A very moving novel with lots of important commentary on what it's like to be a young, queer woman in college. It also speaks on the tough topic of SA, but in a very meaningful way.

However, it just was not for me. I think the topics and themes really spoke to me, and I was really excited to read it, but the writing style was a bit off for me. It felt a bit like someone who does not know how modern queer teens speak, writing about them. This was not in a problematic way, but just awkward style wise.

Overall, a good read, I will look out for this authors future books to see how their writing style progresses.

DNF at 15%. Have I aged out of “coming of age” stories?? I don’t know. Sometimes I can read YA or New Adult and really enjoy it. And other times I am just reminded how much I am no longer a new adult and really just don’t want to be in that world/mindset. Unfortunately this was the second for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

Unfortunately, I did not get around to providing feedback before the publishing date ('cause, well...life),but thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC. However, I throughly enjoyed reading "Old Enough". Haley Jakobson truly captured the ups and downs of young adulthood of figuring out who you are, the type of people you associate with, and how you handle or overcome your trauma. I felt as though Jakobson was able to capture Sav and her friends college life experience as well as Sav's queerness and bisexuality genuinely, without it sounding like a trope or forced like in other books I've read. There were various sensitive topics, such as sexual assault, throughout the story, but handled beautifully. I hope to read more of Jakobson soon!

When Old Enough popped up on my radar as a bisexual coming of age campus novel, I couldn't help but get my hopes up because there are so few books that occupy that space and even fewer that are actually good. I'm thrilled to say Old Enough is one of those unicorn books that captures the tumultuous nature of growing up, coming out, moving past trauma, and finding your self in new people and surroundings. I loved this story so much and I'm so happy it exists. I love to think of a younger generation of readers being able to pick up stories like this and see themselves instead of the upper middle class white boy angst that dominated coming of age stories in to 2000s.

I will endless recommend this to readers young and old. There are trigger warnings, so keep that in mind but I will say the trauma that happens on page never felt like it was done gratuitously or for shock value. Like everything in Old Enough, it's done with so much love for the characters on the page and the people who see themselves in those characters.

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.

Old Enough by Haley Jakobson is a debut novel about friendship, queer love, and past trauma that is as heartwarming as it is heart-wrenching.

In the second semester of her sophomore year of college, Savannah “Sav” Henry is getting closer to the person she wants to be. She is finally out as bisexual, is making friends with other queers in her dorm, and is maybe even ready to move on from her first queer situationship to the crush she has on Wes from her Gender Studies class. But when she learns that Izzie, her best friend from childhood, has gotten engaged, Sav is forced to reckon with what happened between her and Izzie’s older brother when she was 16.

This book was such a gripping coming of age story. It’s been a good handbell for me as a bookseller. Everyone should read this book.

Coming of age tale about finding yourself and your community in spite of trauma and adversity. I wish it had been longer. Scenes with friend’s brother were difficult.

DNF at 25%. There is definitely a right audience at the right time for this, that is just not me at this moment. I pushed through the beginning but by 25%, I felt the story to be lacking and just very… idk the word but it just wasn’t for me. I could see others loving this one though!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback

This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it and we have to leave a star rating.

Okay. I loved this book. Where to even begin?

First, this book beautifully and purposefully discussed assault, justice, recovery and the confusing experience survivors often go through to name their attack. It is tackled thoughtfully and with respect - but will definitely be difficult for some to read.

Then, this book has extremely positive representations - particularly when it comes to gender and sexuality. The cast is diverse - and conversations around identity development and education on these identities are seamlessly woven into the story - without reading to educational.

And, you get a breakup with a BFF - a topic I don't think is spoken about nearly enough.

The only slight con is that there is a lot going on in this smaller-ish book; I can see why some readers will think there was a bit too much happening or that storylines weren't fully drawn out and wrapped up.

Overall, I adored this book - I think it was beautifully done and will resonate with me for time to come.

Unfortunately this was a complete miss for me, right from the get go. I was so excited to read Old Enough after seeing so many queer creators on TikTok share their love for it prior to release, however I was greatly disappointed. From the outset, the main character was probably one of the most annoying people that I've come across in a book, completely insufferable! Maybe it all hit too close to home as a queer gender studies student at a progressive university, because this is not how queer spaces should be and are explored within the real world. I ended up having to DNF at around 20% and found the conversations largely shallow for what the book was intending to do.

Unfortunately this book didn’t work for me and was a DNF but I am sure other readers will feel differently! Thank you for the ARC!

If I knew this book was so anti-sorority I wouldn't have picked it up. I think it was cheap to use sororoity as the stereotype of toxic women. They are not perfect but they are trying.

I do think this book was well written and necessary. I appreciated the unapologetic queer characters. And the thoughtful Women and Gender Studies representation!!

An exploration of queer love and friendship, Old Enough is a truly beautiful debut novel by Haley Jakobson. I have never read a book that captures the pain of a friendship breakup so well.

I just absolutely love books like this!! Give me a messy protagonist figuring herself out, making bad choices and learning and moving on and failing and learning and not learning and making friends and losing them. yes yes yes.

Loved this book! Jakobson's writing of Sav's friend group is amazing and it reminded me of Casey McQuiston and I always fall in love with the group of friends.

Old Enough by Haley Jakobson is the story of Sav's coming of age and learning who she is in the midst of her friend's engagement. I appreciated the clear sense of searching from Sav as well as the setting of a college campus. I think many young people will resonate with this book and I enjoyed getting to experience the emotional lives of these young adults.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Old Enough in exchange for an honest review. Old Enough is available now.

A unapologetic and powerful coming of age story for 2023. Despite it's serious and difficult themes, the novel also managed to be easy to read and lighthearted, particularly in the characterisation of Savannah's new college friends. I think the book was probably aimed at someone at a little younger than me but I would definitely recommend this to any young adult. I love any novel about friendship and this book potrays the difficulty of moving through significant life phases, shedding elements of our past selves, and often, shedding relationships and friendships from our lives as we learn and grow.