4.25 stars

Thank you Tundra Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own :)

You Started It has fake-dating, TikTok dancing, a “drivers license” sequence, and Toronto sights, but underneath, it’s a beautiful story with Arab/Palestinian rep, anxiety, and the opening up of one’s self to new experiences. 💜

YA romance is not often my genre, simply because I’m older and usually find it cheesy, but Jackie Khalilieh has a way of writing characters that in their core and actions feel realistic and human. Jamie makes mistakes, she fights with her mom, she’s says the occasional rude comment and people call her out on her behavior. She can be very single minded/hyper-fixated, but she’s becomes aware of her weaknesses that she wants to eventually work on. Jamie has anxiety and I found it realistically shown and discussed. One impactful and learning experience moments for me was is the discussion of internalized racism and differences in culture. You see Jamie wanting to embrace her Arab heritage while it conflicts with her mother’s avoidance of her own.

Jamie’s narration style straight forward and to the point that reads like today’s teenager. Jamie bounces between her beliefs as she struggles to understand how she feels. It doesn’t always have the best outcome.
There are more references to today’s current language and pop culture, compared to Something More, so it may become dated. Also, thank you Jackie for making me feel old as a 25-year old when Jamie says Justin Beiber’s “Baby” is old. 😂

I liked Jaime and Axel’s connection and it felt authentic. I think they brought out the best out of each other and really opened Jamie’s heart at her own pace, to new experiences, people, and the world around her. She started to learning to start trust others, and they communicated with each other for the most part.

As a usual disgruntled 3rd act break up hater, I was fine with this one has it happened like two-thirds of the way in, but it didn’t feel as dragged out as as the focus became Jamie exploring her outer boundaries without Axel, and finding support in her own self and family which I appreciated.

to be totally honest, this really failed to meet my expectations. one of the biggest issues i had was the writing style. it's extremely ya with tons of pop culture references and almost mediocre structure and wording. it really felt like the author was trying too hard to write a story that would connect with teens and went overboard with the gen z terminology. not to mention that some of the popular stuff she mentioned was pretty outdated- baby and new rules have not been huge for years yet they were like the only two songs in the entire story. while i understand that it is ya and it does match the style and vibe, it just felt like lower grade ya compared to upper grade ya, if that makes any sense.

the characters were also just extremely bland and i literally hated jamie with a burning passion. as a girlie with anxiety and other mental health struggles, i do understand her experiences with that and i do empathize- however, pretty much everything else about her was intolerable. she's beyond toxic in her relationships and the way she used axel was honestly insane. i love a good fake dating trope but this was straight up manipulative. she did not care about him or his feelings about the fake dating thing whatsoever until she started liking him. and the way she treated her mom made me scream, she was literally so terrible for no reason and constantly threw things in her moms face without actually understanding the situation at all.

the other characters were kind of okay in comparison but they just lacked a lot of depth and real feelings. axel wants to be a dancer but his dad doesn't approve, which is like the only source of sadness in his life. ben was a cheater, plain and simple, and there should not have been a "redemption arc" for him at all. olivia was okay except for being a literal homewrecker. and jamie's parents were pretty chill but they weren't around enough for me to actually form an attachment to them. i honestly didn't really enjoy reading it mostly because the characters were just so shitty.

despite all this, it was definitely not the worst story i've ever read in my entire life. there was lots of potential and the overall plot was fun to experience, i just couldn't get into it whatsoever.

I was hoping to live this one but unfortunately did not. It was slow and I just could not connect to the characters. One of my biggest book pet peeves is when they use modern lingo and slang especially when it’s overused and doesn’t make sense. This had a lot of that. Random words and references thrown in that felt like a way the author was trying to relate to the younger audience but it was obnoxious and annoying to read and ended up taking me right out of the story. I liked Axel but the plot of him wanting to be a TikTok dancer was weird. I’m all for him wanting to be a dancer (even if it doesn’t quite make sense with his bad boy persona) but (and maybe this is because I was a competitive dancer myself my whole life) TikTok dancing isn’t really like the sport of dancing and I found the whole videos on TikTok storyline cringey. I also found the fmc to be unrepeatable and toxic and annoying unfortunately. She would say things about how she liked Axel and then randomly switch to wanting her ex and thirsting for him. Honestly, that was my biggest problem with this book. I’ve read the whole fake boyfriend to make my ex who scored me jealous plotline so many times and even though it gets old and repetitive, I actually love it. It’s fun guilty pleasure. However, this tried to put a twist on that classic storyline and instead of making it new and reinventing it and made it worse some minor spoilers that you find out in the first few pages to follow if you don’t want them…But the whole trope or plot is that her boyfriend potentially cheated on her while he was away at camp or at least had a thing going as he broke up with her with no warning right when he got back from a trip they were both supposed to go on and then immediately got with a different girl who was on that trip. Then she meets Axel and decides to fake date him…fine that all sounds normal enough but the twist is that she’s still pining for the ex. He’s so rude to her, and he just threw her aside for no reason and didn’t talk to her about. It wasn’t mature at all, but for some reason she still wants him back. This does not make sense to me at all nor is it a good storyline for this book and it made her an unlikable character. She’s fake dating Axel then to make him jealous and get the ex back. Now, as I already stated, I don’t like that black point but I stuck with it wanted to give it a chance see if when she started letting Axel if they would get over it. There was pretty much no burned at all, which was another problem I had with it immediately. She’s attracted to Axel and they’re flirty and they like each other and they acknowledge that they like each other at least to themselves. But the girl still talks about how she’s using him to win back ex-boyfriend. This honestly made me feel really bad for Axel and I hate the girl because that’s a red flag, toxic, manipulating and unfair in my book to acknowledge that you both like each other but still just be using that to your advantage to win your ex back was horrible to you and doesn’t want you. So unfortunately, for these reasons as well as the fact that I did not love the writing style felt too quick and rushed and forcefully modernized. I did not enjoy this book even though I wish I could say more positive things about it.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher and the author for the chance to arc read this, this review is of my own opinions and choice to write. That being said if these things don’t seem like a problem to you, I would still recommend you give it a chance and you may find that you like it. I hope you do

I personally didn’t care for this book it was a bit TOO YA for me. I won’t rate it low simply because it was too YA. This is a great book for the right audience <3

Wow, this was sob fun, I loved the romance and this book was so cozy. I think the author had a great idea and wrote it well. I think the romance was the best part and made me feel so cozy and happy!!

This book offers a captivating blend of engaging storytelling and well-crafted characters. The plot moves at a steady pace, keeping the reader hooked from start to finish. The author’s writing style is both accessible and thought-provoking, with themes that resonate long after the final page.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I read You Started It, I was in the throes of a raging fever and flu, bed-bound with nothing to do until an email came in that I got approved for this book. Cue my surprise when I read the entirety of You Started It in half a day, unable to put my Kindle down for even 10 minutes before I would pick it back in.

Indeed, I'm starting to sense a pattern with Jackie's books as I had the very exact same experience with her debut.

Now with You Started It, I thought that this was an excellent well-rounded and very realistic read. I must also outline that when I say "realistic read", I'm talking about Khalilieh's writing style which has always felt less fictional and something akin to autobiographical and in some weird way, not like a book at all. I think this is due to Khalilieh's craft and mastery over her particular writing style which is completely aligned with what works for me. As a reader who has a positionality quite similar to the main characters, her books are more so felt like reading myself through her characters.

I saw a lot of myself in Jamie, as an Arab-Canadian girl who also struggles with anxiety, mental health, her identity, and heights (lol). Khalilieh navigates her character arc and growth in a touching and respectful way, handling an array of sensitive subthemes with grace and skill. I'm genuinely impressed by how Khalilieh navigates all this without sacrificing the loose ends of one for the other. Perhaps my favourite part of Jamie was just how unafraid Khalilieh was to make her immature, judgemental, and honestly a straight-up classic Teenager. Honestly, the characters ALL feel so human to their core, their emotions, logic, actions, etc are multifaceted and multilayered and I had so much respect for Khalilieh for not watering them down just to their perceived actions. It really made for a lot of funny and emotional moments, especially when Axel comes onto the scene.

Axel is one of the most charming, adorable, kind, puppy-like YA male leads I've read in a while, who shows that Arab men deserve love and can be leading men in books as well. I absolutely loved and enjoyed his character, both as an individual and how he exists and drives the plot in relation to Jamie. Axel in the context of this fake dating trope genuinely had me beaming and enjoying the story SO much. He (and other characters) shows how Khalilieh can take such a well-loved trope of sorts and spin it into a refreshing and complex read at the same time.

Overall, if I could give this book a million kisses and awards, I would be all over it in a second, I think this book will always have a special place in my heart. This was such a delightful, tender, and healing read and I can't champion this book harder enough -- not just for what it does for the YA romcom genre, but for the Arab-Canadian and Palestinian community who deserve to have representative books that are actually positive for once.

You Started It is ahead of the game in which it brings in modern tech and language without making it feel overdone. Jamie is a stubborn but loveable character who had me yelling at my e-reader. I saw a lot of myself in Jamie and if I had had this book in high school I would have felt so seen. I still feel seen. Her planning for control and IBS anxiety symptoms are representation I feel like were made for me and others like me. I think that this is a fun summer/fall read that will have you swooning. I give four stars just because there was a little more miscommunication than I usually like but that's a me thing!

3.5
this has been so high on my anticipated list, and in was both good and bad..the book is fast paced which very important conversations around culture and how Arab culture is portrayed to people, even people in the community sometimes have their prejudices..i loved that aspect of the book, loved how axel was able to slowly change jamie's perspective on her own people, culture..however the romance felt a little flat, how quickly everything moved and how one second jamie was feeling like ben was her endgame to having feeling even though she was in denial for axel...it felt too fast.
however it was a fun read and it didn't take me much time to finish it by the way i was enjoying the fun banter and antiques of the two..but yes, it could've been a little more well build.
the plot and characters as individuals definitely get full point, this is for anyone who like light romance with a good subplot and cultural weightage.
and ofc always free palestine.

Jackie's YA romances are truly exceptional. They have everything I crave in a heartwarming yet relevant young adult romance. Her writing revived my nostalgia of teenage love with all the struggles and triumphs.

The MC, Jamie, is a brilliantly crafted multi-dimensionsl character. I resonated with her on many levels, especially on her anxiety triggered from her father's absence. Khalilieh shows Jamie's vulnerability while simultaneously showcasing her strength and resilience. It’s a reminder that even in the front of challenges, one can grow and thrive.

The chemistry between Jamie and Alexander is perfect. Their relationship, even in the complexities of fake dating, felt mature. I was genuinely impressed by how well they understood each other! The emphasis on great communication in their dynamic is rare in YA romance, and it made their connection enjoyable to read.

The writing is impeccable, with representation of themes such as anxiety, mixed-race identity, and the impact of having parents who struggle to embrace their roots. Khalilieh added these elements into the narrative, enriching the reading experience.

The only reason I’m withholding half a star is because there were moments when Jamie's thoughts felt a bit repetitive regarding her feelings—about things we already know . However, this is a minor detail.

I highly recommend this book! Jackie Khalilieh is a remarkable author, and I can’t wait to read all her future works!

This book was such a cute little romcom to read after reading some more dark and twisted books recently. A painfully realistic FMC paired with a hilarious MMC, makes for the best read. I love the way the author portrayed Jamie's anxiety so realistically. I will admit, I didn't like the third-act breakup, but that's honestly just a personal preference. The amount of Arab culture in this book was amazing, and I loved the way it was written so beautifully. It was definitely giving Better Than The Movies vibes. If BTTM was a vanilla latte, this book would be an affogato. Still sweet, but a little angsty too. Nevertheless, I was hooked from the beginning and it was such a fun read.

Thank you NetGalley & Jackie Khalilieh for the ARC.

First I'd like to say that I really liked the writing and the story... The reason I'm giving this book 3 stars is only because the FMC was getting on my nerves and it made my reading a bit painful. I also know that it was the point but I just couldn't get past it.

I did adooooore Axel thought, patient, loving, fun, adorable.
I liked that Jamie and Olivia developed a friendship.

People are gonna love this YA romance when it comes out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book!!!
You started it follows two characters Jamie and Axel as they fake date to help Jamie get her ex back and pay off a debt for Jamie destroying Axels bike.
I thought this was a cute story Jamie and Axel had some really nice moments where they bond deeply with each other and talk about the culture and how that’s affected him. I loved how Axel was the catalyst for Jamie wanting to learn more about her culture and convinced her to look at things in a different light. Jamie suffers from anxiety and has a type A personality when it comes to schedules and rules but is still very chaotic. I think she went through a lot of growth and learned how to live for herself rather than just her boyfriend. That being said I understand that this is YA but so if the dialogue was hard to read and dates the book. I understand that fake dating almost guarantees a third act break up but it was so drawn out and had a lot of unnecessary back and forth. Overall this was a really great story and I loved seeing Palestinian and Arab representation especially for young teens!

This was such a cute little 'pallete cleanser' book! I don't normally read YA but needed to switch things up and this was perfect. I thought it was so cute and refreshing and will definitely be looking for more from this author.

I loved how innocent this read was! I don’t typically read books with characters in high school, but it was refreshing to read a book without cringy sex scenes and disturbing dialogue. It honestly didn’t give too many “high school” vibes other than the scenes when they’re in the lunch cafeteria or walking the halls. Since the two main characters are seemingly opposites, there was a lot of stepping outside comfort zones for the FMC…dealing with confrontation, going on cute dates in public, making friends, learning about her heritage, etc. The FMC also dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, and anxiety provoked IBS issues (relatable, girl). As seemingly light as this read was, it still touched on a lot of deep topics like divorce/divorced parents, abandonment, alcoholism, racism, etc. & I thought it was really fulfilling to see how the FMC really transformed throughout the story and became more grounded in who she was.

My only complaint about the book is that I read the ARC on my kindle and the formatting was really funky. There wasn’t any line spacing between each character talking, so sometimes it wasn’t easy to tell who said certain lines that didn’t specifically say “he said” or “she said”. It wasn’t too hard to figure out when I stopped and reread through it again but still kind of annoying. I’m not sure if this is just the kindle version or not.


A big thanks to NetGalley and Tundra Book Group for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Throw the dice, pull the lever.

Sometimes you just gotta take a chance.

I did. So should you. On this book, that is.

The book cover alongside the description of the book is what led me to this YA gem. First, the cover art. It captures Jamie and Axel’s budding attraction and one of the pivotal scenes in their story. Second, and more importantly, this book explores significant themes of parental abandonment, Arab Canadian identity, betrayal and anxiety.

About a quarter the way in, I was puzzled as it appeared that the characters reached their HEA. Then the author took an unexpected turn ( well done ) and proved that was more than just a teen romance. The best part? The path Jamie chose. ( itching to elaborate but too much of a spoiler)

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Tundra Book Group, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley I received an advanced electronic copy of the book to read and provide a review.

This was angsty and dramatic in all the ways you’d expect from a Senior in high school. However, it also addressed really tough topics with vulnerability and self-awareness. The dialogue could be more on the side of “show it, don’t say it” but the characters are all lovable (spoiler: except for Ben). I still have not forgiven him. But Axel and everything about him and his family more than makes up for it!

4.25⭐️
Rep: anxiety, IBS
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!
I really enjoyed this! I liked the author’s first book, Something More, but I think this was even better!
All of the characters, especially our MCs, were great. The fake dating trope is always so fun, and it was done so well in this book! I really appreciated and enjoyed the representation - this was a great Disability December read!
I’m definitely looking forward to the author’s next read, and am so glad I got to read this one!

4.5 stars

This book was so sweet. Jamie and Axel were so adorable together. I loved how they both supported each other and were there to help each other get through the obstacles in their life. Jamie’s struggles were so real and she was such a relatable character.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book!

I loved the premise of this book based off the cover and the description so I was expecting to love it from the beginning. I started it while watching Harry Potter and it was definitely keeping me interested. I couldn't put it down. It broke my heart when Ben and her broke up only because I felt her pain personally. The axel part worked out well and when she brought up how she still wanted her ex, it made me sad because I wanted them together! The fake dating trope is one that is new to me and Everytime it makes me happy to see them like each other in the end. The formal, her dad and literally everything in this book made me gush with happiness, this is one of my favorite books in a while!

Quote: "Every interaction with Axel comes with a multitude of emotions that leave me feeling both breathless and at a loss for words."

Rated it five stars out of five!!