Thanks to NetGalley and PS Published for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to give Astor Hill the best rating, as I've decided to DNF it at 20%. I'd just say that this book wasn't for me, with a mixture of I'm not in the perfect mood for it, because I couldn't stand the characters and what was happening. I found myself struggling to connect with the main female character, Olivia, and her personality, which wasn't my favourite right away and I couldn't go past it as the time went on. I've also realised there are quite a few elements of drama and I was expecting it, but it wasn't my cup of tea, at all. The writing was good, it was easy to understand and there were no complicated words, coming from someone whose first language is not English.

Since we have some weeks left until the release date, I might find myself coming back to this book if I think about it or if I find myself in a better mood for this type of book. If that happens, I will post a new review either here or on Goodreads.

I immersed myself in a well-written and atmospheric book.
The plot had an intriguing element, but I quickly realized what had happened, so I was not particularly surprised at the ending.
However, I still felt a sense of sadness at the conclusion, as it was unfortunate what happened to the protagonist's best friend.
The characters in the book had chemistry, and Ben had a slight obsession with Olivia because he had seen her first, but he let her go.
I enjoyed the book because it kept me engaged.
I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series!

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!! a mix of one tree till x gossip girl x boston aesthetics uhggg i loved how the authors painted the scene of astor college and how lily plays such an integral role in the entire book even so far away! i love liv so much- i hate lily and honestly i was happy she wasn’t here because she just dimmed liv’s light. i was so confused between will and ben but after everything you know who i am!!! 10/10 recommend

This book would make an amazing movie or series. It had all the perfect elements of a good book, romance, sadness, joy, mystery all wrapped into one. I highly enjoyed it. It is about that time in your life that stays with you forever

This cover is so beautiful! I was looking for Gilmore girl fall vibes but felt like this was more pouring rain cartoon vibes

Okay first off I want to step inside this cover and live in that beautiful autumn world forever….🧡

Giving this one a 3.5/4 ⭐️
When they say it’s like gossip girl and one tree hill…. They mean it’s like if the two had a freaking baby.
Right down to the mean, basketball loving dad named Dan and weird cheating love triangle trope, and the war between brothers.

I don’t like cheating tropes or the blatantly flirting with other people - why I never continued Magnolia Parks (we’re gonna revisit it tho!) - but the world in which this writing duo created was so captivating and I could not put it down. There was no character I felt attached to, no person I wanted to win or excel (except Grant maybe) but the setting and the writing kept me so engrossed in the story. Speaking of Grant… he better not get fucked with in the next book…
Tears were shed and I might need Botox now from all the frowning but that’s okay. I actually really like how things were tied up as well as the loose ends that were left for the next one.
Will be buying the hard copy when this comes out solely for the cover ✨🧡 thank you Sydney Madison for the ARC!!

I feel like we copied and pasted One Tree Hill… at least change the dad/ stepdad’s name from Dan to something else… literally just changed having the same mom than dad…

Had unnecessary drama but I guess that’s the whole point.

This book gave me gossip girl vibes but not as intense.
It took a minute for me to get into the book, Olivia the main character is hard to like at first, but you warm up to her. BEN on the other hand was a walking green flag, and I love everything about him! There was way more emotion in this book than I was originally expecting, it touched a lot of mental health, grief and toxic relationships.
This book did have some troupes that I don't typically go for but overall, I did enjoy this book. The ending was set up nicely for the next couple in the series!!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I loved this! Its between a 3.5 - 4.5 but i need more time to think on it. It took me a little bit to get into this book but once i did, i binge read it in like 1.5 days…and when I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about the book. This isnt a top book for me but i really enjoyed this!

I think this book does a disservice of comparing itself to magnolia parks as its one of my favorite series of all time. I went in with high expectations and honestly would not compare the two at all. I believe i wouldve enjoyed this more if i didnt go into it with such high expectations.

The characters/plot. The characters, i liked but wish they had more depth. I typically love longer books because you spend more time with the characters so you get to know them on a deeper level. This books is a mixture of slow burn/insta love. I like how even though it was literally insta love that we still got the angst of a slow burn novel and the anticipation was worth it. I also really enjoyed all the flashback scenes but wish we also knew more about the lily/will situation. The book drew me in and i enjoyed the ride with the characters. I loved the relationship and how much ben loved liv, it was believable to me! I think i’ll think about this book often and i’m excited for the next book to be back in this world..

It’s filled with tension. Not only between Olivia and Ben but also between Ben and Will. I was never quite sure what would go down every time they interacted. The elite college in the fall gave a nice ambiance.
Olivia’s struggle with grief over Lily and how she made her feel was handled very beautifully and it was something that will stick with me for a long time. Her conflicting feelings regarding their relationship was written in a way that made it very realistic and relatable.
Ben was such a smooth talker. His charm had me pause for moments at a time, he was just so charismatic. Because of the time he had for himself he was just so assured in himself but not in a way that made him cocky but just enough to a point where he didn’t create much miscommunication. His and Olivia’s chemistry was so potent. Together they were so well paired, they complemented each other so perfectly.

4 stars. Great story with complex characters. I found myself frustrated with them at times, but I love that in a book. I will definitely read more from the author.

Olivia is dealing with the loss of her bestfriend. Her boyfriend, Will, isn't the best. She calls for his brother, Ben, who is also dealing with his own problems. There is a lot of lying and cheating in this book. The characters do not have any depth. It is a quick read, and very much like Gossip Girl. If you enjoyed the show or books, you will enjoy this. There was a lot going on, the story was kind of convoluted.

Yeah I couldn’t keep up with this one. Writing style was not for me and I found myself wondering what on earth was happening.

College books haven't really been my jam lately but I really loved this story. The characters were very compelling and the pacing of the love story felt super genuine and not rushed. I really loved this one!

I requested an arc of this book because the reviews said, that if you like the Magnolia Parks series, then you would like this book. It resembles the profiles of the characters in the Magnolia Parks series of affluent, beautiful, and powerful people. The plot is similar too in that it involves a love triangle, death, and broken hearts. I almost didn't finish this book because so many reviews were negative. I am so glad that I ignored those reviews, because I liked the book a lot. I was surprised to find out the secret story that lay beneath what you thought was the plot. I thought it had great character development, and I was sad when it was over. I would be happy to read another story by Sydney Madison again.

Thank you NetGalley and PS Published for allowing me to read this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Sydney Madison and HarperCollins for the ARC. This book definitely had the twists and turns that make up Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, but I feel that the author relied too heavily on some of the characteristics from those shows. I understand that some of the characters were meant to make us question who we should root for, but I found that in the end, there weren't any that I particularly cared about regarding their HEA. I did appreciate that the non-romantic relationships and the learning between friends and brothers. I think there is potential for this series and I look forward to the next book.

This book was bleh.

I loved the cover and that’s what grabbed my attention, but it didn’t make it long in my good graces list 🥲

Honestly, I didn’t like any of the characters, I didn’t find any of them a bit original and the plot was definitely not plotting. I could see a bit of Brooke Davis, mixed with Summer and some times Rory Gilmore in Olivia’s character, but being any of them made me mad cause I just couldn’t understand her character arc, development, motivations and blah blah blah.

Plus, I rather have an enemy than having Olivia as my beat friend. Wtf bro? The girl griefs for her bff for years but the only thing she can say about her is how she undermined her? Olivia is a selfish, jealous girl who unfortunately was portrayed being very shallow as well.

The thing about the plot not plotting is not even that big of a deal of for me if I can relate to any character in the story. Unfortunately- again - this was not the case and that’s why my rating 😓 I wish I could have liked it, but I just got mad that I needed to finish this book to start my next one.

When I read that Astor Hill was like Gossip Girl, Magnolia Parks and One Tree Hill wrapped in one perfect sized novel, I ran. I was intrigued and my interest was peaked. I loved the drama and relationship developments in those shows/ books so the expectations going into this one was at an all time high; and it didn’t disappoint.

Tropes;
• Boyfriends brother
• He falls first
• Found family
• Mental health and grief
• Secrets & Lies
• Navigating love after loss

I found the FMC Olivia quite relatable in a sense where she often compared herself to others and her best friend. That she felt as though she wasn’t as likeable, beautiful or good enough. For so many of us that’s a day to day battle, and seeing an FMC struggle with that alongside what else she did it was reassuring and comforting.

I also respect that the MMC’s in this book were insightful and very vulnerable when it came to topics of mental health. That they broke through the stigma of men not having emotions or even showing those but allowed them to confide and communicate that.

There’s complications, love triangle, secrets and deep emotions, packed on with sensitivity and a beautiful story on grief. It’s quite the read, and beyond a sports college romance

3.5/5⭐️

this book was great! it was so atmospheric & i think the way grief was explored was really well done. it was complicated and difficult but it was presented very accurately.

i also think the relationship between ben & will was great as well - so many books so sibling rivalry but they never capture it as well as this one. like they might not get on, but they’ll always defend each other and be there for each other.

however, i did think it was a little superficial? the vibes were all there but i don’t think we got deep enough into the characters as i expected. but i think that might’ve been the comparison to magnolia parks that disappointed me - while i can see where the comparisons come from, my experience with astor hill was nothing like magnolia.

finally, i do think this book dragged a little towards the end, which is the main reason it isn’t a full 4 stars, but i did enjoy it nonetheless. i will definitely read the next book!

I was kindly gifted this book as an Arc reader from NetGalley. I didn’t have much expectations going into this book but I was pleasantly surprised. The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful. There are a few tropes which I don’t like in this story but I felt they were handled quite well, like the cheating trope, love triangle and overall just messy! I love the way the topic of grief and how it affects your mental health was handled. I feel we also got how the grief affected the supporting characters as well as the main characters. I loved the healing of the relationship between the brothers! The only way this book fell down for me was I found our female main character Olivia to be quite annoying. Overall if you interested in a romance story that has lots of other topics to give it depth then I would recommend this! But just be sure to check up trigger warnings before going into this!