This summer story was absolutely adorable. I love a summer camp romance. On top of that I really enjoyed Ivys growth

I think I might have been a little too old to fully connect with Ivy, the main character. She’s only 15, but the way she talked about time made it feel like she should have been in college, which threw me off a bit. It was a little unclear at times how old she was supposed to feel versus how old she actually was.

I also found myself wanting more backstory, especially when it came to her relationship with Ally and her friendship with Rynn. I kept feeling like I was missing pieces that would have made the emotional moments hit harder. There were definitely sweet moments, and I liked the overall concept, but I just wished for a little more depth to fully connect.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book is a YA Sapphic Romance that I would consider on the younger side of YA. This book focuses on a new romance between former friends but also focuses on a break up and getting over a breakup even more.

Our main character Ivy is really lost after a break up and still dealing with her parents divorce so she decides to go be a counselor at her favorite childhood summer camp. Here, she bumps into her ex-best friend who may just be her next love ❤️

This books is single POV from Ivy and focuses a LOT on her character flaws and growth.

While I enjoyed seeing Ivy grow and develop and her story, I felt that certain elements of the story were underdeveloped and took away from the things that were developed well - such as Ivy’s relationship with her sisters and her parent’s divorce.

*Received as a free ARC*
I think this was another case of o was too old for this book. I get it. Breakups suck. Especially in high school it can feel like the end of the world. But it was SO melodramatic and she just kept reading the comments. That being said, I very much enjoyed the setting and liked the vibes of the counselor friend group. Would have rather seen more of that.

This was really cute. Ivy has been through a lot and I can only imagine a public breakup when your ex is famous. Ivy and Rynn are adorable and young love is so cute. I do however think that no one took Ivy's feelings about her ex publicly cheating on her for months seriously. She was allowed to be upset and I don't think anyone allowed her that space.

I received an arc through netgalley.

This was a very cute enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance that made me crave s’mores. The celebrity breakup was an interesting twist on celebrity romance. I definitely related to Ivy coping with rejection and just wanting to be loved. I did feel like both Rynn and Ally owed Ivy better apologies and that she forgave them both too easily.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Ivy was a pretty relatable character, I have to keep in mind that she is a teenager and even though I found her a little immature, I know that is how most teenagers are. They dont always make the right decisions, they are prone to being overdramatic, and tend to be impulsive, which pretty much sums up Ivy. I think her family was a big part of her insecurities, yet we hardly know anything about them which was frustrating. Also given all her thoughts regarding Ally, we didn’t even get a whole lot of detail there either, especially about how it all started and the early years before Ally got famous. She hardly seemed to focus on her actual campers, you know the job she is actually getting paid for, and instead was always buried in her phone or obsessing over Ally or Rynn. I found myself only really liking her when she was with Rynn because she was actually happy and living in the moment, rather than consumed by the past. I did appreciate the advice she gave to Fitz about owning your feelings and accepting your queerness. Their talks by the fire were sweet, especially how he always seemed to know how to comfort her. I know it must have been hard for Ivy to go through her first breakup so publicly, and learn how to navigate a life without that person in it, but I also felt like too much time and drama was given to that part of the storyline. Instead I would have rather enjoyed more time with Ivy and Rynn while they figured out their feelings for each other and what would come after.

Rynn was a hard one to get behind in the beginning, given her aggressiveness and attitude towards Ivy. Though it's still very unclear why Ivy and Rynn stopped being friends in their childhood, I dont get why they had such strong hate in the beginning. Communication skills are definitely at the top of the list of what Rynn needs to work on, but I get it makes sense with her feelings of being lonely at school and losing her best friend. As the story went on, my heart definitely went out to her and how badly Ivy was treating her. Her feelings were super valid, even though they were acted out a bit rashly, but again, that is also something teenagers do. It was still hard though to get completely invested in Rynn because she is constantly in the background of Ivy’s struggling feelings with getting over Ally, which left not a lot of character development, and a rushed romance. The story therefore would have benefited from being 2 chapters longer with an added epilogue in order to give Rynn and Ivy the time they deserved.

So unfortunately the story as a whole just didn't work for me for several reasons. We are not given all the information that we need in order to care and root for these characters. The idea of Ivy’s getting broken up with a famous celebrity ex sounds like a great storyline, but to my disappointment, it was not executed whatsoever due to how much time is spent over Ivy getting over her ex, and then she is just easily forgiven in the end. On that same note the information we actually would have wanted such as how her and Ally got together, a glimpse into their early years, and why exactly Ally chose to suddenly cut Ivy loose, was not given. Therefore, not only was Ivy and Rynn’s relationship cut short and rushed, but so was the whole play they spent half the book working on. I also think this story would have worked better if the characters were older, like 17 or 18. The drama with Twyla and Nessa got to be too much and annoying after a while, and it seemed like that was only written in as a plot device to show how Ivy “changed” or slightly developed over the summer. Finally, I think given Ivy’s complicated relationship with her parents and her feelings of being overshadowed or not fitting into her family, that there should have been way more background given on her family and context as to why she feels this way.

Ultimately, even though I deeply enjoyed the side characters and the promising premise of the story, I think the execution of it all fell short.

This book wasn’t really in my usual reading range—I didn’t realize how young the characters were when I picked it up. That said, the story itself was really sweet, and I still found it enjoyable!

I would definitely say this is more middle age than young adult in the way the characters are written. It was at times very difficult to remember their ages, as it felt a bit unrealistic that Ivy's ex-girlfriend was a mega tv star who she said she would fly to visit. It also felt a bit unrealistic that there was so much acceptance of the relationship (I would love to live in a world where no one bats an eye at queerness, but we simply don't. I also don't think most parents would be okay with their teen flying across the country and being so publicly in the eye of the media at such a young age.

It was really hard for me to separate my adult, level-headed thoughts from this novel and try to put myself back in my fifteen year old self's shoes. I think I would have enjoyed this then, though I still think I would have found it a bit out of touch. I don't not recommend it, but I do think those reading should go in with the understanding that the main characters are very un-evolved children.

This one was not for me. I felt like the middle school bickering took away from the story. Despite that the main point of the story was good.

All the feelings Ivy was having were relatable because of her very public breakup. To escape from all the heartache she went back to the camp that used to make her happy as a kid where she ran into her ex-friend. Ivy couldn’t catch a break. In the end, everything took a turn for the better.

I am excited to read the book as the description looks promising! I read it all and I am going to say is that I like it! The setting is great (campground) and the writing is easy to read. The characters are good. I like the small description that is going on with Ivy's ex-girlfriend, the camp, and of course, Ivy. One downside is that there is one part in one chapter that is missing (like I want to see what everything is doing), but that is ok. Overall, I enjoy the I Love You S'more!

I have received a free copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Thank you!

3.5 stars

Thank you so much to Random House Children’s and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this one. All thoughts are my own.

This was one of those books where I really had to keep reminding myself of what I was like when I was 15. I felt for Ivy, our MC, but she definitely also frustrated me at times. But I can’t deny she behaved exactly as I would have at that age.

Ivy is dealing with so many negative emotions and as a result, she behaves poorly at times. But I loved her growth over this book, especially her journey towards realising that asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness.

The tension and history between Rynn and Ivy was wonderful. I loved the exploration of their relationship, the way their past entwined with their present, the way they could be more honest about the way they’d felt when they were 12 and dealing with so many big feelings.

This was a fun, sweet, emotional read.

This is a cute, fast read about teens heartbreak and second chances. I really enjoyed the setting of theater camp and the way Ivy found her way back to Rynn and to herself. The posts and comments at the start of each chapter were fun. The author definitely captures tween and teen drama well. I had a good time, which was exactly what I expected out of it. A great read for 13-16 year olds.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the arc.

Minor spoilers ahead

A cute, easy, summer camp-based read about friendships, relationships, and how we fall in and out of both.

I really enjoyed I Think I Love You by Desombre and so I had high expectations going into this one, but unfortunately I think some aspects just didn't work for me.

I've noticed recently that the genre of YA has started to shift upwards in regards to age of intended audience. I am fully in support of YA books that are actually for young adults and teenagers. However, this was one book where I think the main character being a bit older would have made it work better. Ivy is 15, and the catalyst of the story is her breakup with her ex-girlfriend, who she was with for around 4 years. Ivy calls it out on page -- saying that people don't take their relationship seriously because they are so young, but as an older (20 year old) reader, I unfortunately fell into that category. They got together at 11? 12? and break up at 15. If the characters were a bit older, perhaps around 17-18, I think the past relationship would hold more weight. Sorry, if I'm being hypocritical here, but the stakes just felt lower because of it.

We also know basically nothing about Ally and Ivy's actual relationship as we're dropped into the story post-breakup. There are little tidbits of social media posts/comments at the start of the chapters that give a bit of exposition, but Ally herself doesn't actually feel like a character, more like the outline of one. So again, I found caring about Ivy's relationship with her difficult because there's nothing to give me any reason to like/care about her character. The idea of Ivy having a celebrity ex was really unique and I wish it had been utilized differently/more. At the end, they give Ally a little more to work with, but it's still done very quickly.

I liked Ivy herself as a character and her complicated relationship with her family. I also found her struggles to be realistic and I definitely also felt the same way at 15. Her relationship with her sister is well-written and was a good dynamic to include. I wish there was a little more about her feelings about the situation with her mom, but what was there worked for me.

Rynn is a fun character as well -- but for the most part she only exists in the context of Ivy, she doesn't get as much character-building of her own. I also didn't think the romance between her and Ivy was executed as well as I would've liked. I like the idea of ex-best friends rekindling their friendship, which blossoms into more, but as Rynn herself even points out, Ivy isn't over her ex and it is very obvious to the reader too. It makes it impossible to be invested in their relationship when the next sentence is Ivy thinking about Ally. The storyline with Ally is wrapped up at the very ending and only leaves about 5 pages for Ivy and Rynn's reunion, so it just feels rushed.

The side characters here were really strong: Fitz -- who was hilarious and was a good foil to Ivy's counseling -- Ben, and Mrs. P were standouts. I liked Ivy's campers too and her struggles with them, though I did find the middle school drama a little tedious at times.

There was a really nice quote at the end about how we talk about dating and romance and the impacts it has on younger kids that I found really poignant in the midst of the young camper's storyline, however, that kinda made it all seem worth it to me. I'll add the explicit quote after publication, but I found it quite true.

I felt bad for Ivy at the end, who loses her position as co-director of the musical when she was incredibly passionate about that, and I kept waiting for resolution for that, but I guess the message was that it was okay? It did lead to Ivy having a cute moment with her campers and finding her footing there, but still.

Everything was wrapped up nicely at the end which made for a satisfying read.

Overall, I did think this was a cute, easy book (though I took my time working through it) and I would definitely recommend it to younger teens. Desombre is a talented writer and while this wasn't the book for me, I think there are many out there who would really enjoy it.

3 stars

Im definitely not the intended audience for this book, that was my bad.

It’s got its moments. I did have to consistently remember that Ivy was fifteen and that she behaved exactly like I would at that age.

It’s got a lot on big feelings and at the same time I felt like there was more that needed to be addressed that the book didn’t expand on.

This was super cute!! I loved the characters and their romance, as well as the summer camp setting. I would recommend this book to any YA reader especially those who like sapphic characters.

This was a sweet and fun YA romance set at a summer camp. I really enjoyed the social media and tabloid clips that were at the start of each chapter. They were a fun addition that provided some insight into Ally's relationship from afar.
I think the thing I enjoyed the most was Ivey's character growth. She started out closed off and immature. You can see her grow throughout the story because of her experiences at camp. I do love the addition of the younger campers. I think they are hilarious. I also think they really serve the overall story and help Ivy through her breakup. Maybe not always in a positive way!
Overall, the story felt very nostalgic and I enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this story! I really liked the growth the main character had through the story and the ending. There was a lot of great tension between her and her ex best friend that I liked. And I really felt for the MC having to deal with a public breakup from her gf who got famous after they started dating. I never want to have so many strangers on the internet wading in on my personal life like that.

I liked the theater camp aspect and the summer vibes. And I think this will be a great read for anyone going through heartbreak whether from a romantic relationship or platonic.

This was such a cute read! I love a rivals-to-lovers romance, and the atmospheric vibes of a summer camp setting. I LOVE YOU S'MORE definitely delivers in both areas! Ivy was a great main character—it's clear she grew so much throughout the story, and her character development was very well-done. I also thought the author did a good job of exploring topics like heartbreak and the drawbacks of fame through Ivy's journey! And as a huge theater fan, I really liked the storyline about the camp musical, and how working as co-directors brought Ivy and Rynn together, even after they got off to a rocky start. The side characters were so much fun, too, and felt just as vivid and real as Ivy and Rynn did! (Also, loved Broccoli, of course—an adorable dog is always a highlight of any book for me.) In terms of things that potentially could've been improved, I did feel like the pacing was a little bit off at some points—the story was a good, quick read overall, but I felt like it could have been slightly longer, to really give more space for certain storylines and conflicts to fully resolve. Otherwise, I would recommend this one for any YA fans in search of a sweet, summery story! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Romance for the ARC.

80/100 or 4.0 stars

This is a great middle-greade sapphic summer romance!
I had a lot of fun reading this. I can tell that so many of the traget readers are going to love this! It was a good balance of fun, serious, dramatic, and a little bit of spice (perfectly appropriate for the age reange)! I would read more by this author!