I knew this book would hit close to home as soon as I read the dedication. I'm not usually a big fan of books that include competing for a love interest, but this one was an exception. I loved the characters and their relationships so much and saw so many little pieces of my own life reflected throughout the characters and their struggles. Caleb, Emma, Juliet, Alice, and Jas make such a cute little friend group. I love how even if scheming ensues, they are still always sweet and supportive of each other, no matter what! The bi rep really pulled me into this one, but I loved all of the other representation that was included! Emma and Caleb's past friendship and slow reconnection was done in such a realistic way and I loved seeing all the little ways they were undermined by Juliet.

I really loved this book and especially adored Caleb's mom. She was easily a highlight of the book and everyone deserves to have someone like her in their life.

Thank you to Netgalley, Amanda Woody, and Penguin for this arc <3

Terrible name, great book.

This is a book primarily about finding happiness despite what horrible things have happened to you and what trauma you carry it from them, and yet it also stays relatively light throughout. I was thinking while I read it about my high school circles of friends, how we'd all have a good time together and then go home to families and partners who were mentally, physically, and even sometimes sexually abusive. I think both of these things can exist at one time, it just causes cracks that lead to damage. It makes me happy that there are people and books acknowledging these things so the cracks aren't as bad as when these issues existed in silence.

Did I mention this book made me laugh aloud at times? And the romance is so cute.

Amanda does it again. They somehow write a story that hits me right in the childhood trauma, but in a good way. This story is very healing for someone who was also a teen living in their car. We’ve got some silly dating competition hijinks, simultaneously along side some deep rooted familial issues. Each character is so strongly written, and I love how plainly you can see the love and care between them. There’s excellent character growth, second chances, diverse characters, phenomenal LGBTQAI+ rep, and an immense amount of bravery.

This book is a very fun and flirty read. Ex best friends, Emma and Caleb, compete to earn the affection of new girl Juliette. Through their competition their friendship is rekindled and turns into something more. This book covers a variety of topics such as identity, self expression, family trauma, verbal abuse, and homelessness to name a few. While I did really enjoy the characters and story line I feel like this book tried to jam as much as they could and at times I lost track of the plot. There were so many events and side stories that it felt muddy. Overall I think that this book would be great for older teens and young adults who are looking for a fun read. Thank you so much to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for giving me early access to this book for an honest review!

I want to root for them and scream at them simultaneously!

I loved this book, from the storyline to the characters and everything in between. Most of all, I loved the way these characters loved. The way they took care of each other, even when they didn't want to or felt they shouldn't. I want more of this cast, please.

Not for me unfortunately. I don’t particularly like Woody’s writing style or voice, and the characters fell a bit flat, especially Juliet, who I felt we never really got to know. I didn’t like the competition aspect very much either.

An enjoyable book with funny parts and sad moments that I loved and were 5 stars, and other parts that had me cringing away from the story and feeling like it was a 2 or 3 star read because of how painfully certain characters were written.
Love triangles in any form are inherently difficult to do well in this day and era, with many readers now expecting a triad, or even a poly romance to come out of it instead. Inherently fighting or competing for a girl feels so old fashioned and out of place now. Exes & Foes turns this on its head by having the two main characters competing instead for a side character, and instead focus more on each other.
There are moments in the beginning where I laughed out loud, and felt I was in for an enjoyable read;
"She's way too cute and I'm the pinnacle of mediocrity stuffed into the body of a linguine-limbed behemoth."
I was having a good time, and then the love interest that Caleb and Emma compete for enters the scene, and my feelings quickly became mixed.
Everything to do with Juliet is giving "manic pixie dream girl", and shows the pitfalls many white authors fall into when writing a BIPOC character, being so afraid of writing them flawed that they are instead written so flat and perfectly that they give little to the story other than a plot device. Juliet's only purpose is to bring Emma and Caleb together, and from the moment she comes on page she is both sexualized greatly and also infantilized in her interactions. (She also 100% does not read as a BIPOC character) Everything she wears is described in great detail, far more than even our MC's. (It's very clear Juliet is meant to be neurodivergent coded, or even autistic, yet it felt more like someone writing how they wish they were treated by others) Everything she does is viewed as quirky and cute, and our mc's swoon over her and everything they do do. To make matters worse, at the end it is revealed that Juliet [ knew the whole time that Caleb and Emma were competing and in fact worked to bring them together. Truly taking further away from the character who is only used as a plot point to bring others together, a magical BIPOC godparent that authors so love to include. There is nothing else to their character. While I did enjoy the inclusion of ace and gender figuring out rep, the way it was written just felt...not cohesive, and even at times the shifting to their character felt so out of place amongst everything else happening. (hide spoiler)]
There were times it almost read like a y/n story in the beginning with every cringey thing Juliet did. I felt physically pained during every finger gun. Physically. Pained.
"'Can't',she gives me finger guns."
'"She gives me hoarse, flimsy laughter. And more finger guns."
Even when Juliet plays video games everyone in the chat just swoons over the physical aspects and how amazing they are. Great job, y/n.
The second chunk of the book is a complete shift in the story, and I truly wish the author had just given greater attention to Emma and Caleb instead, and spent more time on the more serious topics because that is where this book shined. I felt like I was reading a completely different story. I didn't expect to be fully sobbing with how painfully real and well emotional abuse and neglect was written, nor did I expect to see how well it translated onto page. It almost felt like a disservice to have so little of the story devoted to the true meat of the matter, and I wish it was different.
Everything Emma goes through, how her mother treats her, I was sobbing, and added more money to my therapy jar.
"...'Just because you don't hit us doesn't mean you're not abusing us in other ways.'"
Emma and Caleb finally coming together felt so beautiful and raw. I really wished they were given the story they deserved. Though there were moments later in the book where it almost felt like everything was so neatly wrapped up and a lot of the conversations almost felt a little like...someone writing conversations with how they wish they would have gone instead, or moments from their life that they wish had happened. I truly hope that makes sense, dear reader. I did have a lot of difficulties with how many points were just forgotten about by the end. [ We are just disregarding that Emma seemed to really care about soccer, is still in an abusive situation, among other things. Quite frankly it almost gives the message in a way that there is nothing that can't be done if you are in an abusive situation like that and if you just talk back to your parent everything will be fine. I was surprised that Caleb and his mother didn't immediately invite Emma to live with them, an abusive parent doesn't just stop being abusive after a lifetime after being told off once. (hide spoiler)]
It was so difficult to figure out how to rate this book, because the second chunk I was like, TAKE MY MONEY, FIVE STARS! While the first chunk felt like quite frankly a 2 to 3 star read, and I foresee many readers potentially dnf'ing it just because of various moments in the story that just feel like a 'and everyone clapped moment.'
Writing this review out, I feel I should have perhaps given it 3 stars instead of 4, but I have already committed, and I am biased because of my own mommy issues, so I am sticking with 4 stars.
Personally, I say take a look at some of the reviews before you dive into this one. It might be to your tastes, or it might not, but this one isn't for everyone.
This was my first book by Woody, and I am currently on the fence if I were to read anything more of their work. It is clear they can write, and well. But the flat and at times y/n style that Juliet was written really keeps sticking with me, even though I loved all the great queer rep and the trauma writing. If their next book is different, I might try it.
Complete side note, in the beginning of the story, Juliet's body is mentioned being round, or wide several times. The cover doesn't convey that, so I am at a loss if they are meant to be a plus sized character or not. And if she is, I wish the cover showed that.

Thank you Penguin for this arc
Quotes are subject to change because this is an arc

I adored this book. It was so cute but also very heartbreakingly heavy at points, the balance between funny and sad was just right. The heavy topics were handled beautifully (I want to fight Emma's mom and hug Caleb's mom in turn) and the banter and funny parts made me laugh out loud.

i requested this book because i thought the plot was different and would be fun to read. however, the writing is over-the-top ridiculous in a way. I dnf'd towards the 20% mark.

DNF at 20%

Usually I love YA books and find them to be a fun and light read, but this one was really stressing me out for some reason. Maybe I will finish it at a different time, but it was just not doing it for me :(

This was a super cute coming of age book that touched on many important topics for teens: moving, making new friends, self discovery, found family, setting boundaries. It was well written and easy to follow, even though it bounced between perspectives. Definitely adding to our library shelves!

Exes & Foes lived UP to its expectations. I love a good competition amongst ex-best friends to win the new girl's heart, only to fall in love with each other instead.

This book has the ex-best friends (Caleb and Emma) as point-of-views in the book, letting you go inside the mind of these complete opposite characters. Usually, I'm not a fan of books written this way, but Amanda Woody does it WELL. There wasn't a character I favored more than the other one I read their chapters.

Then, we have Juliet (the new girl), who is truly too sweet for her own good, and I wish her all the love in the world. She's also too smart for her own good. . . Juliet's dynamic with both Caleb and Emma had me cackling the whole time as they were fighting over here, but never seemed to get her alone long enough before the competition showed up.

I'm very happy Penguin Teen reached out to me about Amanda's newest book and letting me have an ARC (thank you so much Penguin Teen)! They are slowly becoming one of my favorite authors to read and I can't wait to see what's in store for the future of their work.

Exes & Foes is a good YA friends-to-lovers romance mixed with plenty of friendship and family drama. It’s the first book I’ve read by Amanda Woody, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I think it dragged a bit at times, but I really liked all the positive messages it had and the focus on finding your people.

Caleb, Emma and Juliet are all layered characters, with their own problems and issues. I loved how they all formed a strong friendship and looked out for each other, all while navigating problematic familial relationships and personal revelations. Caleb ended up being my favourite character, though I liked Emma and Juliet too. I also liked the flashbacks of how Caleb and Emma initially became friends, and it definitely gave me more of an insight into their lives.

Exes & Foes will resonate with a lot of teenagers from different backgrounds and family lives, and I’m sure anyone who reads it will take a lot away from it. The writing is good and the characters are very diverse, and I’ll be sure to read more from Amanda Woody in the future.

4.5⭐️

“Always and forever.”

I really enjoyed They Hate Each Other, so I knew I wanted to pick up Amanda Woody’s latest release. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the chance to read this one early.

When two ex-best friends both want to romance the new girl, they suddenly have to deal with being around each other again. Caleb and Emma are two grumps fighting over the sunshine character, Juliet. Obviously, bisexual chaos ensues!

What I loved the most about this book were the wholesome friendship vibes. I loved how, in pursuing Juliet, Caleb and Emma always ended up in the same places, and always dragged their friends along with them. It created so many great opportunities for friendships to bloom and I always love a story where friendship is at the centre (and yes, it is a romance, so romantic feelings grow as well). I also really liked the flashbacks where we got to see moments when Caleb and Emma were best friends. They were so sweet!

Amanda Woody’s stories always seem to have a deeper theme of parental neglect and I think they do such a great job of exploring the different aspects of this theme. As someone who works with young adults on a daily basis, seeing the way Emma’s mum or Caleb’s dad behaved made me so pissed off and sad. The reality is that lots of teens experience this, and I like how Woody talks about it in such a real way.

In short, if you want a super wholesome queer book to read this summer, pre-order this immediately! Exes and Foes is out on 23rd of July.

- highly recommend if you’re looking for a coming of age angsty romance with a queer cast!
- this is dual POV and i love both caleb and emma 🥹 caleb is so sweet and i also relate to him with his type A personality 😩 i was stressed out for emma and just wanted to give her a hug 😭 their relationship felt very sweet and genuine to me 🥹
- emma and caleb’s attraction to juliet felt a little insta-love to me but you don’t really need a strong reason to have a crush on someone so it still felt believable for the most part
- i don’t think i’ll ever like the premise of 2 people treating a potential love interest like a competition it feels icky and caleb and emma even acknowledge that (i love that both their friends call them out for it too) but i do like the way everything was resolved
- i really like all the side characters and their little friend group—it’s nice that friendship is also an important theme in this story, especially for juliet’s storyline since she wasn’t treated very well by her old “friends”

While I didn’t love this quite as much as THEO, I still thoroughly enjoyed it! I was constantly finding things I was able to relate to, from the parental issues to Juliet being nonbinary and using she/they pronouns and also being aroace. The story felt real and had depth.

An auto buy author now for sure!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

DNF at 23%

I love a bi for bi romance, and the premise sounded really good. I could not get into this, though. I don't know if it was just the wrong time or the wrong vibe, just wasn't for me.

I'm usually not a fan of love triangle stuff but this one ended in a way that I appreciated. This was a very easy read, the plot flowed, and I felt satisfied by the ending.

i don't know if amanda woody is for me. their writing is over-the-top ridiculous in a way i don't enjoy. in "they hate each other," i could look past this because there were other aspects of the book i did appreciate. i can't really say the same about "exes & foes." i couldn't overlook how unrealistic i found the plot or how heavy-handed its themes were. it also doesn't help that i much preferred caleb and emma as friends than as romantic partners. though! i do love the inclusion of juliet being aroace, as i am aroace myself. that being the outcome of their dumb competition was a bit funny, i admit.

I loved Woody's first book and was excited for this one, but it disappointed me. I thought the characters were all pretty one note, and I don't think this should have been marketed as a romance when it is such a heavy book - the cover definitely gives you a different vibe than the story inside!