As a certified banter lover, this hit the sweet spot for me – to the point where I read it entirely in one sitting. The characters were fun and charming and for the most part they were also incredibly unique, which I appreciate a lot. I must say, however, that the main character felt a bit childish at some points, though that is believable in a highschool romance and considering her inner turmoil and beyond that I don’t have any complaints. Overall a very fun and bingeable read!

Review on insta to come soon

This book was super cute and nailed the teen voice in a way I really struggle to find recently. This reminds me of old teen movies with a fun commercial concept, what if a girl ends up in an all male dorm, but also plays around with it in modern times. It pushes the envelope and I appreciated that about it.

Im a big fan of Dahlia's other work and loved seeing this enter onto her list.

Would recommend for teens looking for commercial, fun appeal.

this book was simply not the vibe i was looking for. the characters did not feel real, and they most certainly did not match the age group that the author put them in. i assumed that the characters were seniors! but you’re going to tell me that the characters are acting like that at 15/16?!?! baby, where are your parents???? you are a CHILD talking about sneaking girls into your dorm room!!!! you should be in the library studying!!!! stop it!!!!

This simply was not a book for me. It had nothing to do particularly with the writing because it's a well paced book that reminds me of those early 2000s movies with Amanda Bynes. Our main character is looking for a new start and she gets stuck in the all male dorm and it's quite a mess. In the past, I've loved Dahlia Adler's books but struggled with this one because it did not feel sapphic enough or at all. While the characters were charming, I'm at a point in my personal life where I tend to only read queer fiction books.

This book was the palette cleanser, easy romance book I needed. This is a Ya book about Evie who ends up in an all-male dorm. While this book didn't have as much depth, I really enjoyed all of the characters. Matt was my favorite since he seemed to be just like the best friend anyone could have. Overall, this was a fun, very quick read.

Enjoyable read! This was my first experience with the author, but I’ll definitely read more in the future. It was the fun read I definitely needed in a heavy world. It made me laugh and feel all the feels. Great job!

This book in a nutshell: Funny, heartfelt, and full of slow-burn chemistry, Come As You Are is a story about reclaiming your worth and finding love without losing yourself. Evie wants to start over, gets mistakenly placed in a boys dorm and makes a pact with Salem. The arrangement becomes something deeper, messier, and unexpectedly sweet. While Salem thrives, Evie’s journey is full of false starts and self-doubt—but ultimately leads her to something far more important than popularity: self-acceptance.

It is nearly midnight and I am bawling about how cute this book was. I don't care about any other book I'll read, this one's my favorite. Automatically. (this will likely be subject to change as I have several other books to read through the rest of the month). But that being said..

Salem is like... the emo boy of my dreams except I'm dreaming of fully grown men instead. I need me a man like that. Emo. Please. God he was so sweet.

Evie was such a loveable yet relatable character and I'm really glad there was a catty girl moment where she told Heather about what she did, especially when it wasn't her fault. I loved that she left it up to the person who the fault laid on to buck up and do what was right. I loved that even with all her bad girl training with Salem, the real "bad girl" she needed to be was standing up for herself. I love that Salem was a good guy all along too.

Evie's friends are also great in this, and it was so refreshing to see a highschool YA book with non catt popular girls. Except for the one. But even she wasn't that bad, really!

I truly don't have a bad thing to say about this book. It was hilarious, usually I note tab on my second read through of most books, but this one I was tabbing as I went along because it was just so funny that I couldn't not tab my favorite spots, especially as this was an ARC. Thank you to the publisher for that by the way!

This book was inclusive, funny, romantic as hell, flowed really well, with a soft slow burn romance that didn't feel forced or rushed, and left me with that funny feeling in my chest that I needed more.

I love all Dahlia Adler books and this one did not disappoint. A fun concept with great characters and a heartwarming story. I loved it!

3.5 rounded up to 4 (because I stayed up all night reading so it deserves the round up).

This book was adorable. I read it pretty much in one sitting, because I just could not put it down.
A couple of the plot points felt a touch contrived, but Evie was such a fun character that I hardly minded. She was so adorably earnest and self-aware, and her friendship with Salem had me giggling and kicking my feet. He really was a grump and an emo stereotype but just also accepted and appreciated Evie so wholeheartedly. He noticed her and took care of her, and listened to her. Friends to lovers really is a superior trope.

I will say that I really liked Evie's horrible relationship with her sister, and I liked how they left things. Not every family is the same, not every sibling/sister relationship is happy and loving, and people really do just suck sometimes.

That being said, a couple of the plot points did feel like they were resolved a little too quickly and cleanly, but for how short and snappy the story was, I'll give it a pass. The one thing I did have trouble with is that Evie kept beating herself up for something she did early on in the story, using it as reasong for how horrible of a person she was. And then she just.... kept beating herself up over it, instead of maybe just talking to her friend about it? Letting it go? It annoyed me, even though I know that it was likely just a symptom of something undiagnosed floating around in her brain.

I liked all the side characters - Sabrina was so fun and witchy, Matt is a misunderstood king, and Isabel had me really liking her by the end (Jenna can choke). Dahlia Adler's writing is snappy and solid, and I can't wait to read what she writes next!

DNF @12%

I’m really sad this one is a DNF for me! I love a good YA romance but this one fell flat. The first chapter was really good and had me intrigued but I was confused what age the characters were. When it was made clear they were in high school and our main character, Evie, was a sophomore it took me out of the story. The characters act way too mature for 15/16 year olds and I couldn’t take anything they said or did seriously. Like hooking up with a fellow student you JUST met? I am not shaming at ALLL but it seemed like odd behavior for a 15 year old girl transferring schools to “start over”. I just don’t think it’s portraying safe practices for younger readers who might pick this up. If this were a college romance or if the characters were seniors in high school I might have wanted to keep reading.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the eARC

Everett "Evie" Is excited to be starting at a new school. After facing a heartbreak by an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with her sister. She finds that she's been placed in an all boys dormitory and has no choice but to stay there for the rest of the year.

I did find it delightful that the relationship she develops with the guys in her dorm. They all just really kind of accept her and treat her like one of the boys and she It's fine with that. I loved that they weren't pushing any sort of agenda in that way.

If you're looking for a fast-paced full of twists and turns then this definitely isn't that book because it's pretty simple and straightforward, but very enjoyable. The characters are great! There's so many funny quippy lines in this book that I absolutely loved.

Honestly, the thing I loved about this book the most is that the experiences that these kids are having and the things that they're facing is incredibly relatable. I found myself smiling and really enjoying this book so much more because of that.

This was my first book by this author, but I'm definitely going to go through her backlist and read more by her. I very much enjoyed this book and the writing style.

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the
E-ARC! So cute! Loved the characters & setting. Fun communication too. Will definitely read more.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've had my eye on Dahlia Adler's books for a while, but Come As You Are is the first I've read, and I can’t believe it took me this long. It was light, entertaining, fast-paced, and enjoyable. High school me would’ve adored it, and for good reason.
**The Plot**
The premise itself is attention-grabbing from the start. After having her trust shattered by her boyfriend, her sister, and her best friend at her old high school, Everett “Evie” Riley convinces her parents to send her to a boarding school, Camden, for a fresh start where she doesn’t have to face everyone who knows every day. But things start to go wrong almost immediately when her masculine name gets her assigned to the boys’ dorm, Rumson, and there’s not a single free room in any of the girls’ dorms to move her to. Even though she hates her new reputation as Rumson Girl, she decides to take advantage of it to stop being the rule-follower, and she strikes up a pact with Salem Grayson, one of her upstairs dormmates, who got sent here after being expelled from his last high school for weed-related reasons. He’ll help her become cool, and she’ll help him become good to impress his parents.
This is more than just a story about Evie and Salem, though. While the pact and their friendship make up a big, fun part of the plot (the mall scene? the talent show?), it’s also a story about Evie building bonds, standing up for herself against others, and finding her place with various friends, and those are some of the best parts of the plot, too.
**The Characters**
The story is fully from the first-person POV of our main character, Evie, and being in her head is both fun and frustrating. Adler gave her a great character voice with a strong personality, and I was rooting for Evie to find her place in Camden (and of course, with the guy) the whole time. What happened to her at her old school clearly shapes her choices and actions. While it made sense, and I could understand where she’s coming from and sympathize with her, it also got a bit out of hand once or twice—like when she was lashing out at friends and being forgiven very quickly, or when she seemed purposefully blind and oblivious to stretch the story. And the resolution of the Heather/Lucas issue frustrated me.
Then there’s our other major character: Salem. Salem is wonderful and deserves everything. He starts out seeming to Evie like a weed-smoking truant, but the more she learns and we learn about this guy—he’s caring and thoughtful, he has several talents, and he loves his sister—the better he seems.
Dahlia Adler’s full, diverse cast of supporting characters here makes Camden feel lived-in. We don’t get a lot from the teachers here, but the other students make up for it and give Evie a fully rounded social life instead of solely focusing on her and Salem. There are those that cause problems for her (like her almost-roommate Archie and his friends) but also plenty of friends. Special shout-out to Salem’s sister, Sabrina, and also to Salem’s roommate Matt, Sabrina’s roommate Heather, and honestly to Isabel, too. Matt, with his no-strings-attached flings and his rope ladder, was a surprisingly nice addition to the cast, as other reviewers have mentioned. Beyond the Camden set, we also get to see the role Evie’s parents, sister, and old best friend play in her past, even without much page time, and I appreciated how they were included here.
**The Verdict**
Come As You Are by Dahlia Adler is a book I would definitely recommend to people who love YA contemporary books, especially those featuring LGBTQ+ characters (though Evie is straight and considers herself an ally, there’s a subplot with her and Sabrina’s self-made GSA/book club). It’s warm and affirming and the kind of book I needed back in high school. As with a lot of YA contemporary fiction, it’s easy to tell where the story will end up, but the road we took to get there was consistently fun and had a few surprises. The book was well-written and engaging, successfully juggling a number of different threads that kept the story from ever slowing down. There were a lot of small points and flourishes that made me smile throughout, and I found this book so delightful it was hard to put down. Be sure to give it a try.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc. This was such a cute read I read in two days. I thought I was really good. I felt like this was targeted for a younger audience but overall was good. This was my first Dahlia book and will not be my last. I love dahlia writing style and look forward to reading more of her books

My favorite of the three Adler books I've read. This genuinely blew me away with how funny, big hearted, smart, realistically messy and sweet it was. I was rooting for Evie and (most of) the other characters to succeed. I couldn't put it down!

I always enjoy Dahlia Adler’s books, so I was extra excited to read her latest, COME AS YOU ARE! Love a boarding school story, and the concept for this one was so much fun, and so creative, with Adler’s signature engaging writing style and vivid, well-developed characters. Evie and Salem were adorable—I really liked their dynamic, and wished we had gotten to see even more moments of them together! While I did want a bit more from the romance, I thought Evie’s personal growth was super well-done. Overall, I would highly recommend this one for readers in search of a book that captures those classic teen movie vibes (I could definitely see this story being brought to screen)! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

I was not a fan of this book. There was just nothing unique about it. The dialogue was cringey, the characters were stereotypical, and the plot was soooo cliche 😭 it did get a little better around the 80% mark, when the romance finally started progressing, but even then, it was still just meh. I'm very sad that I didn't love this, mainly because the cover is so cute!

really cute romance with generally good vibes and cool characters, such as Evie, Matt, Salem, Sabrina, and Isabel. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I don't know what Dahlia Alder puts in her books that makes them unputdownable for me but it's magic. "Come As You Are" did not disappoint. It kept me turning the page and rooting for its characters through the whole thing.

Evie is aching for a change after a disastrous freshman year, hoping for a fresh start she enrolls in boarding school, only to be roomed in the boys dorm. Hoping to shed her past self, and become an improved version of herself she teams up with emo boy Salem to help him rehabilitate his image after he was kicked out of his last school. He will teach her to break rules, and she will teach him how to follow them.

Their dynamics were laugh out loud funny and the wit in this one was endearing. I absolutely loved these characters and watching them grow together. Watching them also combat the tough stuff while having each other's back was rewarding.

Absolutely read if you enjoy grumpy/sunshine, witty comebacks, yearning, and growing into yourself. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced readers copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5