₊✩‧₊˚4.5˚₊✩‧₊
“For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you when really I was preparing to love you.”
This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for, this is EXACTLY (I don’t mean to sound like Kat Williams) but this is EXACTLY what I’ve been waiting for. I love the absolute giddy feeling I get from YA romances like this. If you want something easy, fast, submersible, with lots of fluff this is it. Was in the mood for a teen romcom and this definitely delivered. Will be reading her other books the next time I’m in this mood. I’m literally still smiling while writing this.
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It has been a hot minute since I’ve been able to read a book this quickly and enjoyed every second. Most books take me like 9-12 hours total and this took like 5 or 6??? I couldn’t stop and it flew by like a movie. It ended so abruptly but I think because it was fast paced the whole time and then suddenly I didn’t get to see anymore cuteness.
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It’s not necessary anything special but very cute and had me giggling like crazy. Only reason it can’t be a new favorite is cause I feel like I didn’t get to know the characters enough to fall in love with them. Like I wanted to see more of her character development. Really obvious that they both had feelings for each other (whether they knew it or not) yet I enjoyed it heavily. Julius I love and I’ll probably remember a few key cute moments. For fans of Better than the Movies, To All the Boys, and Today Tonight Tomorrow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with the arc 🫶🏼

Rival academics with a touch of To All the Boys I've Loved Before in this story about a girl who's emails about her rival and the entire school are sent... and now she has to deal with the fall out of it as well as possibly falling for the one guy she never thought she would. For 10 years Sadie Wen and Julius Gong have been competing against each other. They've made everyone at school's life a bit difficult with their extreme need to beat each other. Sadie hates Julius, she hates how perfect he is, how handsome he is, how smart and mean he is. The only way to vent her angry? Draft up emails to him and everyone else whenever they make her angry... except now suddenly all those emails have been sent out. Now everyone is getting to see the real Sadie, and the careful "perfect" image of herself is going up in flames. Yet one person seems to appreciate the real her... and it's none other than Julius. The more Julius and Sadie begin to talk to each other after the truth is revealed the more complicated the feelings begin to grow and Sadie is starting to realize that maybe the boy she's been obsessively trying to beat... the one person who is constantly on her mind might be the perfect person for her. This one was meh for me, I had really high hopes for it but it kind of fell flat unfortunately. I just couldn't really vibe with Sadie and the situations she ended up in just didn't make sense. Sadie is suppose to be super intelligent but can't even keep a diary or oh I dont know, a word doc of letters but saved a ton of draft emails and then doesn't make sure that they are properly locked up and can't be sent? I don't believe it. Also she goes from being outspoken and to being walked over by people, she'll want to out do Julius but never speaks out about people using her and letting herself be a pushover to please people? Pick a lane girl, either you can stand up for yourself and are a go getter or a timid people pleaser. Also the romance with Julius barely even felt there and I love academical rivals to lovers stories. It literally barely happens by the end of the book. I wish I liked this book more, it had the elements of all the things I usually love, but it just missed the mark for me sadly. If you enjoy academic rivals to lovers give this one a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Scholastic, Scholastic Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You was a cute, at some times funny and overall entertaining. This was a solid 4 stars for me.

I loved the tension between Sadie and Jullian, their interactions were my favorite parts the reason why I kept reading. Sadie is a great MC. She’s relatable, hardworking and works hard to keep her grades up. The interactions between the characters are realistic and nothing appears over dramatic.

Liang writes a beautiful story about two life long enemies who are in constant competition, which created this wonderful tension that I was loving from the very beginning.

This is for the reader who enjoys a clean romance.

I loved the author's writing in This Time It's Real so I was looking forward to reading the ARC of this one and it definitely did not disappoint! And it has such an interesting premise too - the protagonist, Sadie Wen has a bunch of unsent email drafts where she vents her frustrations and they get sent out one day 😶 can you feel the secondhand embarrassment?😂⁣
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Sadie is a perfect model student when it comes to academics and extracurriculars, and she's also the school captain and valedictorian. Her people pleasing tendencies have her agreeing to everything with a smile on her face. But when she's alone she pours out her irritation in email drafts addressed to different classmates or teachers. And many of these drafts are directed at her cocaptain and rival - Julius Gong who has always competed with her for everything while getting on her nerves. So, imagine her shock and horror when these are sent out one day and almost everyone at school has read them🫣 Her carefully crafted nice girl persona comes crashing down and some are annoyed with her too. But soon she starts to notice that being direct and honest brings about many changes too, especially her relationship with Julius - which evolves into something different from before.⁣
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This book had me feeling everything while giggling and swooning. The dynamic between Sadie and Julius was amazing and I loved how the tension between them was always present! And while the attraction between them deepens the competitive streak never dies down and I think that's peak academic rivals to lovers perfection. Also, the way they defend each other 🥰 they're too cute y'all! Sadie had an amazing character arc and I loved watching her realize many things from the perspective of another academic overachiever 😂 This one had the perfect mix of banter, humor and romance and I can't wait for everyone to read it when it comes out 02/06 next year!❣️✨

On the surface this is a simple rivals to lovers YA romance with a bit of school chaos added by Sadie's emails getting sent. However, at it's core this is a story about how family trauma can impact your decisions and influence who you are. It is a story of recovery and self discovery, and finding out you aren't as alone as you might think you are.

Perfect for those who enjoy relationships like Benedict and Beatrice. Also good for those who enjoy tales set in school settings with an emphasis on grades and rivalry.

The only thing I would change would be to further unpack the trauma and insecurity that let to the initial animosity between the Julien and Sadie. While it is implied at multiple points throughout the book, it is never explicitly addressed.

This emotion-packed story of two teens in a years-long competition to one-up each other has all the drama, humor, and swoon-worthy will-they/won't they moments teens are looking for.

Liang's angsty, desperate-to-prove-herself MC Sadie will definitely be relatable to teens who feel all the stress and anxiety over performing well at school. Sadie is easy to understand and her motivations to do everything she can to help out her family and her classmates is admirable, even as it is frustrating. It was hard to see her constantly put herself last, to be pressured into doing above and beyond because her classmates take advantage of her desire to please. Liang has a very important message embedded within this: if you never speak up for yourself, people will take your silence as permission. I think this is something many teens need to hear and Liang says this more by showing through Sadie's actions and how she interacts with her peers. It's subtle, but the message does come through by the end of the book.

Teens who love a tension-filled romance that keeps you waiting and waiting for that satisfying moment will definitely enjoy the back and forth between Sadie and her long-time nemesis Julius. I almost feel like Liang draws out this particular aspect of the story for too long. It's almost too difficult to reconcile Julius's actions towards Sadie (which at times almost feel too mean) as well as her extremely negative views of him as written out in her emails for romance by the end of the novel. It really rides that old stereotype of boy likes girl, boy pulls girl's pigtails and all the parents exclaiming, "Aw, he likes you!" While Liang pulls it back a little by making the "hate" mutual, it still feels a little iffy to me as a reader.

So to sum up, this book was an enjoyable read, the story has good pacing, and the characters feel real and relatable. The romance leaves a little to be desired, but most teens will likely enjoy the tension and the back-and-forth that plays out between the two main characters. There is humor, drama, and miscommunications galore. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of contemporary teen drama/romance.

CALLING ALL FANS OF RIVALS TO LOVERS: I hope this doesn't find you is the book you need to read next. Add to the top of the TBR, do not pass Go. Sadie and Julius will win you over with their banter, and their own personal stories as you go through the book. It really is "All of the boys I loved before" but if they were rage-induced hate mail instead of love letters.
Run, don't walk to experience this book before it's hard to find on shelves!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

similar to “to all the boys i’ve loved before” where all the love letters are out, sadie’s hate emails are out!!!

the slowborn academic rivals to lovers story truly delivered in this book!

i’ve always enjoyed ann liang’s character-driven books and this one has become one of my favorites! this book centers around the main protagonist sadie who is motivated by academic validation and beating her academic rival julius gong! this is truly an academic RIVALS to lovers bc sadie Hates julius with a fury, laser focused passion! the plot as well as their romance thickens when sadie’s email drafts are mysteriously released and sent to JULIUS!!

ann liang writes some of my favorite female main characters where they are so easily lovable and relatable through representations of people pleasing perfectionists (very “mirrorball” and “this is me trying” coded girlies) ! sadie wen is no different where sadie tries her hardest to not just be number one in academics but also everyone’s heart.

“It’s laughable, really. You’re always insistent on coming first in everything, but when it comes down to it, you’re ready to put yourself last just to please other people—”

as you read you also learn about sadie’s character such as her people pleasing tendencies and how she has a sense of responsibility for her family. you can’t help but love her character and efforts especially when you learn more about her family life.

julius’s character starts off as the perfect student rival as seen through sadie’s pov but as you read, you discover he is more than his flawless personna as well as his so-called “hatred” for sadie hehe

overall, i immensely enjoyed this book and I can’t wait for its release!

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is a YA enemies to more than friends story by the great YA author Ann Liang. This book tells the story of Sadie, an uptight perfectionist and straight A student and her relationship with her arch-nemesis, Julius.
I found the story to be a bit far fetched and the motivations are very extreme. Sadie’s need to be perfect at every moment and bear every weight of her family and shoulder every blame just doesn’t ring true to life. Julius’s vindictiveness and extreme need to excel also just don’t seem very realistic of a teenager.
Overall, this story definitely had its sweet elements but the ending of the story could have been the starting point. I have loved the two previous Ann Liang novels I’ve read and this one doesn’t really compare. I will still seek out her future novels as her writing is often something special.
Thank you to Scholastic Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t love this book. It really dragged for me and Sadie was a very obnoxious character. She was also rude and condescending to almost everyone. And she never really gets better.

I do not see myself recommending this book to students.

The rivals to lovers was rivaling. When I say I need an actual rivals to lovers book this is what I mean. This book is definitely the best rivals to lovers I have ever read. Like really the best. Hands down, this is new favourite by Ann Liang and at this point I believe that no one can write a better rivals to lovers than her. I absolutely loved the concept of the hate emails because that was something I have never read in a book and it made this book even more interesting and addicting. I was giggling, squealing, swooning with hearts in my eyes because of how adorable Julius and Sadie were. This book is also kind of really comforting to me like a therapy because of relatable characters. I also loved Sadie and Abigail's friendship a lot. The way Abigail was always trying to hype up Sadie was so funny and endearing.

I am a fan/lover of Ann Liang and her books and her beautiful and captivating writing. The way she writes these relatable characters who I have never met and will never met in real life but I developed a companionship with them like they are my friends. The relatable as well the empathetic way she writes her character made them even more special, lively and real.

I loved the ending and also there is no third act breakup over some misunderstanding or miss communication. It took them the whole book to confess their feelings to each other but I don't mind a single thing and I have no complaints except that I NEEDED IT TO BE A DUAL POV BOOK. I was also a bit shocked with the plot twist about who sent those letters. The letter at the end has all my heart 💌

This unfortunately was a disappointing read for me. I loved This Time Is Real, and this felt like a worse, less thought-out version of that. The tropes are similar in both books and I was expecting a newer fresh take on those tropes in I Hope This Doesn't Find You. I did not like Sadie and Julius's dynamic and felt their enemies-to-lovers dynamic was super toxic. Sadie needed a lot of growth and I wish we got to see more of that in the book. There were also so many things I was confused about plot-wise in the book and it simply did not make sense why Sadie and Julius ended up together at the end.

I will continue to read what Ann Liang puts out but this book did not land well for me.

Netgalley Arc Rating: 4.25

(and this comes from somebody who doesn't frequent the romance genre often)

Premise: This book follows Sadie Wen--the definition of an academic weapon. She dreams of attending Berkeley, and with her numerous successful extracurriculars, valedictorian status, and role as captain of her class that dream is within reach. How does she manage it all? She has her own coping mechanism--drafting e-mails when her frustrated with school and her long-standing academic rival julius gong. The e-mails are only for herself, or so she thinks until one day the emails are released to her class.

Suddenly, everyone is upset--especially Julius, who finds himself the subject of nearly every email where Sadie does everything from compare him to his Roman dictator namesake to wondering about the softness of his perfect hair. The perfectly planned life Sadie has planned starts to crumble, but what if there's an unexpected light among the darkness? And what if his name is Julius Gong?

What I Liked:

- Miss Sadie Wen. Sadie faces a lot of struggles that I think a lot of people, including myself, can related to. She was well-rounded out, funny and well-developed over the course of the novel; I liked seeing her grow.

- The romance. This book covered all of my favorite tropes and presented them in a fun and engaging way. It creates its own identity from them. I adore Julius Gong with all of my heart!!! I enjoyed seeing his relationship with Sadie develop.

- The premise! I loved the idea of Sadie's e-mails being released into her world. I thought it made for a more modern story, and it definitely confirmed a horrifying fear of mine.

- The balance between romance and other conflicts. I think sometimes I shy away from romance because I don't think it can carry enough weight on its own as a plot device. As a result, some romances throw in other side conflicts that never feel fleshed out. However, I think this book did well with it because you had that mix of romance conflict and other conflict, and it really added depth to the novel and the characters, making them feel real.

- The overall feeling of the book was just a really fun time. If you're looking for a quick, easy read that will make you appreciate or encourage you to find your own academic rival, this is the book for you.

Some Improvements:

- I wished there were so more of the smaller points that got tied up in the end. However, the book does end in a clever manner that brings everything full circle.

- This book does have a few predictable plot points, but I always go into romances with this mindset, so I don't particularly mind it.

This is the second ya rom-com I have read by Ann Liang and I cannot get enough of her writing!

“I Hope This Doesn’t Find You” follows Sadie Wen, the perfect student who channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. While some are addressed to her teachers and classmates, most are directed at her infuriating co-captain Julius Gong. When they are accidentally sent out, her carefully crafted reputation begins to crumble. But amidst the chaos, the one boy she is sworn to hate begins to fall for her true self.

I have never connected with a character as deeply as I connect with Sadie Wen. I felt so seen by her need to be perfect and her people-pleaser tendencies. Julius calls her out for being fake, because she never allows herself to express how she truly feels, and she undergoes so much growth because of it. I loved seeing her begin to prioritize herself towards the end.

Julius and Sadie’s relationship is top tier. The pace of the romance in this book is so deliciously slow with the most satisfying pay-off. Liang takes her time in establishing their decade old rivalry, even going so far to explain its origins and the point system attributed to it. It felt so real and her gradual blurring of the line between loathing and love is so well done. I especially enjoyed reading the contents of Sadie’s emails after Julius committed them to memory because they are what made them both come to the realization that they were meant for each other.

It is NO QUESTION that Ann Liang is a talented writer and has great ideas. Her prior works, If you Could See the Sun and This time It's Real, are a testament to that. Which is what made this all the more disappointing.

I Hope This Doesn't Find You is entirely too predictable. This isn't helped by the fact that the book starts virtually the same way her previous novel does -- with the main character's personal thoughts/writing being exposed to the public, writing that largely centers the love interest, and the love interest confronting the MC having read (and memorized verbatim, somehow) said writing. Liang has baked in a lot of beloved romance tropes (forced proximity, rivals to lovers, etc.), but none of these tropes came with an addition of personal flair. The romance was unconvincing, and it felt like Liang relied too heavily on the familiarity of these tropes and not enough on personalizing the tropes to her characters and their journey. I also realize the romance here is meant to be one where hate or academic rivalry is a facade over what is actually love, but it just felt incredibly forced.

The elements of Liang's writing strengths, unfortunately, are entirely overshadowed by the flatness of the characters and the absence of fleshed-out resolutions to the internal and external conflicts in the plot.

I still can't quite process this being written by the same person who wrote IYCSTS and TTIR, and I really hope Ann's writing shines brighter than the shoddy patchwork of plot devices and tropes we got here.

Unfortunately, this was not for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's previous book, so I was excited for this one. I thought the premise sounded fun and I usually love a story of academic rivals to lovers. However, in this story I did not find their initial rivalry to be one that made for a believable transition to a romantic relationship. I do believe that some may enjoy this, but I would steer people to "This Time it's Real" by this author instead.

I was SO excited to get approved for this title and I will be completely honest with you it was a HUGE letdown. Good things first. I really resonated with Sadie's people pleasing tendencies, and seeing her journey there was enjoyable and something that I'm sure will resonate with a lot of readers. I also really enjoyed Julius (our love interest). He was sassy, but also sweet and thoughtful, and he seemed like a great match against Sadie in everything that she did. But really that's the only things I found myself enjoying about this novel. For me the cons seriously outweighed the pros, but I'll just highlight a few of the problems I had. One of the big ones was just how ridiculous this novel was premise-wise. I understand it's supposed to have a To All The Boys feel to it. I love that book, and while the premise there is perhaps a little far-fetched it makes so much more sense than this one. Here instead of physical letters we get emails, which seems like it should work just fine because we're in the digital age but it doesn't. It makes no sense. I don't mind that Sadie wrote the emails in the first place, but then she went and kept them? I'm sorry, but for a girl who is supposed to be smart that was a VERY stupid move. Write your angry email, get all those feelings out, then delete it. People do things like that every day, but somehow you want me to believe she just kept all of them in her draft folder? Also, I can see one or two of those emails getting out but ALL of them? There were like 60 of them dating back over a decade. Do email drafts even save for that long? And based on her super old computer I find it hard to believe all of them could even be sent out in such a short period of time. I just don't buy it on any level. My other massive problem was, for lack of a better way to phrase it, Sadie's violence. Now, Sadie doesn't actually get violent, but in several of the emails she sends to her academic rival Julius she states she wants to kill him, and then describes how in rather concerning detail. At one point we get almost an entire letter about how she dreams of strangling him; how she wants to wrap her hands around his throat and squeeze and watch as the life drains out of him while he scrabbles for air. I don't mind some violence in YA books, but this is supposed to be a AY rom-com and honestly the level of detail for said genre is just wrong. The entire school reads these emails and the response to them is just "Sadie is a B*tch" not "Sadie is completely psycho", which I feel would have been the appropriate response, not only from classmates but from staff (who are also aware of the emails, but don't really do anything about them). Julius also doesn't seem to be bothered by this? It would have been helpful to see some of his POV to know if he liked Sadie all along or if it was a new development. I still am not sure I would be okay dating someone who ever had thoughts about that like me. And she keeps thinking about it even after she decides she likes him. I just found it super creepy. There were some other things that I had slight issues with too, but for the most part these were the big ones. All of that is to say that I will not be recommending this to any customers, and I'm beginning to wonder if I somehow managed to read an entirely different book than everyone else. This had the potential to be really cute, but it just didn't work for me at all. But maybe it will work for you, and if it sounds like something you might like please don't let my thoughts stop you because obviously it's all subjective!

This book was absolute perfection. If Ann Liang knows how to do one thing, it's writing a good romance. Throughout the book, there was so much pining and funny moments that had me laughing out loud. I absolutely loved the FMC and found her hilarious but also really relatable. The challenges and personal problems she faced felt very real and made her easily lovable and understandable. I think this is an academic rivals to lovers done right. The reasons she acted the way she did, didn't feel silly or unnecessary to the story but made sense for her character. This book was 5 stars and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a cute silly romance but also very relatable characters.

Very entertaining!!! Ann never disappoints to write something fun but also stressful. I’m always in a state of panic for the fmc and mmc at any given moment. If the girl isn’t about to do something crazy to set me back 50 years, then the guy is about to do something incredibly romantic- to an extent. I always enjoy reading her books and this one just proves me right yet again.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @scholastic for an early copy of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐/5
Release date: February 6th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124932739-i-hope-this-doesn-t-find-you?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=O6W9voFoB6&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

From the very first chapter of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, the main character, Sadie, already feels like a very judgmental and immature character. I wasn’t sure if I would like her and that held until the end of the book, but with some redeeming qualities.

Firstly, I’m not entirely sure how Sadie’s email drafts/rants for those who have wronged her have been sent out altogether all at once throughout her school, but that was the main conflict of the story, and with that, Sadie was forcibly teamed up with Julius, her archenemy and her competition in all things. To teach them a lesson (though I don’t get why Julius was dragged into it in the first place since it was all Sadie’s doing), teachers were to provide them a task to complete, and this apparently should resolve the hostility and conflict between them. Throughout the book, their chemistry seems forced, especially with Julius’ crush on Sadie being implied but not explicitly explained until the very end. Additionally, with all the tasks handed to them, I couldn’t see any character development or remorse even from Sadie. Yes, some people at school had wronged her and taken advantage of her capabilities, and at the peak of her anger, she wrote those emails addressed to them but she never really meant to send them out. I kind of understood how she felt, but I don’t think she even regrets saying mean things to these people until the end of the novel, and only regrets them being sent out accidentally in the first place. However, I would applaud her for being brave and facing the problem head-on. With the scale of what she has done, she didn’t even skip school and faced shame.

Julius, on the other hand, I feel most sorry for. Competing with Sadie for most of his school years must have put a lot of pressure on him, especially with his family’s expectations for him to be at the top and the best at school. I’m glad he has taken Sadie’s competitive trait into an inspiration though.

Overall, my first Ann Liang read wasn’t exactly ideal, but I’m open to reading her previous works. This was a fast-paced and easy read, and I finished it in one sitting, but it didn’t hit the mark for me, primarily because of the annoying main character, who I was hopeful would have at least some character development but did not. Other characters like Julius and Abigail were quite likable though, and if there were to be a sequel with them on it, I’d gladly pick it up.