This book is so fun! It's queer, enemies to lovers, and hilarious. The story is enjoyable and the writing is great. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun sapphic summer read.

Perfect summer read! Love Priya’s character! Definitely pick this up if you want to read about the ultimate summer camp experience.

4.4 rounded down to 4/5.

Erin Baldwin's "Wish You Weren't Here" delivers a delightful summer camp romance filled with heart, humor, and genuine emotion. With a relatable protagonist, engaging plot, and well-crafted relationships, this novel is sure to capture the hearts of readers.

At the heart of the story is Juliette, a teenage girl navigating the complexities of friendship, rivalry, and self-discovery. Baldwin skillfully brings Juliette to life, allowing readers to empathize with her struggles and root for her growth throughout the narrative. Juliette's journey of self-acceptance and understanding is both poignant and relatable, making her a compelling and memorable protagonist.

The dynamic between Juliette and Priya, her rival turned cabinmate, adds depth and complexity to the story. While the premise may seem familiar, Baldwin breathes new life into the enemies-to-tolerating-to-friends-to-lovers trope, crafting a nuanced and authentic relationship between the two characters. Their banter is entertaining, their conflicts feel genuine, and their eventual camaraderie is both satisfying and earned.

One of the novel's strengths lies in its portrayal of summer camp life. Baldwin captures the nostalgic essence of camp, infusing the setting with warmth, camaraderie, and a sense of adventure. From campfire sing-alongs to cabin pranks, the atmosphere is vividly depicted, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the world of Fogridge Sleepaway Camp alongside Juliette and her friends.

The romance subplot is sweet and well-developed, providing a heartwarming counterbalance to the main storyline. Baldwin takes her time to build the connection between Juliette and her love interest, allowing their relationship to unfold naturally and authentically. The inclusion of queer representation adds an important layer of diversity to the narrative, further enriching the story.

While the novel excels in many aspects, there are some minor flaws, such as the unresolved situation with Galahad. However, these shortcomings are overshadowed by the overall strength of the storytelling and character development.

In conclusion, "Wish You Weren't Here" is a charming and heartfelt summer read that will appeal to fans of YA romance. With its engaging characters, well-crafted relationships, and nostalgic camp setting, this novel is sure to leave readers with a smile on their faces and a warm feeling in their hearts.

I was waiting anxiously for this one. I was hoping and praying to be approved for this book and y'all really answered me! This was such a fun read, it was right up my ally. Enemies to lovers, sapphic queer, and it was just overall a great time. It was fun - and funny - and so much more. It filled me up with so much joy. I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this one.

4.75 ⭐️ I have never been to summer camp but WOW does this book make me wish I had gone as a teenager. I loved this book. I love the summer camp vibes, the characters, the plot, everything. As soon as I saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it. I was so excited when I got this ARC that I did a little happy dance because I was beyond stoked to be able to jump in IMMEDIATELY.

Juliette is a phenomenal main character. There are so many moments that I deeply connect to her and am reminded of all of the times I felt the same during high school. She has good moments and some not so good moments but all in all she is a teenager trying to find her place in the world and camp is the one spot she feels safe enough to be 100% herself. I really liked Priya as well. Not just as a love interest but as her own character as well. She brings a different type of perspective to Juliette's not so sunny disposition and offers up her own intensity to match. My favorite part of their romance was not the romance itself but instead two people finding someone who makes them feel seen and like there is no reason to change who you are for anyone else.

The only downside I really had with this book was that I wish there was more. More time getting to see Juliette and Priya build a relationship, time with Gia and Lucy, more of the other Fogridge staff, and more activities.

I found the rivalry on this to really be kind of one sided, so idk if enemies to lovers is necessarily the best trope to apply to this. Loved the whole camp vibe and nostalgia. I would have really enjoyed getting to see more development of the relationship throughout. Overall an enjoyable sapphic romance read.

Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. I set it aside for a week and have no interest in picking it back up. I find the characters are hard for me personally to connect with. While the summer camp setting is fun, the MC kind of grated on my nerves. It isn’t for me but I could see others really enjoying it.

I absolutely adored this book. I’ve been expanding the genres I read this year, and it’s safe to say that I’m now a sucker for the classic enemies to lovers trope. You’d think by now it would be played out, but Erin Baldwin did a great job making her characters come to life and making it seem like a completely new subject. I loved how the characters were each their own and had their stand out personalities, and that the story didn’t seem forced or anything. I thought it really interesting how Juliette and Priya didn’t start out as two people who absolutely despised each other, but instead it was more of a forced polite friendship with some complications, which to me made the progression of the plot and character developments so much better, because it was natural, and a refreshing twist on things. I thought this book was super cute and I loved the ending! I finished reading the epilogue and had the biggest smile on my face, which is usually a good sign that the book was very much enjoyed. I can’t wait to read more from Erin Baldwin!

3 1/4 stars rounded down! It was an enjoyable read but I think it could have just included more development.

This book has semi-rivals/who tolerate each other to lovers and camp nostalgia realness!

The problem I had with this book is that it is pretty clear that the rivalry is one-sided, and more like they just tolerate it better? I think the rivalry could have been more developed. Like Juliette are basically just like distant friends and tolerate each other, and Priya is perfect so she's kind of jealous of that? The hate Juliette has in her head seems unwarranted, and like it ruined her whole summer. I think the realization of love could have also been more developed, there was a lot of camp development but not as much relationship development, and it could have been swapped. Additionally, Juliette's home life was.... depressing af? It seemed like she had no friends and also her family was shitty - it just seemed kind of unrealistic??

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers.

An adorable enemies to lovers rom com with a really fun overall dynamic. I liked the way these people were enemies in the believable sort of way– not enemies for real, but more a general dislike and the idea that they like each other the least out of the friend group. This felt like relationships that I have had, and it gave me all the feelings!

A fun, engaging sapphic romance absolutely worth the read.

3.75⭐️

I really enjoyed Juliette as a protagonist and related to her feeling like she was always too intense. I felt the same way while I was in high school and also found it hard to make friends because of it. I wish I’d had a book with a character who felt like this when I was 16/17.

I did find it a little harder to connect with Priya but this could be due to the fact we weren’t in her perspective. I liked seeing how their relationship developed from dislike to friendly to crushes. Overall this was a really cute summer camp romance and I would definitely recommend to someone looking for a quick and fun read.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.*

Reading this after becoming the waterfront director of my old summer camp brought out all of my old camp memories (and all of my old camp crushes) I Wish You Weren’t Here was a wonderful story about finding yourself in the place you feel at home and learning that home doesn’t have to mean where you live or who you’re related to, home can be a person or a summer camp.

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0 ☆

i love a good summer romance so i went into this book with high expectations and it delivered.

injuring yourself doing something stupid that really shouldnt have injured you really spoke to me (i once broke my leg/ankle slipping in a puddle of water)

i really want another book or even just a bunch of bonus scenes of their lives after this camp, when they go to college, when they get the apartment, etc

we love the former gifted child vibe she gives except shes still gifted she got into fucking yale.

we love relationships where both people feel inferior and its only through eachother that they realize they're worth shit.

i waited way too long to write this review this is why i normally write them right after, before i can read another book. i had so much more to say but i forgot it.

I picked this book to read because I saw a reviewer say that it was 'filled with hate-to-love perfection' and that really drew me in. While I do agree that this book is excellent, I wouldn't say that it's a hate-to-love story. Or at least, not a true enemies-to-lovers, though the <i>idea</i> of enemy-to-lovers is there, I wouldn't call this a true enemy-to-lovers story.

Juliette Barrera-Wright is a character that feels very much like your typical high school age teenager, just on the cusp of adulthood but still holding on for dear like to the plausible deniability of childhood. I never attended a summer camp of any sort (I'm queer but unfortunately I'm not the outdoorsy type of queer) but this book made me wish that I had. The friendships that Juliette has with the camp regulars, both fellow campers and the staff, makes me long for those kind of relationships.

The relationship between Priya, the social media starlet that holds a yearly Priyatopia for her birthday, and Juliette is one that is a bit like a Sour Patch Kid - both sweet and sour, in a way that I found endearing. Like I said at the beginning, this isn't a true enemy-to-lovers story but one that feels like a safer version of that trope and I wasn't mad about that in the slightest.

There were times when things felt a bit unbelievable but never enough to pull me out of the story. It was a very cute story, one that almost made me wish I went to summer camp (I say almost because the bugs will always cause me to not wish for that).

I loved Juliette's growth throughout the book, it felt incredibly believable, and though the story felt like it ended abruptly, the epilogue did help to tie everything together.

I enjoyed this book a lot and it deserves the 4 stars that I'm giving it, especially if you enjoy slice-of-life queer teen books.

Liked this one a lot! Very fun "enemies" to lovers set in a summer camp. I enjoyed the way that Priya and Juliette interacted, how even when they didn't like one another, they still looked out for each other. I admit, I did find Juliette a bit bratty at times with the way she acted towards the counselors and her friends. Although, at the same time I can see why she acted the way she did, as it's her last year at camp and she wants everything to go smoothly. Overall, I thought this book was fun and a great source of nostalgia for anyone who's ever been to a summer camp. 4.6/5 rounded up!

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for a review!

hang on.... is this book about me? well, not exactly, but as far as sapphic romance at summer camp goes i'd say i've lived it out. this one captured all the awesome things about summer camp, and crushing hopelessly on people on summer camp, and even confessing to people at summer camp, but this time it was enemies to lovers with great representation and a lot of awesome banter!

this was super cute and i enjoyed it :D it did not take me that long to read and even though juliette made some poor decisions at times it was never that bad. girl did not realize she was head over heels for way too long tbh we all knew immediately.

i kind of wish we got some more background on why they were enemies? but maybe that's the point is that they never really had a good reason and that's why they got over it so fast, which also makes sense. they are the cutest couple and i hope they have a great life <33

Okay, first things first: if you're on the fence about this one—admiring that cute cover, thinking a summer camp novel sounds fun, that frenemies-to-lovers is obviously the best trope, but... just read it. It's 100% as cute as it looks. Is the set up contrived as all get out? Sure, but it's a summer camp novel. Every other scene is an <i>activity</i>. Literally contrived. By adults. Activities are fun! So is sharing a cabin with your sworn enemy / hot crush. Whose butt is just like <i>right there</i>. Not that you’re staring at it. (“’Right … you were looking <i>with</i> it. Near it.’”) Also, said crush has so much more emotional intelligence than you that you think it's a fair fight but it's not. She has your number, babe. Anyway, read it. Great literature it is not (what was that? YA is for kids? wha?), but treat yourself.

I have more to say, things less fair and more complicated. Like: Juliette is an asshole? Kind of? And some of her jokes border on… bullying? A suspicion only strengthened by how clearly her behavior is rooted in insecurity? (but see above re: emotional maturity). That Galahad, the "mean" counselor, reacted to Juliette's little mental break over her new roomie about how I would have? And is maybe the real victim in this story? That I'm a little skeptical Juliette is ready for a serious relationship, and if this were real life and not YA romance she would almost certainly learn that by putting herself and some poor innocent (named Priya) through a one-to-six year ringer? (What was that? Not being "real life" is the whole point of summer camp? and YA? and romance? wha?)

I <i>like</i> Juliette, I really do. I like Priya, too, obviously (obviously!) but I'm not convinced she exactly knows herself, either. Especially not if she's been nursing this weird little crush since forever? It almost feels like something complicated is going on here with queerness, something perhaps not quite intended… (Of course, they weren't gonna let a boy and a girl share that cabin. We're coming for your bathrooms, straights, but your summer camp cabins are probs safe for now. Ish.) Or maybe kids being seventeen and idiots is just complicated and stupid and silly and sweet all at the same time, and so the book is those things too. Though now I think I’m making it all sound more sophisticated than it is (or should be!)

Anyway, weird review, I know, but it's a fun book. Super silly, but it gave me some things to think about, too. (That last might just be me, though. I could probably read psychological depth into a phone book. Don't be me. Read it like a kid. After your bed time. Go back and reread the flirty scenes for clues. Step out of reality for a sec. The water's great.)

Even though is considered a YA book, I really enjoyed it.
The two main characters are Juliette and Priya. They have known each other their whole lives and agree to be civil to one another. Juliette does not care for the way Priya dresses (in white) and the way she has everything. Juliette is popular at the summer camp she always goes to and longs for it every year. Just imagine how shocked she is when the person sharing her cabin is Priya. Juliette tolerates her and starts to see how Priya does not have everything and is not as happy as she appears. Not only those things, but the secret crush Priya has always had on Juliette.
I would recommend.

Did you ever have that one friend? Well friend is not quite the right word, frenemy or friendly rival might be a better choice if you were on the same level, but she is out of everyone’s league. That’s how things are between Juliette and Priya. Juliette has spent most of her life orbiting around Perfect Priya, but she is counting down the days until she returns to her favorite place in the hold world: Fogridge, her beloved summer camp. It’s her last year as a camper and she is living for being the camp’s big fish. But one off handed comment to Priya’s mother has changed all of that when Priya arrives at camp, where she’ll be spending the summer, crashing Juliette’s safe space and changing it into something different.

This book scratched the itch I often get for watching vintage 80s and 90s summer camp movies. All the fun bits were there: color war, the camp musical, cocky camp counselors, inside jokes between long time campers, injuries, and camp crushes. All of this and some truly fun lovable characters, including or leads Juliette and Priya. Characters that are truly inclusive without feeling forced or one-note, which sounds easy but is hard to come by. Juliette’s camp friends Lucy and Gia are great, and an endless source of fun and funny. The family run camp gives the whole thing another layer of personality, and Juliette’s new head counselor, Galahad, lets just say she is a great foil and someone I loved to hate.

If your looking for a fun rom-com with big camp energy, give this book a try.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this book, so so much. As a young kid whose own summer camp genuinely changed their life, I was excited. I also read That Summer Feeling, I am not immune to nostalgic summer camp romance stories!! And I love a good YA novel as well, so this was shaping up to be a home run.

From the start though, this book set itself up to be the definition of fine. Good at points, confusing at others, and unfortunately left a sad taste in my mouth. However, lets talk about the good first, because there is good!

One, Juliette's struggle with her feeling "too much" is incredibly relatable to how I felt at her age, and how, genuinely and truly, my own summer camp help me feel more secure in who I was and my own identity. And Priya was a character who I loved getting to see more and more of as she became a fleshed out character as Juliette learns more and more about her.

The negatives I feel like can be summarized by saying that it is a debut author (not saying that all debut novels have this problem, just that it is a common one!). I think the books biggest flaw all comes down to pacing, in figuring out where to let a story line breath, in letting itself expand and contract. Not saying the book should be longer! (As that is a problem right now in the YA world, books being too long while saying nothing), but rather that Baldwin has not yet figured out how to pace out a story in the time that she did have. And the good thing is? That this is a debut novel, and I believe that Baldwin has the talent to take the steps into becoming an even better writer. Because if she could give the time to dive more into the characters she has? This would have gone up in rating for sure.

There are aspects that I didn't like, that are more subjective, such as it being fairly fanfic-y in tropes (a common theme right now, and not my brand of tea particularly), and overall not the fun read I wanted, even though it shows promise. I hope to see more of Baldwin's work however, if only to see how it evolves.