Not your average love story and don’t expect a HEA. I liked how this was based on a personal experience from the author. As someone who has been in her shoes I got to feel the characters and understand this story very well. They had a complicated relationship and it felt more realistic to any other romance out there. Some of us have been through situationships like this in the past and know it all too well.

As much as I wanted to really love this book I couldn’t, I feel like the target audience is a lot younger, although the story could have so much potential I just didn’t feel like I connected with it

This book was incredibly problematic for me. From the beginning, I was put off by the writing - a whole lotta tell instead of show. It’s the worst kind to read; stilted and awkward, conversations that don’t feel authentic. Everything you read is like a list instead of organic narrative.

But the bigger problem is that it’s a YA book I don’t want young girls to read.

Sloane is a senior in college and on the first day back, she has a meet cute on a bus taking her and, Ethan to campus. It’s the only thing that’s cute.

Ethan is probably meant to come off as a wounded puppy, and I suppose we’re intended to feel sympathy for him, but it’s impossible to work up even a single tear. He’s a misogynistic jerk hiding behind a traumatic past - he won’t open up, he doesn’t treat Sloane well, he has no visible vulnerability - he’s just a bad dude. He tells her he can’t love anyone, but if he could it would be her…which is enough to keep her in his sphere.

The problem being that the author wants you to like him and feel empathy when she might have been better off leaning into him being a terrible human.

He says stuff like, “…and dressed like she went to that party asking to be f*cked.”

No. Guys, no.

Sloane, his wanna be girlfriend, is a overly apologetic doormat - she allows him to make all decisions, defaults to what he wants, and allows herself to be happy with any scraps he tosses her way.

In fact she actually says: “I didn’t care that I was settling for a fraction of a relationship with him when I knew I deserved so much more. I was willing to settle for whatever he would give me, because a fraction of him was better than nothing at all.”

No. No no no. Young girls, this is not our anthem!

After graduation Sloane moves to NYC. By some weird coincidence so does Ethan AND in a city of millions he ends up living in the same apartment building. Dream to him, Sloane ends a healthy relationship only to repeat every last mistake.

In the very end there is, I suppose, redemption for Sloane, but it’s too late and still tempered by her commenting on how Ethan still affects her.

It’s not good. I do not recommend this.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t a favourite of mine but it wasn’t bad at all. I thought the writing was good and it was easy to kind of understand Sloane and what she’s going through with Ethan. I loved Lauren and her and Sloanes relationship

I think this book had potential but the execution wasn’t the greatest for me. It just felt very repetitive and i’ve never been in a relationship, so i dont know how much of this is relatable, but It could’ve been executed a bit better. I did like the dual pov and definitely would’ve liked to see more of Ethans side.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher as well as the author for the arc!

3.5/5 (rounded up)

A deeply realistic book that I think many people need to read.

Whilst a flawed character in her own right, I held so much empathy for Sloane throughout the story. Growing up on a similar timeline to Sloane and her friends, I have seen and experienced so much of the same agony and deep hurt that it almost felt too hard to read. I agree with others, it felt repetitive, but it didn't feel far fetched. You could feel Sloane understanding with each will they/won't they moment that she deserved more from a partner and her love deserved to be felt and received.
As a fan of the romance genre, I am used to stories such as this turning into a happily ever after, no matter what.
It really felt like CIWYW gave Sloane the ending she deserved, even if it wasn't the story she had tried so hard to establish. It may not have been the timeline people assume they would have handled a relationship with someone like Ethan, but it was clearly the one that she needed to decide on, and I loved that development for her.

This book felt like the kind of story a big sister would live through, then make sure her little sister wouldn't have to.
Love,
a big sister.

Call It What You Want is the story of Sloan, a jaded college student living in New York. Sloan meets Ethan and while they get tangled up in each other, it's complicated.

Call It What You Want is definitely not a love story, and in a lot of ways reads like the YA version of Lydia Davis' The End of the Story. Sloan wants to be with Ethan in a way that he isn't interested in and in the end is faced with how to deal with the loss of that. This book (titled the same as a Taylor Swift song) came out just a few weeks after Taylor Swift released Loml, which features an especially poignant lyric "I can't get out of bed 'cause something counterfeit's dead". I've seen a lot of negative reviews about the character of Sloan but I think Sloan speaks to a situation a lot of us have been in, to be in your 20s and on a path that you know is going nowhere. If Sloan is unlikeable, she's at least relatable.

I think this is a complicated one but with a perspective many will relate to. Definitely written more YA than NA but there is some very non-YA content.

The Taylor Swift reference in the title got me interested, and the story about two people who were so absolutely not meant to be was compelling, in a car crash on the side of the highway kind of way. As least Sloane figured it out in the end.

This book hurt more than I expected it to with the deep dive back in to the juvenility of college and early 20s. It’s more vibes than plot, but Sloane becomes your friend and it hurts to see her in pain. You yell at her to finally find some self-respect and you still cry when she can’t quite put herself first and keeps sacrificing herself for a man who is afraid to feel his feelings.

I hated the start because it was laden with college drinking, and the characters are spoiled and immature, becoming a trifecta of cringe that makes you think What can I possibly take away from this story? But ultimately it’s a story of balancing growing up, finding yourself, life and love, and the anxiety that stitches it all together.

Thank you to NetGalley & to SOURCEBOOKS-Landmarks for the Advanced Readers’ Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this book had promise, but even though the characters were my age, this book really should've been targeted towards people much younger than me. I understood the way that Sloane felt, but the way that it was executed was not done very well. It felt...childish? It was also extremely repetitive (which I understand the predicament they are in would normally make that so), but that didn't mean that a little bit of change could not have been added. I really enjoyed reading the parts that Sloane wrote for her work and wish those were incorporated into more of the book because it added personability to Sloane's character.

I am sad that this book fell flat for me because the Taylor Swift references, my likeliness of Alissa's internet personality, and the storyline were all really intriguing to me.

The pacing of the book is really great, however I was not too attached to the characters. I still liked the story!

This book just really fell flat for me. The characters were lacking personality, the plot was just either not there or hard to follow.

Maybe I’m just not the target market for this book, maybe if you are in your early twenties and have been in a situationship you might appreciate this book, but it was one big let down for me.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise of it sounded good, especially because I've been in some almost-relationships myself, but this book just did not do it for me. I didn't really care for any of the characters, and everything seemed very cliche to me. It might be because I'm older and live in New York, but I cringed a lot at Sloane and her friends. The bars and restaurants they frequented, their behavior, their attitude towards being in the city... I just didn't really like reading about. Ethan sucked and I could not understand why she was so into him. I can understand being with someone who kind of confuses other people, but there were no good moments between them that I could see, so I really didn't understand her obsession with him. I also didn't get why her losing weight was mentioned a handful of times.... most of this book confused me. I almost DNF'd it but decided to power through just because it was an easy read. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC.

I adored this book. I loved the characters and the relationships, and not just the romantic ones. I just ate it right up.

This book wasn't really my favorite. I think that the constant return to what our FMC knew was toxic was really frustrating to me, and if there's one thing I cannot stand it's a cheating trope - which was in here. I just could not feel any sympathy for this girl and honestly the dude - sucked. He only wanted her for one thing and she just willingly gave it to him. The most frustrating read of the month for sure.

Closed Door Modifications: Chapter 6, 14, 17, 21, 24, 25 & 34

Thanks so much for sharing this book with me.
The whole " I can be enough to change him" is tough for me to read b/c I was involved with someone who promised to change and that put me i n danger....

To be honest, I'd recommend it to someone who has been in the same situation and can relate more than I do. This book has some redeeming qualities, but it was absolutely not for me. I can simply explain why this book was full of emotions. Heartbreak, anger, and confusion. Sloane and I had more in common than I was willing to admit. Losing someone who was never truly yours hurts equally as much as losing someone who was. It is a wake-up call to what love should and should not be. Never settle for less.

[thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review!]

It wasn't a bad book. But it wasn't a good book either.
I don't know, i just didn't feel anything while reading it, but it's not like i think it wasted my time.

The plot was not plotting, the chemistry was not chemistry-ing, lime i get it - it's all in her head, all the love/chemistry was just her being delulu while he wasn't even interested. I get it, really. It could be better executed. That's my problem. The idea was there, but nothing more.

Is this f'in play about us?? I don't think I've related to a character so much, from having a best friend named Lauren to a cat named Oliver. Even more so to a boy that is more like a drug than anything else. The story was heartfelt and easy to read. It was refreshing to read a book where the girl didn't get the guy in the end and realize that it is okay to let go and make room for better things and to realize that sometimes, people just can't be who you need them to be. I recommend this book to anyone who has every had a situationship and needs a little reassurance that they are not alone.

Closer to a 2.5 but I wished the plot and back story were thought through a bit more. I was enticed and intrigued by the synopsis when I requested the book the writing just fell flat for me.

This book did not seem like it was an adult narrating the story. I tried really hard to get into this and I just don’t think I can power through. The MMC has me so peeved and I just don’t see where they’re getting at with his storyline.