Ella and her sister just changed schools because Connie was getting bullied because of her fan fiction writing. And just about it was supposed to happen again, Ella tried stopping the supposed class president from also disrespecting her sister. Ella decided that if she wants a better place for her sister, she has to beat and run for class president.

I was so excited to dive into this book. It has fake dating, which is my favorite romance trope, and as a plus size girl myself. it was fun to see a plus size girl on the cover.

The plot itself was super cute and I really loved it. As I went through the story, I thought the pacing of it was nice. I really like the other characters and I like the underlying villain in the story. And the twist was something I didn't see coming.

As much as I like the side quests that are part of the story, I thought they were cringey and unrealistic. Those were the parts that made my eyebrow rise. They were unique and interesting. sure, but it made me question the direction of the book.

The romance was alright. Physical touch was definitely the love language between the two, and I'll leave it at that.

Overall, good story. I liked it but there were parts that made me scratch my head.

Enjoyable school based ya contemporary romance.

The banter between Ella and Patrick (Trick) was gold and funny! Patrick being constantly flirty and Ella blushing all the time.

This read is based around the school council and how Ella wants to change the way it’s run after having to move schools so Connie has a better school life. Ella is someone who’s always trying to protect her younger sister since she’s the oldest. I think a lot of older siblings are like that but sometimes they don’t need that much protection and need some room to grow on their own.

The evolution of Ella’s character was great and how she realised some things don’t need to be worried about.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for a chance to read Class Act!

cute little ya romance about student council president races and a pretty straightforward but aww-inducing fakedating plot. tysm for the arc

On her first day at a new school, Ella ends up confronting the student council president who was picking on her sister. Determined to do something more, Ella calls for a new election and decides to run again the student council president, one of the most popular students, herself. As a new student, Ella doubts she'll be able to win, but then Patrick, a student she meets in detention, pitches a wild idea: he will pretend to date her and help her win the election.

As Ella and Patrick spend more and more time together, she starts to develop real feelings -- and suspects Patrick may have them too. But then their real campaign and fake relationship take a turn, and Ella realizes there may be more at stake than she thought.

This is a well-written and highly engaging novel, offering a fresh spin on a fake dating story that also explores important themes around belonging and friendship.

Highly recommended!

A classic YA rom-com that explores themes of bullying, mental health and high school with a cute fake dating, prep school backdrop.

I loved so much of this book, but equally did not love just as much. This is a fun and promising premise, but it fell flat for me in many ways. The mental health representation was great, plus the discussion of bullying and internal high school hierarchy were done well.

With that said, I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was Ella's voice, maybe it was the cast of characters, maybe it was simply the vibes being off for me? I haven't quite put my finger on it, but I found myself not reaching for this book.

Once again, it's well written and a great story overall, but just didn't do it for me. I'd definitely still recommend for anyone looking for a YA high school, fake dating, class election rom com!

Thank you to Kelsey Rodkey, HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC <3

An entertaining YA romcom that has a senior high school teen girl trying to help her younger sister by running for class president and fake dating one of the more popular boys in school. Full of emotional depth, great mental health rep (she has depression) and lots of fun antics, this was great on audio narrated by Jesse Vilinsky and perfect for fans of authors like Lynn Painter. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thx once again to NetGalley for this arc. I really enjoyed this ya rom-com and found it a really sweet story. The relationship between the two main characters is soooo gooood and I just really enjoyed the plot twists aswell.

Thank you to @HarperCollinsUK for sending me a copy of Class Act. Unfortunately, this book was a Did Not Finish for me. Despite reaching 40%, I struggled to connect with characters like Connie, Thomas, or Elle. The banter felt lacking and the author's writing style didn't resonate with me, leading to frustration and annoyance towards the characters. It's disappointing when a book doesn't click.

Explore new perspectives. Characters should resonate. Writing style matters. Frustration can hinder enjoyment. #BookReview #DNF #CharacterConnection #WritingStyle #Frustration #BookishCommunity #ReadingJourney #DisappointingReads #BookishOpinions

publication: October 1st, 2024

Ella transfers to a new school and immediately faces trouble when she defends her sister, leading to a clash with the student council president and a stint in detention. Determined to take him down, she launches a campaign to run against him in a re-election. Initially unsure of her chances, Ella teams up with the charismatic Patrick, who proposes they fake a relationship to boost her popularity. As their pretend romance begins to feel real, Ella must navigate her feelings for Patrick while uncovering his true intentions, forcing her to choose between her campaign and her heart.

This is such a fun book and anyone who enjoys young adult or I want to say 15- 17 will enjoy it a lot

Thank You Netgalley and HarperCollins| Children's Books

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover and blurb looked promising but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it. I nearly dnfed it. I just couldn't connect with the writing style. It felt flat and boring.

This was such a fun read! The MC and LI have such great chemistry and it's impossible not to root for them - especially when things seem to be going wrong. The set up for the fake-dating was well executed and it was really interesting to see the dynamics between Ella and Connie and their relationship as siblings. If you're into fake-dating, academic rivals, easy reads, then this is for you.

DNF @36%. I'm not sure if it was the writing or the characters, but I struggled getting through this one. I found myself getting annoyed with Ella's character. Her decision making was frustrating to read. It felt like she was always rushing into new things without fully thinking it through. The whole running for president bit felt super rushed IMO. It was hard to support her idea to run for president when she hadn't even been at the school for one full week. Her whole reason for running also fell flat for me. I wish Ella would have spoken with her sister before deciding to run. I also found her reasoning for fake dating Patrick unconvincing. Patrick was the saving grace of this story. I enjoyed his character and quick banter. I thought his scenes added a fun layer to the story. From where I ended, Stevie seemed like a fine side character. I wish this story connected better with me. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

Kelsey Rodkey romcoms bring me so much joy. They are filled with the perfect combination of messy emotions and dorky adorableness. This one has got student council shenanigans, a girl desperate to find her own footing, and an absolutely excellent take on fake dating and hate-to-love. I loved it a whole lot.

Had to DNF this title 25% in unfortunately. Not exactly sure but the writing style wasn't my favorite and the main character didn't connect.

I love a YA romacne moment! Loved the fun and believeable relationship between the two main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelsey Rodkey, and HarperCollins for the eARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and lovable. The pacing was perfect and left you wanting to read more. I can't wait to read more by this author!

Class Act by Kelsey Rodkey was a cute, quick YA read! I enjoyed the premise of the book and really connected with the main character, Ella. I felt that the pacing was a little off in regards to the relationship between Ella and the other characters, but overall was a fun read!

This was a dnf for me. I enjoyed it to a point but didn't buy some things like why would a girl who is so socially anxious and desirous of not making her sister's life miserable at school make such a spectacle of herself. I stopped midway through. The Pact would have been so easy to fulfill on the mc's end, it is unbelievable that she didn't. Also, I found the whole breaking and entering scheme unbelievable. I just couldn't keep suspending my disbelief with this one.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.”

The banter was fun for about 10 seconds; afterward, everything began to drag. I gave this book two stars instead of one is because Thomas, the main antagonist of the novel, was so blatantly a caricature of Draco Malfoy everything he said or did was ironically hilarious. Emphasis on the irony.

It's safe to say I did not enjoy this book. Every character was equal parts unrealistic and unlikeable and it was impossible to care about any of them. The main trope, fake-dating, was completely preposterous and subsequently over-justified. There was no logical reason for the main character Delaware (Ella) to begin fake-dating Patrick (Trick.) Even worse, rather than offer an effective rebuttal to the argument that Ella and Trick could collaborate on her campaign as friends, and legitimately no one would care, Ella gave a long explanation with circular reasoning that her friend (Stevie) just accepted without question.

The pacing ended up being the novel's saving grace; it rarely ever dragged. Unfortunately, about 30% of the way through, I could no longer keep up the pretense of caring.

Overall, every aspect of this novel could be characterized as insufferable if it was interesting enough to be hated. But it's not. It's simply tedious.

This was such a cute and fun YA academic romance! I really like the cover of this and quite frankly, it reminded me of an alternate universe version of Leslie and Ben from Parks and Recreation. Ella and Patrick are both vying for the chance to be student body president of their school, with Ella trying to unseat Patrick, who currently holds the position. They have very different personalities and ideas about how things should go, which leads to a lot of clashing and friction, but they also feel drawn to each other and have a spark between that they can't deny, despite how hard they both try. This book showcased themes like loyalty, friendship, stepping out of your comfort zone, being true to yourself, and owning up to your responsibilities and accountability for actions. There is a lot of humor and heart in this book, with great banter and my fvaorite tropes of rivals to lovers and fake dating. There is a significant plot twist that happens about halfway through and I really enjoyed what it added to the book. The book was written really well. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think it would be great for young adults, like teenagers in high school because it would really resonate with them.