4.5 stars rounded up.

content warnings: underage drinking, cheating (not main characters), parental abandonment, complicated family dynamics

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is pitched as a snarky and romantic mix of the Netflix series Never Have I Ever and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han if Lara Jean had written hate emails instead of love letters, and that is exactly what this book is.

After loving both If You Could See the Sun and This Time It's Real, I had high hopes for Ann Liang's third book, and my hopes were definitely met! Liang's writing just feels effortless; I don't feel like I'm reading a novel, I'm just...reading about someone's experiences, if that makes sense. She makes it so easy to get lost in the worlds that she's created because her characters feel so real and relatable.

For me, characters have always been Liang’s strong point. She’s great at writing clear, distinct characters and personally, I like that she doesn’t feel the need to write large ensemble groups where everyone kind of blends in together. Her books typically focus on a small group of main and supporting characters, and then there will be another handful or so of minor characters introduced throughout the story. All of Liang’s characters in I Hope This Doesn’t Find You were really well written and easy to differentiate from one another and all served a purpose in telling this story.

I am such a sucker for academic rivals to lovers, honestly, give me a book with this trope and I will eat it up! Sadie and Julius’ relationship dynamic was definitely reminiscent of Ben and Devi’s relationship in Never Have I Ever, and they also gave me similar vibes to Eliza and Len in Michelle Quach’s Not Here to Be Liked. What I especially loved about Sadie and Julius was their banter — they were so funny and made me laugh out loud multiple times. I loved how snarky and sarcastic they were with each other (they had some really great insults that I may have to keep in my back pocket), and that made their soft tender moments even sweeter.

I think that if you liked Liang's previous works, you'll also enjoy I Hope This Doesn't Find You

Oh my GOD Ann Liang I’m obsessed with you - AND I’m obsessed with Julian.

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is a tug-at-your-heartstrings YA academic rivals. Sadie doesn’t have it in her to say No to other people, so she’s constantly drowning under her people-pleasing tendencies. She airs out her grievances to classmates in teachers in her email drafts, until one day her drafts get sent out TO THE ENTIRE SCHOOL… oh Sadie girl I don’t wanna be you right now

What follows is the aftermath of Sadie picking her life back up, especially her rivalry with her co-captain of the school Julian. I LOVED how much tension there was and how much was left unsaid **but shown through action.** There was lots of love in this book that was SHOWN to us as readers rather than just told, which breathed so much life and realness into this rivals to lovers novel. I loved how neither Sadie or Julian’s characters were compromised to further the plot, we got to see their true selves and how their dynamic didn’t have to do a complete 180 for them to see the good in one another. This is easily one of my favorite YA books and my favorite Ann Liang book so far of hers.

My reasoning behind the 4 star rating (rather than a 5 star) is that some of the side characters were one-dimensional to a fault. It came off as tropey and, at times, predictable. But regardless, I absolutely loved how the story played out between our two main characters and I’m a huge fan of Ann Liang. This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024, so thanks so much to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion!!

90/100 or 4.50 stars

This was everything you can hope for in a teen romance. It was absolutely adorable. It has some serious and sad moments, but it does them well and makes sense within the story. I had a great time with this.

When i got this arc, i screamed. Ann Liang quickly became my favorite author this year after I read If You Could See The Sun and This Time Is Real. I absolutely love everything she writes, her style and familiarity with the words make all the difference.
I Hope This Doesn't Find You is another one of her great books. Enemies (academic rivals) to lovers, Julius and Sadie compete at everything. To their peers, she’s a nice reliable girl who has absolutely no problem with Julius, but when Sadie’s email drafts filled with angry notes about everyone ESPECIALLY Julius are sent out to everyone in their school, she finds herself in trouble. Her, being a pathological people pleaser, does everything in her power to fix the situation.
This was such a great book, with deep characters and fun arcs. I loved the forced proximity with the main characters and the way Sadie’s character grew during the story. As always, Ann Liang wrote it so I could get absolutely invested in it and made me finish this in one afternoon. Also, her side characters are so funny. Abigail (the best friend) made me laugh out loud soooo many times! And the way she makes her characters relatable are another level. I actually annotated “she's so me” at least 20 times after Sadie said/did something. I love her.
With all of this said, I loved the book, rooted for the characters and will be recommending it to all of my friends. My only complaint is that I wish this book was longer because I am already missing it. Again, I would read Ann’s to-do list and I would give it five stars. She’s just THAT author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I would like to thank both the author, Ann Liang, and the whole network of NetGalley, all the administrators and those who allowed me to read and review this book. I'm hugely thankful that you allowed part of my opinion to reflect on part of this book, and I wish for nothing but the best in the sales of this beautiful story. I will also, as per command, not be spoiling any part of this story until the release date, as requested.

Before I talk about any critiques, I would like to address the things that I like about the previous works of this author that I also saw in this book. I love the passionate main character, her personality, her work ethic, and the thoughts about how she views the world. I find that when the author talks about certain ideas and dreams a character has, the reader can relate much more to the character and even the author themselves. The story and characters feel more tangible and real, so much more than words on a page. Therefore, it's no surprise that like Alice from previous books, I will likely remember Sadie for a long time.

I also love Sadie's best friend. How Ann Liang is so good at writing these interesting side characters, I'll never know. She's actually so hilarious, and although I did see her little plot point from quite a while away, I thought she was a fantastic add-in to the story. Only complaint is that I wish we could've seen more of her. Fun besties are always a welcome addition, and there's really no harm in showing us more of her personality and quirks (Unless there will be a new story about her...?! Probably not, but a girl can dream).

Now, for some constructive feedback. I will say, although I do love myself a enemies to lovers, I wasn't as persuaded of the history of the two lead characters as I should've been. I found that a lot of the back and forth between Sadie and Julius didn't read as convincing, and their past felt a bit contrived. Although I can't give examples for spoiler reasons, one certain issue lies in the topic of family relations, and how Sadie and Julius somehow don't know basic facts about each other...? I guess since they're academic rivals, it sort of makes sense, but alas, I couldn't comprehend it.

Also with Julius, he did seem a bit less fleshed out compared to some of her previous works, and without a resolution to his conflict, the whole thing felt a bit contrived, a way to explain away his questioning behavior towards Sadie. Although I did like his bickering/bantery/i-would-die-for-you/k-drama relationship with her, perhaps a bit more backstory would actually help in this case...?

As a quick side note, some of the plot points were a bit predictable, in my humble opinion. There is nothing wrong with a formulaic story, and this isn't really a complaint so much as a notice to those who might need it, but at least for me, when I got halfway through, the ending just wrote itself in my mind. Didn't take away from the charm of the story, just prewrote it. I still thought it was worth reading, though, just similar to her previous lovely works.

Overall, despite being a bit formulaic and predictable, I did really enjoy the characters of this story. It came off a bit confusing at times, but all in all, it was really cute and fun read. 3.9 stars (rounded up to 4 stars).

FIVE OUT OF FIVE, TEN OUT OF TEN LITERALLY SO GOOD!!

I think this book consumed me more than I consumed it. I honestly think the rivals to lovers in this book was much more potent and the hate was definitely more in this than in Ann's other book, If You Could See The Sun. Don't get me wrong, I love that book to pieces, but the academic rivals to lovers in this one? MIND-BLOWING!

THIS is what you call hate to love. THIS is academic rivals to lovers. This is everything anyone could ever want.

I literally have so many quotes marked up, because nearly every page had a moment that blew my mind. The writing, as always, amazing. The characters, brilliant. JULIUS GONG HAS SINGLE-HANDEDLY RAISED MY STANDARDS OF MEN I KID YOU NOT!! I can't say anything right now, but holy shit this boy. I loved Sadie as well. Her people-pleasing personality hit hard in a way I didn't expect 😭I absolutely adored her and Abigail's friendship it was literally so wholesome.

Anyway, this was undoubtedly one of my favorite romance reads of 2023. This little rivalry romance between our beloved school captains; one who's a people-pleasing, angel-faced girl on the outside but writes hate emails, and the other who is the popular boy who hates her more than anything (or does he?) has completely taken my heart. Highly recommend to anyone!!!!

This book was so cute! I loved the banter between the main characters. This was a very adorable enemies to lovers. I loved the academic setting and the fast pace of the book.

➳ 3.5

her third novel, i hope this doesn’t find you is rich with ann liang’s signature traits: relatable, lovable characters, laugh-out-loud humor and romantic moments that will make all the butterflies in your stomach take flight. the writing is as fresh and pleasant as ever, and it was overall another little gem of hers, a joy to read.

”then why are you rating it 3.5 stars?” because (lamentably and absolutely, totally, utterly a personal opinion, not the book’s fault) the dynamic between the main characters was not my cup of tea. i swooned during the swoonworthy moments and rooted for them to find their way to each other from start to finish, but there was still a little voice at the back of my mind that prevented me from fully letting go and appreciating their interactions.

i still thorougly enjoyed the book and will be (forcing it on) recommending it to, well, everyone. that’s just how it is between me and ann. sorry for the cliché, but i’d read her grocery list if she let me.

thanks to scholastic & netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review! all opinions are my own.

You know, I was not sold on the "To All the Boys I've Loved Before but with hate mail" in the blurb for I Hope This Doesn't Find You. However, it completely works. Liang's book was snarkily delightful. As a fellow people-pleaser, I really appreciated Sadie's growth as a character and learning to be herself. I thought Julian also was a super character with nice growth.

The pacing, however, wasn't my favourite, and I never got a good feel for the setting or the larger community surrounding. In particular, I'd have liked more time with Sadie's mom and brother.

Still, very enjoyable, so thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

4 stars
YA : academic rivals, enemies to lover, C-drama vibes, forced proximity, people pleaser, single POV

I Hope This Doesn't Find You is definitely To All the Boys I've Loved Before if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.

Sadie Wen, on the surface, is the perfect student; she's a school captain, in line to be a valedictorian, a good athlete, and gets the best grades. While she's always smiling and helping other students (read letting them walk all over her) she channels all her pent up resentment and frustrations into writing hate emails that she never intends to send. Most of her hate emails are directed at her co-captain, Julius Gong, a popular and nice guy to everyone but Sadie. He reserves all his dislike and competitive attitude just for her.

These emails are just an outlet for Sadie's feelings pretending to be the "perfect" person when her people pleasing wears her out. But when they accidentally get sent out to their recipients Sadie's confronted with all the conflict she's tried so hard to avoid.

This is my first YA novel in a while, and my first Ann Liang novel. Being a huge K-drama and C-drama fan, I saw many parallels, and I loved it. Lots of good banter from the forced proximity as a result of the email fallout. Some really cute and endearing moments shine through like helping her clean up after the party, visiting her at the bakery etc.

There was something missing in all this. While all the elements were there, there's just something more needed to really sell their switch from enemies to lovers, make the reader feel the emotions and the angst. It was still a great read and would definitely recommend this HEA to anyone who enjoys academic rivals and enemies to lovers tropes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ann Liang for the opportunity to read this eARC and provide my honest review. #IHopeThisDoesntFindYou #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. While the writing was decent, the storytelling left much to be desired. I found the catalyst of the entire plot to be extremely contrived; even by the end of the book, I couldn't understand how every email in someone's drafts could be sent out all at once, just from a single click. As for the romance itself, Sadie and Julius' interactions felt forced instead of natural, and I couldn't find myself getting invested in their relationship at all. The one aspect of the book that did make me feel something was Sadie's difficulty in standing up for herself/saying no/not being a pushover. It is very hard to change that habit once everyone around you expects you to act a certain way (i.e., let everyone walk all over you), and it is very easy to become used to avoiding conflict at all costs. Anyway, even though I did not enjoy this book, a lot of others seemed to love it, so give it a try if you think that you'll enjoy it!

Thank you to netgalley and Scholastic, Scholastic Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This was such a fun and cute book to read. I was so into this book that I didn't realize how fast I made it to the end even though I didn't want it to end.

I Hope This Doesn't Find You is a hilarious academic enemies to lovers YA romance.
Sadie starts off as a passive aggressive teachers pet, but the story gets interesting when she loosens up ans tries to get to know the people around hee instead of compere with them.
Mainly, the building romance between her and smart hottie Julian is great, and the dialogue and inner monologues are LOl funny.
Thank you Scholastic for the digital review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh. My. God. Ann Liang really did it again. I loved this book. I love Sadie so much and she’s actually me. Because yes, I too write email drafts though the biggest difference between me and her is I don’t put the email addresses in so they don’t get sent out. But if you think this was entirely preventable you are wrong and that little detail is there too. I love how Sadie and Julius’s relationship developed over the course of the book. I mean, I was truly doubting at first how they could possibly go from this pure hatred to dating??? But don’t worry, readers, Ann Liang has it all figured out and the romance plot will not disappoint.

I can not wait for it to be February and for everyone to scream about this book and characters like I did.

This book flew by! I'm a huge fan of the enemies to lovers trope, so that definitely made me enjoy this book a lot and I felt Sadie and Julius really did have great chemistry. The plot felt a little too convenient at times, but I can forgive it because of the characters. I really empathized with Sadie's struggles to please and take care of everyone, even those she wasn't necessarily on good terms with. I do wish we got to see a little more of Julius and Abigail--I felt like they both had so much more to their stories, but of course the book had to end at some point!

I've been in a reading slump lately, but I tore through this ARC lighting fast. It's exactly what I needed to read right now and I loved nearly every second (more about the nearly later). I would absolutely read another book about hyper overachiever Sadie Wen.

This book has a similar premise to To All the Boys I've Loved Before at first glance - Sadie's draft emails are sent out through a mysterious set of circumstances. Sadie's situation is double mortifying since some of her emails went out to the entire school, and triple mortifying since Sadie uses her drafts folder to say the things she can't say in real life without damaging her perfect student reputation. These are basically call out posts in email form, and while nothing she says is untrue exactly, some of it is certainly unkind.

Most of the unkindness is thrown in the direction of Julius Gong, her co-school captain and rival for valedictorian. Sadie finds him arrogant and attractive in equal parts, and it's so fun to be aware of this before she is. If you're a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope like I am, this is a must read.

Even though I'm giving this 5 stars, I have a couple of hesitations about recommending this to teens. The insults Sadie and Julius exchange could feel toxic and abusive in other relationships. This is absolutely not a relationship to emulate. I feel adult readers will understand this, but worry teens may not. More disturbingly, Julius punches a guy in the face for writing something unkind about Sadie. Very much did not love the introduction of violence as some kind of chivalrous act. Also, if you're punching people for being jerks to Sadie, Julius, have you looked in a mirror lately?

Despite these issues, I personally had so much fun with this that I have to give it a 5. Recommended for adult fanfic readers, fans of To All the Boys, and older teens.

It is such a touching, heartbreaking but also heartwarming story that I couldn’t put it down. And even days after finishing it, I’m still thinking about these two. Liang ‘ writing is gorgeous and absolutely magical.

3.5 stars

let me start by saying that this book is okay! perhaps even sometimes good!

i liked sadie; she's this perfect student and a people pleaser but she also has this bitter rivalry with julius and these emails that she keeps in her drafts. now the way she goes about life when these emails are sent out is very inspiring i know that if i was her i would probably move states. i also liked how her personality in school and at home are very contrasting, and i really liked her relationship with her mom. her mom seems very understanding. justice for her mom btw that dad is a bum! i would have liked to see sadie's relationship with her classmates(besides abigail and julius) be more developed though. we also could've probably seen more emails as these things were apparently the equivalent of a nuclear bomb hitting the school.

julius was also kinda interesting; his relationship with his brother was realistic(there are definitely some people ik who struggle with living up to their parents and their siblings). again, i would have liked to see julius have more development with friends. as a love interest, i thought he was okay. his relationship with sadie was cute. julius going to see her at the bakery and winning her the medal was sweet though i did like that. i will say though i have no clue on why they were beefing but their interactions were funny

the writing is pretty good; i'm not one to say much about writing but the pacing was good. i finished this book really fast and it didn't feel like it was dragging to me so i'll consider it good.

HOWEVER...ann liang's books are too repetitive. like there's the main character girl who attends a fancy school. she gets in trouble some way and ends up having to co-exist alongside her love interest, who she dislikes for one reason or another. the main characters are always these perfect students who like try so hard at everything. the love intersests are always these academic rivals. like...we need to switch it up. i like the author, but maybe just once we don't need the perfect protagonists and the academic rival-to-lovers. maybe she's found her niche and i get that she might want to write what she's good at but her books are going to really start feeling one-note if she keeps with her current trend.

overall i liked this i think? but i also think her books are starting to feel a little formulaic which is not great. however, if you like academic rivals-to-lovers, a complexish protagonist, a snarky yet caring love interest, or any of her previous novels, you'll definitely like this book

thank you to netgalley and scholastic for the arc!

The premise of this book was very fun. I always appreciate a good enemies to lovers situation. However, the execution was not great. Sadie and Julius are supposedly somewhere between the ages of 16 and 18 yet they act and talk like 13 year olds. The emails were supposed to be this huge part of the story but we only get tiny snippets from a few of them. It felt like a missed opportunity. We also got to see parental trauma from both Sadie and Julius but there was never any resolution so it sat there feeling unfinished and unnecessary. The ending also felt rushed and the writing didn't really make sense. This book was written for young adults but reads like it was written for tweens.

The angst, the chemistry and the anticipation? Their banter and heated arguments and exchange of clever remarks sent with sneers.. The ENTIRE time I was at the edge of my seat, reading past midnight, because ONE MORE CHAPTER PLEASE! Ugh! It was the BEST!