Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Rival was my second book by Emma Lord- after receiving an ARC for The Getaway List, I knew I had to get one for this book too. Jesse Vilinsky narrating was just icing on the cake.
The Rival is a fun romcom for recent graduates (or anyone curious about university) and is perfect for fans of Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach. I really liked the characters. Sadie was driven but not to the point of being insufferable, Seb was sweet and charming, and all of the side characters that popped up along the way were memorable and enriched the story.
One thing I took issue with was the progression of their relationship. It was pretty clear that they both had romantic feelings for one another from the jump, which really cut the tension for the will they/won’t they of it all. And there were so many scenes with good tension where I was certain that they would kiss, so when they did eventually kiss it was during a scene where there was no tension. It probably took place in the healthiest point for the two of them, but it was underwhelming to say the least.
The audiobook was great. Jesse Vilinsky’s narration was excellent (it usually is!) and I was able to tell all of the characters apart with her natural sounding portrayals.
Overall, The Rival is a light, fun time with some emotional beats woven in. I will buy it for my library and recommend it to students. I give it a 4 out of 5.

3.25 stars

Sweet young adult novel about two childhood rivals who unexpectedly end up at the same college. Explores first relationships, friendships, sexuality, homesickness and family expectations as well as competition and the age old college debate between student athletes and other student organizations.

Was able to reminisce a bit about undergrad, from ABC parties to bad dining hall food to navigating living with a roommate and the freedom that comes from not living at home. It slightly gives sex lives of college girls vibes, minus the sex lives. Cute read and would feel comfortable recommending it to my nieces/nephews.

This was such an adorable romantic comedy set during the first few weeks of college! This rivals to lovers story of Sadie and Seb was a sweet coming of age and finding your own voice journey.

The relationship between childhood friends turned rivals was so well written that the banter had me laughing and cheering them on! I found the struggles that Seb and Sadie face while starting college was very relatable.

I listened to the audiobook and thought it was well performed.

I love everything that Emma Lord has written and this book is no different. Sadie and Seb are high school rivals who have now moved on to college. While they once again are pit against each other for the one available staff spot for the zine they discover what all public school librarians have known for years, the athletics program is the root of all evil. Will they join forces to make changes, will they remain rivals or will they become something more? I enjoyed every minute of this read and the narrator was perfect for this book. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced listen.

This was not my favorite Emma Lord book, but there was still a lot I really enjoyed. This is a very sweet, clean college book, which is nice to see. I loved the rivalry, the shenanigans, the silly characters, and love of food! My biggest complaint is that a feel like it dragged, both the slow burn romance and the plot. Narration is good, as well.

4⭐

I want to be so critical of the characters in this book, but as I was listening I did a little reflecting and thought back to how I was at 18 and everything tracks. 😂

Your first year in college, the change feels so dramatic and everything is elevated.

I didn't love the narrator, her voice came across a little whiny to me, but again, I think it was mostly appropriate for the overall tone of the book.

A dramatic, angsty, cute little YA read.

📖+🎧: The Rival, a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Emma Lord- I read The Getaway List and gave it 5⭐

🗣️ Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky voices all the characters with standouts from Sadie and Seb. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 11:16

📅Publication date: 1-21-25 | Read 1-10-25

📃 # of pages: 320 e-book

Genre:
* YA/College
*Rom-Com
*Contemporary

Tropes:
*enemies to lovers
*academic rivals
*coming of age
*family drama
*1st love
* LGBTQIA+rep

👆🏾POV: 1st person

🌎 Setting: Maple Ride, VA

Summary: Sadie has finally beaten Seb getting into Maple Ride University, while he is wait-listed. They have been academic rivals since 3rd grade but are forced to be around each other because their parents are BFFs. Sadie is surprised to find Seb has been accepted to MRU and they compete for a staff writing position on the college zine Newsbag-one of the most prestigious in the country.


👩🏾 Heroine: Sadie Brighton- communication major, family is dramatic, and she is the peacekeeper.

👨🏾 Hero: Sebastian "Seb" Anderson-engineering major, has popular Instagram channel "Adam's Apple"

🎭 Other Characters:
* Christina-Sadie's BFF and roommate-cross country track star
* Amara and Rowan-co staff writers for "Newsbag" magazine.
* Joey-baseball scholarship, entertainment writer, a sophomore
*Marley(oldest) + Hadley (youngest)- Sadie's sisters
*Colby-Seb's father

🤔 My Thoughts: This was a little nostalgic thinking about my first year away at college. I was extremely shy and cried when my mom and sister pulled off and left me. I went home every weekend for months until I found my place as a staff writer on my school paper- The Quad. I loved the competitive spirit between Seb and Sadie and how it evolved. The student activism added a bigger scope to the story-funding for athletes, scholarships, and the magazine. Christina was the MVP arguing with Sadie about her experience at college.

Rating: 4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice level 1/5🔥 kissing only

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, and Emma Lord for this ARC and ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

Jesse Vilinsky is an excellent narrator! I really enjoy listening to her narrations.

That being said, I didn't love The Rivals. It is a cute story, but it felt predictable. There's just a lot of jumping to conclusions.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to listen to this incredible audiobook early. I loved the friends to rivals to lovers aspect of this story. The family dynamics were so relatable. Definitely recommend.

Emma Lord’s best yet! A wholesome* coming of age, slow burn rom-com. I fell in love with Sadie and Seb from the start, and immensely identified with their struggles leaving home as college freshmen. Will the ending surprise you - no. But will you grin and giggle the whole way - definitely yes.

* no sex and only mild swearing

I really enjoyed this book! Imagine getting into your dream school and on your way into an interest meeting to your career starting club you run into none other than your high school rival/close family friend.

This book was cute and fun and the tension and banter between the two characters was sweet. I really enjoyed this book and it is probably the Emma Lord book that I enjoyed the most. It is definitely a little rushed in the end with a little bit of unrealistic events mixed in but I did really enjoy the book overall. It was not enough for me to not want to continue reading. I am not a big fan of lifelong friends to lovers but their frenemies dynamic spiced it up just enough that I really enjoyed this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a lighthearted romance in a college setting. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story!

Sadie is finally free of her nemesis, Seb, the boy next door who has been challenging her since birth, as she embarks on her freshman year at Maple Ride University. However she is shocked to find him off the enrollment waitlist and once again competing with her for a coveted spot on the prestigious college zine staff. With a plot that has very few surprises–one could see the enemies to lovers ending playing out from page one–this story dragged in several places, but ultimately left me feeling positive about the book as a whole. It’s worth noting that this ranks about a zero on the spicy scale, so give this to teens who are after a clean rom/com.

This was just too cute. I enjoyed so many things about this book. So many times the rom-com piece is so prevalent and everything else is ignored. However this tackled so many other issues and subplots. Sadie's family dynamic. Freshman issues. College administration issues. Scholarships. Family pressure. All of which were so incredibly well thought out and well written. The audiobook narrator was great as well. 4.5 stars.

A late bloomer, coming of age story about two childhood rivals who continue their rivalry into college to compete for the only slot at the school paper.

Another miss for me. This was a college romance that was (1) too self aware that it was a RomCom, and (2) had almost no relatability for me. The whole thing was quite hyperbolic. I found the conflicts to be petty or nonsensical. I found it required a lot of suspension of disbelief for some plot points, which is hard for me in contemporary stories. The late bloomer aspect was actually kind of sweet, but the take away was weird.

I love, love loved the narration by Jesse Vilinski. It made the audio experience quite enjoyable.

Content : kissing only romantic content, characters are diverse and LGBT+ forward (straight FMC, bi MMC, a married lesbian couple, and a they/them character), quite a bit of profanity.

Thank you for the advance digital copy of this book from the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for making it available.

My review is currently up on Goodreads.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
I have loved everything I’ve read by Emma Lord so when I saw The Rival by her available through Netgalley, I HAD to request it!! This one fell more on the YA side and followed lifelong rivals Sadie and Seb. Their parents were best friends and they grew up next door to each other. Being the same age, they spent their life competing with each other all through school. Now they’re going to the same college and find themselves competing with each other again for the last spot on the school’s newspaper staff.

Emma Lord does such a good job at making me remember what it was like to be 18 and for everything to be new and difficult and messy and often dramatic. I occasionally found myself annoyed at Sadie for making a big deal out of something that wasn’t really a big deal, but then I remembered who I was at 18 and thought “no wait that tracks”. I loved watching her and Seb see each other in new lights- choosing to work together instead of against each other. I loved watching them carve out space for themselves and discover who they were away from their families. I also always love Jesse Vilinksy’s narration. All in all I really enjoyed this one.
4⭐️

I have both physically read and listened to many Emma Lord novels and have enjoyed them all. The Rival is no exception. It was a fast-paced book with likeable characters. I am looking forward to reading more from Emma Lord in the future.

The Rival is an enemies to lovers slow burn Romance where the main character Sadie and Her childhood friend Seb go from best friends to enemies after a misunderstanding causing their need to compete over everything to grow stronger.

I loved this book, absolutely loved it, it is a book I am going to actively go out and buy after it’s published I enjoyed this book so much.

The book was well written and kept me reading to the point where I just didn’t want to stop reading it, honestly if you get the chance to pick this book up it’s a fantastic read.

I loved how easy it was to connect to the characters and fall in love with them not only for their positives but also for their flaws

Jesse vilinsky absolutely killed at the narration of this book, she did such a fabulous job bringing the characters to life especially Sadie .

Thank you Netgalley Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners for the arc

Emma Lord delivers again! She has written another great YA novel. This one takes place in college, but it is easily can be a high school. Full of drama, the whole will they-won't they, and lots of fun complex characters. I enjoyed listening to this book and it really made me crave pancakes when I was done with it!

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced listening copy of this book.

I will admit that my enjoyment of this was completely impacted by the timing of my read. That said, I do feel like a lot of Emma Lord’s books are just the same characters/plot points being recycled and changed ever so slightly.

The books are cute, but after a while the formula gets old. So while I enjoyed this one for what it was, it is definitely not her best work or my favorite of hers by any means.

I listened to the audio for this which is narrated by Jesse Vilinsky who did a fantastic job as usual.

I love Emma Lord's writing, so I was delighted to receive a copy of The Rival. If this book is any indication, 2025 is going to be a great year in books!

This is a fun college rom-com with an enemies-to-lovers theme that veers a little more YA than new adult. The dynamic between Seb and Sadie is so charming, and this is a great addition to Lord's catalog.

Told from Emma's perspective, Jesse Vilinsky does a great job with narrating the audiobook.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.