Priya and Juliette at best, tolerate each other. At worse, can't stand each other. Or at least, that's what Juliette thinks. Juliette is the school loner, and only feels like herself at her summer camp. But, in what is supposed to be her last and best year, she gets an unwelcome surprise in the former of a new roommate: Priya. Over the course of the summer, she has to learn to get along with her, while enjoying her last summer, and dealing with an awful counselor, and injury, and more.

I really, really, enjoyed watching Juliette grow. Reading this one sided rivals-to-lovers was a great time, and Juliette learning to communicate, learning more about Priya, and she learning about Juliette, and find her way when her original plans fail. She comes to realize maybe Priya isn't as shallow as she thinks, and that maybe they could be friends. Or, maybe she's falling in love.

I think my only complaint is I still don't understand why the counselor had a weird vendetta against her? I wish there had been some kind of clarification on that, though I was satisfied with the resolution. Also, maybe I missed it, but I didn't catch why Priya was so insistent about wearing white.

And the ending was great, I literally stayed up until almost 1 am because I had to know how it resolved. And it resolved in a great manner, I was not disappointed.

I don't generally enjoy frenemies stories, but this one had me hooked from the start. The book is full of characters, both main and side, who are loveable and relatable. The setting has me wishing I could spend the summer at camp with all the fun and fires. These two aspects were enough for me to make this a choice summer read.

I only read one chapter because the font is so tiny and I had to expand each page individually. It wouldn't load to my kindle from the app, so I gave up reading it. What I read so far I was very interested in the book so maybe i'll read it when it actually comes out.

🦇 Wish You Weren't Here Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD Have you ever been to summer camp OR what's your favorite summer activity❓

🦇 Priya Freaking Pendley seems to have everything a girl could ask for: social media stardom, the handsome track captain boyfriend, and millions of adoring fans. Juliette might have to live with that during the school year, but at Fogridge Sleepaway Camp, Juliette reigns. It's the one place where she can be herself instead of too "intense." Their last summer before college, Juliette is ready to make the most of her summer, until she finds Priya as her lone bunkmate. Can she tolerate her childhood rival while making the most of her summer, or will Priya ruin it all?

💜 The premise of two high school seniors dealing with their animosity while they're forced to bunk together at sleepaway summer camp? Sign me up! This was a soft, heart-warming, great first step for a debut author. I'm curious to see what Baldwin will write next. I adored Baldwin's ability to capture the magic and nostalgia of sleepaway summer camps. You'll fall into the atmosphere as you read this one, with crickets chirping, twigs cracking, and the scent of burning firewood in the air. The queerness is authentic and natural; not overly discussed, but instead one beautiful aspect among many for a number of characters. Juliette's story is one of self-realization and acceptance; perfect for a young adult about to make their way into the world.

💙 From the story's premise, I expected so much more tension from the start; animosity with reason. Instead, these two girls just...dislike each other. That's it. It's blown out of proportion, overdramatic in the prettiest sense. Juliette has no other reason for disliking Priya beyond the fact that everyone else adores her. Yes, that can get annoying, and I understand that high school girls develop "friendemies" (I honestly don't think that's the right term for what's going on here, but "enemies" AND "rivals" are too strong) growing up, but you don't FEEL anything that Juliette feels toward Priya in this story. Once Priya arrives at camp, you start to see who she is beyond the glossy veneer, which I love, but Juliette's slow abandonment of her hostility toward Priya doesn't feel earned because it doesn't START with any real strength. It just seems like...she's so used to disliking Priya, that she can't recall why she really does. The first chapter, at the party, really should have enforced their disdain for each other. Instead it's just...there. Kind of. There aren't any real sparks of chemistry, either; just an entirely too slow burn that eventually leads toward an anti-climatic queer awakening. There was so much room for forgiveness and character development and instead every moment just felt flat and underproduced.

✨ The Vibes ✨
⛺️ Debut Book
⛺️ Contemporary YA
⛺️ Rivals to Lovers
⛺️ Summer Vibes
⛺️ Sapphic Romance
⛺️ Found Family
⛺️ Love to Hate/Hate to Love
⛺️ Opposites Attract
⛺️ Slow Burn

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #WishYouWerentHere

4 stars

I really enjoyed the summer campy vibes of this book. It gave me a little nostalgia for my summer camp days and was a fun setting for the book. All the side characters were really fun and added a lot to the book. I liked the two main characters but I didn’t feel like we got as much depth or growth from them as I would have liked. I felt like I didn’t really understand the hate between these two characters and Juliette’s actions didn’t always match up with her thoughts.
However I did still think this was a fun queer, summery, feel good ya romance.
Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for the ARC!!

This book was so cute and brought back all the nostalgia of “lasts” that are associated with finishing high school.

I loved the summer camp setting, and more importantly the development from Juliette throughout the book. I felt so proud to see her grow as the book progressed and loved the ending.

As I said in my updates while reading: “this book has got me grinning on the plane like a fool”.

I would recommend this book if you like:
-Sapphic romance subplot
-Rivals to lovers
-Main character growth
-Camp counselors

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 4, 2024

This was such a sweet sapphic YA love letter to summer camp! I never even went to summer camp and it had me feeling nostalgic for all of the camaraderie and tradition! There were adorable laughs throughout this book and I really enjoyed the supporting cast of characters.

Growing up, summer camp was my favorite week of the year. I’d dream about it, I’d write about it, I’d email back and forth with my camp-only friends. In the beginning of summers especially, I miss camp dearly. I long for the feeling camp provides: simultaneously getting away from everything, while also coming home.
Somehow, Erin Baldwin’s WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE, gave me that exact feeling. This book captures the camp vibes in it’s purest form, filled with nostalgia on every page. Everything from the multi-generational camp staff families, to the games, to the first-time vs long-time campers hierarchy, to the literal laugh out loud dialogue of inside jokes.
I wholeheartedly loved it, every bit.

Thank you so much to Erin for letting me read an early version of this draft, and thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy for review.

admittedly, i normally steer clear of the ya genre, but i saw this cover, saw the words "sapphic frenemies to lovers" and i couldn't stop myself. and i'm so glad i didn't. add this to the ever-growing pantheon of great sapphic ya romances alongside authors like dahlia adler and jennifer dugan.

side note - when i was a kid, i used to write little stories about me going to summer camp and falling madly in love with a girl i invented named nicole. i think what i'm saying is that there's an inherent queerness in stories about summer camp, so of course i was going to pick this one up.

this story introduces us to juliette, a super intense girl who exists in a huge family and is constantly dreaming of finding a place to exist as the centerpoint of attention. summer camp is always that place for her and this year, she's earned a title that grants her the privilege of usage of a special cabin with a new-comer. what she didn't expect is that the newcomer in question would be priya, a girl from school with whom she's been entwined in a constant battle for social dominance since adolescence. this isn't what juliette's last summer before adulthood is supposed to feel like.

probably another reason why i don't pick up ya is that i'm not a huge fan of the enemies/rivals-to-lovers dichotomy, particularly when it's pitting two girls against each other simply because, well, they're girls. but i also admit that erin baldwin wrote this pretty expertly without dissolving into weird quibbles over boys and with bisexual characters in the mix, that's a really refreshing thing, because i've seen it too often written like that before. i liked that the crux of their beef was not feeling good enough/comparing themselves to each other/their attraction, because that felt really familiar to me.

anyway, the camp stuff was great - we got a color war, we got s'mores, we got nature and hijinks. something about those things reminded me of what i loved about those family movies my mom used to put on when i was six or seven. camp feels like an inherent adolescent experience, though i raised my eyebrow a little at the critique of priya's wealth vs. juliette's lack of it, because my family certainly didn't have the money to send me to a summer camp - not sure what the implication was there.

also liked that at the heart of this there was a moral about experiencing what you can when the time is there, about the ephemeral nature of time and also being really aware and appreciative in the moment of the moments that you're granted.

this was a great book.

My first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. Wasn’t really expecting it to like it that much. A sapphic summer camp YA that I really recommend, the frenemies to lovers of it all was quite delicious and the characters were lovable 🥹

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion

The second I picked up this book, I knew I was going to love it immensely. And I did. The characters are so vivid that I couldn’t help but adore them from the get go — just as much as I fell in love with camp. Getting to spend Julietta‘s last summer in camp with her almost felt like a privilege and i went through her emotional rollercoaster right alongside her (and yes! I did tear up at the end!). This is such a fun summer read as well as a feel good read. There’s not a lot of drama and instead just … love. And okay a good amount of bickering.

Sapphic summer camp romance between frenemies!

This was a fun summer romance that I think will be perfect for any mood readers like me that only read romance in the summer. The plot was fast paced and enjoyable, it was super easy to binge.
I did feel like there was some telling vs showing of characters personality traits and they would have had some more dimension if we saw aspects of them more.

WISH YOU WEREN'T HERE follows frenemies Juliette and Priya who have decided to survive high school by avoiding each other whenever possible. They share mutual friends but move in opposite circles whenever possible and it's okay because Juliette has Fogridge Sleepaway Camp, the summer camp she's attended for years and is returning to one last time as a bit of a superstar and camp favorite--except this summer, Priya is there, invading the one place where Juliette never feels like "too much." Can the two *gasp* get along for five weeks, especially when they're sharing a cabin?

This was SO so cute. A bit of enemies-to-friends-to-more, a bit of forced proximity, a lot of great moments, a bit of a coming-out story, and a wonderful found family YA book that will stay with me, I loved WISH YOU WEREN'T HERE so much! I found myself smiling at different points, laughing at others, and going awwww at several. Watching Juliette and Priya let their walls down and actually get to know the other, then begin to look out for and care for each other was just so sweet.

I never got to go to sleepaway camp when I was younger, just day camp, so I missed out on a lot of the bonding and rituals I imagine take place at that kind of summer camp. There's just something about that type of set-up in a book that draws me in and I wasn't disappointed at all. Fogridge is filled with SUCH a lively cast of characters, from counselors Strat and TK to owner Pat to Juliette's friends, Gia and Lucy. Erin Baldwin did a great job of making everyone feel 3D and relatable and I LOVED the friendships and memories the characters made.

Romance-wise, WISH YOU WEREN'T HERE is just perfect, I thought. Priya and Juliette are magic together, especially when they go from sort-of enemies to friends, then slowly to more. They had an awesome chemistry and it was clear they cared for one another. The pacing was very well done--their progression felt so natural! It was definitely that moment when they realized they'd both misjudged not just who the other was, but who they COULD be.

I loved every page of this book and was just plain old cheering for Juliette and Priya. I even loved the little glimpse forward at the ending. It was a truly enjoyable read and I can't wait to read more from this author. Bonus that it's a YA book that to me actually FEELS like a YA book.

This book is a perfect young adult sapphic romance. The characters are well developed, the chemistry is insane and it also touches on many troubles of growing up and having to leave your comfort zone, your summer camp. It's a very touching story that will surely resonate with many young women.

Juliette is heading to summer camp for her senior year. She’s super excited to be staying in the private tree house she earned as last year’s North Star award winner. But then she
discovers she has to share the cabin with newbie Prya who Juliette has disliked forever in their real life.

Lately, I’ve been reading books where the main character is beyond grumpy and is just a jerk so I end up screaming for the LI to run. Then I dnf the book. In the beginning of this story, Juliette is almost that insufferable character. Her longtime schoolmate, Prya, is just being herself. Prya’s a naturally warm, giving person which is why people gravitate towards her but Juliette doesn’t know how to deal with her confusing feelings about Prya.

I love camp stories and this put me right in the middle of the woods with everyone kayaking, hiking, crafting, and toasting their s’mores in the firepit. Mini campers pop in to add cute scenes and the older teens have their angsty crushes. But what resonates is Juliette’s battle with herself. She is the middle child of seven, accustomed to being a latchkey kid but also a child of privilege and expectations. Her parents are physicians and she is hoping to attend Yale next year. The author balances Juliette’s immature responses with reflection. She recognizes her own flaws and wants to be better. But she also wants validation. Prya’s character shines and how she interacts with Juliette is a thing of beauty. Small acts and kind words. When Prya and Juliette do begin to click together, their banter is funny, their connection is sweet, and their affection is heartwarming. Very nice YA debut.

Juliette spends the whole year looking forward to camp. It's the one place where she can truly be herself, without the fear that she's too much. Plus, it's one of the places she doesn't have to think about Priya, it-girl influencer who Juliette is not a fan of. So when Priya shows up at Juliette's last year of camp--and as her roommate in the special two-person cabin that Juliette has earned--it looks like camp is going to be ruined. And Priya isn't the only thing that goes wrong. But it turns out, maybe rooming with Priya isn't as bad as Juliette expected. Maybe they could even be... friends?

Wish You Weren't Here is one of my favorite reads of the year. I meant to read a couple chapters but ended up reading it in one sitting, and then immediately recommended it to a bunch of friends. The heartbreaks Juliette endures through the book are so realistic (the big and the small ones alike) and I felt so immersed in the world throughout. I absolutely adored every single aspect of this book and can't wait to read more from Erin Baldwin.

4 ⭐️

I really enjoyed reading this book, It was cute and had so many swoon worthy moments.

The setting was at summer camp, which I thought was fun and made it the perfect read for summer ☀️

Both FMC’s were pretty easy to like, although there was a few moments when one or the other would frustrate me lol


Read if you like ~
✨ Enemies to lovers
⛺️ Opposites attract
✨ Slow burn
⛺️ Camp / summer vibes
✨ Young adult romance (FF)

Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin teen for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

What a cute, breezy sapphic coming-of-age summer camp story! We follow Juliette during her last summer as a camper, where she learns that not only has her hometown rival (Priya) invaded her happy place, but she is also assigned to the same cabin. Juliette feels like camp is the only place where she can be herself and be celebrated for who she is. At home, she makes herself smaller to appease other people who, her whole life, have told her she is "too intense" (relatable). Now that Priya is at camp, she has ruined Juliette's ability to keep her home life/self and camp life/self completely separate. Throughout the course of the summer, she discovers that Priya maybe isn't all that bad, and maybe she's misjudged Priya. First impressions aren't always accurate!

Juliette shows a lot of growth from beginning to end. At first, she comes off as extremely judgmental and kind of camp-elitist (you know that type of person, the one who believes camp is more theirs than anyone else's because they've been going there longer and wants to keep "outsiders" out). She's argumentative to the point of being a bit combative. But she's also fiercely protective of her friends, and you can tell she's deeply insecure about being "too much." I thought her voice was so fun and funny and totally unique. Erin Baldwin clearly has a fantastic sense of humor that shines through in Juliette's narration!

I loved everything about Priya. Her obsession with wearing only white clothes (especially at SUMMER CAMP???!) was so weirdly perfect for her character (though I can't put my finger on why, LOL). Oh, not only that, but she also MAKES all her own clothes! Which is why she's a beast/asset to the camp theater, sewing everyone's costumes and making the props. She's a perfectionist and also knows everything about Survivor. Which is apparently why she's surprisingly skilled at the camp survival course, making fire and building shelter. One aspect that I wish was developed more was her influencer lifestyle. It wasn't really explained how she amassed such a big following (though we're never told HOW big that following is, but it's obviously big enough to have freaking HOZIER write and perform a song FOR HER. I mean, nobody recognizes her at camp, which you'd think they would if you're Hozier-level famous, but I digress...) and what exactly she 'does.' Is she a fashion influencer? Makeup influencer? Skincare influencer? Not knowing this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book, but it would have helped me better understand her character.

When it comes to Priya, Juliette is kind of an unreliable narrator. She tells us Priya is self-centered, shallow, and spoiled. But Priya demonstrates to us through her actions and words that she is down to earth, hardworking, and just so dang likeable. Their "rivalry" is definitely one-sided, though Priya does admit to feeling jealous of Juliette's ability to always be herself and speak her mind.

The romance between Juliette and Priya is definitely a subplot, not the main plot. Juliette goes through a minor sapphic awakening. This is definitely Juliette's story first and foremost, but Priya is more than just a "love interest" (though not quite a main character either). I wish we knew more about Juliette's best friends, Lucy and Gia. They appear a lot in the story but we know next to nothing about them (though I loved what I did know/see).

You could easily get through this book in one sitting. It's really fast-paced. I recommend this book to not only actual teenagers but also twenty-something-year-old teenagers (LOL) who never went to sleepaway camp and want to experience it vicariously through the main character (i.e., this book was written specifically for me).

My favorite quote (subject to change in the final edition):

"I've had this conversation with countless adults, and it's infuriating every time. Why do teenagers always need to be reaching for someone else's goal? At what age am I allowed to do things solely because they're fun and I enjoy them?"

A big thanks to Penguin Random House for the advanced copy of this book! All thoughts are my own.

This is a fun summer novel, but, story-wise, it's kinda muddled and underdeveloped?

I just felt so bad for Juilette throughout much of the story. Her home life sucks (Absentee/neglectful parents and one of seven siblings who seemingly get more attention and focus than her), she's very insecure about everything in her life, and her relationship to Priya felt less intense than what the premise described.

Her and Priya's relationship and its development is so weird. It seemed like Priya shared Juliette's not-hate (i.e., cropping her out of her birthday Insta pics), but she's suddenly super gung-ho bout hanging out with Juliette, impressing her, encouraging things she wouldn't do on her own, etc., and it really made it seem that Juliette's beef was one-sided and driven by her insecurity. I know that the romance is suppose to be a slow burn, but the story is less than 300 pages, making the romantic tension feel rushed and unnatural whenever they do show up.

Also, another strange thing that bothered me was when Priya recharacterized Gaston from Beauty and the Beast as a good, albeit misunderstood, guy? It's been a while since I've watched the movie, but even I wrinkled my nose as Priya described him as " a community organizer who needs to take some gender studies classes." I'm normally all for recontextualizing villains, but this one particularly stood out to me and set off some red flags.

The side characters weren't much better. Juliette's camp friends Lucy and Gia were described with specific characterizations, but they never really fall through. For example, Lucy was described in depth as someone who always stands up for herself and other against authority, but once Juliette starts getting bullied by a camp councilor, she doesn't do anything? The narrative calls her out on it, too, but nothing really comes out of it. The camp councilor continues to have it out for Juliette for a lot of the story afterwards, and Lucy continues not to do what she is characterized to do, which I found really annoying. I just couldn't muster to care much for any character.

All in all, the camp stuff is fun but the shallow storytelling and characters really brought it down.

Wish You Weren't Here by Erin Baldwin is a sapphic rom-com following Juliette and her not so secretive dislike for the beautiful and rich Priya Pendley. At least at her favorite summer camp Juliette is free of the acting game that she's forced to play back home where everyone thinks she and Priya are...sort of friends, and in the warmth of the summer she can be her real self for the last time as a camper. Too bad no one told her that Priya was joining the camp and that they'd be sharing a cabin!

Honestly this was such a fun and cute read. Juliette was such a relatable character. Her emotions were so real, from her intensity that makes her feel like she's "too much" for everyone, to her witty sarcasm. I just loved her and was rooting for her the whole time. Priya grew on me so quickly. She was cute. She was funny. She was nerdy in ways you'd never expect. The chemistry between the two girls was INSANE! There were so many scenes that had me grinning like a fool because it was just so cute or they were so close to changing their dynamic! There were, perhaps, one too many modern day pop culture references which I would normally side eye but I felt like they fit the setting really well and it added to the whole "teenage summer" vibes. I honestly felt, in some spots, like I was right there enjoying the camp life with the characters. Hands down, I loved this and might purchase a physical copy when it comes out so I can keep it forever.