3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars)

It took me quite a bit to get into You Between the Lines because I just didn't connect with Leigh right away. But my interest picked up the more we learned about Leigh's classmates and her relationships with each of them (or lack thereof). I enjoyed the back and forth between her and Will, especially when it led to steamy makeout sessions because you could really feel the angst and tension between these two writers. But the various "off again" times were difficult to wade through because it felt like Will was trying too hard not to enjoy Leigh's presence, even when they were with friends.

However, I did really appreciate Will's mental health representation in the book and how normalized his medication was. But I also liked that he acknowledged he wasn't perfect even with the medication and he still had lower moments.

Very cute and sweet book. The female main character was very relatable. Overall it was a bit boring at times and just nothing special.

Anytime there’s a book with anxiety representation, I’m all over it! I didn’t know it was happening with this book, but it was a big focus. Leigh is a character that I saw myself in several times. I have seen some reviews where they couldn’t understand or thought she was annoying. They should count themselves lucky that they have never had the same anxiety-filled life.

I’m going to expand on this a little more. Leigh is in an MFA program because she’s lost in life. Her parents are divorcing, she hates her job, and pining over her High School crush. On top of all these things, Leigh is living with a lot of anxiety. When she gets into this MFA program, it rears its ugly head. She likes to have this persona of what she thinks other people like. People pleasing goes hand in hand with anxiety. If we think others think we are pretty, acceptable, smart, etc, there’s a feeling of belonging. She goes to her first workshop, and her thoughts are so relatable. I remember thinking similar things in a new college class or anywhere that it’s a new experience. You don’t want to talk or give your opinion because you are not confident it would land well. The embarrassment of something like that happening is just debilitating. I’m just pointing out another scope to understand the FMC. The way she acts throughout the book makes a lot of sense if you’ve experienced high levels of anxiety. I’m so glad that we get her therapist sessions because it helps open that up further. There is a lot to unpack with her parents.

Anyway, besides the mental health representation, the romance was great. There are many moments in their life when things don’t pan out. They are both holding onto words and grudges from the past that don’t help them move forward in the present. Regardless, I loved Will and how he saw Leigh. He was patient and way more understanding than a normal person would be. To all the spice lovers, there are a couple of moments, but not a big part of the story.I wish I would have gotten more of Will’s POV. He’s reserved, and we don’t know much about what’s going on with him.

The friendships are amazing! I loved Gen and how she didn’t put up with Leigh’s crap. She is really what a true friend should be. The writing workshop crew was great to get to know and love. I flew through this book in a little over a day. I enjoyed it and all the relationships. If you are looking for an angsty romance with a lot of poetry and mental health awareness, this is for you. I couldn’t put it down!

Thank you, Forever and Netgalley, for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The depth to both Leigh and Will’s characters was so well-done. I adored the amount of mental health representation, ranging from depression to anxiety, to self-esteem issues, and more. I found both Leigh & Will to be very relatable, even frustratingly so because I felt as if I was getting called out at times. I think a lot of readers will be able to feel seen in the way Will describes his struggles with depression and how Leigh feels like she needs to shape herself to those around her. Both of their stories made my heart hurt for them in different ways, and truly made me want to give both of them a big hug. Will and Leigh both carry their own flaws, but they also carry personalities filled with humor, kindness, care, and undying wit.

Speaking of wit, I loved Leigh & Will’s dynamic so much! The one-sided rivals to lovers that they existed in made for so much banter, tension, chemistry. It allowed for the romantic, intimate moments between these two to shine and made me giddy! Seeing these two experience growth in their own way, break down each other’s walls, and get their chance together after so many years was truly special!!! I adored these two so much, even when I wanted to grab them by the shoulders and shake them.

As a whole, I really enjoyed this story, and being immersed in the world of MFAs was so fun. The side characters added so much to the story, I loved the friendships that were created and the scenes where the entire group were together.

There were moments in the story where the miscommunication/lack of communication between Leigh and Will was a bit frustrating. However, the issues that appeared on that front make so much sense for both of their characters and make it feel genuine!

I would definitely recommend this one, especially if you love a book where there are two writers, lots of hidden feelings, one-sided rivals to lovers, and mental health rep!!!

First of all let me say thank you to Katie, the publishing group, and NetGalley for my ARC! All of my thoughts are of my own free will!

This book was so cute! I’ve always been a small fan of poetry since high school and even have a few poetry books on my shelf. The poetry concept in this book and how Leigh’s thoughts on her poetry correlate to her thoughts of herself is beautifully written. That is half of the book itself and I loved it so much. I loved getting to read all of the poetry throughout as well.

What I didn’t just love, but was still good, was the romance aspect. It fell flat for me. I had such a hard time reading the scenes between Will and Leigh and the I would put down the book for days because it didn’t capture my attention. I kept wanting to skip to the writing sessions or Leigh writing. And this is coming from a romance girlie!

However, the book itself was very cute! I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves poetry!!

2.5 ★

this did not work for me, for several reasons...

the biggest being the lead, leigh. it was a bit bothersome to spend the entire book in her perspective since I found her inner dialogue and actions to be judgmental and mean-spirited, both towards herself and those around her. though she was in therapy, little growth was evident even as the final chapters loomed. ultimately, it's tough to enjoy a book when you don't like the main character.

and the backdrop for the romance being an MFA program was just not my favorite. however, that is not a slight against the author, more so a personal dislike that I recognize and will log for future reference. poetry was heavily, heavily featured and not in a way that felt productive to the progression of the story. once pivotal moments began to occur between leigh and will, moments that didn't move me, I knew my investment was not where it should be.

thanks to katie naymon and forever for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕."

- 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎 𝙽𝚊𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚗

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
✰ 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴
✰ 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢
✰ 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘴 & 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴
✰ 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
✰ 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨

This book is one of those romances that explain very simply why I love the genre.
The slowburn of it all, a decade long pining, poetry as banter and flirting. It's for me. Literally.
Will is a perfect tortured poet character. But also the swooniest. Leigh was also a great character to read about. I related to a lot of her character and it's always nice to see myself in books I read.

I also liked the friend group. They're all so fun and cute. I always love found family trope becauseit adds so much to a story.

I highly recommend it!!

*arc kindly provided in exchange of an honest review

I was completely sucked into this and read it in a day. It was emotional and I really felt the attraction between Will and Leigh. Yes, they were both rather immature, but I think it worked. It was nice to really get that college feel from the MFA program they are in and that it's not just a backdrop for their relationship. I also really tend to like "stuck in high school" mentality romances. I don't know why.

The "not like other girls" think Leigh had going on didn't work for me, but she does improve somewhat towards the end. There were other moments that annoyed me or didn't sit right, but overall it was a very enjoyable read.

The audiobook wasn't the best I've ever read but it was fine. The voice actors did a decent job with it and I don't really have any complaints.

Thanks to Forever and Hachette Audio for providing an early copy for review.

I enjoyed this and how it instantly brought me back to grad school. Undergrad is one thing but the relationships and found family you form in grad school is something entirely different and I thought this book did a good job portraying that. I really wish this book was Dual POV. I would have loved to have insight into Will's poet brain. This book shines, but adding Will's POV would have put it over the top. I'm excited to see what else this author has in store.

Hello! Meet the new favorite book that I binged in 4 hours last night. I started with the audiobook and then I was completely obsessed I stayed up an extra hour reading this e-book. I normally do not care for poems in novels and skim/skip them but I really enj0yed these. I connected a lot to the main character-my artwork was always seen as kind of "bubble gum pop" compared to the deep artwork of my peers-along with her people pleasing tendencies. The romance was so swoony and the buildup/push and pull of it all was so perfect. Really loved this one!

What a great debut! This was a solid contemporary romance that featured to MFA poetry students, Leigh & Will, and their growth from rival to lovers. They went to high school together, but it has been ten years since then so this sort of has some feels of a second (or third) chance romance.

If you like poetry and/or academic settings this book is for you ... if you don't .. then I would maybe stay clear. That is a BIG part of this book - the plot and the setting. Lots of workshops, written poetry, edits, notes, comments etc.

As a life long student and socials/english teacher, I really appreciated these things but I know it won't be for everyone!
There was some spice to the romance (roughly 3 scenes) but the descriptions were not explicit and quite brief. I would say its a 1.5 pepper rating.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Unfortunately this book missed the mark for me. It was a light hearted fun romance, but the poetry aspect and what felt like miscommunication really took me out of the book. I did not feel like there was enough foundation on the main character for me to really root for her. Her self doubt and self pity felt irritating to me. I definitely think that many people would really like this book it just unfortunately was not for me.

I was initially interested in this book because I enjoy second chance romances, when two characters have a complicated past and still ind a way to make their way back to each other, mix that with the forced proximity of them being in a join MFA program and I thought it was going to be an instant hit.
Unfortunately I was mistaken.
This book reads more like women’s fiction than romance. These two characters, yes are drawn together by this MFA program but their entire relationship is incredible lust driven. I found that there was hardly any communication in the first 50% of the book, any time these two main characters were in the same room, one of them would always walk away without having a conversation and that was the most aggravating reading experience. Because of this I also didn’t find that I had a reason to like the MMC, when as the love interest the story felt like it hardly involved him.
The book instead went into detail of the FMC’s writing process and struggle with her creative block.

I was excited also because the author of this book has her MFA in poetry so i thought shed be able to give these characters life in a new and fun way but instead it just fell flat.

In this debut, late twenty-something Leigh enters a poetry MFA program in North Carolina, only to discover that her high school crush-turned-rival is also in the program.

Strap in for plenty of poetry, the pretentiousness that can be found in academia—the characters even admit to this, issues stemming from parental and parent-child relationships, longstanding grudges, fear of commitment, and imposter syndrome.

This is told in single POV, so we get lots of Leigh telling us that she can’t be with Will.

Throw in a highly coveted fellowship position that they both want, and Leigh’s distrust of Will grows even more.

I did like the notes they make for each other in the margins on poems and appreciated that, in the end, Leigh does show growth and Will opens up more. Ultimately, though, this seems like a case of a book just not being right for my mood when I read it.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Forever. All review opinions are my own.

You know the feeling when you start reading a book and immediately know it is going to change your life? May I introduce you to an angsty, emotional, and beautifully written DEBUT romance from Katie Naymon.

Leigh has recently left her job with an advertising agency to pursue her passion of poetry. She’s been accepted into a prestigious MFA program where she feels like she doesn’t quite fit. Everyone else is smarter than her, has read all the right things, been published in literary journals, and would never listen to Taylor Swift. To top it all off, the guy from high school who she had crushed on until he told her that her work was ‘all style no substance’ shows up at the welcome party as another first year in the program. Leigh is determined to prove that she belongs, but Will’s presence becomes exceedingly distracting, and soon the two find that they need to just get each other out of their systems. As time goes on and the deadline for the prestigious fellowship comes closer, they must decide if what they have is just pent up feelings, or if there is more to their story.

You Between The Lines is easily going to be one of my favorite books of the year, if not all time. I immediately related to Leigh, with her insecurities, feelings of imposter syndrome, and need to change herself to fit the desires of the people around her. She is a pathological people-pleaser who struggles with finding her true identity, and this is paralleled in the poetry she writes. Because she is constantly accommodating other people and changing to fit into whatever group she's with, she never really has a confidence in who SHE is. Similarly, she tries so hard to write the things she thinks others want to see, instead of being true to herself and showing her vulnerability in her poetry. The one time that she did, it got published, but she is so scared to open herself up and be that vulnerable again. Her character growth in this book was so utterly beautiful. She is messy and imperfect, but recognizes this too. Her interactions with her therapist were so familiar and truly made my heart feel so much for her character. She is truly one of my favorite characters I’ve read, and I love her, flaws and all.

And then we have Will. Will Yum Langford. He is absolutely everything to me. This man is so jaded and has his own struggles that he is dealing with in the book, but this man is down BAD. There is so much angst and tension between them, it is tangible. They have a multi-layered past, which unfolds throughout the book, and you can see how long this man has been pining for her. Their relationship was so real and raw too. They struggle with communication, but in a way that is so relatable. They are so scared of wanting something and the other person not reciprocating, so they dance around their feelings and nothing comes out the right way. The YEARNING we see between them just about killed me too. They were so beautifully messy and I loved how they learned to be vulnerable with each other. They truly brought out the best in each other, both as people and as poets.

This book is honestly one of the best I’ve read in so long. Katie’s writing is heartfelt and lyrical. She weaves in poetry and narrative into this book in such a meaningful way, and truly has written a thought-provoking and emotional story. It’s a slow burn romance with the perfect amount of humor and vulnerability. I adored these characters, their journeys, and their ability to work through the hard things and open themselves up. This book is a must read and is SHOCKINGLY her debut novel. Do not sleep on this one! I cannot wait to see what Katie has in store for us next as she has easily cemented herself in my must-buy category!

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Leigh has just been accepted into the MFA program at the prestigious Perrin University. She will spend the next two years learning and honing her poetry writing skills. Then, she learns her favorite writer will be an adjunct professor next school year. Leigh is determined to land the coveted fellowship which means a lot of one-on-one time with her idol. Leigh soon learns that her High School crush, Will, is also part of the grad program. This puts Leigh's anxieties into overdrive. She still has never gotten over a bad critique Will gave one of her poems during class ten years ago. Leigh has always been intimidated by Will's ease and comfortableness with writing. Not just that, there's history between them that they'll finally have to settle otherwise it'll be a long two years.

I appreciated the plain and simple way the story comes right out and makes clear that Leigh is dealing with her anxiety surrounding how she feels she is perceived by those around her. It informed everything she does. Trying to make sure she is meeting, what she assumes, are everyone's expectations. Oftentimes the morals of the story are circumvented in order for the readers to draw their own conclusions. One might say this is akin to reading and interpreting a poem. I think it's very refreshing that this story is very open with this and we get to see Leigh working her way through these things both in her personal life and her writing.

However, I also felt this sense of strangeness because I never felt like I could get a beat on Leigh as a character. This is actually probably very in line with how Leigh sees herself throughout the majority of the book, and kind of mirrors the struggle she faces of bringing more of herself into her writing. On the opposite side of that I also see myself in every single worry and question and anxiety-ridden tirade she goes on in her mind. I just felt like she never brought the two sides of herself out for others. That Will was really the only person who saw her clearly (to be fair Leigh's best friend Gen also sees the full picture of who she is, but she's a very peripheral character).

I like the connection between Will and Leigh. I loved how Katie Naymon draws out the depth of their relationship. Like Leigh herself, there's more than meets the eye, there's more than surface level. I like how the information is doled out as we go. There's something just so perfect about their relationship journey. Maybe because it never overshadows Leigh's personal journey, but is still just as important. It's all wrapped together perfectly as a whole.

You Between the Lines is a great introduction to Katie Naymon and her writing. I've read fiction books featuring writers. This may be the first one where that writer's specialty is poetry. Seeing the way that the poems are crafted and the techniques used was very interesting and a sure highlight of everything else overall.

You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon is an absolute gem! I devoured it in just five hours, completely swept up in its witty banter, emotional depth, and perfectly executed romance. The characters felt so real, their connection both tender and electric. It’s the kind of book that grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go. A five-star read that I’ll be thinking about for a long time!

Let the record show that when I say that I like my romances full of yearning, this book is what I mean!

In YOU BETWEEN THE LINES, we follow 27-year-old Leigh who’s been accepted to a prestigious poetry MFA program. Meeting her classmates for the first time already has her feeling out of place, but Leigh’s even more thrown off balance when she realizes that her former high school crush-turned-nemesis, Will, is also in the program.

I could write sonnets about all of the things I loved about this book, but I’ll focus on just a few.

I thought the single POV with Leigh worked so perfectly. It was a little uncomfy at times (Leigh is definitely one of those “mirror characters” for me, for better or worse) and I loved that. I thought being inside her head and not Will’s was the perfect way of showing us her (very relatable) flaws while also capitalizing on the uncertain will-they-won’t-they of it all.

And did I mention the yearning? Because OMG. The tension and the years-long pining go so crazy in this! When the scene is just them touching pinkies and you’re inwardly shrieking, you know it’s good.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for this eARC! Trust and believe I will be on the lookout for Katie Naymon’s next book!

I am rounding up here- I fall on the 3 1/2 stars range with this one. I cheered at times and then wanted to stop at others. Will and Leigh are likable. I guess if you have liked someone for so long, you should try when no one else measures up. And please, have the conversations... feelings get hurt, but if you have lived on your own for 5 years in a big city- learn to communicate especially if you can explain why you don't like your job and the lack of creativity. But the poetry? Stay for the poetry.

Thank you, #NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for early access to You Between the Lines which comes out tomorrow! I started reading this yesterday, curled up with my cat as shown here, and I finished it today on my flight. While I tend to bounce back and forth between books, I didn’t read anything else once I started this book, which means it fully captured my attention - great work to a debut author!
You Between the Lines takes place at a small town North Carolina MFA program for poetry and fiction, with just five candidates per program per year. After realizing being a copywriter is sucking the life from her, Leigh applies to the program to build off of her English degree and tap back into her love for creative writing. At the welcome barbecue, she finds that one of the other poetry candidates is her high school crush, Will - who now goes by William. He had criticized her work in a writing semester in high school and Leigh had never forgiven her. Except for maybe when they ran into each other that one time at Middlebury… Leigh’s parents are going through a separation, which has her, the only child, questioning why their three-person unit is no longer viable. Her people-pleasing is at an all time high, while she’s supposed to be vulnerable to achieve greatness in her program. Luckily, she has a best friend and a therapist who both tell it like it is, keeping her head on straight-ish.
I appreciated the way the book showed Leigh’s struggle with her insecurity and indecision, even in terms of her choosing her outfits, as they felt realistic and made me care about her character. The sex scenes were quite steamy, and the ending felt natural. Sometimes I felt like chapters ended and time moved forward without fully finishing some experiences, but that could be because I read it quickly. I sobbed through the epilogue on my flight, but no one asked if I was okay, so that’s a plus 🤣 I don’t read much poetry, as I don’t feel it’s very accessible, but I really enjoyed the way it was presented in this book, and I feel like I should be more open to reading it. I’m excited for others to read this great debut! And if you’re a Taylor Swift fan, there are plenty of references to her and her music to enjoy in this book.