When two best friends are unlucky in love they decide to make pact to find love over the summer. Hayley and Talia want to fall for someone who likes them back so they decide to go to the rom coms for help. They start putting themselves in situations similar to what they have seen in movies in order to find love. This is a cute little story with good representation. I enjoyed it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Abrams Kids Amulet Books for the opportunity to read this egalley.

THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY by Ray Stoeve is such a fun concept; it sounds like a great queer read for an afternoon by the pool. It does depict queer joy and queer friends enjoying a summer. However, these aspects are overshadowing by Stoeve trying to pack in way too many issues and way too many different representations in one book. It does seem very feasible that a small group of friends who are queer *and* neurodiverse would connect and develop strong bonds. It's all the friends' siblings and the basketball team and the other characters that are too much. I could not keep up with all the characters; in fact, most of them were interchangeable. None of the secondary characters had a story or arch of their own, which was disappointing. The other complaint I have with the novel is that tears/crying/sobbing are overused far, far too much. It's not unique to YA writers by any means, but it seems to be happening more frequently these days. The overuse of crying takes away all its power and meaning.

One item that is outstanding in THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY is the portrayal of the adult characters, especially Hayley's parents and her coach. They feel grounded, supportive, and well-rounded. It's clear they have their own lives and interests, which makes their scenes with the teens more dynamic and interesting. These adult characters offer guidance without being overbearing and, even when they can't stop the kids from making a mistake, they are there to helpdeal with the blow.

This was such a sweet book. As an aspec person I absolutely adore friends to lovers.

Full of teenage feelings and big emotions. Perfect for those looking for a Queer YA book full of Queer joy.

-Friends to Lovers
-Cis x Trans sapphic relationship
-Lesbian cis MC
-Trans girl MC / demisexual/romantic
-Neurodivergent cast (anxiety, autism)
-Queer cast
-Big Summer vibes

Rating: Great! = 4 stars

I received this eARC from the publisher (Abrams Kids, Amulet Books) with the intention of reading and sharing an honest review

"the summer love strategy" is a sapphic YA romance about two best friends who come up with a plan to find girlfriends this summer, only to end up falling for each other instead. it's a really cute story and i would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes friends-to-lovers with a side of pining and miscommunication. my only issue with the book is that the author had a tendency to over-describe everything and i kept thinking, "show, don't tell. show, don't tell," over and over again. that being said, it was a fun read and i definitely enjoyed it!

The inclusive representation of this book was absolutely fabulous!!

This was a cute sweet read that has you rooting for the characters!

This is absolutely teen/YA, so if you need a little more grown up, keep that in mind!

This book was a joy! I really liked that everyone in it is just basically a good person trying to do a good job in the world. There were no villains--not that there was no conflict and no disappointment, because there was plenty of both, but it was happening between people who were just generally kind. The book pulled me through the story and it was just really easy to get into and to root for the characters.

This is very appropriate for high school, or even middle school, libraries, content-wise.

Look......... This is a good book. But reading about characters that are like a year younger than me in books that take place in 2023/24 is not something that I can do. It's just a personal ick, but I think that a lot of other people will definitely enjoy this book about two girls who are obviously in love with each other and do not realize it.

The Summer Love Strategy is a lighthearted LGBTQ+ teen romance. I love how inclusive this read is; I wish there were more books like this back when I was a teen. It depicts teenage angst in a humorous manner, making for a fun read!

Thank you NetGalley, Amulet Books, and Ray Stoeve for a free e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

The Summer Love Strategy is an easy book to read, with diverse characters and various themes. It reflects teenage worries, identity issues as well as queer joy. I enjoyed reading this book, simply based on what it tries to convey and the topics that were thrown back and forth. Nevertheless it sometimes felt flat, with “unnecessary additions”.

While the main character had a strong development, the others lacked one. None of them were interesting enough on their own, and could’ve easily been reduced or merged together. I enjoyed the fact that the narration came off as very teenager like, however I often found the descriptive manner of it tiring.

What I loved about this book was the way parental figures were portrayed. Always a guiding voice, a helping hand, exactly what’s needed from a child’s perspective. Perfect for those who are about to come out or recently did, viewing it as an example of support and comfort.

I’d recommend The Summer Love Strategy to anyone looking for a fun quick read. If you’re looking for a contemporary queer romance, this is definitely the book for you.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC!

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, it is not working for me right now. It is nothing against the story or the author, but I couldn't get into the story/characters. If I were the target audience, I would be loving this. I also think this will be great for teens and YA audiences with the LGBTQIA+ representation. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!

There was a lot going on in this book - lots of LGBTQ representation, neurodiversity, racial diversity, etc. and at times it felt like the author tried to tackle too many things in one book. None of the characters felt developed enough to warrant caring about their problems, and there wasn't a lot of chemistry between the main character and her best friend/crush. The story was easy enough to get through, but it wasn't intriguing.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I love how inclusive this book is, it was wonderful to read a story with a variety of characters. Unfortunately, this book just was not for me: I personally didn’t enjoy the writing and the story just felt a little flat. Such a shame as the representation is there and I really wanted to love it, but the pace was too slow, and I wasn’t hooked.

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved Stoeve's first two books, but this one fell a little flat for me. I didn't think the chemistry between the main characters was developed enough to really be rooting for their relationship, and it felt like Stoeve wanted to write about mental health and neurodivergence more than they wanted to develop the romcom that this is framed as. I also think it could've used another edit to get rid of unnecessary details that slowed the story down.