I'm a big Dahlia Adler fan and was so excited to get a copy of Going Bicoastal. I wasn't expecting this to be a Sliding Doors type narrative where two choices branch off from the main narrative and play out. Natalya Fox has to choose between spending the summer where she lives with her Dad in New York or spending the summer in LA with her dad. We readers are lucky as we don't have to choose - we get to see what happens if she stays in New York or goes to L.A. In New York she connects more with her Jewish heritage learning to cook Shabbat dinners, connects with and begins to date the red-headed girl she sees around a lot, and starts connecting more with her Mom over the phone and also planning a career in graphic design. In LA she takes an internship at her Moms company that also leads her to a graphic design goal - as well as her cute fellow intern a guy with a secret desire to go to culinary school. A nice touch is that in both scenarios she gets more in touch with her Jewish heritage, becomes closer to her Mom, and establishes some career goals. I really can't say which romantic storyline I preferred, both stories had lots of chemistry. What I thought might be an annoying gimmick at first turned out to be cute and entertaining.

This book was just so much fun! Going Bicoastal is a Sliding Doors-style romcom that follows Natalya, a bisexual Jewish girl, as she chooses to either stay in New York and finally get the girl of her dreams OR head to LA to stay with her mom for the summer, where she'll eventually meet the guy of her dreams. Both stories had me kicking my feet at the cute parts, crossing my fingers for Nat to repair her relationship with her mom, and staving off a rumbling stomach thanks to all of the delicious food descriptions. All in all, the perfect summer read!

Final rating: 4.5/5 stars, rounded up to 5!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I was totally hooked by the premise of this book - one character with two alternative story lines? So intriguing! Overall the plots for both scenarios were solid, although I did find myself more interested in one version over the other. What bothered me though was how hard the author was trying to make her characters sound 'cool.' Some of the language was too juvenile even for a YA book, especially for the events that occur throughout the story. It took quite a bit of the enjoyment out of the reading of it for me, and I found myself eye rolling far too many times.

I really enjoyed the representation of the Jewish population in this book. It was a very realistic component to the story and I appreciated how the main character held this as a part of her identity. I also thought the author did a nice job with how Natayla shares being bisexual. She didn't overly fixate on the fact, but let the stories speak for themselves in sharing her feelings, thoughts and experiences.

Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler was such a fun and delightful experience. The parallel timelines was such an interesting take along with the bisexual representation. I loved it and I cannot wait to recommend this to everybody.

Oh, this was a lot of sweet YA romance fun. At a pivotal age for makign decisions about the future, a big choice of where to spend the summer can be followed along both options (ala Sliding Doors, or a way less melancholy and less sci-fi My Real Children) to two different, sweet romances. Both summers/romantic options/outcomes were so excellent I couldn't choose between them; in my mind the big decision of where to go for the summer sprang up alternate universes, Doctor Who style, so both can continue indefinitely in alternate timelines.

Sliding Doors is one of my favorite movies. I'm definitely a person who believes that we have millions of paths to choose from and the tiniest decision can make a big change to your path. But we don't see the map or the tree we just experience the journey. So we might end up in the same spot just from different directions.
So I loved the idea of a queer YA version of this idea.
The main character Natalia is Jewish and bi. And loved how they spoke about Shabbat and how both paths she took she was learning how to cook and spend more time with her family during that time.
Also how she forms a better relationship with her mother since she lives with her father after their divorce. And the career she wanted she seemed to fall into the same type of position but on different paths in different ways.
In her LA path she is into a guy named Adam and in her NY path she finally talks to the red haired girl named Elly.
This was a sweet coming of age story told from two possible paths taken. With romance, lots of food, and family togetherness.

Thank you stmartinspress for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

As a fan of her last book, Home Field Advantage, I've now come to expect a deft touch with teens navigating sexuality when Dahlia's writing, and this is another win for her. The characters and their dilemmas feel authentic and not story-arbitrary, and their happy endings are all the more deserved. Always a fan of Dahlia's!

This story was such a unique concept for me to read! Natalya has to make a choice between staying in NYC with her father, friends and the girl she's been crushing on or going to LA to visit with her mother and strengthen their relationship. Dahlia Adler takes readers on a journey of exploring both options with alternating chapters. I found myself drawn to a particular storyline while reading. Natalya goes through personal growth in each outcome, along with navigating options for her after high school goals. I enjoyed this story overall! I also enjoyed being introduced to the Jewish representation and learning about the traditions! Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

So! This book was such a delight to read!! I absolutely loved both timelines almost equally, something I hadn't expected. My main worry was not being able to tell them apart, or getting confused between them, but that was not an issue at all.

The side characters on both coasts were unique (and there were, as promised, Lara and Jasmine cameos!!). They were surprisingly developed, considering they didn't get a huge amount of page time, since the book is basically split in half. My favorites were probably the parents (loved the little interrogations so much), alllll the friends, and special shoutout to EvanandMateoo<33 (ofc my girl was right).

Now, the similarities. I loved the parallels. I LIVED for the parallels. It felt a bit similar to when the title of a book is used in it, something that makes me so randomly happy for absolutely no reason! There were phrases said, or realizations she made, in both timelines, which really showed, that while the people around her, and the environment, was different, Natalya was still the same person.

On to the love interests! I loved Adam and Elly! Adam and Natalya's relationship started with a bit of enmity, which i always lovee, while Elly and Natalya's was more of a longtime mutual attraction, so also super fun! Both relationships were fleshed out and easy to root for, though they were definitely different so it never felt boring or repetitive.

After this and Cool for the Summer (which i also loved, just not as much!), Dahlia Adler has definitely become one of my instant-add-to-tbr authors!

Also random note: the John Mayer (🤢) hate made me happy<3

Songs i thought of during this book:
'Older' and 'Only Child' by Sasha Alex Sloan (about the divorce and growing up alone, respectively)

4.5 Stars!

One of my most anticipated reads for this year, and it did not disappoint!

It’s a dual timeline story of romance and summer plans and uncertain futures for our lead, Natalya.

One storyline follows Natalya staying in NYC with her father for the summer and going out of her shell to peruse the girl of her dreams.

The other storyline follows Natalya as she heads to LA to live with her estranged mom for the summer and falling for the guy she never saw coming!

Each story is so wonderful and they blend together seamlessly every other chapter. So many parallels and outcomes between the stories that you feel like you got not one, but two incredible summer romances full of self discovery and adventure.

The best part? We even get two HEAs in a choose your own ending style epilogue.

As a late blooming bi, this story made my heart so insanely happy and it was insanely satisfying. I cannot recommend it enough and it’s one I will happily be rereading!!

What's a better summer read than book with a happy ending? A book with TWO happy endings! This was so much fun! I loved both timelines (although it took me a little longer to get into the LA one), and while I was originally apprehensive that they'd both have enough room to feel complete in what's already a relatively short book, they both do.

It was really meaningful to me to see a more observant Jewish main character in a book like this. Shabbat dinners make regular appearances in both timelines, and Natalya keeps kosher. There's also such a variety in observance across the supporting characters who are Jewish, which was also wonderful to see!

CW: divorce, mention of past self-harm

I absolutely loved this book! Dahlia Adler has taken an almost Choose-Your-Own Adventure style approach to this book, without compromising the quality or how enjoyable either path is. GOING BICOASTAL had me hooked from the very beginning and completely surpassed any expectations that I had. It’s undoubtedly a very fun rom-com, but it also has some absolutely incredible character work and relationship building along with that, and this staunch pride in both Natalya’s bisexuality and Jewishness that was so genuine and heartfelt. I will admit, I did have a favourite choice/love interest, but I truly enjoyed seeing Adler explore both options. I completely devoured this book and I could not recommend it enough.

Natalya Fox has a choice. She can stay in New York with her dad, her friends, and the cute redhead she’s been crushing on all year, or go visit her mom in LA with an internship and a cute boy that she doesn’t know yet. And she ultimately decides…both, or at least that’s the story that we get to follow. Natalya’s story unfolds in both NY and LA, with two potential love interests, and with a world of relationship and personal development on both sides. Whichever side she actually picked, the end goal remains largely the same, it’s the journey that changes. It’s a true testament to how well this is written and how fun it is that despite a preference, I never found myself dreading a switch between timelines, but instead excited to see what would happen next.

Despite being a rom-com, GOING BICOASTAL also does some serious heavy lifting in the non-romantic relationship, personal growth, and side character development department. We truly get to see Nat grow as a character, from deepening her relationships with her parents (who also got their own growth in their own ways!) to figuring out her non-romantic future. On both paths, we get a wealth of side characters that I loved seeing Nat interact with (although I do have a particular fondness for the food truck crew).

Although I don’t specifically relate to a lot of aspects of Natalya’s identity (outside of being queer), that didn’t stop the parts of the books that discussed and embraced those facets from being some of my absolute favourite parts. There isn’t ever a question of Nat’s Jewishness or her bisexuality, they’re integral to her character, but they’re still given center stage in her journey, embraced in such a genuinely wonderful way, from learning how to cook Shabbos dinner to the two equivalent love stories with a guy and a girl. Not to mention I really just enjoyed seeing Nat grow and develop as an already strong character.

And of course, I have to talk about the romance. The redhead already in New York and the cute mystery intern that she’d be working with in LA. Both of these romantic paths have such great potential, and I really enjoyed getting to see Nat explore both of them. All that said, I have to admit that I enjoyed her storyline and especially the romance in LA just a little bit more. From my own personal preferences, there was something about getting to see Nat fall from the very beginning instead of acting upon an already established crush that had me that much more on the edge of my seat. In some ways I also thought that LA was the better fit for her overall, but I can see how others might like the NY storyline just as much or more. But I have to say, Adam Rose the man that you are!!

If you’re looking for your next summer read or just your next rom-com in general, this one is an absolutely fantastic choice (my favourite Dahlia Adler book to-date!) And if you haven’t read/planned on reading it already, I would highly recommend adding it to your list!

Thank to you Netgalley and to Dahlia Adler for letting me read this arc. First of all, 5 stars! This book made my queer heart so freaking happy. I figured out that I am bisexual a couple of years ago, and this book just spoke to me. I got very attached to Natalya almost immediately. This book is similar to a choose your own adventure as it has a dual narrative , and I love that so much! The writing is so fun! This is a book that is very hard to put down. My husband had to call me to dinner twice. This is a book I will be recommending to everyone for forever. My only complaint is that I wish it were longer. Seriously, I hope that everyone reads this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC for this honest review.

I am a die hard Dahlia Adler fan. Since I listened to Cool for the Summer, Dahlia has been on my list of auto buy authors. This book is just a testimony for that.

In Going Bicoastal, Natayla Fox has to make a decision: spend summer in New York with her dad and have a chance romancing the mysterious redhead girl she has seen for years, or go to LA to live with her mom and end up meeting a guy she never expected. In true Dahlia Adler fashion, you get romance, humor, and a whole lot more.

One thing I loved about this book is the bisexual rep. But then again…I trust Dahlia with my life for this type of representation in books. Nat (that’s one of her many nicknames) is already very out and very proud and open about it. Nat is also Jewish and observes Shabbat dinners. This is a major plot line in both timelines. More Shabbat dinner scenes in books!

As for both love interests in the book, I couldn’t pick which one I liked best. In the end, I wanted Nat to end up with one in particular, but then again there’s two timelines. Two choices. Two decisions. With each timeline, you got to see Nat grow with her relationship with each parent, mainly her mom. She also grew as a person with her friend groups and in love with both Elly and Adam. We as readers get to see how Nat falls for each in different ways.

Overall, I loved this book. It is a perfect summer read that you can easily get lost into.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Dahlia Adler and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Natayla has to choose between staying in NYC for the summer and getting her dream girl or spending much needed time with her mom in LA and meeting a guy that was never on her radar. Since she can't choose the story is told in alternating timelines. One with her in LA and one with her in NYC.
A really fun and engaging YA! I loved the duel timelines and thought both storylines flowed well.

Adler's Going Bicoastal is an excellently executed YA Sliding Doors romance. Natalya's parents are divorced, and this story focuses on the alternating realities of if she were to stay with her mother or if she were to live with her father. In each of these different realities she has a love interest. Elly in New York and Adam in LA. Each reality helps her find happiness in different ways.

This is such a sweet romance, and I found it hard to choose between the two love interests. Highly recommend.

I’ve never seen the movie Sliding Doors, but I’m always so intrigued by stories that show how one decision could end up affecting or changing someone’s whole life. When I read the synopsis for Going Bicoastal, I knew a story like this would be safe in Dahlia Adler’s hands—her stories are always well-told with strong representation and adorable YA romances.

I can’t break this book up like I usually do because I don’t really have much (or anything!) that I didn’t like about it. The Sliding Doors format could have been super cheesy, but it really worked here, and I loved that there was a choose-your-own-adventure-type ending that meant that Natalya really did have an alternate future, depending on which decision she made. I enjoyed both love stories—though I was drawn more to her LA life—and I was surprised that it was actually her relationship with a guy that was the more chaste of the two storylines.

I wish I could be brought back into this world—maybe another book could be about the taco truck? Because I loved the whole chosen-family dynamic there.

I highly recommend Going Bicoastal!

4.5 STARS

Going Bicoastal is an interesting take at parallel timelines, in which the reader is not led to root for one and dislike the other. Usually I dislike these narratives because I feel like authors want me to root for their favorite love interest in a triangle - thus making one of the love interests be significantly and outwardly more romantic and undeniably the choice to go with.

Adler manages to sincerely keep you wondering which of the characters will be the ultimate choice and I enjoyed having a glance at both possibilities in an extensive way.

I read only a few YA books a year and some I love, some fall short for me. This was definitely entertaining but I think I would’ve enjoyed this a lot more a few years ago.

Alas, this is a really fun summer read and I say bravo to Dahlia Adler!

Adler delivers another must read queer YA of the summer!

GOING BICOASTAL is a dual perspective YA: in one story our main character Natalya spends the summer with her mother in LA and falls head over heels for her co-intern and aspiring chef Adam. In the second story, which alternates chapters, Natalya stays in NYC for the summer and is destined for the goth Redhead she has been encountering at all her favorite spots around town for the year.

Adler deftly weaved the storylines, making it clear that each option had its highs and its challenges. I loved seeing what remained true despite the summer Natalya chose, as she carves out her path and comes of age.

By the end, I actually couldn't choose which timeline I enjoyed more.

Grab this YA if you're looking for a sweet low angst book chock-full of summer vibes on both coasts.

This is my first Dahlia Adler book but I can’t wait to read more! It was so cute! I love the dual storyline - two romances, two swoony love interests, and two HEAs in one book! And I honestly loved both routes. Idk if it was purposeful but the message I read in this is that our choices determine the paths we take but there’s not just one right path. I think that’s beautiful. There was also so much great rep in this book and I think there needs to be a companion recipe book with all of the Shabbat and Dinner Party meals!! I can’t wait to go back and read some of Adler’s other books and to read those still to come.