I think it's time to admit I'm aging out of YA. I couldn't get on with Emmett as a protagonist and I think the plot as a whole would've worked better with slightly older characters- new adult would've been ideal, but this was a bit young and immature.

I love other books, but this one was an unfortunate miss for me. Overall the plot pacing was a bit off. I do have it prominently featured on my Pride table though!

Emma is by far and away my LEAST favorite Austen story, but somehow one I'm always down to read a retelling of - why is that? I love this queer contemporary twist on Emma, that gives as much Clueless as it does the classic.

Emmett is a modern day retelling of "Emma" but with the main character being Emmett. I haven't read "Emma" in quite some time so I was not able to make other comparisons, but I enjoyed this story all the same! I enjoyed this story especially watching Emmett's growth unfold on the pages. The author weaves a wonderful story filled with friendship, humor and family. I have continued to think about this story and Emmett even after reading it. Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Very cute and funny. Not the most likable main character in Emmett but it was an enjoyable read while he (sorta) figured things out. I have not read Emma, that this book is based on, but now I want to. So I can’t speak to how well it follows the inspiration.

3.5

When I initially got the email about Emmett, I thought it was a New Adult romance novel because it gave me Red, White and Royal Blue vibes. Instead, this a young adult coming-of-age novel that is a remixing if Emma. I will admit, however, that I’ve never actually read Emma, so I can’t speak to how accurate that statement is. The plot follows a high schooler (Emmett) who is trying to find the perfect match for his (former) friend-with-benefits.

Emmett’s character was a very interesting one to follow throughout this novel because he suffers from a lot of toxic internalization of feeling like he needs to be absolutely perfect while always doing the “nice” thing. These thoughts result in him missing out on a lot of his life, because of how much he limits himself. It was interesting watching him cope with this and refreshing every time he experienced real character growth within these rigid frameworks.

The overall romance plot is incredibly predictable (even with how the blurb is written), so this isn’t a book that will keep you guessing at all. This aspect of the writing often made me feel like this would serve audiences better as a rom-com film rather than a book, especially considering the care the author put into having cinematic-like scenes incorporated into the chapters. There are a lot of scenes that involve artistic foreshadowing that I feel would definitely lend this book towards having an adaptation of some sort.

I wanted to like this so much but I just could not vibe with the Emmett. I love the representation in this book, like all L. C. Rosen books. I have loved every other book. This one just wasn’t for me.

This was such a fun YA contemporary! A modern retelling of the classic Emma, Rosen delivers a compelling and realistic study of a young boy who thinks he has everything figured out. Emmett does come to realize that shocker, he can in fact be wrong about things 😂🙊.

Emmett was such a fun character and while I did want to be like boy you’re missing obvious signs, I was having too much fun to truly be irritated. If you enjoyed some of the humor from Hack of Hearts, you’ll find a similar one in Emmett but with more sophistication 💅.

I really loved Emmett’s group of friends and his extended family. It was so pure and cute! Seeing these relationships grow and change was so heartwarming. There’s a slow burn romance that develops and I loved it so much!! (The love interest is demisexual and demiromantic 🥹.)

If you enjoy contemporaries add this one to your purchase list as it’s out today!

I've loved all of this author's books and this was no exception. I've always had a soft spot for him because Jack of hearts was one of the first YA books I read with queer main character who didn't diminish asexuality in the queer community and in fact recognized and celebrated it in a secondary character.

This one actually reminds me a lot of jack of hearts. It is sex positive and a YA appropriate manner and has a diverse queer cast of characters. I especially appreciated the mention that our MC is not aromantic instead of just allowing readers to make a guess. Seeing aromanticism celebrated and included in queer representation is even rarer than asexual representation so that was a big win for me even though there isnt any actual aro characters.

I'm not even sure if I'm making sense at this point. Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It's a fun queer YA that deals with a host of topics. I do think there are some things that could have been discussed a little bit more but as a whole, of very enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

What an incredibly cute book! This book really worked as a retelling of Emma because it didn’t try to hide the fact that Emma (or Emmett in this case) doesn’t start off as a great character but grows into a great one. It also keeps the humor from Austen’s original which is always great to see.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I tried reading this as an e-book and then listen to it as an audiobook. I didn't really care for any of the characters throughout the story and was halfway through when I decided not to finish. I think this is partly because I am not familiar with Jane Austen's Emma and that might have made a difference. I do think that if you were a fan of that book you should give this a try.

I wish I hadn't waited so long to read this and review! EMMETT is an absolute delight, a gender-bent retelling I didn't know I needed. Love the trans rep and the frank conversations about sex and romance. Will hand-sell in store!

I feel like Emma is the unsung Austen for retellings, and I don’t know why because it lends itself to modern day so well. Especially YA. And also queer! And Rosen does it justice.

In Emmett, our main character loves to set people up but wants to stay out of relationships entirely. He wants to keep feelings as far away as possible. Things get tricky when he tries to keep his feelings about his seemingly straight best friend at bay.

I always love Rosen’s writing, both in the YA realm and his adult work. This book really sings. There’s joy, grief, queer navigating, and everything. I found Emmett as a character to be very realistic and flawed, the way he should be. It takes a real narcissist who also deeply cares about people to want to genuinely help and believe that no one can do it like he can. That’s Emma in the Austen classic, too. And we love her for it.

I would love a whole series of contemporary Austen retellings like this. Queer and YA!

I'm SUCH a sucker for Austen retellings. BUT THEN. THEN? They are made QUEER?!? BE STILL MY SUPER GAY HEART AND TELL ME WE CAN KEEP THIS TREND GOING! This was a little cheesy but it worked! So I'm delighted! Bring on more queer retellings!

Jane Austen’s Emma goes YA - and queer YA at that! Queer YA darling @levacrosen takes on this beloved classic and gives us a boisterous, pompous, matchmaking Emmett, who is trying to survive his last year of high school, maintain his social status, and keep on getting some while giving his friends the loves of their lives. Rosen’s tale is ebullient, sassy, and still rather faithful while modernizing (and queering up) the story. I had such a soft spot for Emmett, and I appreciate how inclusive and s*x-positive Rosen’s YA work can be. You’d love this even if you never read Emma. Go have fun with Emmett and his wild group of friends!

Emmett was advertised as a modern-day queer version of Emma, but I think this is more queer version of Clueless (AS IF!) Since this is a retelling so it’s pretty clear where the story is going. However, I love Rosen added the elements of Emmett’s internal struggle of not looking for love and the whole being nice vs being better paradox. There were also so many laugh out loud moments for me.

I highly recommend the audio, this is the perfect queer rom-com for all the Clueless fans. I kept picturing Paul Rudd as the love interest in the book muahahaha!

4.3 ⭐️

I love Emma, and I love L.C. Rosen, so my expectations for this YA contemporary romance were through the roof, and it absolutely did not disappoint. I will continue to pick up everything Rosen writes because his wit, humor, sex-positive messaging, and romances are spot on.

This was delightful. It was Emma, but modernized. Really, it was Clueless modernized. It hit all the beats, and some characters were very familiar. Emmett was very charismatic. It helped that the audiobook narrator was also incredibly charismatic and gave a hell of a performance.

I think I had a smile on my face almost the entire time I was listening. The tone of the book and of the narrator was so breezy and informal and oozing self-confidence and charisma. Emma is probably my least favorite Jane Austen novel because she can get a little annoying, and Emmett does indeed get a little annoying. But just a little. And he comes around.

The characters all felt three-dimensional and real, like they could step out of the page and continue their conversation as if nothing had happened.

I loved the twist that Emmett is gay. Really just about every character is queer, and they're all very open and understanding, and that was delightful. Emmet's and his father's grief was written so well. I really felt for him and understood his pain and determination to brush it aside.

I would have gladly listened for twice as long.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing an early copy for review.

Well I just breezed right through this! For context, I haven't actually read Emma by Jane Austen so I can't really speak to how this book engages with the inspiration. I will say, I've heard that Emma is Austen's most unlikeable character and I think that Emmett was set up well as a flawed and frustrating character. And yet, I still found him very likable and enjoyed spending time with him - maybe because I was able to find a lot of compassion for him in his grief and experience as a parentified child. (Frankly, Emmett's dad's hypochondria was a lot - it also felt very food shamey and ultimately he was not taking care of himself enough to be what Emmett needed in a parent. But all of this is very well challenged, which is what is most important.) I thought most of the secondary characters were well drawn and despite the relatively large number of people in play, they were all well differentiated. And together they really created a lovely found family vibe. Other than the ending, my favourite part was the whole set piece around the art exhibit. That was really well done and moved the story forward really well. I listened to the audio version of the book and I really liked the narrator but I suspect his style might not work for everyone so you might want to listen to a sample.

Overall I recommend this as a solid young adult bildungsroman with an underlying romance. This was my first book by the author and I will definitely be seeking out his older books.

Content warnings include: past death of a parent from cancer, lots of grief, lots of mentions of blood tests, some food shaming, parentification of a child, underage drinking.