. All heavily feature LGBTQ characters. All are loud, vibrant, and attention-grabbing. In comparison, 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍 feels tame and more mature, as if Lord is shedding her sequined animal print onesie and putting on some big girl corduroys instead. Some mature topics but also lots of pop culture (and Taylor Swift) references.

I did feel it missed the mark for me as an adult (it was much too YA), but this is a good recommendation for the YA reader in your life.

New Adult

Emma Lord has found the sweet spot! She captures the time in life when a person is on the cusp of becoming - becoming an adult, forging their own path, entering into relationships, and figuring themselves out.

Andie Rose lost her mother at a young age. Her dream has been to go to the college her mom did and follow in her footsteps. She didn't get in on her first try, but was allowed to transfer at the semester break. Her boyfriend Connor did get in on his first try and she is going to surprise him with her transfer.

The surprise is on her, when Connor transferred back home. She puts tremendous pressure on herself to earn ribbons from events the school holds. She wants to earn enough for herself and Connor. These ribbons earn entry into the choice of a secret society and she cannot find out which one her mother belonged to, until she enters one herself. These ribbon events are only offered the 2nd semester of freshman year.

Nothing at school is what she expected, but she quickly becomes friendly with her roommate Shay and their RA Milo. Shay and Milo work on a pirate radio program that was actually begun by Andie's mother back in the day. Andie ends up helping them with the program, doing her work study with Milo's family, going to these ribbon events, all while struggling to study and maintain a long distance relationship. After her mother died, she and her father drifted apart. While she is very close to her grandmothers, she doesn't feel like she can really talk to them about what is going on at college. Inevitably, she and Milo are drawn closer together.

Milo, Andie, Shay and other main characters tackle their issues and find manageable solutions with the help of each other and by having meaningful conversations. Did everything get tied up in a pretty bow - yes, but that doesn't mean this wasn't a lovely story worth reading.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC of this novel.

This book was absolutely adorable! I usually don't pick up romcoms because I tend to think they all blend together, this one was the exception! We follow our main character, Andie, who just transfered to her dream college and is ready to tackle the infamous ribbons competition, just like her mom before. But everything goes off plan as soon as she arrives and she has to come up with a new plan for her semester.
There is found family, friends to lover, queer romance, dysfunctional families, and all of these tropes are done so well!
I loved how the book was not focused on the romance part and more on the self development of Andie. It was funny and just a fun and quick read!
I would definetly recommend to anyone that loves college setting and a group of friend that would do anything for eachothers.
Thanks again to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-ARC!

I was a little nervous going into Begin Again by Emma Lord just because I haven’t had much luck with YA novels lately. I should have known better though because Emma Lord has always delivered wonderful reads for me and Begin Again was no exception.

First of all, it’s set on a college campus, which has become one of my favorite YA settings. I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia factor since I loved college so much or if it’s just that there aren’t that many YA books set on college campuses, but whatever the reason, the college setting put a smile on my face from the first page. Second, I also liked that the protagonist was coming in off cycle as a second semester Freshman transfer student, also something I don’t often see in YA novels and a scenario that presents its own unique set of challenges for the protagonist.

Speaking of the protagonist, I found Andie to be a likeable character with a very relatable journey. She has finally arrived at the college of her dreams, after failing to get in the first time she applied, and immediately goes searching for her boyfriend who also goes there. She’s hoping to surprise him because she didn’t tell him she had applied as a transfer student. Andie’s the one who ends up surprised though because guess what? Her boyfriend wanted to surprise her too and has transferred to the community college Andie had been attending.

The rest of the story focuses on Andie figuring out who she is and what her place is without having her identity and all of her choices intertwined with her boyfriend’s. I loved this journey for her and that she met so many wonderful friends along the way. Her new roommate, Shay; her R.A and maybe crush, Milo; and her stats tutor, Valeria; become the found family Andie didn’t even know she needed and they help her navigate so many of the challenges she faces as a new college student. I loved how they supported her and also got her out there having fun and truly embracing the college experience.

In addition to the coming of age/finding your path aspect of the story, there’s also a very moving subplot involving Andie’s connection to the college through her parents who both went there. Andie’s mom died several years ago and she’s still processing that grief, as well as dealing with an estranged father who basically ran away after Andie’s mom died, leaving her to live with her grandmothers. Attending this college allows Andie the opportunity to form an even deeper connection with her parents as she joins a secret society her mom and dad founded back when they were students. It also opens the door to help heal the rift between Andie and her dad and there are some very moving scenes between those two that choked me up a bit.

With its college setting, found family, empowering coming of age journey for the protagonist, and a slow burn super cute friends to lovers romance, Begin Again has all of the ingredients for a delightful read that will leave you with a smile on your face.

Begin Again is a cute YA novel following Andie’s journey of first time college life, friendships, & self discovery. There are lots of little side stories and adventures of every day college life. I was hooked in the beginning when Andie’s dorm roommate is a bookstagrammer. It was such a cute minor detail to the story that I really appreciated. As the story went one, more than once I had the feeling of why am I reading this. What I thought was the plot to the story ended up feeling like a side story. I think this book is great for anyone who has recently moved off to college for the first time. There were a lot of great morals and lessons to the book, but it wasn’t anything I needed to learn or take away. I feel like I would have loved this book if I were 19 again or closer to that age.

Thank you NetGallery & St. Martin Press for this ARC.

This book was really cute! To avoid spoiling anything, I’ll just say that I absolutely loved watching not only the main relationship develop, but also the friends’ relationship!
This book juggled both Andie’s lasting grief and her feelings of worth with her developing romance and friendships! I think anyone who has lost a piece of their heart can find themselves in Andie’s journey.
I also really wish that my college had the bizarre and fun traditions of Blue Ridge State!

Emma Lord has a skill for writing YA that will draw in all ages. This book is full of friendships, crushes, and laughs, but also tackles self-discovery and dealing with the loss of a parent. I found myself picturing my own college campus throughout reading this book, so it was a nice little trip down memory lane. My only minor frustration was with Andie believing she always knew what was best for everyone and could solve every problem before even beginning her psychology classes. I never felt like she was really humbled in this story. Milo was likeable all along, and I’m glad we also got to see into his life and struggles to understand him better. I don’t read YA very often, but Emma Lord is always an exception. This book is a cute read with mostly loveable characters, though also tackles some difficult subjects.

2.5 stars // This was a cute little romance set on a university campus. Girl goes to school because of her mom’s legacy on campus and doesn’t feel like she’s living up to it. Her boyfriend that she’s known since childhood is at a different school and feeling rocky. Falls for her goofy RA and everything is happily ever after (as always!).

Not my favorite but not bad either.

I feel so blessed to have gotten another of Lords Arcs. These books never fail to leave me feeling warm on the inside. If you love radio/podcasts in books this one is for you!! The friendships and family dynamics are always amazing.

5/5 ⭐
0/5 🌶️

Emma Lord never ceases to amaze me with her stories. Begin Again was a beautiful coming of age, young adult romance that had me laughing, crying and cheering Andie, Milo, Shay and Val on from beginning to end.

Andie is a planner and has had her dreams laid out since she was a kid. One hiccup won't stop her as evidenced by finally joining her boyfriend at Blue Ridge College as the only mid-year transfer student. However when she arrives she discovers that Connor transferred back to their local community college as they both tried to surprise one another. From there she has to brave this new world alone while trying to carve her own path from her mom's shadow. But what she finds is a set of forever friends and her way back to her dad.

I really loved this cast of characters. They were so easy to love and I couldn't help but get invested in their individual stories. Watching Milo and Andie fall for each other after a mutual friend-zoning was so cute and fun, the angst was perfect for a ya novel. I really loved watching Andie and her dad rediscover their relationship too, it had me in tears watching them open up and reminisce about her mom. There's a little twist in this one that I had an inkling of, but it still hit me hard when Andie discovered it.... But the way her friends rallied for her was so awesome.

I can't wait to see what Emma brings to us next.

Emma Lord writes the cutest YA romances and this one is no exception.
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Andie is heading off to the same college her parents attended. She has set high expectations and is feeling the pressure she’s placed on herself. Andie is a “fixer” and tries to help everyone around her all while trying to resolve her own past hurts. This coming of age book has it all; boyfriend drama, family drama, and friend drama. I personally would have preferred a bit more romance. 🥰
Although a sweet read, this book still covers heavy topics.

Thank you to netgalley and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

I adored this one. All of Emma Lord’s books are adorable but this is by far my favorite so far.

Andie was relatable, trying to do everything for everyone else instead of herself. Her new friends, Shay and Valeria were some of my favorite characters, and of course lovable, grumpy RA Milo and his coffee addiction spoke to my soul.

This story made me laugh and cry, and I haven’t gotten that from a YA book in a while. Highly recommend!

Begin Again is a story about Andie, a college freshman, attempting to meet the expectations she's. set for herself by following in her mother's footsteps while desperately needing to find out more about who she is on her own. Her journey of making friends at a new school while trying to accomplish her goals is so heartfelt and full of fun. It really did take me back to being in college and felt so authentic to how friendships can be formed there. I loved this cast of characters so much! This was a great read and I highly recommend it!

I absolutely Love Emma lord. This novel is no exception. I was so happy to receive this ARC🎉. It is just as good as her other books.

This book really pulls on your heartstrings. I couldn't help but feel for Andie who is following in her mothers foot steps. Or trying to. I was rooting for her to succeeded. She may have a few setbacks but can she accomplish all she needs to?

It's a lot to juggle, academia ribbons and friends. Not to mention her stint on the podcast. How can she do it all?

I really enjoyed seeing how Andie will bounce back from the set backs she encounters. I enjoyed going with her on her adventures and meeting new friends. Where will her relationship with Connor take her?

You must read this book if you want a feel good story! Thank you to netgalley and St martins press for this ARc