Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

this book is simply perfect, pun intended. this is the book that i needed as a teen. i love every single aspect of this book. it’s cute and mushy in the right parts, and real and tough in all the right places too. it’s a perfect balance of romance and character development with such a cute and fun premise and original and realistic characters. loved every minute of it

me and wlw books are TIGHT. cute and fun and gay just how i like it

Felicity Becker loves watching an event come together. Whether it's prom, graduation, or just the annual Arbor Day school dance, there's something magical about crafting an experience that people will remember. So when her mom gets engaged, Felicity sees the wedding as the perfect opportunity to show off her skills.

After Felicity's long-distance friend Nancy offers up her family's apple orchard as a venue, wedding planning gets even better. But the more time Felicity and Nancy spend together dress shopping and hunting for just-right mismatched china, the more it starts to seem like there might be something besides friendship between them. Felicity isn't sure how she feels. As someone on the asexual spectrum, what would dating even look like for her? And would Nancy be open to dating when Felicity doesn't even know what she wants from a relationship?

Suddenly the summer is a lot more complicated. Especially when Felicity finds out that one of the wedding guests is an event planner with a prestigious internship available. Can Felicity wrangle her irresponsible mom, juggle her judgmental grandmother, figure out her feelings for Nancy, and plan the perfect wedding? Or will all of her plans come crashing down around her?

This book was super cute! I enjoyed reading the ace rep along with the anxiety rep. Honestly relate so much so Felicity’s perfectionism.

Let me start out by saying that I LOVED the asexual representation in this book. We need more of it, so kudos to Haley Neil for that! Unfortunately though, I didn't love the protagonist and her voice. She was too self-centered and whiny for me (and I too am an overachieving, ace, planner-extraordinaire), and I just couldn't get past that. I hope PLANNING PERFECT finds its readers who enjoy it much more than I did, but it turned out not to be for me.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

I was so excited to read this book because I heard their is an asexual MC....and it did NOT disappoint. Honestly I'm so excited for teenagers to have this book!!!

It's rom-comy and sort of predictable in all of the very best ways! This one has good anxiety rep, good ace rep and a cast of really wonderful characters. I will definitely be recommending this one to friends (and have already!)

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I adored Haley’s first book, and it was easy to fall in love with this one! It was so cute! She has a way of pulling you in and connecting you with the characters so that you feel apart of their story and their journey. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

I really loved this one! I love Haley's writing and the way she creates such cute but also meaningful stories. I loved the relationship between Felicity and Eric, her soon to be step-dad. I liked Nancy but felt like I didn't get to know her as well as I had wanted to. I also wanted more moments of her and her mom. I loved the Vermont setting and the apple orchard was great. Of course, the real star of the show, was Aunt Gwendolyn. I loved the Jewish and Ace rep!

This was the sweetest story I’ve read in awhile. I couldn’t get enough and I can’t wait to post about this and rave. Will update my review once I officially post my review.

*DNF @ 15%*

I truly appreciate this book. Felicity is a perfectionist and anxious. She is a character that speaks to me however the writing did not appeal to me and I could tell this would be an average read. I appreciate the representation, however I had no interest continuing.

Planning Perfect is an #OwnVoices YA contemporary novel about a Jewish teenager on the asexual spectrum. Felicity Becker has a Type A personality to rival Rory Gilmore, and her dynamic with her free-spirited, unconventional mother and uptight, controlling grandmother will ring a bell to anyone with a passing familiarity with the show—not a surprise as the author pitched this as ‘Gilmore Girls but make it Jewish’. Always armed with a plan, to-do list and matching Pinterest board, Felicity believes she can make life to conform to her rigidly outlined expectations, but when she fails to secure the coveted position as Junior Committee President of the Social Friends Committee, she falls into an anxiety spiral over the notion that she’s destroyed her future now that she only has the less impressive title of Chief of Moral Support to put on college applications. But when her mother becomes engaged, Felicity has a chance to salvage the situation with an internship up for grabs if she can pull off the perfect wedding…in forty-seven days.

While I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the Jewish representation, I very much enjoyed the incorporation of Jewish traditions in a way that felt genuine and provided insight into the main characters, like how Felicity and her mother’s weekly observance of Shabbat went from mother-daughter bonding time to eventually including her mother’s boyfriend Eric and Felicity’s best friend Roo. Be warned—there are bountiful food descriptions that will make your stomach rumble and your mouth salivate for the delicious meals savoured by these characters!

Felicity’s musings on her asexuality and biromanticism were pitch-perfect to me as a biromantic ace reader and it never came across like a lecture or a PSA being shoehorned into the book. Her insecurity and concerns about what her romantic future would look like resonated on a deep personal level and made me feel seen. Books like this didn’t exist when I was younger, hopefully it will be a comfort to modern-day teens who are coming to terms with their asexuality or simply trying to figure out their identity. Felicity is surrounded by supportive family and friends who never question the way she labels herself and it’s heart-warming to read about her positive experiences with confiding in loved ones about her orientation.

However the reader’s ultimate enjoyment of this book will depend on how much patience they have for flawed teens with a lot of growing up to do. Felicity’s ambition and drive is entirely sympathetic as is her disappointment over not winning the election, but from the first page, she presents herself as judgmental, difficult and immature. She’s rude to the secretary for enforcing school rules about detention for late students, rude to her ‘nemesis’ Brody Wells for blocking the classroom doorway and then having the nerve to wish her good luck, and when her mother’s long-time boyfriend proposes, she’s annoyed at the lack of sufficient props and drama behind the proposal because it’s not up to her high standards. At the start of the book, Felicity’s internal monologue is filled with condescension for everyone around her which is tiring to read.

Thankfully the author has planned a growth arc for Felicity’s character and as the story progresses, we see her become more self-aware, considerate and come to the realisation that she doesn’t know best after all. It does take a good portion of the book before she matures, but seeing how dedicated Felicity is to planning the perfect day for her mother makes it easier to root for her character. The appearance of long-distance friend Nancy on-page revitalises the story and infuses the chapters with humour, warmth and a slowly growing romantic spark as the two girls work together on the wedding plans. Their friendship and gradual blossoming romance is an absolute joy to read and will make readers yearn for a Nancy of their own!

The conflict in this book is entirely relationship-focused, there’s no external force to overcome, instead it all boils down to Felicity’s goals and flawed coping mechanisms when things go wrong. There is a strong mental health theme explored through the way Felicity’s anxiety causes her to act out and neglect herself, and it’s commendable how much the author focuses on the value of therapy, self-care and simple communication to work through problems. It’s also sadly very realistic how much teenagers define themselves by whether they ace exams or secure a prestigious social club position; there is an unfortunately common perception that students are failures in life if they don’t achieve these aims, so I appreciated Felicity’s arc of coming to understand that she is just as valid and worthy of being loved whether or not she has enough impressive dot points for her college applications.

A sweet story about a neurotic teenager navigating the difficult path to self-acceptance and realising you deserve love no matter your achievements or your orientation. Felicity’s emotional journey from uptight and demanding to being more accepting and mature is a bumpy ride, but ultimately rewarding.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of this book to read and review! I love Haley's writing so much. Her characters are always complex with real feelings and struggles. This was like Gilmore Girls, but make it Jewish. And I LOVED IT!! Felicity and her mom are Jewish and I really enjoyed their Shabbat dinner tradition. There was also great asexual and other LGBTQ+ representation and I felt like I learned a ton while reading. In addition, Felicity definitely struggled with anxiety and I appreciated her vulnerabilities seen throughout the story. I think exploring the idea of what it's like to be "perfect" and the surrounding pressure from other people was incredibly important and meaningful. The side characters were delightful in this book and I loved Nancy both as a friend and love interest and thought Roo was a nice balance for Felicity. There was so much to enjoy about this book and I was a huge fan of Haley's first novel, so I couldn't wait for this one. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed and this book felt like a warm hug!

Felicity is a bit of a perfectionist with major anxiety and a desire to plan and please. So planning her mom's wedding in less than 3 months is both a dream come true and absolutely horrible pressure.

Reading Felicity's thoughts was a little too much like being in my own anxiety-ridden brain. And as someone who is also ace/bi, the thought processes there were also on point. There were a couple of points that I wasn't a fan of, but overall this was a sweet, low-stakes story.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is the story of Felicity and her experience taking on the planning of her mom and future step-dad's wedding. Felicity has an in real life best friend and text best friend. Her text best friend, Nancy, offers up her family's orchard for the event. Felicity, her mom, and step-dad stay for the entire summer. Felicity and Nancy go on cute extravaganzas and adventures where they catch feelings.
Overall, it was a cute story, and I appreciated the ace representation. Sometimes points were repeated a couple too many times for my liking. Would be interested in reading a part 2!

Maybe really 4.5 stars? Either way, this adorable rom-com had me charmed from the first chapter, and I was hooked all the way through the sweetly satisfying ending. Some aspects were predictable, but in the way where it's still very enjoyable to see everything play out. All of the characters were wonderful, and Felicity has such a great voice. I know a lot of people are looking for a book like this, so it's going to be something I recommend frequently!

CW: hospitalization, racism

I DNFed at about 35%-I just couldn’t get into it. I appreciated to Jewish, ace, and LGBTQ+ representation, as well as the SERIOUS Gilmore Girls vibes the story was throwing, but I really didn’t like the MCs-both Felicity and her mother were really hard for me to like. While I appreciated the point of the plot, I feel like it seriously dragged and just generally took its sweet time. I’m sure this is the book for some people, it just wasn’t for me.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Bloomsbury Childrens. All opinions are my own.

This sweet romcom about a girl on the asexual spectrum who tries to plan her mom's location wedding in Vermont without spiraling out will be just what you're looking for as a wonderful summer read. Felicity has had a rough time of it. After the incident last year, she's trying to get back on track with a prime position at her favorite school club. But when her mom gets engaged, she throws all her energy into planning the perfect wedding. And maybe she can connect more with a friend from the summer that she may or may not have a crush on!
I honestly almost DNFed this one. It took a while to get started and it just seemed like there wasn't enough to sustain a story I kept going because the writing was engaging and very quick to read. In the end, I did end up enjoying this one, but I had issues I get the issues later on, but Roo was a jerk even before Fiona left for the summer. And Fiona's mom! I love banter, but she was unable of answering ANY question seriously. She knows her daughter has issues, but she exacerbates the problems by not making any kind of wedding decisions at ALL. So frustrating.
Overall I was hoping for more from this but I do think this author has potential.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Planning Perfect" follows Felicity Becker, a perfectionist who plans everything to the last detail. So when her mom becomes engaged over the summer, it provides the unexpected but wonderful opportunity to show off her skills. After a disappointment at school, things may just be turning around, especially when her long-distance friend Nancy is able to provide her family's apple orchard in Vermont as a venue for the event.

Felicity is a really hard person to connect with–she had so much going on internally that it affected the speed of the story, making it move at a slower pace than I expected. As someone who has anxiety, it really raised mine at times. The main character identifies as being ace-spectrum and biromantic, which was really wonderful to see in a book. Haley Neil makes sure to define these terms for the reader, who may be unfamiliar with their meanings. A main theme was exploring how Felicity's asexuality would affect any potential relationship–this representation is beautiful. I think this story has a lot of opportunity to help people feel seen.

I had a huge problem Felicity's mom. Because despite knowing the issues her daughter deals with, Hannah exacerbated everything, making situations so much worse than they needed to be. If she could only answer a question seriously–her character was very reminiscent of Lorelai Gilmore. But I didn't find the quirkiness cute like I normally would, I found it frustrating. On the topic of "Gilmore Girls" the relationships in "Planning Perfect" between mother/daughter, mother/grandmother and daughter/grandmother were eerily similar, even some of the scenes. Here, they do weekly brunch every Sunday instead of Friday night dinners, but potato, patato.

Moving on to additional side characters, Roo, was not my favourite. And while Felicity can come across as self-involved a lot of the time, needing someone to speak with when she's spiralling, he does not seem very open with her for a best friend. This created easily avoidable drama. Nancy on the other hand, our love interest, was perfect–she's communicative, sweet, patient, caring and non-judgmental. I really do wish we got to see more of their relationship bloom over the wedding planning. Those were the best parts of "Planning Perfect."

I can't forget to mention the Jewish representation which I love to see. The way Eric would merge his culture with Judaism when cooking Shabbat dinner is the best kind of embracive. It preserves tradition while innovating, passing on new customs to be shared.

Overall, the story is a fun read, despite being a little heavy at times. Especially if you're looking for a sapphic read with a plus-size mc who embraces their body and style, this is for you.

CONTENT WARNING: racist microaggressions, anxiety

I have to admit that when I got approved for this book, I was so excited that I did a little happy dance. Her previous book, Once More With Chutzpah, was great, and I fully expected to love this one just as much. And I wasn’t let down.

One of the things that I loved the most about this book was the way it gave more insight into being on the asexual spectrum. Felicity, the main character, identifies as ace-spectrum and biromantic, and while I have a basic understanding of asexuality, biromantic was a new term to me. The author does a great job of not only defining what these terms mean to the MC, but also exploring how they affect her and her relationships with others. I also especially loved that she’s a plus-size character, who despite struggling at times with her body image, also embraces it and is comfortable with her own unique style.

Felicity also struggles with anxiety and it manifests as a tendency towards pushing herself to perfectionism. She works with a therapist, and practices coping skills, but has trouble at times with boundaries and self-care, especially when she gets fixated on a project. And her summer focus of creating the perfect wedding for her mother and soon-to-be step-father creates a perfect storm for Felicity.

While I struggled at times with Felicity’s character, I did like seeing her grow and change throughout the book. It was frustrating to see her devolve in the middle section of the book, especially knowing that she was creating an implosion of her own making, but I had faith that she’d eventually come around.

Nancy was a great foil for Felicity’s character. She’s sporty and laid-back while Felicity is uptight and everything that Nancy isn’t. While Felicity is single-mindedly focused on the wedding, Nancy pushes her to incorporate fun and self-care activities. It was cool to see the gentle way that she encourages Felicity to get outside of her comfort zone in a way that Felicity is able to accept, while still respecting her needs. Although Felicity has an innate need for control and structure, Nancy pushes her to go with the flow and learn to accept not being in charge of everything around her all the time. She was also supportive and respectful, giving her space when she needed it, and being there when she needed her. I thought it was a great example of a healthy relationship, whether it was platonic or romantic.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but love Felicity’s unusual family structure. Her mother is unconventional, a total free spirit focused on family and a relative lack of structure, while Felicity seems to take on the parent role in a lot of their interactions. And while Eric, her mom’s boyfriend, isn’t Jewish, he manages to incorporate his own cultural traditions into their weekly Shabbat dinner, creating a merger of both of their heritages into a beautiful new tradition.

Overall, this was a fun and light read, while still addressing more serious issues. It focuses a bit on anxiety, difficult family relationships, racism, and coming to an understanding of who we are and our own sexuality at a time when so much of our lives are changing, and defining not only who we are, but who we want to be. Nothing is unchangeable, even the things that we believe are stuck, and this book is a perfect example of that.

Felicity Becker is a perfectionist, she wants to be perfect, but that can be a little difficult when her mother tends to not want to be responsible making Felicity need to create structure herself. Felicity is also dealing with her sexual identity and where she stands as she figures out where she falls on the asexual spectrum while also trying to figure out her feelings for her best friend... who happens to be in love with her. Throw in the fact that Felicity’s mother wants her to plan the wedding, its a lot of pressure and things going on, especially when Felicity loses the committee seat at school that she wanted so badly and her grandmother offers to help get her an internship.... but all of this pressure is piling onto a complicated summer for Felicity. Now she has to plan a wedding, work on an internship, deal with friend drama from her other best friend Roo, and her complicated feelings for her best friend as well as family drama. This book deals with a lot, and you really feel for Felicity because her mom is irresponsible and her grandmother does pressure her to be perfect, Felicity throughout the book is forced to be the adult in her life, which is frustrating to read. Despite how well intentioned her mother is, I felt so bad for Felicity, imagine planning a wedding for your mother that she never participates in and never tells you or offers you anything to indicate that maybe she wants it a certain way? Felicity is going through a lot in this book and you absolutely feel the frustration for not only her situation but in the way she struggles to find a way to sort out her issues and how she tackles each situation and problem. Overall its an interesting story with wedding planning, family drama, and relationships.

*Thanks Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, Bloomsbury YA for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*