Publication date: January 21st, 2025

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sadie has lifelong rival in her whole academic career her Nextdoor neighbor Seb.
She thinks by going to college she could escape the rivalries but only see him on campus. Not only dealing with him but also her loving yet but chaotic family she hides everything from her family especially her writing talent

Seb is trying to complete with her all except this time it’s different for both of them and learn how important it is to stick together no matter what

But to find out what happens to them and the fun side characters and her family and the friends they both met along the way it’s fun and they really grow through out the book.

The narrator was fabulous and audio book was really good it felt like listening to a reality tv show

Thank You, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This is the perfect book for high school students! It tells a sweet love story set in college between two childhood friends who support each other, even though they think they’re enemies at times. It’s a classic “enemies to lovers” tale that you’ll really enjoy!

I received this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a fun friends to enemies to lovers story. I was able to listen to the audiobook version and am glad I did. The narrator did a great job differentiating between characters and I felt like she did male voices especially well. I did feel that the FMC came off a little too breathy at times, but that could be a personal preference. I loved the familial relationships, especially if you consider the neighbors more like extended family. I think it portrayed the growing pains of leaving home and coming into yourself beautifully.

The rival
-the frantic FMC was me first year of uni this felt so real and relatable
-gotta LOVEEE academic rivalssss
-the descriptive writing is chefs kiss
-Sebastian kills me I love him this man makes laugh and giddy
-this book did feel pretty long
-this book made miss having a crush 🥹
-this book was so funny and cute
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sadie is ready to conquer college and get a spot on the campus humor magazine. What she doesn't expect is her high school rival, and family friend, Seb to show up on campus and rain on her parade.

Emma Lord is so good at telling a good romance story! I loved this one. Here's what I loved:

The campus feel: This was a great NA college romcom. I loved the cast of characters on the campus. This honestly felt like I was watching a college romcom. It had humor and the perfect college feel.

Sadie and Seb and the pancakes: this book has so much more than what you think. There are emotional topics like finding who you are and how to navigate life away from your family. All of this was so real. Sadie and Seb both have such a great journey to take and it feels familiar. I adored them both and the way they worked together.

The narration: Jesse Vilinsky does such a great job with this one! She sucked me right in!

All in all, this was a great college NA romance!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Enemies to lovers is a fantastic genre & Emma Lord hit the mark with this one.
I listened to this audiobook in a matter of days. I especially enjoyed that the story was clean enough that I could listen while my kid was home from school for the holidays. Closed door romances for the win.
I can NOT wait for Emma Lords next book - whenever it is expected.
Growing up with another family who is close to your family - sounds weird to me. It works for this & others will find it relatable.
5 stars!

Emma lord is the queen of YA and she’s done it once again. This is the perfect rivalry palate cleanser for those who love academic setting. Her writing style is perfection as always and I highly recommend

Emma Lord has done it again!!

This book was cozy and real and something that a lot readers need. Leaving home is never easy especially when you have such great support systems. BUT finding out who you really are and afraid your family won’t accept you (Sadie) makes for especially uneasy times. BUT a throw in not wanting to disappoint your family (Seb). So much happening and throw in trying to bring to light a system failing?!

Sadie and Seb are the perfect duo (even if they disagree) for this adventure. I cannot wait to get this on HS shelves for kids to read before their new adventures so maybe they will see it’s normal to be happy, free, confused and lonely and not just at 22 ;)

Love this book. Read it. At any age. 🤍

OMG and plan to ready to have like literally every snack craving possible. Especially pancakes.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Emma Lord does it again!

If you aren't familiar with this author, Lord is known for her YA romance novels filled with witty banter. This one is no exception, as it focuses on Sadie and Seb, who grew up together as academic rivals. Sadie thinks she finally breaks free competing with Seb when she goes off to college. She is unfortunately shocked to discover that he was accepted off her school's waitlist and decides to matriculate at the same university. Their academic rivalry further escalates when they both decide to compete for the same writer spot on their university's magazine.

Despite this being a YA book, it is also a good choice for anyone who appreciates the enemies-to-lovers trope within a clean romance. While I do get a bit tired of this author's obsession with sugar, which she seems to infuse into all her books, I still found this to be a sweet, lighthearted, and fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for e-book and audiobook ARCs in exchange for my honest feedback.

I’ve been wanting to get into more of Emma Lord’s work, i’ve only read Tweet Cute which i wasn’t completely “in love” with but it wasn’t bad either.

I was hooked from the beginning but the first 10% of The Rival i knew i would like this much better. There was some characters I really didn’t care that much for but I love Seb’s character and how he was written. I did really like the narration, it actually had me laughing out loud at times.

I do plan on rereaded this book as well when it actually comes out, so thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for this opportunity to listen to it early.

I'll read anything by Emma Lord. She never lets me down and this book was no exception!
I loved the discovering who you are in college aspect of this book and I really loved the dynamic between Sadie and Seb! It was a great rivals to lovers execution and their relationship developed in a very realistic way.

This book is YA perfection!

I loved how one sided the rivalry was since Seb was a sucker for Sadie 🫢

The was a lot of teenage angst and cute moments between Seb and Sadie. Their history added a lot to the story.

This is the kind of book you read when you need something light with lots of laughs and cute moments.

The friendships were super well written as well.

I loved Jesse Vilinsky’s narration, she added so much feeling to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

This was a we’ll read fun book with the humor and characters that Emma Lord can deliver. Sadie is in college and is working on trying to write for the school paper. She finds out her friend and next door neighbor Sebastian (Seb) is also competing for the spot. Which works out perfectly as that’s what Sadie and Seb do best.

The book kept me engaged and I enjoyed the bantering between the characters. Super cute and a good book to curl up and read. Four stars because I could have used a tad more romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook; Emma Lord always writes a good story. It was a lighthearted teen enemies to lovers story, perfect for young adults that are beginning to wonder about their place in life in college and beyond. Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook and am giving it a 4 out of 5 star review.

The Rival was a great YA frenemies trope that I had the pleasure of listening to on audio! A closed door romance with excellent banter mixed with deep caring for each other since childhood. These childhood friends/enemies are now off to college and into their same old antics, but the stakes are much higher. There is swearing throughout but the spice is low. The characters are well-developed for a YA romance and the narrator was a great match for the story. Also, he falls first (and arguably harder, which is also a fun theme to engage with). *I received a complimentary audio copy from the author/publishing company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

emma lord's books are always so wholesome and full of friendships and low-stakes romantic drama. the inevitable miscommunication between all the characters are very understandable, mainly because they are 18. in this one, we have two academic rivals (but secretly childhood besties) trying out to get a staff writing position at their college magazine, while the college is trying to cut out funding for a bunch of student programs. the college admin drama is pretty funny (not in a hahah way) and realistic and frustrating. the audio narration was also excellent.

The Rival is a cute college romance. The story follows Sadie as she begins her first year at her dream school after vanquishing her academic rival, Seb, to get the only spot awarded to students at their high school. Unfortunately for Sadie, as she is heading to the first meeting of the school zine, she bumps into Seb who has been admitted off of the waitlist. The two quickly fall into their old patterns of trying to rile each other up as they both compete for the only staff position on the zine. The zine is encountering issues with funding, so might not last for much longer. Sadie and Seb begin to investigate where all the funding is going, bringing the whole campus together. As they are working together to figure out what's going on on campus, the two begin to recognize that they might have feelings for each other despite their history as rivals.

This was a fun, lighthearted romance. I enjoyed that it was set in college and it spoke to issues that are specific to students new to college life, which is something that I don't see in books too often. Sadie and Seb's characters complimented each other well, so their romance made a lot of sense. The book tried to act like Sadie didn't like Seb, particularly when they were in high school, but they always had this playful banter and obvious chemistry going on that made it difficult to believe that they were true rivals. Sadie could also be a bit of a frustrating character at times, especially when it came to her supposed best friend and her family. I think part of the issue might have been that the book was telling instead of showing, skipping over conversations that supposedly happened or not really diving into Sadie's issues with her family in depth. This was still an enjoyable audiobook and I thought the narrator did a good job of matching their tone to the characters and handling the pop culture references, which were a bit dated, in a way that wasn't too ridiculous. I would recommend this one to people looking for a light, goofy read or looking to read a bit more about the college experience.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an egalley and audio galley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I've become a fan of Lord's work. She writes sweet, clean teen romance that is relatable with characters who are developed well and real. I was happy to be approved to read this most recent title from her.
Jesse Vilinsky, the narrator, is known to me. She has narrated quite a few Lynn Painter books. Her tone, inflection, and reactions to the part she speaks is spot on as long as they are teen parts. She has an easy cadence, as well. I cannot see that I would enjoy her for more mature narrations but she fits well as a voice for teens with some angst. I was fortunate to also get the kindle version of this book so I read along for the full immersion and it was surprisingly fun.
Sadie has always battled against her rival Sebastian. Their families have been friends since they were born, neighbors all their lives, and they have spent many vacations with each other. But it's always been a sticky type of relationship. Where they love the same things and compete to get them. Sadie is finally free as she starts her freshman year of college at Blue Ridge State and Seb is stuck at another school. But suddenly, Seb is on campus as his waitlisted spot has opened up. Now Sadie must once again worry he will be after the same coveted spot she is on the school new rag. But a twist of events where the funding for their paper is being pulled has Sadie and Seb researching the reasons together and forming an alliance. This only confuses their relationship even more as they are still competing for the same spot on the paper.
Sadie and Seb are really well done developmentally. I liked that Lord didn't leave out their flaws. It made them so much more real. You definitely get the sense they are freshmen in college who are trying to find their way. And it's obvious that they are more than just the friendly rivals Sadie makes them out to be. The book is told strictly from Sadie's POV. I kind of wish we would have had Seb's POV but I do understand the book is about Sadie's growth and her coming to terms with her feelings and with what she wants to do with her life as well as showing her breaking free of her family to try and become more independent. She's always been the rock that held her sisters and parents together and without her there, things fall apart a bit.. I really felt her struggle to try and keep Seb at a distance but at the same time be drawn to him and be confused by it all. It's hard to see your enemy as your lover. Though she does confess to having these same types of confusing feelings back in high school.
Lord writes great side characters who are diverse and fun. I enjoyed watching Sadie and Seb make friends as they managed their first year of college. It would be great to get some of the side character's stories in the future.
I will say, I expected a bit more academics for this book seeing as they are freshmen in college. There is a lot of emphasis put on the time they spend doing things for the paper and I found that a bit unrealistic. I needed to feel the pressure of classes, tests, papers, and all the other things that come along with learning to navigate academia as an 18 year old.
This book was a great glance into university politics, becoming independent, and breaking away from family woes. If you're a fan of Lynn Painter's young adult works, you'll enjoy Lord's. If you're looking for a wholesome teen romance, this is a great choice!

Great audiobook from YA romance author Emma Lord. Another in the genre about a first year female student- Sadie- at a prestigious and academically challenging fictional college. This time she is a member of the journalism major and a part of the online news outlet. Her family friend- Sebastian- is competing with her on the journalism award which is semester long and has several rounds. There is also an overarching side story about the university and how they fund extracurriculars.

Sadie and Sebastian are likable characters, great build up and banter between rivals. The inner dialogue of an Emma Lord female main character is always adorable and sweet. If you enjoy a sweet YA story this is a good one. Narrator is engaging and all parts are well acted.

🗞️enemies to lovers
🗞️he falls first
🗞️dads are lifelong best friends
🗞️miscommunication
🗞️third act fight
🗞️LGBTQ representation (he is bisexual, also there are non-binary and queer friend characters)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an audiobook ARC. Book to be published 1/28/25

Well I did an immersion read as I was thankful to get both the eARC and the ALC from Macmillan Audio and Wednesday Books through NetGalley so I could read it early and give my opinion and write a review.

Unfortunately, listening to the audiobook was a wrong choice as the narrator was a bit much to listen to. The voices she chose to use for the various characters. Thankfully speeding it up helped drown out the voices a bit which needed to do it get closer to my reading speed.

In addition to that this book was not the usually quirky that I’m used to by Emma Lord. The story was cheesy and read much younger than typical even for YA. The dialogue was unrealistic, especially for their age.

To be honest I would have DNF’d had it not been an ARC/ALC. while younger teens may find it enjoyable but….

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again
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