Jenna Miller’s second book is nothing short of perfection. I’m biased because I was on my high school newspaper staff too, but I ate this book up! I loved the friendships, tension, realistic conversations and so much more. I can’t recommend this book enough!

I totally dove into this sapphic YA rollercoaster of friends-to-enemies-to-lovers and it was a blast! Meet Jordan – big on journalism, geeky stuff, and her pals Audrey and Isaac. The drama kicks off when Jordan, eyeing an editor gig at the school paper, lands the girls volleyball beat instead. That means facing Mackenzie, her old friend turned arch-rival.

The journey through Jordan and Mackenzie's past friendship, their fallout, and their reunion was really engaging. Another cool part? Jordan's a confident, out-and-proud lesbian and she's not here for body shame – she's a fab plus-size character who owns it. Sure, she wonders if others judge her for her sexuality or size, but she's solid in her own skin.

Sometimes, though, the book felt like it was stuck on repeat, rehashing Jordan's doubts about Mackenzie a bit too much. And the ending? Kinda hit the brakes too fast for me. I like easing into the 'happily ever after' part, not slamming into it.

But hey, overall it’s a fun ride! Packed with cute moments, high school shenanigans, sweet romance, real-deal friendships, and a whole lot of queer happiness. If this sounds up your alley, definitely give it a read. Oh, and a tip: crank up The Go-Go’s “We Got The Beat” when it pops up in the book – or just whenever you feel like it!

Big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

A sapphic YA friends to enemies to friends to lovers romance? Don’t mind if I do! This was a super enjoyable read. I loved getting to know Jordan, her passion for journalism, her nerdy interests, and her best friends Audrey and Isaac. At the beginning of the book Jordan is devastated to learn that instead of getting an editor’s position on the school newspaper, she’s been given the girls volleyball beat. Where she’ll have to interview her former friend turned nemesis, Mackenzie.

It was interesting learning about Jordan and Mackenzie’s friendship in the past, seeing where it fell apart, and then seeing them come back together again. Something else that was cool about the story was how Jordan is already an out and proud lesbian, and she’s a fat character who isn’t ashamed of her body. There are moments where she wonders if other people look down on her or don’t accept her because of her sexuality or her size, but she doesn’t personally feel that way about herself.

I do think that at times the book got a tiny bit repetitive with how many times Jordan would be having the same internal monologue about what happened with Mackenzie in the past and if she can truly trust her now. Also, the ending felt really rushed for my taste. I prefer to have a little bit of time to settle into the character’s lives and relationships in the resolution of the story rather than it just ending abruptly.

But overall I thought this was a very fun read! It has cute and swoony moments, high school drama, romantic gestures, complex friendships, and queer joy. Definitely check it out if it sounds interesting. Also, I recommend listening to The Go-Go’s “We Got The Beat” either when the characters do in the book or just whenever!

This was a fun sapphic YA romance. I enjoyed getting some insight into the girls previous friendship as well as seeing them reconnect.

Personally, I think this book would have benefited more from being dual POV. I also had a hard time believing that the conflict between the two girls would be so quickly and easily resolved.

Still, this had enough fun and enjoyable moments that I will likely recommend it.

I thought this was cute read. I did feel like the writing was super young. This book did have a little to much teen drama for me. But I liked the overall message of this book. I would have loved this book when I was younger.

As her junior year kicks off, Jordan Elliot expects an editorial role in her high school paper like her besties Audrey Lim and Isaac Berman have received. Unfortunately, her non-binary teacher Mx. Shannon has other plans: Jordan is given a standard reportage beat covering volleyball. Having her expectations blown apart is frustrating, but then the gravity of the situation sinks in. The volleyball team’s newest captain, fellow Junior Mackenzie West, is Jordan’s nemesis. The two were friends the summer Mack’s family moved to this midwestern area, but when Jordan outed herself as a lesbian just before school started, Mack ghosted her. It hurt beyond description. Since then, the two have been nemeses … at least as far as Jordan is concerned.

However, there’s no sense protesting the beat. Mx. Shannon’s decision is made and even though it does not seem like a promising area to write articles that will get Jordan into the college of her dreams, the volleyball team does have a chance to win big this year. There will be plenty of opportunities for good writing, and Jordan is perhaps the best reporter on staff.

If nothing else, perhaps this role will allow Jordan and her friends to kick off Operation Mack Attack, a way to score some revenge on the school’s golden girl. Jordan isn’t going to stoop low to assuage her feelings, but the plaque in her room tells everyone her goals: Question everything, Assume nothing, Learn the truth.

Coach Shelia Pavek is somewhat cool at first, the team seems welcoming and Mack is civil. However, is that all just posturing for good articles? As Jordan sticks close to the team, old feelings arise, new friendships are forged, hearts yearn and vulnerabilities are exploited. Jordan will have to delve deeply into the growing friendship with Mack and the volleyball girls in order to see if this is all on the up-and-up or just a pack of lies. And when an article she wrote for herself during a heated moment finds its way onto the school’s news webpage, exposing some real, private secret feelings, will her career in the newspaper flame out before it’s really had a chance to begin?

Jenna Miller’s We Got the Beat is a young adult novel with a lesbian protagonist, exploding coming of age queer themes, as well as the yearnings, joys, despairs, jealousies, bad decisions, and angst that percolates this age group. It’s a novel with a big heart, a first person protagonist who is unafraid to look for the truth no matter how uncomfortable it makes her, a metric ton of pop culture nerdy references (everything from Dr. Who to Cute Mutants to Dash and Lily get mentioned and sometimes examined with that teenage enthusiasm).

The book is a charming read, one that delves into both the lighter and darker aspects of being a junior in love, of seeing your best friend circle changing, of seeing your own feelings growing, mutating, altering. The high school drama is colorful and generally ends up in a positive place, though Miller’s prose is not afraid to delve into the darker side of parents who are more manipulative than supportive, people who are afraid to out their own sexuality, the mounting terrors of all the steps necessary to get into the perfect school, etc. And throughout, we have the relationship between Jordan and Mack, which starts out in a negative place, shifts into a positive one, and then reveals trust issues that tears it back apart all over again.

Miller’s first person narration is strong. Jordan’s voice shines though, and while some of the more recent pop culture references will leave older readers googling what they might’ve missed and wind up dated in only a few years’ time, they certainly add to the contemporary verisimilitude. These characters sound and behave right. It is entertaining to see how invested the characters are in their passions. And passion is the name of the game, here.

Jordan and her two best friends each experience different aspects of the emotional rollercoaster that is teen romance and relationships. Jordan yearns, maybe finds a new beginning, and constantly questions its validity. Add to that some hurtful rumors perpetrated by a smiling though utterly jealous associate, and you have even more psychological torment and lovely foundation for drama. Photography editor Isaac is infatuated with Mack’s bestie (and she apparently with him), but is Olivia as cheery, kind, and swell as she seems or is she hiding a secret, hurtful side? And Audrey is feeling the pangs of losing her friends … and a budding interest of her own. As well, the volleyball team are terrific team players when on the court and they certainly know how to share time together in social situations, but do they harbor the same kinds of resentments, yearnings, hopes, and emotional baggage as everyone else—it’s no spoiler to say “yes, a thousand times yes” but it’s the stuff of high drama to see how this emerges in Miller’s novel.

The teenage characters are presented with all the quirks and emotions of a good old John Hughes movie, the voices are authentic, and the general air of positivity is refreshing. Some teens might indulge in underage drinking, others might hook up, and a few do both, but there is no authorial judgment on such behavior. These simply the things teenagers do, little infractions that pale in comparison to the bigger betrayals (that they also get up to), and by the end of the book everyone seems to have learned something from their big mistakes.

This is a novel that would serve as solid source material for a screen adaptation of some sort. With that title, it even comes with its own title credits theme song (which also gets name checked in the narrative itself, as a song Jordan’s dad plays on regular occasion). The prose is cinematic, giving us plenty of imagery to play with, plenty of action to go with our drama. Jordan shows a strong internal life, but this is balanced with her getting involved with things happening in the world around her.

It is a romance at its heart, and that means the core of the story is relationship between Jordan and Mack. Therefore readers looking for plots involving big twists and turns that introduce world shaking events (even if that world is a school and homelife) may feel stymied by the book’s levels of drama. There are bad choices that threaten Jordan’s future, there are worse choices that threaten Jordan’s present, but they are not the stuff of tentpole thrillers. They are matters of the heart, sometimes in conflict with others and often in conflict with itself.

As well, even though it draws in potential conflicts due to body shape (Jordan describes herself as fat), sexual orientation (several characters are queer, some closeted and some not), age, and other hot button topics, these don’t manifest in expected, stereotypical ways. It’s not a book about fat shaming. It’s not a book that pits cis folks against queer ones. It’s a melting pot scenario composed of many outlooks, which sometimes don’t mesh but generally do not clash in melodramatic fashion. Such an optimistic and ultimately inclusive worldview can trigger some readers. So, heads up.

In the final analysis, We Got the Beat is a fun read, written in an engaging and readable style, which opens up the characters hearts and invites us to share in the ups and downs of life. Jenna Miller’s sophomore novel is no slump, is a high-spirited exploration of teen lives in the twenty-first century, which delivers some heartbreak and uncertainly along the way toward a deservedly upbeat ending. It questions, it seldom assumes, and it digs down to reveal the heart’s truth.
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A special thank you to NetGalley HarperCollins Childrens Books, and Quill Tree Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The perfect YA romance--I laughed, I cried, I even cared about volleyball despite not being a sports person. Love the characters, love the story, an absolute swoony must read!

“We Got the Beat” is definitely one of my favorite YA books that I’ve read this year!! This The plot is super engaging and Jenna’s writing is entertaining, I was hooked from start to finish. “We Got The Beat” has a fantastic cast of characters who all have their own personalities and flaws, too. Each of them shines through on page. I love the way Miller describes her characters. It's straight forward, but honors their traits without skirting around it. So refreshing to not hear a full physical description of someone to imply they are Asian, without just saying it. Similarly, we know right off the bat that Jo is fat and fine with that and I am HERE for it. I loved the tropes that were featured in this book: enemies to lovers, second chance romance following a betrayal two years back, and forced proximity in the present. The emotions surrounding each of these tropes were written so well. This book really did take me back to the angst and hopefulness of high school, it was so perfectly YA! I love it now, and I certainly would've loved it as a teen. I loved the ending and how things came together in the last chapter. And of course, this cover was absolutely adorable. I think that this book will leave readers very satisfied. Thanks to Jenna Miller, Netgalley and HarperCollins Children’s for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I can’t wait to read Jenna’s next book and will definitely check out her debut book!

This book was sweet and i hope that high schools, and even middle schools, adopt it for their libraries. This is a story about friendship and betrayal and trust as much as it is a romance. The characters were mostly believable, and the ridiculously high stakes nature of high school things that are just not that deep (are you a section editor of your HS newspaper? if not, is your entire future even POSSIBLE anymore???) felt upsettingly accurate. So glad to be an adult!

Enjoyable but lacked conflict and relied heavily on telling rather than showing. The revenge theme felt clichéd for a teenage narrative where natural conflicts and jealousy among characters could have been more engaging. Initially liked the characters, but they became predictable, reminiscent of Mean Girls. The attempt to inject originality with the family dog and older brother's relationship felt forced. The positive aspect was the inclusion of queer representation. However, the overall impression was that the book borrowed too much from early 2000s teenage chick flicks, particularly Mean Girls 2. As a journalist and LGBTQ creative, I had hoped for more, but it left me indifferent. Recommended for 14-16-year-olds, but feels like a familiar storyline.

Jordan (JoJo), a junior in high school, is disappointed when she's given the volleyball team beat for the school newspaper instead of an editor position, especially since Mackenzie (Mack), her former best friend who has ghosted her, is the new team captain. Mack regrets what she's done and asks Jordan to forgive her. The two slowly become friends as Jordan begins to cover the volleyball team. But as Jordan learns, there's much more to Mack than what everyone sees as the perfect student athlete.

This is a decent Sapphic YA book, with a well written young narrator voice (Jordan's is the sole POV). The book became more engaging as the plot conflicts were introduced and there were strong secondary characters in the role of Jordan's best friends and parents. The "mean girl" character's role was resolved a bit too neatly, perhaps, so that everyone came out looking good.

I appreciated the fact that Jordan was written as a fat protagonist who still gets the girl.

5 out of 5 stars

Rep: Fat lesbian main character, lesbian love interest, non-binary secondary character, bisexual Korean secondary character, Jewish secondary character

Content Warnings: Fatphobia, internalized homophobia, underage drinking, overbearing parent, bullying, mentions of drugs and sex

This is such a wonderful book that felt like getting a hug! The entire cast was delightful. I love that all the characters get to act like teens -- yes, they act stupid sometimes, but they're 16. It's expected since they aren't adults. It's genuinely fantastic that teens will be able to read this and actually see themselves and the way they act represented.
As a former journalist, I also adored re-entering the newspaper world. It's nice to read about young people who share that passion and want to make the field even better. Plus, having a non-binary journalist teacher in their late 20s? I feel SEEN.
This will be an immediate purchase when it's published. Jordan is one of my new favorite YA protagonists for how unapologetically she embraces her nerdiness and body. I too am fat nerdy lesbian, and the representation is impeccable. Mack is also precious, and I love their romance (which is rare for me when it comes to teen characters). I'm already excited to read what Jenna Miller writes next.

**HUGE thank you to Quill Tree Books for granting me an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!**

this book was fun! I thought it was great for a young adult book! it was fun and cute and i liked it

Look, this would have gotten five stars alone based on the fact that Jordan's favourite Doctor is 11. She has *taste.*

There's no sophomore slump for Miller here. Plain and simple. This book took every wonderful aspect of her debut and applied it here perfectly. Nerdy, fat-positive, and full of queer love and joy. I literally could not have asked for more and adored every word of this. It was just so cute and sweet and heartfelt and perfect.

This was cute, though it felt meandering in places. One strength was definitely the interesting insights to how anti-fat bias is perpetuated in lived experience, though.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Jenna, NetGalley, and HarperCollins for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many things to love about Jenna Miller’s sophomore YA Romance novel; not only is it an enjoyable, funny, and relatable read, but there’s a lightness in the way she approaches serious/emotional topics. In We Got the Beat, we got:
✦lesbian, bisexual, and non-binary rep
✦fat positivity
✦multiple nerdoms
✦volleyball
✦friends to enemies to lovers
✦love of writing
✦Korean and Jewish rep
✦sweet and decent cis, white, male teens
✦dogs

Jordan’s looking forward to starting her junior year of high school because she’s pretty sure that she’s going to be the first junior to be named the editor-in-chief of her school’s paper. On her first day, though, she finds out that instead of any editor position, she has the volleyball beat. If that wasn’t disappointing enough, her ex-friend/current nemesis, Mackenzie, is on the volleyball team.
Jo is determined to show that she can crush her assignment and not let something that happened two years ago get in the way of her journalism dreams, even if she’s still hurt by Mack’s ghosting of their friendship.
Will she be able to keep those feelings at bay? Or will some unexpected news change things forever?

Preorder We Got the Beat from wherever books are sold! If you’d like to order a signed and personalized copy, make sure to purchase from @redballoonbookshop!

Just not my cup of tea in this genre, though I am very picky for myself. In this one, the story and setup didn't work for me; even if she does need to write the best volleyball story for sports to show she can stretch herself as a reporter, why does she need to spend that much time with the team? The character relationships and motivations make no sense either. Everything was dramatic as hell for no reason, which did not help the tension and pacing, which make me lose interest in what was going to happen in the romance. DNF'ed, but I can see why others would like it!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC! We Got the Beat is definitely one of my favorite YA books that I’ve read this year!! This enemies-to-lovers, sapphic romance was so cute and had such a fun plot. I love any book that has a journalism aspect to it, so of course I ate this book up. I will say, it was predictable, but I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. I can’t wait for others to read this and I'm excited to read more from Jenna Miller in the future!

This one wasn't for me, but in this case it wasn't anything against the book--I just wasn't vibing with it. But I can definitely see teen readers loving it and valuing the representation!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

This was an absolutely adorable read! Jordan and Mackenzie were both flawed and lovable in that endearing way only teenagers can be.

Having a book like this at 16 would have made a world of difference. I’m so glad this book and others like it exist today.