The Rival by Emma Lord is such a fun and relatable read! If you enjoy witty banter, complex friendships, and a bit of romance, this one’s for you. The story follows Tori, a high school senior who’s caught up in a fierce rivalry with her former best friend, resulting in plenty of drama and awkward moments.

What I loved most was how Emma Lord captured the ups and downs of teenage relationships—both romantic and platonic. The characters felt real, and their growth over the course of the book was really satisfying. Plus, there’s a lot of humor mixed in to keep things light, even when the stakes feel high. This is definitely a book I’d recommend to my library patrons looking for an entertaining, heartfelt read with plenty of twists and turns. Perfect for fans of coming-of-age stories and high school drama!

This book was another great one by Emma Lord. One thing that I love about all of her books is that the side characters are just as loveable as the main characters. Just wait until you meet Betty. Sadie's family was also extremely relatable and entertaining. I loved the relationship between Sadie and Seb. Another great YA novel!

Another cute rom com by Emma Lord! She has become a favorite romance writer of mine. If you are looking for sweet stories with adorable romance plots you need to read Emma Lord!

"It can't be easy, pretending to be something you're not all these years with the people you love most."

A super cute, rivals to lovers romcom that was just what I needed.

What I liked:

Sadie and Seb were so dang cute. They had great rapport, chemistry, and banter.

I loved the academic rivalry aspect. Sadie & Seb competed in just about everything and I ate all of it up.

Betty is quite possibly my favorite character in this book. The way I need some of her pancakes right now.

What didn’t work for me:

Nothing major

This was really cute! Emma Lord writes adorable romances and this was no exception. Really enjoyed the characters and the love story :)

Emma Lord can do no wrong in my book. I loved this so much. I really think she rivals Meg Cabot in teenage emotion, but with the heart of Sarah Dessen.

She just keeps hitting it out of the ballpark for me.

I absolutely loved this book! Emma Lord has such a knack for creating characters that feel like real people, and Sadie and Seb were no exception. Their academic rivalry was the perfect setup for a fun, tension-filled romance, and I couldn’t get enough of their banter. By the middle of the book, I was practically shouting for them to get together already!

Sadie’s voice was so refreshing—funny, relatable, and full of heart. I also loved the way her chaotic family added warmth and humor to the story. And Seb was such a great male lead with his charm and quick wit. The chemistry between them practically jumped off the page, and their journey from rivals to something more felt so natural.

The academic setting and their competition for the school’s zine gave the story an interesting twist, and the subplot about the flaws in the school system added some nice depth. Sure, the romance followed a predictable arc, but that didn’t take away from how much fun it was to read.

This was such an easy, enjoyable book, and I couldn’t put it down. Emma Lord always writes such heartwarming, layered stories, and this one might be one of my favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you St. Martins Press, and NetGalley for the ARC! I have always loved this authors writing story however this one was a struggle for me. I’m not fully sure why though. I did love the banter, and the childhood friends turned rivals turned lovers! The quirks and sass of this novel were great. I just don’t know that I truly clicked with the characters and that could be partially due to my age or even wanting them to have been less of rivals and more of lovers. I know this novel will be loved by so many though! It’s a great new adult romance!

Emma Lord is one of my favorite authors and I've read almost everything she's written, including her recent adult romance release. This is a sweet story about two childhood friends turned rivals turned lovers. While it has a lot of Emma Lord's style - delicious food, quirky characters, heart and depth to each character, and more, I had a hard time getting through this one. Her other novels were propulsive reads that I couldn't put down, but I found Sadie to be a bit of a snooze fest. She just doesn't have main character energy and it's tough to imagine that charismatic, adorable Seb would put up with so much of her odd behaviors for so many years. There are also a few big emotional moments that sort of fell flat for me, because they didn't make any sense. There wasn't enough behind them to validate the characters' reactions and subsequent fallout. So, it's not my favorite from her line-up, but it's still a sweet story with a lot of heart and some fun moments that will hopefully grab and keep the attention of the target audience.

The Rival🗞️🥞
3⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: 01/25/2025

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an early eARC of Emma Lord’s newest book! This is about academic rivals who have known each other since they were babies. Overall this was pretty cute! Their banter was fun and knowing their history was also cute. I do think it was a little heavy on the “writing/academic” aspect and I wish there was a little more romance. They did have their sweet moments together but most of it was their rivalry hence the title lol. ✍🏼

I liked how this book talked about her relationship with her sisters, that was an unexpected plot point I really enjoyed! My favorite part was the alphabet party or all of the pancake dates. If you like pancakes, you will be craving them the whole time reading this book😋🥞 This book had quite a few slow parts and the romance was average. However if academic rivals is your thing, pick this one up!! It comes out in January 🎒

The Rival was a very cute young adult romance. Sadie and Seb are two childhood best friends, who found themselves to be rivals/enemies as they continued on to high school - thanks for one too many pranks and not enough communication. Emma Lord's young adult novels definitely excel at capturing the college experience and the shakiness of adjusting to college and changes. She delves easily into how so many relationships are changing at this point - with friends (old and new), family members, and possible relationships as well. Definitely a sweet, honest and humorous novel - absolutely worth the read! Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this novel.

I love Emma Lord’s college set books. They’re idealistic, but her characters aren’t without hardships. It’s a fun age to read about, young people trying new things and learning about themselves. However, no one I knew at 18 or 19 was the type of mastermind The Rivals were to come up with such sophisticated pranks. But that’s what makes fiction fun! Thanks to Wednesday Books for the ARC.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy!

I am an Emma Lord fan, so I was excited to read this new YA book from her. And it did not disappoint! I loved Sadie and Seb's relationship, which was a fun mixture of both the friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers tropes. I loved how the book focused heavily on all types of relationships (e.g. friendship, family, romantic) of the two main characters. I also related to the experience of being on student journal. Some of the events felt a little unrealistic, but overall, this was such a fun and a great addition to the Emma Lord collection!

Seb and Sadie, childhood friends and long time academic rivals, battle over a spot on their college magazine staff.

Well, this book was so dang fun to read and simply a delight.

I LOVED Seb and Sadie’s relationship. I liked how it wasn’t simply a rivals to lovers story, but also childhood friends. Seb and Sadie’s families live next door to each other and they grew up together doing virtually everything together. That gave their friendship and tension a lot of depth. Their history lent to a comfortability and physical communication that was a blast to read. And omg the banter. The banter was fire. And the tension? Oozing. And guys? Seb is just good. I dare you to not fall in love with him.

I thought it captured the spirit of freshman year and the inherent difficulties with that transition. There’s a huge story line that touches on family expectations and coming into your own. Sadie really grew in confidence in being her own person - something she’s always struggled with after being *less* in a family that is MORE. Additionally, we journey with our MCs as they experience challenges in friendships and romantic connections. So much of this book is about coming of age and coming into your own.

Read if you like rivals to lovers, childhood friends, LGBTQ rep, YA (18 year old MCs with 18 year old problems), coming of age stories, college newspaper/magazine scene, competitive teasing, slow burns, and all the tension with no spice.

Thank you, St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I have enjoyed multiple of Emma Lord's books and this one did not disappoint. I had a lot of fun reading this and can't wait to buy my own copy.

Thank you to netgally for an advanced copy. My thoughts are my own.

Emma Lord has been a favorite of mine for the last few years years - I've read most of what she's done since Tweet Cute, and after trying her first adult romance earlier this year, I was excited for her to return to where I think she really shines, with her YA romances.

The Rival was exactly what I've come to expect - a cute story about two ambitious college freshmen who are not just academic rivals, but whose lives and families have been intertwined since they were literally babies. Now they find themselves at the same college, competing for the same spot writing for the prestigious university zine. There's quirky families and a fun cast of side characters and a pancake shop. There were no real surprises with this one - Emma's books take the reader where they expect to end up (and they can also expect to end up INCREDIBLY HUNGRY for ALL THE SUGAR in the process). If I have one real complaint, it's that I felt like I had read this one before - it felt very formulaic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emma Lord books are always sweet, wholesome, reliable feel-good YA fare. Add a star for YA. While not groundbreaking, this academic rivals to lovers was enjoyable as were the side characters and university setting.

The Rival
This is everything a Young Adult romance should be. Sadie and Seb are in their first year of college and experiencing all the fantastic parts of being a freshman. There are laughs, challenges, decisions, struggles, and best of all love. Emma Lord does a fantastic job of drawing the readers in and feeling all the feels alongside these incredibly sweet childhood friends.

A classic meet cute with a techy twist. This one will give you all the feels and all the fuzziest you want from a one sit rom com.

Author Emma Lord knocks it out of the park again with this highly entertaining academic enemies-to-lovers YA rom-com! Highly recommended for YA rom-com and YA contemporary readers. Can't go wrong with an Emma Lord YA book!