I truly enjoyed this book! Normally I’m not a big fan of teen romances, but this one was utterly adorable. I loved the setting, loved the buildup of the relationship between the two characters, and loved how sexuality wasn’t made to be this big deal and everyone was happy.

I really enjoyed this enemies-to-lovers summer camp romance. Both main characters were interesting, I loved the side characters, and the plot well thought out. The only thing I wish was touched on more or given more of an explanation was the camp counsellor who had it out for Juliette. It seemed a little out of place with no explicit reason why. But good overall!

i had very high hopes going into this book and my expectations were more than exceeded!! this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and I'm very happy that I got a chance to read it early

the characters and they're dynamics with each other were so good, and I love the setting (i love books that take place at summer camp).

also I love Priya just because she kept referencing Survivor (she was so right when she said that it's not just a reality show, its THE reality show)

(and minor spoilers but Juliette's nonsense name is everything to me)

it hasn't even been 2024 for a whole month yet but I'm confident this will remain one of my favorite reads this year

and of course, thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc!

Juliette and her mortal enemy have a good thing going—they turn up to each other's parties, trade the same lackluster birthday gift back and forth, and generally stay out of each other's way. Priya reigns during the school year, but in summer camp is all Juliette's own...until her final summer as a camper, when Priya shows up. At her camp. In her cabin. And there's nothing Juliette can do about it.

I read this for 1) summer camp and 2) the novelty of YA enemies who aren't awful to each other, and it did not disappoint on either end. Now, make no mistake—this is not summer camp like you've seen it in real life. This is a very YA-novel summer camp in which, despite the director's protestations, money seems to be no object and a two-story cabin can be assigned to only two(!) campers. Some suspension of disbelief is required, as is an acceptance that side characters and plots will not get their fair due.

But the lack of enemy drama? I love it. The book is basically enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, but it's pretty low-key on the romance front and manages to keep the drama somewhere other than between Juliette and Priya. I'm reminded, minus the turn to romance, of a playful enmity I had with a classmate when I was about twelve—we didn't actually wish each other ill, but it was fun to argue, and neither of us took it personally. (We're no longer in contact beyond the barest of social media interaction, but I bet we'd get on well as adults.) Juliette and Priya have a similar dynamic—even when they're arguing, they're not cruel about it, and it makes it a much more fun book to read. I'd have been thrilled if this had been a book about friendship rather than romance, actually (as much as I love a good f/f story, I love a good friendship story more...and they're few and far between in YA), but the dynamic is fun enough here to bump it up to four stars.

(Don't pin your real-life summer-camp hopes and dreams on this book, though. That's like me pinning my early-2000s southern US boarding school hopes and dreams on 1940s British girls boarding school fiction. Expectation vs. reality...)

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

I enjoyed this sapphic rom com so much! It was funny throughout and made me wish I could have experienced this camp. It pulled me in from the first chapter and I cannot wait to see what the author comes out with next.
Thank you penguin teen for the arc!

So if you have read any of my reviews of any contemporary books, you will know that I absolutely detest when authors involve too many references to pop culture, especially when it functions as a major part of the story. I was afraid that this book would deal with that a lot more than it would (there were about four references, two were offhanded, one was a bit overextended, and one was just funny because it makes no sense).
Anyways, I have overall pretty mixed feelings about this book. The characters, especially our main character, seemed pretty flat for most of the book, and nobody really felt like they had a fully-fledged personality until the last 30% of the book or so. The plot itself was nice to read about, and I really liked one of the details of the epilogue specifically.

Thank you so much to PENGUIN GROUP, Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

Wish You Weren’t Here follows Juliette’s last year of her beloved summer camp, where her excitement is dampened by the arrival of Priya, her long time rival.

This is a YA sapphic romance where the rivals don’t realize they’ve fallen for each other until it’s far too late to ignore their feelings. And it was adorable! I loved how the rivalry played out between the two girls, and their tension and banter in quite a few of the scenes was so much fun to read!

The summer camp itself was so interesting and made me miss my summers at sleep away camp! In this way, Gia and Lucy and the rest of the side characters were so much fun that I found myself wanting so much more of them! That, and the fact I would have loved chapters from Priya herself, were the only downfalls I found of this delightful romance.

Overall, I enjoyed Wish You Weren’t Here so much and was very happy and thankful for the opportunity to read it early.

Thanks to Viking Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

This is such a fun book! Sweet characters, great pacing and a very fun setting. A perfect romance for the summertime!

Juliette and Priya were really great characters. I liked seeing Juliette’s internal struggles about how she is perceived and how she’s treated at home, and I really understood why she felt like the camp was the only place where she could really be herself. My only criticism is that I would’ve liked to see more of her school and home life, to really emphasize her struggles.

Priya was a really good LI! Juliette thinks she’s conceited and is afraid she’ll do a mockery of the summer camp activities that mean so much to Juliette, but Priya immediately proves her wrong by cheerfully participating in the activities, befriending people and just overall being a sweetheart! I also like that Priya is very confident and talented. I honestly would’ve loved to see more of her, just like with Juliette.

Both Priya and Juliette did some dumb things at times, but I’ll just chalk that up to them being teenagers haha. Overall, they were really good characters, individually. But I also really enjoyed their dynamic! Their polite distaste for each other quickly turning into admiration was really nice to see develop. I liked that Priya was clearly being very nice (and sometimes flirty) towards Juliette, but Juliette was completely oblivious and just assumed Priya still disliked her. Such a fun dynamic!!!!! 🤭

I also liked Lucy and Gia as SCs, though, once again, I would’ve liked to see more of them. (As you can tell, a lot of my review is just GIVE ME MORE!!!!!!!!! because I genuinely was having a really fun time in this story and I didn’t want it to end haha).

I also think the summer camp setting was suuuper fun! I personally don’t have this deep love for summer camp the way the characters and author clearly do, but I can imagine that someone with that kind of thing in their life will feel a deep appreciation for Juliette’s feelings about never going back to camp. But even though I couldn’t really relate to it, I still think the feeling of saying goodbye to something that means a lot to you and feeling nostalgia about your teen years is something everyone can relate to in some way, and I like the way it was shown in this story.

Regarding the writing: there were a couple of typos (which I’m sure will be corrected before the book is published) and some 4th wall breaks (which are not my personal favourite), but, overall, I think the author did a good job making me care for these characters and building up the story. I breezed through it!

Overall: this is a really fun summery book with great representation that I think any fans of YA romance will really enjoy!

Full of both the struggles and the joys of late adolescence, this book is for all of us who have worked to understand who we are and to appreciate the people who have helped us get to this point. It is loaded with humor and a poignant understanding of falling in love for the first time, however reluctant they may be to do so.

This was such a fun and entertaining book, the not really enemies to lovers dynamic was frickin perfect. I loved the banter and the vulnerable discussions between the MC and her ship - it's sapphic btw! The cover is such an accurate description of their general vibe 😭 the third act resolution and the hea were so wholesome 😭

TWs - verbal harassment of a student figure by a teacher figure, including constant beration of the student and the student being denied activity opportunities (this happens when the MC is at camp, and it happens pretty frequently), mentally absent parents

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Firstly, Thank you so much for the ARC! Ugh, what I would do to have this book when I was a teenager! I've never related to a main character as much as I have with Juliette. One of the best YA books that I've read AND its sapphic with both WOC?? Like, this is just the most perfect perfect book. Can't wait to reread every summer.
I laughed, I cried, and in the end I seriously think that this will be one of my favorite books this year.

Rom-Com
Rivals to Lovers
Summer Camp Setting

Absolutely such a cute read. The plot was entertaining, the setting was lovely, and the characters were amazing!

The character and relationship developments were done so beautifully. It was a funny and lovable book. It was Rivals to Friends to Lovers vibes and I am definitely here for it.

Juliette wanted to make the most of her last year at summer camp and it doesn’t go as planned. Not only that but her childhood rival is there as well… though I think this is Juliette’s most memorable year yet.

Why am I a 30+ year old married lesbian who loves YA lesbian romance? It makes me so nostalgic, I suppose! I was absolutely hooked on the story of Juliette and Priya. I devoured this book in a day. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing! The setting of summer camp also gave me a lot of nostalgia for my own summers spent at camp (obviously crushing on girls, haha). I really enjoyed this book and absolutely will read more from this author!!!

HI ALL…this is a call to action to pre-order this book IMMEDIATELY!

Reason why you should buy this book:
✨Cutesy Frenemies to Lovers Romance
✨Queer Love
✨ACTUAL Chapter Titles (totally an underrated necessity in my opinion…ALSO who decided just “Chapter 1, 2, 3, etc” was enough?! IT’S NOT.
✨IMMACULATE SUMMER CAMP VIBES
✨FUN SNAIL MAIL PASSAGES
✨Family Dynamics That You’ll Love
✨Laugh Out Loud Quippy Banter
✨Characters You’ll: love to love, love to hate, and hate to love
✨A YA Novel that doesn’t read immature and deals with really issues in a lighthearted but real and honest way💖

⭐️THIS BOOK COMES OUT ON JUN 4TH⭐️

I absolutely can’t wait til everyone reads this book so that I can discuss it in FULL detail!

5.0⭐️

Special thanks to NetGalley, Viking Books For Young Readers, and Penguin Teen for the early review copy in exchange for my honest review!

#wishyouwerenthere #erinbaldwin #penguinteen #vikingbooksforyoungreaders

Overall rating: 4 stars
Genre rating (YA Romance): 4.25 stars

Long story short:
I enjoyed this book very much, with my adoration toward the characters growing as the story went on. While there were some aspects that felt a bit juvenile on first impression, the book is ultimately a Young Adult novel and therefore this should not reflect as a criticism. It is appropriate for the intended audience, has a satisfying plot progression, and demonstrates well-crafted character development. This book receives a 4.25 when compared to other YA romances I've read because it is a satisfying, representative story that I enjoyed reading. It only falls short of 5 stars because it did not grab me from the beginning, but rather about halfway through. I give the book a 4 stars overall for the same reason, paired with the fact that it is not my first choice genre. However, I was happy to pick up this story as a step outside of my typical reading habits, and I am likely to return to the genre because of my positive experience with this book.

Plot commentary:
The pacing of the story and the overall duration of the book was perfect. Just short of 300 pages, this is the perfect length for a (presumably) standalone YA romance novel. Enough time was spent setting the stage at the beginning, developing both the characters and the general conflict, while also giving the storyline enough room to flow naturally without getting bogged down in too much detail or repetition. The climax and resolution of the plot were realistic, satisfying, and enjoyable to read. While I was not entirely engaged at the beginning, this is more due to the fact that YA romcoms are not my primary genre, so it always takes some time for me to settle in. Once I hit the midpoint of the book, I devoured the rest of it in no time, eager to see what would happen next.

Character commentary:
The main character, Juliette, experienced multiple forms of character development over the course of the book. Both internally and interpersonally, Juliette was challenged in some ways and reaffirmed in others. Priya, as the secondary main character, also experienced these developments, albeit on a smaller scale. Other side characters were not within the main focus enough to go through such development, but I did not feel that I was missing anything without that. The book is ultimately character-driven, and Juliette and Priya are the focus. The characters were relatable for the intended audience, though the stubborn nature of Juliette was a challenge to read sometimes. This is authentic, however, given her age and circumstances, and reminds me of myself as a late teen. So, while uncomfortable at times, this was exactly how the character was supposed to be portrayed and Baldwin pulled it off genuinely and without overdoing it. The dynamics between characters evolved naturally, with no changes in the relationships catching me off guard. I felt that the pacing of the conflict/dynamic between Juliette and Priya was reasonable, and I was eager in the way that the reader of a slow-burn should be, not too much excess build up but not going by too quickly either.

Misc/Other:
[NOT IN ONLINE REVIEWS]
There were a handful of formatting errors throughout the book, mostly in relation to quotation marks. Additionally, when Juliette receives a letter, there is a portion of her inner monologue that is still formatted in the way the letter was written instead of returning to the standard text, which was confusing for a moment as I tried to determine if this was actually what the letter said or if it was her thoughts mis-formatted. These were minor errors that did not overall impact my reading experience.

Priya Pendley and Juliette Barrera-Wright have been decidedly not friends for as long as they can remember. Which is why when Priya shows up at summer camp, the one place where Juliette truly feels like herself, Juliette could not be more displeased. Yet between the two of them sharing a bunk and Priya getting along with Juliette’s friends, she won’t exactly be able to avoid her. By the end of the summer, will she even want to?

This was a fun teen sapphic romance filled to the brim with summer camp nostalgia. There were a few elements I wish had been fleshed out more, but I think readers will enjoy getting to know these characters and experiencing their journies.

I adored this voicey, funny, nostalgic debut from Erin Baldwin.

Juliette and Priya have been polite rivals for pretty much their entire lives. They're in the same circles so can't avoid each other, but they bug each other, too. Juliette's favorite thing is camp, and is looking forward to 5 Priya-free weeks at her favorite place on earth. But of course, when she arrives the first day, Priya is there, and is also her roommate.

This book had such a relatable, grumpy protagonist, all the nostalgia of a summer at camp, and was so amazingly VOICEY that I flew through it. The romance is slow burn and incredible. I adored all the descriptions, the hijinks--all of it. Read this book!!!

This was a really cute sapphic summer camp (soft) enemies to lovers story! This was a quick and easy, fun read!

"I've said before that Priya and I are two planets orbiting the same sun, but in this moment, I don't feel like a planet.

I feel like space garbage. Straight-up low-orbit debris, incin- erating in Planet Pendley's stratosphere."

~

thank you netgalley and penguin viking for the eARC!!!

i'm SO grateful i got to read this book bc i feel so warm and fuzzy after finishing. i had only been to summer camp once when i was a teen, but diving into this book and being in Juliette's summer camp world transported me into a nostalgia that i didn't even know i still had.

Juliette's refreshing voice and her journey was also one of the most enjoyable aspects of this book as well. i love her intense energy (as she herself describes it) and her unapologetic demeanor.

overall, this was a light and fun read and i can't wait for this book to hit shelves in june 💜

This romcom is a delightful combination of wit, charm, and energy! The author's voice is incredibly refreshing and one-of-a-kind, and I absolutely adored the backdrop of a summer camp.