4.5 stars, received ARC copy from NetGalley -

I really, really loved this. The author stayed true to the heart of Much Ado About Nothing while injecting it with her own story, and it read *true*. I normally hate recent pop culture references while I'm reading, because it can take me out of the story, but Emma did such a good job at it that it felt like it made sense.

For me, a book automatically earns a star if it brings an emotional reaction out of me, and I cried several times during this read. It's so relatable, trying to figure out your place in a family, in a friend group, in the world - especially when dealing with confusion around identity, or grief. The dialogue and actions felt authentic, and realistic, and I'm so glad I grabbed this when I did.

It’s an easy to read book. The flow is great. It focuses only on things that move the story forward instead of having fillers that ruin the pace.

The characters are not stereotypical so they feel real. I became really invested in them and wouldn’t mind having a sequel, a series even if that’s an option.

I love the modern retelling and queer perspective of Much Ado About Nothing.

My only real complaint is that I wish we learned more about the feud with Beatrice and Bennie. She only briefly talked about it and that wasn’t enough evidence to make me dislike Bennie.

I’ve made a more in depth review on my Goodreads page but that contains spoilers so I didn’t want to include that here.