I LOVED THIS BOOK.

It felt like such a classic romcom in the best way. The mcs intro to each other had me screaming it was so good!

Their banter was so relatable. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy

Time after time Ari and Josh meet and each time their relationship changes until the enemies who became friends who became more than friends, become.......Ari's a struggling comedienne and Josh a chef, They both have trust issues about relationships and, as you might expect, differing outlooks about life (yes, sunny versus serious). That said, this rom-com based a bit on When Harry Met Sally has nice twists on that original, starting with the LGBTQI representation. It's also humorous. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A light fun read.

As someone who reads a lot of romance, this one stood out for how fresh it felt. It is more or less an updated When Harry Met Sally but the main characters are both pretty much monsters. It’s to the author’s credit that all of their inane decisions and frustrating actions were ultimately completely understandable. Of course by the end you are rooting for them and enjoying every minute of the quite cinematic ending. Added bonus that it’s quite funny.

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The synopsis got my attention and I thought this was going to be a fun read. When I started to read it I got even more excited because I love great banter. But major of this book there is nothing happening. It is really easy to put this book and not pick it up again.
I also found Ari to be frustrating at times for example she didn't like the idea of Josh dating but at the same time didn't want a relationship with him either.
Anyways I finished it. If you are looking for slow and steady this is a perfect book.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of You, Again in exchange go an honest review.

Ari
- Bisexual who is sassy and funny
- Raised by her grandmother who was not affectionate
- Mother was super flaky
- Doesn't believe in a relationship because of her past.

Josh
- Jewish who is smart and grumpy
- has a good relationship with his mother and sister
- Had an estranged relationship with his father
- Hopeless romantic

I’m speechless. I’m absolutely blown away by You, Again. I don’t think I’ve read a modern romance, which such depth in a really long time. You, Again felt like a novel length version of the New York Times modern love column, mixed with a updated version of When Harry Met Sally (a.k.a. the greatest romcom movie of all time!). How do you get better than that? Seriously! I cannot believe this is Kate Goldbeck‘s debut novel. The writing, the tension, the wit, the banter…. all of it together was just perfection!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok… I can barely even put into words all the feelings I have for this book. Like you could basically light me on fire right now and all I would do is try jam this book down your throat until you’re in love with it as much as I am. I’m obsessed with these characters. Ari and Josh had incredible chemistry. Full of angst, sass, and witty banter. So good. One of the best rom coms I’ve read this year. Really reinforced my belief that everyone has a perfect someone. Plus there was a grand gesture in this that was *chefs kiss (maybe pun intended 👨‍🍳?). All the stars on this one!

**Thank you NetGalley and randomhouse publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!**


5/5 ⭐️

I loved this modern nod to When Harry Met Sally. Great humor, excellent pacing, high heat. I'd definitely watch this story on the silver screen.

Okay first of all, I am so glad I requested this book. Second of all, I will most definitely be reading all of Kate Goldbeck’s writing from here on out. Goldbeck is a new to me author and her debut novel was absolutely spectacular and brilliant.

You, Again tells the story of Ari, an aspiring comedian and Josh, an ambitious chef. Both are trying to achieve more in their careers while simultaneously navigating obstacles and overcoming circumstances that life throws at them. Ari and Josh’s first meet wasn’t ideal. Ari needed one more signature to meet her donation quota for the bobcat habitat when she approached Josh who was in the middle of a phone call. She asked for his donation along with a sip of his coffee to which Josh rudely rejected her. Later that day, a chance encounter between the two occurred at Ari’s apartment when Josh arrived to cook dinner for his girlfriend who is also Ari’s roommate with benefits. The two started to bicker and ended with Ari leaving her apartment. The years will pass and Ari and Josh will continuously meet and lose contact. Their final encounter occurred when both characters are struggling and overcoming difficulties in life: Ari with her divorce and Josh with his restaurant.

This novel is an ode to When Harry Met Sally. Goldbeck writes about the trials and tribunes of life, personal growth, and the struggles of success, relationships, and careers. There is bleakness in Goldbeck’s writing yet there also lies an undercurrent of comfort that ensure readers that gradually things will eventually work out. This novel is so special and bittersweet with how Goldbeck incorporates humor, wit, and banter within her writing. Additionally, the emotional vulnerability and the aversion to rejection and commitment Goldbeck showcases within her characters were written with such delicateness and grace that it humanizes the two main characters. Moreover, it also made this reading experience an poignant one for me. This novel was such an ingenious and profound debut that I am I awe of her writing but more than that, I am anticipating on what is to come from Goldbeck future works.

Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and Random House/ Dial Press Trade for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really have to stop giving in to social media hype. I read such great reviews on this new, fresh romcom that I was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, I could tell from the beginning that this was not going to be the book for me. It was really hard to root for Ari or Josh. I didn't like them in the beginning. The more they kept running into each other, the more I didn't like either of them.

I kept going, though I felt like DNF. At almost the 50% point was where it got a little more interesting for me. I was really feeling for Josh and the emotions he was feeling about Ari. I still didn't warm up to her.

This was just an okay read for me in the end, but not one I would ever want to re-read. Too many ups and downs.

Thank you to Dial Press and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a When Harry Met Sally fan's dream of a book! I love the twist on the familiar story and I really enjoyed watching these two characters find their way to each other. And the fall in New York vibes are immaculate!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
You, Again releases on September 12th, 2023
3.5/5 Stars

You, Again was pitched to me as a modern-day "When Harry Met Sally", which happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. Unfortunately the comparison was to the detriment of the book as I found myself longing for the deliciously slow but very earned burn of that relationship, which built up from strangers who disliked each other to unlikely friends to lovers. By the end of the movie I was desperate for Harry & Sally to get together, but at the end of You, Again I honestly can't say that I was rooting for Ari & Josh to end up together.

I did enjoy the book in the beginning as the author established the antagonistic dynamic between Ari and Josh. I appreciated the creativity in how these characters showed up in each others' lives throughout the years and found the banter between them to be very fun. I also liked that both Ari and Josh are full-fledged characters that are deeply flawed and broken in their own unique ways. Both had other friends/family members outside of each other that were not simply sounding boards for their feeling about each other but served the overarching story in other ways.

I think my big problem was with just one of the characters themselves. As I continued reading, I found myself feeling much more sympathetic and won-over by Josh and his character development but struggled to connect with Ari as her story progressed. I have a tough time enjoying books where I don't find the main character likable/redeemable, and I was not convinced by Ari's character arc that she and Josh were really meant for each other (though I will say that I found the running scene on New Year's to be really and truly delightful).

The pacing was also a bit off at times. I could have done without one or two of the time jumps/check-ins with the characters in the middle and would have liked to see more of Ari's development before the resolution in the end.

All of that being said, overall I do think a lot of people will enjoy this book and the modern take on a classic movie. It just wasn't fully the one for me.

You, Again focuses on the relationship between Ari and Josh as they go from strangers to enemies to friends to lovers over a period of years. After both are dumped by long term partners, they bond over their loneliness and become tentative friends. Things get messy quickly, and we get to watch each of them go through heartache, career woes, and periods of self discovery.

I really enjoyed the way the book showed us the original meeting of the two, along with several other times they met and disliked each other in the past. It gave a great history for exactly why these two couldn’t stand each other, and it felt very realistic (especially after Ari told Josh she was also messing around with his girlfriend!). I liked seeing them become friends and bond over their shared melancholy, as sometimes you really do need to talk to someone who understands exactly what you are going through.

I found the career woes to be interesting side stories. Josh is trying to prove himself as a chef after a restaurant debacle, and Ari is a wannabe comedienne who is busy doing gig work. These jobs brought some interesting personalities into the mix!

The romance left me a little cold though. I think this is purely because Ari felt like a female Peter Pan who never wanted to grow up. At that point, they had known each other for years and she had even been married, but she felt no more mature or developed than she was in chapter one. It was an extreme amount of angst and brought me down a bit, making the middle of the story drag.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Dial Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I’m rounding this one up to a 4.

You, Again was a bit of a letdown for me. I was immediately captivated into the storyline and all the not so "meet cutes" between Ari and Josh. I thought Goldbeck did a wonderful job of creating initial tension and chemistry between the two main characters. Unfortunately, as the story continued, the elements I liked at the beginning felt off. As I got to know Ari, I felt less interested in her and Josh getting together. It was hard to get past my dislike for Ari....I found her unlikable and immature. Although this book wasn't for me, I can see its appeal for other romance readers. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

You will like this book if you like: enemies to enemies to enemies to friends to lovers, bi representation, grumpy x grumpy, and the phrase “yes, chef”
🏳️‍🌈👨🏻‍🍳

It’s a great read while you’re waiting for the next Emily Henry!

I loved this! It was fun and sexy and unexpectedly moved me to tears a couple of times. It felt like a perfect modern adaptation of When Harry Met Sally. I was so so excited that these characters had lives and friends outside of each other. Even the side characters were richly developed and I loved them all.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC! This was a sassy, fun, and cozy enemies-to-lovers/ grumpy/sunshine romance. The characters felt very real, flaws and all, and Josh gave me MAJOR Carmy from The Bear vibes. I thought it was justttt a bit too long, but overall I loved reading it and the ending had me squealing.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
You, Again releases September 12, 2023

5+!! This changed my DNA.

<i>“Better to be the one who walks away than the person who gets left behind.”</I>

<i>You, Again</I> is such an incredibly refreshing read. I’m in awe that this is a debut novel!
It was funny, but also hurt, and felt <u>so fucking real</u>.
The really niche culinary details spoke to me as a love language in literature.
I was entirely not expecting this book to have such a visceral impact on me… I could physically feel the book hangover and lasting impression it was leaving on me before I even got halfway through.
Kate Goldbeck has definitely secured a place as a new favourite author.

This story spans many years, is set in NYC, and has the most three dimensional characters with so much personality.
From the get go, there was such an easy and natural flow of conversation. Goldbeck utilized dual pov extremely well, where it alternated quite frequently between both main character’s pov’s within a singular chapter without ever stilting the dialogue, which made the scenes feel so well-rounded (I attribute her background in screenplay as the driving force to having such an immersive and fluid read where it truly feels like you’ve landed in a movie).

Ari is an aspiring improv comedian and a serial non-monogamist, and Josh is a chef searching for his one true soulmate — but in the midst of him looking for something so perfect, he’s likely been missing out on so much spontaneity and just overall passion within a relationship.
On paper, Ari and Josh should not work together, but that’s part of what makes this so fun and enticing — seeing the push and pull in real time, with the build up of angst and opposition over literal years — because what are the odds of running into the same person time and time again in a city as bustling as NYC? Quite high, apparently.

The duality between Josh and Ari was so good, I couldn’t get enough. Even with the large gaps of time between their brief encounters, it felt like there was only seconds that passed from when they last interacted.

Ari and Josh first meet in 2014 when she tries to get the attention of the man walking by with an expensive coffee to give her a donation in order to meet her quota for an organization supporting bobcats. Later that same day, it’s revealed that Josh is the boyfriend of Ari’s current roommate, and they share a heated discussion as Josh prepares dinner for Natalie (whom Ari just so happens to be casually intimate with on occasion) — this mic drop statement leaves Josh flustered but has me as a reader, on the edge of my seat!

A couple years later, they meet again as Josh is the head chef where Ari’s current roommate Radhya works, and tensions rise as events lead to Josh firing Radhya, and Ari throwing a drink in his face.

Two years after that, Ari and Josh cross paths at a NYE party, only this time Ari happens to be married. Shocker!

Finally, with one more time jump three years later, we settle down for the long haul.
Josh has moved into a new place and is trying to get his life back on track after a failed business venture, a recent end to a long distance relationship, and the loss of his father.
Ari is also going through a transitional phase and is getting divorced.
When they stumble across each other and catch up, they become open to being friends, which is a real moment of growth for the both of them.
But in the vein of <I>When Harry Met Sally</I>: can a man and woman ever truly keep things strictly platonic?

Honestly, I think the appeal of Ari and Josh’s dynamic was that they could unapologetically wallow in their misery together. There’s something so freeing about it, where they really don’t have to stress about walking on eggshells to constantly impress the other person; they could just… be.
Their interactions were hilarious (standing ovation for that improvised emergency date/cheating on my wife scene), and I loved all of the text messages scattered throughout the book too, because I could really get a sense for their personalities, dry wit, and banter.
Nothing felt forced, and they had the time to naturally progress as friends to something more, where there wasn’t one particular calendar day that changed things, but rather a slow shift over time from little moments that added up.

Something that I loved throughout the book was how they brought up little things that were previously mentioned, either from a conversation in passing from a few days ago, or even years ago from when they first met because it showed how much they valued the other person and cared, by listening and retaining pieces of information.
I was so unwell when Josh gifted her the singular bowl with the blue rim and dragon design!! The amount of meaning speaks volumes.
<i>“The gift is so perfectly casual yet evocative of a specific time and place that’s only meaningful to them.”</I>

Ari and Josh’s intimacy had me crying (literally). It was so tender, but always had a sprinkle of humour (sometimes dirty humour) to offset the really tough emotions.

Again, circling back to how real this felt, with the third-act conflict: I actually loved how it wasn’t easy for them; how neither folded or dropped to their knees when the other said “I miss you”; how they actually <u>walked away</u>.
This takes a step in a direction that is so refreshing after reading countless of what feels like the same scripted romance books, to a place that normalizes adults falling off the face of the earth (for lack of better words) and not having their entire life together. Shit happens, and sometimes things are too much to handle and we inadvertently distance and sabotage the best things and/or friendships, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t care. Undoing years of shitty coping mechanisms and avoidances that are set in muscle memory is hard and takes time.
(I'm not saying it's healthy behaviour, but it's realistic).

Ari and Josh weren’t perfect, and I loved that.
This had a great, charming, full circle ending.

<i>“Maybe being in love is knowing that you’d live it all over again—every part, suffering included—to get right back to the place where you’re standing.”</I>

Rep: bisexual fmc, Jewish mmc


“I refuse to fill my free time with something that reminds me of failure.” — the context of this quote hit me like a ton of bricks to the chest. I saw myself so much in Josh, especially in the culinary scene, when your passion ebbs and flows, and you reach a point where you don’t even want to cook at home as a hobby (look, I know, it’s way too niche, but Goldbeck understood the assignment with every layer and nuance in this book).

“Sometimes it’s not until she encounters parental affection that she recognizes the utter lack of it in her life. It hurts more to fill the cavity than to leave it empty.”

“She’s taken root in some deep, inaccessible place that can’t be edited or overwritten—just managed.”

“I built my entire life around not needing anyone. But I NEED you.”

Josh and Ari hate each other from the second they meet. Unfortunately for them, they keep running into each other. Finally they give in and become friends. They have vastly different views on marriage and relationships, and always seem to run into each other during relationship upheavals. As their friendship grows however, their feelings for each other do too.

Ok so I read this book on my kindle and I am in a kindle slump fiends. Do you ever have that where one way of reading just isn’t jiving with you? I am flying through physical books, and doing fine with audio, but for some reason right now kindle books are taking me days to get through. I know pendulum will swing the other way eventually, but it’s frustrating! I really enjoyed this book and it was driving me nuts that it took me so long to get through it! I loved the Harry Met Sally of it all! The banter was top notch, and the chemistry was off the charts! If you enjoyed Harry Met Sally and want a similar idea in book form look no further!

This one has all the When Harry Met Sally vibes with Ari and Josh having horribly awkward run-ins with each other over the years, then becoming friends, and then making things messy with all their feelings. There’s so many time-jumps in this book that it’s labeled with nine different parts, but it’s very clear where we are in everyone’s lives. If this turns into a movie, you’ll be able to tell what era you’re in based on Ari’s hairstyle and clothing. Ari is a stand-up comedian with all sorts of aversion to commitment and thinks Josh is an arrogant asshole (who is weirdly romantic and believes in soulmates). He’s actually a chef with big dreams and wanting to distance himself away from his famous deli-owning father. We get to see the evolution of both Ari and Josh separately in both their relationships and their careers. When they finally meet again and strike up a reluctant friendship, they’re both at all-time lows and miserable company is somehow comforting for them. They keep things totally platonic, but it’s clear they have some emotional dependence on each other, complete with late night telephone conversations while watching a movie together (separately in their own apartments). It all blows up when Josh pushes for more and Ari freaks out (as expected). We get to see both points of view in this story and the humor mixed with heartbreak hurts in a good way. I love how small little details early in the story get remembered and called back to later on, in the best sort of inside jokes between Ari and Josh. The supporting cast of friends and family rounded out the story and it was nice to see how everyone interacted with each other. An amazing book and I will definitely be reading anything in the future that Kate Goldbeck writes.

Ari Sloane and Josh Kestenberg are complete opposites. When they first meet, the only thing they have in common is the woman who is warming both of their beds. Aspiring comedian Ari is a free-spirited commitment phone. Chef Josh is exacting and looking for a relationship. Neither of them can stand the other and hope to never have to see each other again. But fate has different plans and over the next eight years, Ari and Josh have periodic run-ins as they go about their lives in New York City. Now they have met again when they are at the lowest points in their lives. Ari is going through a devastating divorce from her narcissistic wife. Josh’s career has crashed and burned and his long-term, long distance girlfriend has dumped him. Misery loves company and Josh and Ari start spending all their time together, sharing the thoughts and feelings they can’t tell anyone else and helping each other move forward. When Josh’s feelings start to deepen, their friendship takes a turn into something more. But Ari hasn’t healed from her past issues, sending their relationship into a tailspin. Will these star-crossed lovers ever get it right or will they continue to miss their chance at love?

Kate Goldbeck’s You, Again was an engrossing, deep dive into two very different people as their lives intertwine for almost a decade. I really loved snobby, persnickety Josh and his growth into a more humble, accepting person as he embraced the roots he had long tried to break away from. He was so supportive of Ari and her foibles. I had a harder time connecting with Ari. She gave off a strong manic pixie dream girl vibe, which I found a bit off putting. She finally clicked for me later in the book when she started to examine herself and her motives and actually fully interact with those around her, instead of flitting from experience to experience with no real depth of feeling. The characters grew and changed as the fell for each other. They brought out each other’s best. Josh gave Ari stability and understanding. Ari softened Josh’s hard edges. The characters and their love were grounded and realistic, with plenty of faults and flaws. All of the characters were diverse with all types being represented. The side characters were wonderfully funny and NYC itself was a supporting character. Goldbeck used the time jumps masterfully. They were a strong storytelling tool, showing the characters at various points in their lives as the universe kept pulling them together and paving the way for their present relationship. There was a good progression to the story, no flat or boring moments. Each piece interlocking with the next. You, Again is a compelling opposites attract, enemies to lovers love story with a big, bold, beautiful ending.