Agnes Chen is a star athlete an is working her way to the top. She has prospects of going to the states and competing at a University. Unfortunate events take place when she is too busy trying to out talk her supposed rival, Royce Taslim, that her dreams are crumbling before her eyes. Come to find out, Agnes is now in need of raising her grades and in search of scholarships for university.
An opportunity arrives for Agnes to have a chance at snagging a scholarship by competing in an international stand-up comedy contest only to find out that her nemesis, Royce Taslim, is also competing in. As the competition draws near, Agnes finds herself getting to know Royce a little more each day and realizing he isn't who she thought he was. Everything Agnes knows about her arch nemesis seems like an out right lie and maybe her feelings for him could be altering into something more.

I really wanted to like this book. It had a lot of potential. A YA lit that took place in Southeast Asia really intrigued me. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past how whiney the FML was. It really stuck with me until the end and I felt like I was just reading the book to the end just because I had to. I can see a lot of potential and I get it's a YA book, but I live to read YA literature and I know the characters don' t have to be this whiney and immature. Even though in the end, Agnes shows growth as an individual, I didn't care for her overall. I love a strong FML and I love a girl who fights for what she wants, but it just fell flat for me. I've read middle grade books that had more mature characters and I still felt like they were acting their age versus these teen characters who just seemed to throw tantrums for no reason. Can't recommend to my young readers. So many other good YA contemporaries out there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for this ARC!

As someone who did improv in college, this book had a familiar sense of community that I wasn’t expecting. Comedy is about throwing yourself on the line and hoping that someone will catch you.

Agnes was both relatable and insufferable - she was filled with so much doubt of her place in the world that she fell into every trapping, rarely second guessing what people told her. However, because it’s YA, it made her an incredible character by the end. Teens have these struggles, especially when you then go and put them on stage!

Now c’mere, lemme talk to you about Royce Taslim. Royce Taslim is the kind of character I aspire to write. Royce Taslim is both delightful and insufferable. Royce Taslim would be delightful to be enemies to lovers with.

I can’t explain to you why they’re both insufferable and I love them dearly, I just can’t, you gotta read it to get it.

Most of the other characters can be summed up by whether or not I love them or want to punch them. And 99% of them are loved. The one who deserves to be punched knows who he is.

I really enjoyed this book, especially because it somehow catered to my exact niche. My favorite part was very early in the book, having Agnes teach Rosie that insults have to be specific. Because that is part of comedy, and it flowed with Agnes’ perspective for the rest of the book, that specificity of fear and anxiety and heart-swooping romance.

Two academic rivals find romance when an accident sets off a chain of events and now bond over participating in stand-up comedy. Agnes Chan is determined to make this year her year, she's determined to get her athletic scholarship and finally beat her number one arch-nemesis, Royce Taslim. Agnes gets into an argument with Royce that ends with her getting into an accident and ruining her athletic scholarship dreams and now she has to find a new answer to her scholarship issue, and the answer: an international stand-up comedy contest. The last thing she expects is to be facing off against Royce of all people. Royce is a wealthy, popular, and privileged. Agnes can't stand him yet the more she gets to know him the more she begins to realize she didn't really know him at all and that maybe she was wrong. The closer the competition gets the more things begin to heat up as well as the relationship between Agnes and Royce... yet can she really overcome her dislike of Royce to make this relationship last? Unfortunately this one was a miss for me, I was really hoping I would love it but I just did not like Agnes at all. I get that she's a teen and that she's going to make bad decisions, but she felt so insufferable and honestly, I have no idea why Royce liked her at all. This book didn't really build up the relationship that well and the romance just didn't feel like it really worked. I think if you were a younger reader (than me haha) and like the academic rivals with lots of high school drama, it would definitely be for you!

*Thanks Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide | Disney Hyperion for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

DNF @40%. I think this book could have benefited from some further editing. I thought there were one too many side plots to keep track of. I struggled with the writing style. The voice and tone of the main character felt inconsistent. Some passages read like an adult voice while others felt (rightfully) juvenile. I liked the Kuala Lumpur setting; however, there were some times where the author over explained the scenes. Agnes wasn't my favorite main character. Her judgmental attitude rubbed me the wrong way. On an unrelated note, I also had an issue with the formatting of my eARC. It made it difficult for me to understand the text exchanges. Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the ARC.

When I first began this book, I wanted to stop reading. Our main character was annoying and whiny.
Agnes goes through the emotions and relationships that any 17 year old would go through. She struggles dealing with friends, being accepted, and trying to figure out what to do after an injury ruins her athletic career.
Agnes got better and I wish we had more time with Royce and her. Zee was a lovely side character who truly supported Agnes and wanted nothing but the best.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Bite Me, Royce Taslim' by Lauren Ho.

'Bite Me, Royce Taslim' is Lauren Ho's debut into YA and my goodness, is she a master of it. I have previously read the other 2 books by Ho and I had expectations for this book and thankfully those expectations were met. Fun characters that were lighthearted but also had a more serious and real tone to them, a story plot that was quite academic based but not too overwhelming that I'd qualify it as academia. Lauren Ho is a talent in the romance field and this book is just further evidence of that.

Something about this book felt so familiar at first, with two highschool track stars who tolerate each other at best, it looks like an enemies to lovers that will hit every normal piece of the trope, but it takes a turn as Agnes is injured and has to rework all of her hopes and dreams of a track scholarship.

They meet one another on a different level through standup comedy— which I didn’t see coming AT ALL— and the way Agnes CONSTANTLY lies to herself about her feelings is delightful. I love the author’s writing style because she clearly captures the angst and confusion of finding who you are at that age.

Probably my favorite part was the obvious “he falls first” of it all. My second favorite was the way the author handled the class differences of all of the different characters, questioning everyone’s motives. It was a great read.

This book starts out looking like one of those typical enemies to lovers type of romance, and then it gets hit by a car. Literally, and Agnes, who had her whole life set up just so, suddenly has to pivot, and fine meaning in a life where she can’t be an elite runner anymore.
And surprise, what she finds is the comedy circuit. And who is there as well, but her former athletic rival, Royce Taslim, also doing standup comedy.

I did enjoy reading the book, with that turn of events, although, because it is a YA, we have the typical triangle romance, if it can even be called that, because Agnes seems oblivious to any time someone is hitting on her.

Cute take on life in Kuala Lampur, and how you could possibly do comedy as not only a hobby, but a way of life. Throw in ultra-wealthy friends, and you get a mix of privilege, and resentment.

As usual, when there is character growth, it seemed to take forever for Agnes to realize what she should do in the situations she is thrown into, but that is what it is all about.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published the 7th of May 2024.

First of all thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a YA academic rivals to lovers set in Kuala Lumpur. It follows the main character after an unfortunate accident leaves her unable to run and thus derails her athletic scholarship plans. Her dream to attend university in America is shattered along with her leg.

Agnes finds a new answer to her scholarship issue in stand-up comedy, but unfortunately her biggest rival for that is her nemesis Royce Taslim. He represents everything she resents, which basically boils down to rich person privilege.

The relationship in this book between the FMC and her mum is not one I've personally seen portrayed in books. It was refreshing and is also something I feel was in need of representation.

The FMC is obviously a teenager, and so while I don't agree with some of her actions, I do mostly remember what it was like to be her age. She's easily manipulated, insecure, a bit angsty/angry and ridiculously competitive. She isn't the nicest to her friends which I did have a problem with. Her friends are loyal people, which is fortunate for her.

I did enjoy the storyline and the character development. The comedy competition was interesting and the results of that felt right. Royce and Agnes were kinda sweet, but she was a little frustrating there too.

There were some words missing and some words were used in places they didn't fit. I had to replace them while reading with what I thought the author had meant to use, which took me out of it a little. Hopefully that'll be picked up in editing.

Overall I did enjoy this, and if YA contemporary romance is your thing, I would recommend.

I surprisingly really liked this author's adult novel "Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic," which made me intrigued by her YA debut. It's a rivals-to-lovers romance based in Kuala Lumpur, set in the teen comedy scene. From the very first chapter, this book clearly has such compelling language that had me hooked. However, something about the story seemed slow to me and just took a while to get to the action. But when it finally did, it was fun and cute and I enjoyed it. But, because of the slow feeling, it was just hard to personally vibe with this one. Not dissing the author's writing style, because of course that was stellar, it just wasn't my perfect cup of tea -- but all that could still be someone else's; who am I to judge?

"I'm interested in reading stories where two rivals eventually fall in love, and I found the perfect book for me! Both Royce and Agnes are lovable characters, despite their flaws. Their character development is very well written, and you'll never feel disconnected from them." ever feel disconnected from them."
I haven't read a book set in Malaysia or about standup before and this was a fun new setting as well concept. I want to read more books set in Malaysia in the future.

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=2.75 | 😘=2.75 | 🤬=3 | 14+

summary: enemies to lovers rival undercover standup comedians ?? um ??

thoughts: the MC is kind of, like… stupid? very easily manipulated in a frustrating way for the reader and she’s also a jerk to her friends, which is not a super great trait to have in a romcom protagonist. I don’t know why the love interest likes her––or, honestly, what there is to like about the love interest. also “touch her and you die” can not be taken seriously 99% of the time in contemporary romances lol. however, i did (overall) like the relationship between the main character and her mom. there isn’t a lot of representation like that, so that’s great! yay!

This really uses the rival to romance aspect perfectly and I enjoyed the overall concept of this novel. The plot had everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the feel of this romance. It had everything that I was looking for from a young adult romance novel. The characters felt like realistic people and I enjoyed the way they interacted with each other. I was hooked from the first page and so glad I got to read this to the end. Lauren Ho has a great writing style and can't wait to read more from Lauren Ho.

If you like Lauren Ho’s other books. This is a solid YA story that is great to escape into. Plot is a little unbelievable but the book is entertaining.

I love Emily Jean and strong Asian female characters. I am so excited to be introduced to a new Asian author and I love a book where there is a bit of heat between the two mains but people turn out to sometimes be different than we think they are for both good and bad. I look forward to sharing a full review and thoughts on this novel and sharing this with our YA readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bite Me, Royce Taslim by Lauren Ho was not my cup of tea. The cover was cute, and the synopsis sounded fun, and perhaps that is why I feel a bit disappointed.
To begin, it felt a bit as if the novel couldn't decide what it was. There were so many things going on and I was never sure which parts or conflicts we were going to follow, or which would matter later. Is it a story of resilience when life doesn't turn out the way you planned? Will Royce's family get there comeuppance for destroying orangutan habitats? Do we care about the Hot Flashes? Is it about an abusive controlling relationship? Classism? All of the above? None of the above? To me, it felt a bit like it was written without a plan.
I also went into the book believing it would be an enemies to lovers- and it was- but it was unclear to me why they were really enemies. Sure, Agnes and Royce are both up for student athlete of the year, and she feels like he's had things too easy, but there is no reason for her to feel such animosity towards him. The title (and her general attitude towards Royce) is a bit harsh considering we never see him do anything to her other than be polite. It, unfortunately, makes Agnes somewhat unlikable, which is not a great thing to think about the protagonist. Justice for Royce.
The writing (particularly the dialogue) was something I had a hard time with. I found the dialogue to be a little inauthentic and immature. It sometimes seemed like it was written and then gone over again with a thesaurus and had every adjective replaced with archaic or uncommon ones. As a native English speaker, with a degree in English, who taught senior English for over a decade, I found myself looking up many words. If I don't know them, I find it implausible that every character from 11 to 17 would. There were also some spelling and usage errors as well (it should be "open-mic"- as in MICrophone- not "open-mike"); however, I assume some of the usage might be commonplace in Malaysia and I just don't recognize it as a Canadian.
Overall, Bite Me, Royce Taslim was too messy for me, but I will still buy it for my library because I know that I am not the target demographic. I am sure some 15 year old will pick this up and love it.

Thank you Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lauren Ho's "Bite Me, Royce Taslim" is a delightful rom-com that blends sharp wit, relatable characters, and a charming romance into an engaging read. From the very start, Ho's signature sharp writing and witty humor shine through, making this a fun and enjoyable experience for readers. If you’re looking for a fun and humorous book, you will definitely like this book, especially if you are a fan of stand-up comedy!

The story follows Agnes Chan, whose dreams of a track scholarship are shattered in a moment of humiliation involving her arch-nemesis, Royce Taslim. However, when Agnes discovers an opportunity to salvage her scholarship hopes through an international stand-up comedy contest for teens, she's surprised to find herself competing against none other than Royce himself.

One of the highlights of the book is its well-developed characters, particularly Agnes and Royce. Agnes is a realistic and relatable protagonist, while Royce emerges as a sweetheart whom readers can't help but root for. Their dynamic, filled with banter and chemistry, adds depth and charm to the story. I really enjoyed learning more about Royce and his own personal drama as it really added depth to his character and prevented him from becoming the stereotypical “rich boy” love interest.

Ho masterfully captures the humor of teenage angst and the complexities of having a crush, creating a book that is both funny and endearing. I thought the humor was well-written as I actually found myself becoming amused with the jokes being told in the comedy routines. It can be difficult to write those out in the book form without being seen as overdone, and I thought there was a good balance with the humor. Nothing to make me laugh out loud per say, but exhale through my nose in silent laughter. The romance between Agnes and Royce is charming and believable as well. I really liked the rivals to friends to lovers aspect of their relationship. The change wasn’t immediate; there was a gradual change and buildup in their relationship.

The setting was also great as well. I don’t think I’ve read a book set in Malaysia before, so I was very interested in learning more about the setting and the culture. Because of my lack of prior knowledge, I do think there was a bit of a disconnect with my understanding of the setting and specific aspects of the book, like the differences when applying to college in Malaysia vs the US.

One aspect I wish had more development was Agnes’s humor and stand-up routines. With her first routine where she didn’t plan it and it was sprung on her, she did extremely well and didn’t bomb; there was actual laughter from her routine. Even with her second routine, she said she didn’t really practice and was ab-libbing some of it, which I just didn’t find realistic for those with no experience whatsoever in comedy routines. I would assume for someone’s first time, they would be incredibly nervous, would mess up, or something like that. I wanted to see her grow as a comedian and improve with her confidence and her routine instead of just being a prodigy with her routines, especially without practice.

Overall, "Bite Me, Royce Taslim" is a fast-paced and enjoyable YA romance with its mix of humor, romance, and relatable characters. Whether you're a longtime fan of Lauren Ho or discovering her for the first time, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves a good laugh and a heartwarming love story.

As I expected, this book has Lauren Ho's signature sharp writing and witty humor. There's so much to love about this book: a main character having to pivot after her student athlete dreams were dashed by an injury, secret lives of teens online and in-person, complicated family dynamics, and a sweet romance. Can't wait to see more YA from Lauren!

This was a great YA that hit a lot of the tropes that young readers want while still presenting an original and engaging story.

Humorous enemies to lovers that is heavy on the high school drama. I loved that the book portrayed nuanced characters that dealt with very real issues in regards to young adults (notably the stress related to planning their futures).