This is a very sweet summer YA book (that is mostly clean). It has all the cliché YA tropes, which is a good and a bad thing. I love the idea of camp, secret letters, and teen shenanigans, but omg the miscommunication. I’m fine with miscommunication, but 90% of the book being based off of it?! No thank you. I also just didn’t feel compelled to keep reading this one. Talia and Ethan were fine but didn’t make me grin or swing my feet or anything. I will honestly probably forget this book in about a month.

3⭐️

THE BOOK OF THE SUMMER!
The 24 hour time period, the drama, the angst, the love!!!
The most well done miscommunication trope I've ever read!
I'm obsessed with Natalia and Ethan and wish I could read about them forever!
This book transported me back to my high school years in the best possible way.
I have no notes of this book. Its completely wonderful and will be your favorite beach/pool/river read this season.

Sometimes, a YA romance can be rough, but I fully enjoyed this book and it may be the best one I have read in a while.

The angst and character development was delightful and you could feel exactly how each character was feeling throughout it.

I also love when there is a best friend “pact” scenario as well so that was the perfect twist to all of this.

ARC Review!

📖:
Friends to lovers
Romance
Meant to be
Secrets
Beach setting
Forced proximity

This is a young adult book / teens. I really enjoyed this story. And I am so glad it read it. I think this book shows a lot of the different struggles teens go through when they are facing change and trying to learn how to start a different kind of relationship. Throughout this book I was able to see the 2 main characters grow in many different ways but a big one was their communication. This felt in the beginning like the miscommunication trope; and with young adults it shows how these things can really happen - and when we have a bit of miscommunication there may be times when giving explanations can be harder than it sounds.

I give this book 4 ⭐️ I think YA/ teen readers will enjoy this read.

SPICE:
There is no spice in this book but there is mentions of spice and there’s kisses. 😘

LANGUAGE:
There are a few cuss words but it’s not all over the book.

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU
- if you don’t mind having a story with miscommunication being a big part of the beginning.

- if you love YA BOOKS

- if you like it when there’s a lot of character development + secrets.

- if you like the friends to lovers trope.

I really needed a candy romance book right about now, so I was really glad to find this one on my list. The short chapters make it especially binge-able, and the tension between the two estranged best friends makes it easy to keep reading well past bedtime (which I did.)

I like that Natalia is an artist and that her art impacts the story. There are moments when she describes how she’s feeling in terms of art or color. Ethan, by contrast, drifts into sharing strange facts when he’s stressed, which is really cute.


Almost the whole story takes place during an overnight camping trip for the rising senior class at Natalia’s and Ethan’s school. The first couple of chapters take place a few months before, and the last chapter takes place long afterward, functioning sort of like a prologue and epilogue.

The romantic plot of the story holds a lot of tension, with Natalia and Ethan recalling a kiss from months earlier that neither is sure whether the other regrets. The senior camping trip marks the first time they’ve seen each other in a while, and it creates a kind of forced proximity. The secret letters part of the story added some interesting components and quirky side characters and subplots.

Fans of J.C. Cervantes will probably like this quick, intense love story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Eva Des Lauriers for this ARC!

Wow wow wow! I absolutely loved this read! For a slow burn, it was anything but- every chapter left me wanting more. It was a perfect blend of suspense, romance, and high school drama. Des Lauriers did a fantastic job transporting me back to high school and awakening the intense emotions that come with being a 17 year old discovering love, passions, and friendships. I was laughing reading some scenes remembering those exact moments in my own life- hello nostalgia!

For a quick but enticing read, this YA story is a perfect fit for anyone who loves young love and watching teenage drama unfold!

The quick cut: A guy and girl who are best friends have their prom night go wrong and avoid each other all summer. That ends when they have to work together to find escaped letters.

A real review:
Thank you to Henry Holt and Co for providing the arc for an honest review.

Feelings make everything complicated, especially when you're best friend is a different gender than you. For Natalia and Ethan, they nearly ruin their friendship on junior prom.

Natalia and Ethan have been friends for a long time. On their junior prom night, they make a mistake that causes Natalia to avoid Ethan and Ethan to wish he could take his actions back. When they spend a summer apart, they meet again for a school tradition where the seniors write letters to themselves. Except Natalia accidentally lost a few and needs to get them back. Can they do it together? Or be apart forever?

I actually really loved the first half of this book and it really fell apart by the end. These two are friends with a lot of unspoken truths between them. They needed to get those out, but the problem is that if these were really their issues - I seriously doubt their friendship would've lasted this long.

The chapters go back and forth between Natalia and Ethan narrating. Each one gives you a glimpse into what they're experiencing internally. I quickly got frustrated with their inability to be honest to each other. Some of the melodrama was distracting rather than adding to the story.

I did like the concept here, but you needed a lot more editing and character development to make that work. Right now, all I can see are the plot holes and mistakes littered all over the page.

A fun concept with a flat execution.

My rating: 3 out of 5

An absolutely pitch perfect depiction of first love and all of the angst and emotion tied up in it! I devoured this book and felt so much for Natalia and Ethan. A truly amazing debut!

This book was so nostalgic. It sent me right back to those breathless moments of drama and first love from high school. Eva perfectly captures the terror and drama of a high school ritual gone wrong and all the hurt feelings unearthed because of it. The characters are so real and flawed and I loved every moment of this book.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute YA story set during an overnight at the beach for incoming seniors. There are a few flashbacks scattered throughout that help round out the story and explain some of the current situations. Ethan and Natalia are best friends, but after almost becoming more following junior prom, they've been avoiding each other until now.

The author really captures that teenage feeling that what you personally are experiencing is the best/worst/most intense ever and that no one else can possibly understand. I really enjoyed this story and I think the YA audience will love it.

I fully admit that I requested this on NetGalley because it has a Taylor Swift song title (and a 1989 one at that!), but it was so, so good. Props to this book for being the first young adult book I've even attempted in a long, long time that didn't drive me up a wall. Don't get me wrong, I've never wanted to smack two characters upside the head as much as I did Ethan and Natalia and tell them to just talk to each other, but they're in high school! High schooler are notoriously bad communicators!

This book did such a great job encapsulating how pressing and world shaking every tiny little thing feels when you're in high school (Senior Sunrise has to go off without a hitch! Ethan can't know Natalia's in love with him! Natalia can't know Ethan's in love with her! Etc.) and how you feel like No One will understand anything that's going on. And then you finally, /finally/ talk to your best friend or your parent or your sibling and you realize that they would have understood the whole time, and all of a sudden everything is more manageable.

Very sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

This was such a cute read and honestly, it was well done. The high school drama felt so real, and I can look back at my high school years and think of a Natalia and Ethan from my class that everyone knew would end up together except themselves. And Ethan getting flustered trying to explain himself? Too cute. I really enjoyed reading this!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Eva Des Lauriers, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was a special book to read because a friend of mine from college (shoutout Carina Licon!!!!) was the editor for I Wish You Would!! So cool to see lovely people doing wonderful things and accomplishing their dreams!! I enjoyed this read overall. Des Lauriers writing was great, and I felt SUCH a connection between Ethan and Natalia. I adored Rainn, Sienna, and assorted friends as well, and I think she did a great job of really exploring all the characters. The premise behind the book was intriguing, and I truly flew through the book as I was eager to see how events played out. I was pleasantly surprised that the book and characters had a lot more depth for something I thought would just be a YA romance going in; I was able to relate to Natalia's feelings of having to have everything under control a lot. I do think I was a bit old for this book overall in the sense that the missed communication was too much for me. I found myself getting a bit annoyed through cyclical conversations that were had throughout the book, and the "will they won't they" dragged on a bit too much for my taste. For this, I have to drop my rating a bit, but I do think that if I was 16-18 I would have enjoyed it more because it was well written and fun!

With a beautiful cover and concept, I Wish You Would have the potential to be a great YA. I did feel I was not the correct audience for this book, however, and should have paid more attention to the synopsis's emphasis on this being a drama-filled love story, Unfortunately, while I love a good emotional read, this story did not work for me as a reader. I do believe it can be a great read for the right audience though,

I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers was instant love from page one. The emotion and characters had me in a chokehold from the beginning and had me saying "just one more page!"

There's really nothing better than the drama and angst of a YA novel. This book follows best friends Natalia and Ethan, who after almost crossing the line at junior prom and not speaking to each other all summer, have to confront their issues after confession letters go missing at a senior class overnight trip.

Both characters are struggling with family issues and with themselves. Ethan is suddenly popular after being bullied for most of his life. He is struggling with his relationship with his famous father. Natalia is striving hard to be perfect and be good enough for everyone else. She's struggling with her parent's marital issues and with wanting to do art instead of what her father wants her to do. They could be frustrating (between some miscommunication about prom night and them both keeping secrets), but they were likable.

This was an angsty, but sweet first love story.

If you like the miscommunication trope, I Wish You Would is the book for you! Taking place over 24 hours (with a few flashbacks), this dual-POV YA novel is perfect for a summer release; it's full of beachy vibes and back-to-school activities.

I really enjoyed the author's writing style -- both of the main characters felt relatable (strong neurodivergent vibes for both, actually). I remember what it's like to struggle with not fitting in and not feeling like you can be your true self around your classmates. I would have enjoyed more from the other background characters with more points-of-view or more flashbacks.

I was surprised by the more mature content, especially at the beginning of the book. Lots of language, as well -- use caution if that's not your thing.

Let me start by saying I am not a huge fan on 24 hour books. I think most are done terribly and leave a LOT for the reader to fill in on their own. If I had realized that this was going to primarily be a 24 hour book (with some minor flashbacks and an epilogue) I would have probably not request it.

The miscommunication trope was the central plot and it lasted WAAAAAYYYY too long. Also, everyone is a cheater apparently? The whiplash of the constant will they/wont they with their communication annoyed me to NO end. That being said, I kept reading. So for that alone I will give it 3 stars. I was angry and annoyed at it all and kept reading.

I think the book definitely gives off the vibes of Taylor's I Wish You Would. I dont know if that is a good or bad thing honestly. I think overall, I was not impressed and did not feel like we got anywhere by the end of the story.

I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers, 288 pages. Henry Holt and Co. (Macmillan), 2024. $20.
Language: R (155 swears, 52 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Senior Sunrise is the last event of the summer, the first event for the upcoming senior class, and a day for Natalia to avoid her family drama. Unfortunately, there will not be any avoiding the drama with her best friend, Ethan, who ghosted her all summer. They haven’t seen each other since that awkward mess on prom night, and now their reunion will be in front of all their friends—and enemies—in their class.
I nearly quit reading in the first two chapters of the book because of the implied sex in chapter one and the promise of drama in chapter two. All of the conflict is a series of misunderstandings—though a few are purposeful misleadings—and poor choices, which is often annoying to read. I spent a significant portion of my reading time yelling at the characters to use their words. Despite my annoyance with the chosen style of conflict, I still got a feeling of satisfaction from the neatly tied conclusion.
Natalia is Latina, her mother is Latina, Ethan is described as “pale,” Leti is Latine, and Ms. Mercer is described as having “olive” skin. Leti, Sienna, and a couple other characters are part of the LGBTQ community. The mature content rating is for alcohol use including underage drinking, mentions of condoms and sexting, kissing, sexual harassment, partial nudity, and sex. The violence rating is for assault and joking about murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

This was a really great YA novel! We follow Ethan and Natalia, who are best friends but after something happens on prom night, their friendship gets strained. The book takes place through one night into the morning where all the incoming seniors are gathered for the “Senior Sunrise”. At this event, the seniors write down their dreams and hopes for senior year, to be placed in a bottle and then burned in the fire. However, when letters go missing, when Natalia mistakenly opens the jar, it’s up to her and Ethan to work together and get the letters back before anyone else finds out.
Although this book had a lot of the miscommunication trope, it worked because Ethan and Natalia felt like real teenagers and with teenagers they aren’t the most expressive or willing to communicate their feelings.
I enjoy the larger cast of characters and getting to their stories unfold as well with the letters.
This was a really solid YA book and I loved the Taylor Swift inspired title!

Thanks again to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!!