I related a lot to our female main character because I was screaming at her that it is okay to fail and that it is okay to try to be loved.

I also loved that she was in therapy, but I felt like we may need to evaluate what she is working on. I do not want therapy to get a bad rep.

This ended up being a cute read. The poetry really got me a couple of times, and the letter he sent her was so sweet. Did she get on my nerves sometimes? Yes. Do I feel like he was a little extra broody when he was not really broody? Yes. But overall I had a good time.

If Taylor Swift and pop culture reference bother you, this probably is not the book for you.

Leigh is thrilled and nervous to start her MFA program. What's a little imposter syndrome? But showing up and seeing her crush turned nemesis is a terrible way to begin. And she certainly doesn't understand why his work could be about her.
I wanted to love this and found myself somewhat disappointed. It features bookish main characters - that should be an auto-win! I found the writing to be good but Leigh to be fairly unlikeable for the majority of the book. She is simply blind to those around her and her constant jump to conclusions was frustrating. The grand gesture though? Incredibly sweet and the perfect way to a bookish heart.
I've only heard Sarah Beth Goer with a young adult book before, but I did think that her voice lent well to the adult space too. Her voice for Leigh was a good match for her character.
Thank you to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the alc. All thoughts are my own.

I love a good romance book and this one almost hit the mark but fell a bit flat. it was mostly due to the FMC Leigh, who was really hard to like. She was incredibly immature and whiny. i wanted to like the poetry aspect and the nod to Taylor but I just didnt. Will the MMC deserved a lot better.

The writing style of this book was beautiful and eloquent. How unique this writing felt as a debut book, makes me look forward to future works by the author.


With that said, unfortunately so many things with this book (characters, single POV, and plot points) didn’t work for me. I know many others loved it, so take this with a grain of salt. It almost felt disjointed in a way as the writing (between the lines) was poetic, but the story itself lacked lustre and often left me feeling frustrated.

2.5 stars

This was such a fun and heartfelt read! You Between the Lines follows Leigh, a former sorority girl who’s just been accepted into a prestigious MFA poetry program in North Carolina—only to discover her high school crush-turned-nemesis, Will, is in the same program.

Leigh is determined to prove herself as a serious writer, especially after Will once dismissed her work as “all style, no substance.” But when Will (now William) submits an intimate poem clearly about Leigh, the tension between them ignites. Cue the slow-burn rivals-to-lovers tension, angsty poetry, and unexpected vulnerability.

I loved how this story tackled mental health openly and authentically, while also showing Leigh’s journey of self-acceptance and growth. The found family element among the MFA students was so heartwarming, and the chemistry between Leigh and Will was full of delicious tension.

Adorable, emotional, and full of academic tension and heart, You Between the Lines is a perfect pick if you love slow burns, enemies-to-lovers, and books with big heart.

Tropes you’ll find:
💖 Rivals to lovers
📚 Poets in MFA program
🧠 Mental health rep
👯‍♀️ Found family
🌟 High school crush turned rivals
🔥 Slow burn tension

Adorable, emotional, and full of academic tension and heart, You Between the Lines is a perfect pick if you love slow burns, enemies-to-lovers, and books with big heart. I completed an immersive read for this book and really enjoyed it!

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever and Hachette Audio for providing an e-ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review!

The timing was just never right for poetry students Will and Leigh back in high school and college. Now their paths have crossed again in an MFA program, where they each still secretly want each other (Leigh a bit more hatefully, Will a bit more desperately as he shares a poem that's clearly about Leigh). Where will they land at the end of all this will-they, won't-they?

The premise of this book was so exciting to me, but can you tell from my synopsis that I did not like it? I could never really figure out the deal with either of the MCs and I thought their cohorts in the MFA program felt like caricatures. Leigh is toxic af and Will kinda gave me the creeps. I initially loved their chemistry because it seemed like they were just so, so hot for each other but all of the back and forth between them got old by the end. All of Leigh's "this is never going to work" BS with Will was tied up in the breakdown of her parents' marriage, which I get, but I just hated how badly she treated him.

I also didn't understand Leigh's fanfic-style poetry or why it would land her in such a prestigious program.

The audiobook narration was meh. I thought the narrator sounded whiney, but maybe that's the right vibe for this book.

Skip this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟

A sweet romance about a former sorority girl who starts a poetry MFA program and is reunited with her high school crush turned nemesis. This was an entertaining romance with great characters and a great setting. Excellent on audio.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was sitting at a firm 2 stars the entire time… until the last 45 minutes of the audiobook showed up like, “What if I gave you feelings now?” And unfortunately… it worked.

The narrators were fine — nothing spectacular — and honestly, I think I would’ve liked this more in print. The writing had its moments, but it was hard to appreciate them when the FMC made me want to scream into a pillow. She was so obnoxious, so constantly on the verge of saying the worst possible thing in every situation, I had a full-body cringe response nearly every time she spoke.

And don’t even get me started on the conflict. This book somehow managed to be worse than a miscommunication trope. These two didn’t even try to talk. Not in high school. Not in grad school. Not ever. It was just two emotionally constipated people making wildly selfish choices and avoiding any meaningful dialogue for literal years.

Then suddenly — plot twist — the therapist appears in the final act with phenomenal advice that could’ve solved everything... if she’d said it years earlier. But sure, let’s just sit in emotional purgatory for a decade and call it romance.

What Worked (eventually):
🕒 The final 45 minutes were actually solid
🧠 Therapist wisdom unlocked a whole new level of catharsis
📖 The premise had potential (but the execution… oof)

What Didn’t Work:
🙉 The FMC’s dialogue — physically painful
🚫 Nonexistent communication
🎧 Narration was passable but not enough to elevate the story

Final Thoughts:
If you like tortured, slow-burn second-chance romances with messy people doing the absolute least for most of the book… this is for you. Just know it takes a long road to get to something that almost feels like growth.

Leigh is accepted into a poetry MFA program where she runs into Will who she knows from high school. He goes by William now and is everything she dislikes in men. William’s poetry begins to be personal and intimate causing tension between the two main characters on top of the fact that they’re both fighting for the program’s fellowship.

I missed the TS reference when applying for this arc but even I would have seen it, I wouldn’t have expected this book to mention her a thousand times (I’m exaggerating, I know) and it was not for me. The characters weren’t likable, the plot was odd, and I was hoping for more with the beautiful cover and description. I was reading 4 books while reading this and every single one of them mentioned TS, it’s getting old!

The narrator did great at portraying the characters

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Katie Naymon, and Hachette Audio for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review. This published on February 18th.

I couldn’t get into this because the narration was intolerable to me. The narrator’s voice was too grating for me.

You Between the Lines is a sweet rom-com for every Taylor Swift loving, artsy romantic. If you’re a book lover that dreams of writing, a poetry enthusiast, if Tortured Poets Department spoke to your soul - this is the book for you!
Katie Naymon’s debut is a relatable love story with PG13 spice which makes it appropriate for YA readers too.
Leigh reconnects with her high school crush - the dark and brooding poet, Will in an MFA program several years later. Is their connection just her imagination? Is he playing her? Readers will have so much to relate to with the “pathological people pleaser” (credit to TAS) Leigh as she learns who she is, finds her voice and maybe love too. 4.5 stars rounded to 5. Leigh is me on a page!

You Between the Lines completely surprised me—in the best way. Katie Naymon weaves humor, heart, and a unique twist into this love story, making it both fun and deeply emotional. The premise was so clever, and the writing had me laughing one minute and feeling all the feels the next.

I loved the connection between the characters and how the story unfolded in such an unexpected way. If anything, I just wanted more—more time with them, more of those gut-punching moments. This book is for anyone who loves romance with a little magic, a little messiness, and a whole lot of heart. 💕📖

Taylor song: The Tortured Poets Department

“You’re in self-sabotage mode, throwing spikes down on the road, but I’ve seen this episode and still love the show”

This book had such a fun premise - an “Elle Woods” type character going for her MFA, seemingly on a whim. While there were some enjoyable parts, the whole story did fall a bit flat for me. The constant back and forth between the characters completely overshadowed Leigh’s personal arc and character growth. I feel like we didn’t get to know the characters all that well, and the primary focus was on the constant on again/off again nature of their relationship. They both showed some emotional immaturity, and some of the things that drove them apart seem liked gross overreactions. However, I LOVED the ensemble of side characters - they were highly entertaining and just so much fun!

Overall, this was not my favorite, but I didn’t totally hate it. For that reason, I give it three stars!

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

The main character was so whiny throughout the entire story. I enjoyed the plot but didn’t really root for the romance of it all. I kind of hoped it didn’t end happily because of how the two treated each other.

Leigh and Will were the perfect romance! Sweet, sexy, and heartwarming, this book is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and book lovers.

DNF - I had high expectations for this book, but after starting it, my attention was not grabbed in the way I prefer. This is not necessarily a bad book, but I'm not interested in finishing it at this time.

Who doesn’t love a good slow burn? Waiting…
Seriously this book was good and such a good read. It was however a little slow to get into for me and I found Leigh a little less likable than I’d of liked. Overall 3.25.

The narration of this book was good - I tore through it in two days at work. As an MFA grad, I loved the setting/setup, and as a fellow native Ohioan/Clevelander who also competed in Power of the Pen, I adored all the Cleveland/Ohio references. I thought the world of the MFA program was well-drawn.

Unfortunately this one didn’t resonate with me. I feel like if the story would have fully taken place at the high school age I would have liked it better, but overall the FMC was pretty insufferable and immature for her age.

The story starts out with the MCs meeting in high school, having crushes and then it doesn’t work out due to the feedback of a poem that one of them wrote. Flash forward to them now remeeting at a writing fellowship and the FMC has been holding onto things for YEARS that just don’t make sense to me.

The FMC was frustrating at times to me too. He felt very back and forth and i just couldn’t stand that.

The story line of the book was good, i liked where it was going but I just couldn’t stand either of the MCs, so i didn’t resonate with the characters at all.

I did like the narrators of the story, but i just couldn’t get passed the MCs.

This man!!!!!! this man. Oh god god I cannot get over how good this book is. and for a debut too??? absolutely masterful, gorgeous, a f*cking dream. also leigh is me, i am leigh and i’m not ready to talk about it. gusjanuary truthers this book is for US!!!!