This was such a heartbreakingly beautiful story. Emery’s life has been anything but easy, her dad left, her twin sister died and she watched her mother break down. Now diagnosed with the same thing that killed her sister, Emery is reminded every day that time is a luxury we don’t all have. Moving in with her dad, she meets her new stepbrother Kaiden. These two enemies turned friends turned lovers completely stole my heart. Kaiden puts up a front, but he struggles to hide how much he cares about Emery. The two of them hold a very special bond. This is not your typical love story, but it’s such an important read. It’s one of those books that really makes you think- makes you appreciate life. Beautiful story of love, friendship and family. Ps Kaiden Monroe is top tier book boyfriend🧡

An unforgettable and phenomenal story that deals with the harsh truth and reality of invisible diseases. B. Celeste's writing is impeccable and Underneath the Sycamore Tree is the kind of book that stands the test of time.

I picked this book solely trusting everyone’s word that it’d leave me sobbing.
Emery’s character really touched me. I didn’t know much about Lupus but I think the book did a solid job of sketching the chronic illness to the readers.
As much as I tried to understand the romance in the book, I didn’t feel the chemistry between our characters. They were great friends, sorta like friends-with-benefits. But as the story went, they developed a strong bond and communicated well as friends more than romantic couple. The difference was a thin line in the story. You also can guess where the story is headed to half-way through the book, maybe that’s why I didn’t tear up after that ending. Overall, it’s a Romance I’d recommend to anyone who likes to read about characters with chronic illness and finding the strength to love themselves and others around them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

emotional reads are some of my favorites but the stepsiblings to lovers trope mixed with the bully trope made me kinda uncomfortable personally. but the depictions of grief and complicated relationships, plus their development, of emery with each of her parents was executed beautifully.

If you’re looking for an emotional read then I’d definitely pick up this book. It gave me My Sisters Keeper/Five Feet Apart vibes the entire time I was reading. The characters had good emotional depth and I found myself tearing up and connecting with the story. If you’re a fan of Colleen Hoover, you’ll love this one as it definitely leans more towards a YA book!

I disliked this book and was surprised at the high reviews on Goodreads. I found issues with the way Lupus was depicted - specifically because Lupus is a very manageable disease, especially when caught early and medicated. The idea that she would die at 19 from the disease, have constant flares, and she's been being treated for 10 years just isn't realistic. People can live normal lives with Lupus and they don't get to advance stage when caught early. I just had such a hard time getting over this while reading. Additionally, the appeal of a forbidden romance is that it's forbidden - the idea that adults in their lives would be okay with stepsiblings hooking up is just weird. The execution was just gross.

This book broke my heart but I absolutely 100% will reread it and recommend it everyone who loves books. Yes it's real, yes is hard to read and yes it's sad.... But it's also full of strength and love and truth. It gives a whole new perspective to consider as this is written by someone who knows the reality of a hidden illness and my admiration and respect for B Celeste just multiplied by a thousand. Go into this book knowing its going to be a tough emotional read but also know its well worth it. Kaiden and Emery are both battling the separate issues and their friendship and eventual love is so satisfying to read as it develops. B Celeste is a talented young lady and I cannot recommend this or her other books strongly enough.

I was wanting to read this book for a while! Thank you Netgalley! I couldn't put it down. I read it well into the night. Have kleenex ready and prepare for the ache in your chest to start slowly until the end!

This book is difficult to rate. The thing is, I have anxiety. And sometimes that manifests as health anxiety. So reading this book was kinda triggering at times (entirely my fault, I know). It wasn't the whole book, just very specific parts, but just be careful when going into it and, I mean, if you do have health anxiety maybe avoiding books about sick kids is not a bad idea (duh).

Objectively, it's a good story. The sick girl with divorced parents moves to her dad's house and finds confort, understanding and friendship in her stepbrother. I loved how it wasn't one-layered. Emery had this whole past with her dad leaving, then losing her twin sister and her mother not coping; and Kaiden also has stuff he doesn't even want to deal with. And they somehow manage to become best friends and help each other out.

I will say though, as much as Kaiden is a cute cinnamon roll, he's also terribly toxic at the beginning. I understand where he's coming from and why the brooding and sulking and anger but, dude you're a walking red flag. And the whole slut shaming thing that goes on, especially Rachel's character... not a fan.

I love that Emery's sickness was one that couldn't be seen. Chronic illnesses are mostly invisible and no one pays any attention to you unless it's too late because how could you be ill? you're too young, surely you're just exaggerating. Loved the critique on that and absolutely adored the author's note.

However, I think the book would've benefited from less sex with Kaiden and more on Emery's evolving relationship with her parents. This is essentially a YA story plus sex and could've been left as YA. And then Emery's relationship with her parents I feel like we got a lot on where it started and where it ended but no much on how it got there.

Thank you to the author B. Celeste, publishers Sourcebooks and Bloombooks, and as always NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of UNDERNEATH THE SYCAMORE TREE.

What follows is my honest review about this book.

What I liked:
🦴 Chronic illness rep
❤️‍🔥 Enemies to lovers
📚 Book love
❤️‍🩹 Forbidden love

What I didn't like:

I'm not into ablism in books. This book is not for me, you could say, since the book posits that death by organ failure, which is horrible, is preferable to life with lupus, a common chronic illness.

Rating: 1 star
Recommend? No
Finished: March 23 2023

I just reviewed Underneath the Sycamore Tree by B. Celeste. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL] A very "tear at your heartstrings" story! A good portrayal of family and love and loss... The intimate scenes was a bit overboard, but you just have to read past it and you're good :) However, not sure how realistic the whole manner with the young couple is, but I enjoyed this read.

Loved this book so much! Usually I don't read this type of books, since I try to avoid the drama, but this one kept me awake and reading ultil 4 am cause I just couldn't put it down. Such an honest and raw story about sickness, loss and love.

First things first: I am so thrilled that this book has been translated into German. I only found out after I had finished reading it in English, but yay! Congrats to the author! "Underneath the Sycamore Tree" is something that will make you cry. Super badly. You ought to know that before diving into the story. There is a lot of romance and family matters that make your heart jump, but it's one of the saddest books ever. If you loved "A Thousand Boy Kisses" this one is for you. It actually reminded me of Penelope Douglas' work (there is a bad boy involved, you see) and all these "The Fault In Our Stars"-stories out there. But it still sticks out to me so much, that all these relations don't really matter to me. This story is special in its own way, the author has a way of writing that I found so beautiful. I've had my eye on her books for quite a while, but feel like they're too expensive to buy on the German Amazon. Which is why I jumped at the chance when I saw this book was up for request on NetGalley. I was so glad I got approved, but after having cried so much while reading it, I wasn't even sure anymore if NetGalley was doing me a favor, haha. Don't read this when you're going through something similiar to the books' contents, such as losing family members or being deadly sick, knowing someone who is deadly sick. You should be in the right head space to read this one. Nevertheless you'll cry. I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel story to this one, though I am not sure I'll survive it or when I'll actually be able to buy it, much less read it.

This was cute! I really liked it. Definitely solid if you love Colleen Hoover's books! I can't recommend enough!

A beautifully written story that left me with tears in my eyes. Emery is just trying to live after being diagnosed with lupus, which her twin sister died from a year before. Her mother has become a shell of herself, so Emery decides to move in with her father that lives hours away. Her father's wife Cam, has a teenage son named Kaiden that is the same age as Emery. Kaiden has his own problems, he's troubled and doesn't take crap from anyone. Throughout the book, Kaiden's tough exterior starts to crumble bit by bit as he attaches himself and becomes close with Emery. A closeness between them develops into more. The book does end sadly and had me tearing up, but I loved it.

This book had a cute story but it was lacking something. There was some typos but otherwise the writing was good. The characters were decent too.

I loved this book so much! Omg all the feels! This was the first book I've read by this author but definitely won't be the last. Thank you!

A sad story. I knew before reading that the story was going to have a sad ending but I still ended up crying and being heartbroken. A well written book that I was glad that I read.

Spoilers ahead! Wow. This was a rollercoaster. I did like the book. I even liked the sad ending. I do not like the fact that Emery had sex with her stepbrother. That part is super messed up. I did not like Kaiden's character but I did like seeing his journey. I like books with chronically ill teenagers. It's weird I know but this book had a lot of emotion and some neat twists.

1/5 stars! Ok; so the premise did not warn us that the love interests are step-siblings. I'm conflicted on that because they're legally related, but not blood-related so... it's kind of a grey area. Not for me but I wouldn't quite say it required a trigger warning. But even beyond that, this book just wasn't good. The characters were shallow and the writing lacked precision.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great romance novel and I throughly enjoyed reading this book.