Future Leaders of Nowhere is cute, fun and quirky to read. The character development is okay and in good pace. The connection between Finn and Willa is over the place!! This book is a light read that anyone can enjoy.

In short: I loved this book. The main characters were endearing and easy to root for, the love story was gradually developed and their relationship had a solid foundation based on adorably nerdy interactions (no insta-love here!) and their conflicts felt grounded in their individual personalities and beliefs instead of contrived for drama. ALL THE YES. 

At length: This is everything I want in a YA novel!

I love the LGBT representation: our main protagonist is Finn who is unabashedly bisexual and this is integrated so casually without fanfare: we find out early in the story that she's recovering from being dumped by a guy after she slept with him, and that she hasn't been with anyone since, aside from kissing a girl at a party. Later on, when someone is confused about her being interested in Willa given that she was last known to have dated a guy, she sighs at their ignorance and explicitly states that:

--
"I do not have the time or the energy to explain really basic stuff. Especially when the meaning is in the actual word. Bisexuality. Hear that? Bi.” 
--

Our other protagonist is Willa who confides in Finn about how she had a messy break-up with a girl recently - it's lovely that both girls are comfortable with their sexual orientation and that the story isn't bogged down with repressed same-sex attraction or coming out angst. I don't have anything against stories that include those themes, but there are already a lot that have bisexuality or gayness as something frightening that the characters have to come to terms with in themselves, and I always enjoy  a story where this is just another aspect of their personality instead of their defining character arc.

I know that this isn't going to be true of everyone's experience, but my high school was very liberal and gay kids weren't picked on or targeted specifically - that's why this book appeals to me because the teenagers here ring true to my personal experience. There isn't any big drama or confrontation when Willa and Finn's relationship becomes public, it's just another juicy item of gossip to whisper about same as any other couple. It's always appealing to read a YA novel where there isn't rampant homophobia and our characters don't have to live in fear of being outed or bashed. Again, I recognize that this is a sad reality for some people, especially in more conservative areas, but I think it's also important to reflect other places and cultures where people don't suffer such hardship simply for being LGBT. The flip side of the coin to show teens that there is hope, it isn't all struggle and adversity, y'know? 

I love the diversity: Aside from including two girls who are bi and lesbian respectively, Willa is also biracial. Instead of being the poster girl for the Indian culture, however, she doesn't actually have much of a connection to her roots.

--
"Avi's Indian too, but real Indian. Both parents and a culture. Willa just shrugged on the day of the gettting-t-know-you game, when Avi asked how she ended up with a name like Willa. Just like she has so many times when she is picked out by other Indian kids and shows herself to be clueless. But how can she explain that she has no idea why her mother named her Willa? How can she explain she knows nothing about the part of her history that lays claim to her skin colour?

Her Indian-ness is something that is stamped on her, not something she holds inside. When she was a kid, it used to embarrass her when peoplea sked her about it and she couldn't say. Liek she was failing at something. Later, it was annoying. and now, it's still strange to think that some of her blood resides in a place she cannot know."
--

OMG, THANK YOU. This is the first time that I've seen my experience as a biracial person reflected in a novel - I was born in Australia, but my father is Fiji-Indian and my mother is Samoan. People ask me about my background all the time, but I don't have any attachment to either of their countries, I don't speak the language, my heritage doesn't inform my character at all. And normally when an author includes a character of a different racial background, it's to highlight differences between that culture and Western society, to explore how this shapes one's personality, and I greatly enjoy that, it's fantastic to have POC protagonists that ring true to their background. But I'm also squealing a ton at being able to relate to Willa in how we look different on the outside, but can't claim any knowledge or insight into that ethnicity that marks us. 

Apart from Willa, there are other POC, although we don't get a great deal of insight into them - there's Avi, her fellow Indian; Jessie, a nerdy Asian (who calls out the fact that people assume he's good at math because of his race - he's actually a history buff); two Muslim girls, and a guy with a Tongan father. I appreciate the casual diversity, which is very realistic and more representative of real life than all the stories with 100% lily-white casts. 

I love the female friendships: Finn and Willa have a bit of a rocky start given that they're captains of rival teams, but they try to ignore the game and interact with each other as friends outside of it. However, this isn't the extent of it - Leaders of Nowhere is packed with teenage girls of different personalities and opinions and backgrounds; while we may not get to know them all as well as Finn and Willa, they still come off as well-rounded and believable teenagers, and they don't just exist in the periphery of our main characters, they have their own relationships and history (for eg. best friends Hana and Zaki, Muslim teenagers who wear matching hijabs and worship Taylor Swift). Plus the dialogue is natural and suits their age, none of that cringe-y 'adult trying to sound hip' thing happening here! 

Best of all, no slut-shaming! It's depressingly common that in most stories where there are a bunch of teenage girls, they will end up being catty and back-stab each other and try to bring one another down, but this book felt like it was deliberately built up to be the antithesis of that stereotype! The girls may not always agree or get along, but they are supportive and tolerant and have each other's backs. 

I love the plot: sometimes in YA, the romance takes priority over the story, but the author focused on properly developing the camp's leadership game and actually had me invested in the politics and the behind-the-scenes wrangling and anxious as to who would win! What I loved was how the game revealed different aspects of our lead characters - we see how Finn bows initially to her team's vote to join another group instead of sticking it out on their own how she struggles with a lack of confidence in her ability to inspire and lead, which is a central theme that Finn deals with throughout the story.

We also see how stern and serious Willa is, how ruthless she can be in pursuit of victory, and how this stems from her obsessive need to be perfect and ace everything because of her broken family situation and the way she's required to look after her younger siblings and grandmother, with all that responsibility weighing heavily on her shoulders. The twists and turns in the game show the character growth in the girls and what they're willing to risk or put up with and where their priorities lie, and it's a brilliant framing device for their respective arcs.

Kudos for the author for staying true to the stakes of the story set out from the start and not giving in to the urge to add more angst and drama for the sake of it. I'm really over books throwing in unnecessary developments like cheating or sexual assault or death, etc. as a way of building up to a climactic finale, and I loved that this one was based on the outcome of the leadership game, such a fun nerdy finish!

Slight nitpicks: I will note that it was jarring to me to read the first half of the book from Finn's perspective, only for it to abruptly shift to Willa's perspective in the second half. I missed hearing from Finn as I'd grown used to seeing this world from her pov, and while I did enjoy getting to know Willa more personally, it was a bit of an adjustment. There was also an occasional turn of phrase that I found overly flowery or where a metaphor perhaps got out of control, but on the whole, it wasn't that distracting and I ended up considering it part of the narrative's charm.

I just couldn't get into this one and gave up. It had a REALLY slow start and I was incredibly bored.

*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was a cute little queer YA novel. It was very high school though, everything being SO dramatic in the way that 16 year olds are. I loved that it featured such a diverse cast of characters.
Lovely fluff.

A book that is hard to get into at the beginning, but poses interesting questions about who you are as a person and how you affect those around you.

Want to know the surefire sign of a good book? Finding yourself confronted with the promise of a sequel, given a vague date (Autumn 2017, in this case), and saying to yourself (possibly aloud, since you stayed up until nearly one in the morning devouring said book) "ooh, I gotta get that book!"

This is what happened when I finished Emily O'Beirne's FUTURE LEADERS OF NOWHERE last night, this morning... however you want to look at it.

I requested the book from NetGalley (in exchange for an honest and original review) because it seemed different (being listed as LGBTQIA and Teen/YA), got it (thanks Ylva Publishing!), briefly forgot about it, then read it. And I love it!

I really cannot emphasize how much I love this book!

Set in Australia (thereby ticking the box of being set somewhere I don't usually read about), FUTURE LEADERS OF NOWHERE is set in a month-long retreat-style camp where a variety of high schools send teams of seven high-achieving students (who are "future leaders") to compete in a nation-building game. Having been through American high school (public and poor, truth be told), I really, really, really wish this sort "game" existed for us. It sounds incredibly fun, challenging, and important. And maybe ritzier, better funded, private schools here do have things like this. Who knows. Maybe I'd rather not know.

Anyway...

The first half of the book is told from Finn's perspective. She is "captain" of her co-ed high school (this idea of school captains is also mildly foreign to me) and her team quickly elects her their leader in the game. She does not particularly want the job and, honestly, she's not that great at it when the game starts. She tries to please all of the people all of the time. Even in the democracy that her team is assigned, that is a doomed leadership style.

But Finn meets Willa, the leader of the team from a fancy all-girls school.

And Willa, who tells the second half of the story, meets Finn.

Both girls are coming off having been burned in relationships that they were more invested in than their partners but they move forward together, wary of history and the looming specter of the game. Finn becomes a better leader because Willa gives her confidence and Willa opens up to her classmates, thereby becoming a better leader as well, because Finn helps her see that she won't always be hurt if she shares who she is with someone else.

Beyond Finn and Willa there is an amazing, relatable, fun cast of supporting characters that I want to know more about.

FUTURE LEADERS OF NOWHERE is sweet, heartfelt, touching, funny, sad, honest, and generally lovely.

I am so glad I requested an ARC of this book, more glad that I got an ARC, and the most glad that there is more of this story to look forward to!

Set in Australia, we follow along as Finn and Willa end up at a camp for “Future Leaders” thanks to their performance in their respective schools. Pitted against each other as captains of their respective teams, these teenage girls must find common ground in order to survive the wrath of an entitled straight white boy who’s drunk with power (or a semblance of power).
I really liked the plot and characters of this book! At first I was apprehensive about the thematic and was sort of confused about what the camp entailed, as well as the fact that a month-long camp where they basically mixed a roleplay “Settlers of Catan” with scavenger hunts didn’t seem like something I would be interested in. However, it was the characters which drew me in. I loved Finn and Willa, both separately and together. Finn was a silent-but-deadly kind of leader that left me doing chinhands because DAMN I love girls who don’t take any shit. The same went for Willa, since I kept repeating “I wanna be like you when I grow up” as I saw her take charge of her Amazonian group of girls. Their relationship was organic; gotta love that friends-to-lovers trope. I adored their tenderness, how genuine their respect for each other was, and how realistic these aspects were because these were teen girls! Willa and Finn were insecure, they had family and identity issues, and yet they still managed to be there for each other. Of course, they had issues, but that’s a part of teenage angst and author-made drama.
The author was also able to include so much representation that made me so giddy! On the page, Finn was bisexual (I loved her explanation in Ch. 63: “Listen, I’m perfectly happy to help you out with difficult concepts. Like that time that I explained anaerobic respiration to you, but I do not have the time or the energy to explain really basic stuff. Especially when the meaning is in the actual word. Bisexuality. Hear that? Bi.” Even though that definition is very binary, it was important to see that word written out), Willa was gay and of mixed Indian descent, and there was a whole cast of side-characters with varied identities.
With all that said, I also had issues with some parts of the book. The characterization of Willa was at times inconsistent, and there was an islamophobic act depicted (a character tried to take off a Muslim girl’s hijab) that wasn’t really dealt with beyond the anger of some characters and it ended up seemingly brushed aside by the MC. The shifting POV worked most of the time, but there were times where the POV of that character didn’t feel all that necessary.
All in all, the book reminded me of the styles of E. Lockhart and Becky Albertalli. It was a fun, breezy read if you’re a fan of teenage hijinks at a sleepaway camp. Thanks to the publisher for allowing me access to review this book through NetGalley.
Rating: ⅗ Stars

I'm a big fan of the author to start with. Her previous books were very entertaining and were written well, so my expectations for this one were pretty high. She didn't disappoint! This is a first in a series, so she took her time with the characters and really getting to know them. Willa and Finn are very sweet together, and actually act and think their age. They get to know each other slowly so by the end they weren't just a couple but actually friends which was nice to see.

I'm looking forward to the second book where we can see them outside the camp and in the real world. I'm excited to get to know Willa's family and Finn's friends, and see how everyone interacts with each other.

If you're expecting a lot of physical contact between the two characters then you'd be wrong. There is very little of it, but again only because I feel like the author wanted to take her time. There was nothing wrong with that on my end and I think it helped with the characters ages.

I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because this book concentrated a little too much on the camp game for me, rather than their relationship, and I honestly just wanted to see more of them together. Total personal preference that I think will really come to play in the second book.

Recommendation: Great book that I'd suggest buying!

I was unable to finish the book because it archived to quickly. I am very sorry.

I'm in the middle of a really busy term at uni and can't write a full review right now, but when things calm down I'll write a proper review of this for my blog. In the meantime, I've written a short review for Goodreads.

This was much more enjoyable than the last book I read with a bi protag, and a lot more relatable than the last f/f book I read, so that's a win all round! Even if I did have to look up some details of the Australian school system because I was confused, and occasionally got thrown off by things like Spring in August and school holidays in September. Still. It was nice to read an Australian YA book because they're pretty rare and it makes a change from the millions set in the US. It's like a weird midpoint of relatability between British books and American books -- a lot of the language tricks me into thinking I know what's going on and then BAM, WOMBATS. (There were no actual wombats in this book, I'm sad to say, but they were referenced.)

When I read this I was feeling emotionally fragile and lacking in brainpower, which limited my reviewing abilities, but the book did help cheer me up. Found it a wee bit confusing in places, particularly towards the beginning, and the switch of POV in the middle threw me off here and there (it was in 3rd person, so the two halves sounded very similar, just followed different characters; it could've done with more distinct voices). But still cute and engaging and unapologetically nerdy and so on.

Future Leaders of Nowhere is a novel by Emily O’Beirne. It is a YA, contemporary, LGBT, super cute story which is a lot of fun to read. The book is divided into three parts, the first part is written from the perspective of Finn, the second is written from the perspective of Willa and the final part alternating between them.
I loved the characters in this book and their development throughout the entire story. Willa and Finn are both very different people and at the same times in many ways the same. They are very intelligent girls with a drive for success. They are complex and very realistic, you just want to get to know them in real life, and it kind of feels like you already do by the time you finish the book.

Both of them get chosen to be a team leader at the Camp for Future Leaders where they both partake in. Both get chosen for different reasons but the result is the same, an entire group of people is counting on them to lead them to the best path possible. During the story, you get to know the characters on a very personal level, you get a look into their heads and how they see the world. The characters go through difficult situations and learn a lot from their experiences, and from each other.

“Have you only liked guys?”
“No. I like people.”
“So do I.” Willa grins. “They just happen to be girls.”

The romance is absolutely swoon-worthy, it’s just too sweet. It made me read for hours into the night and I just didn’t want to put it down. Willa is a lesbian and Finn is bi, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world, it didn’t feel forced in any way and I just don’t know what else to say, it’s just wonderful.

"Because that’s the trouble with being smart. You can only fool yourself for so long."

As you might have noticed, the best part of this book was definitely the characters. It is quite hard to write a review when there’s just nothing to complain, it was just really good. I am giving this book 4 stars, but I don’t really know why I’m not giving it 5. It was cute, sweet, realistic, wonderful and definitely a book you want to read. I recommend this book if you like LGBT+ books, sweet romance and/or contemporary.

This book was so cute. Unfortunately, it often felt to me like there's not much more to it than that. Instead of having the camp with its political games as the central plot, and the romance the side plot, it has it the other way round, which leaves the side plot not so fully fleshed out as it could have been, and the romance is not quite strong enough to carry the book on its own.

The writing at times felt a little too much like purple prose, meaning I had points where I just kind of rolled my eyes and prayed for the story to move along already. I mean, you get things like "Because she is. Finn earths", which makes no sense. What is "to earth" even supposed to mean? That she's down to earth? Or that she's solid? Who knows.

Then there was a lot from both girls going on about how wonderful/amazing/brilliant the other was, and okay I get they're smitten but I don't need pages going on about it. It also seemed that neither would be able to admit to a fault in the other, which doesn't make for all that interesting characters, on the whole.

There were a couple of great moments later in the book, the first where Finn was like to Craig "you know bisexuality is a thing" after he points out she's been with a guy before. And the second was when Amira called Amy out for criticising her using her sexuality to get guys' doing what she wanted, and also vaguely slutshaming her. It was so wonderful. And there are so many good girl friendships going on in this book. I loved it.

This is my second Emily O’Beirne book, and I wish more people would discover her. Her characters are well developed, and the situations, setting, and plots are interesting and fresh. In Future Leaders of Nowhere, a collection of over-achieving high school seniors are selected to spend four weeks in a rural camp, playing leadership games and participating in outdoor activities. I’m pretty sure we have all experienced a camp like that. The first half of the book is seen through the eyes of Finn, the intermediary captain of her public school, leading the laziest and slackest group of smart kids ever, and the second part by Willa, a scholarship student at an elite private girls’ college, where the aim main is to win. There are several other groups who, while often relegated to the background, still play their part to showcase diverse and eclectic teenagers.

While the majority of the plot focuses on a game in which each group becomes a country directed to keep their people alive and their nation thriving, of course, we have additional scenes of abseiling ridiculous cliff faces, competitive orienteering and who are we kidding, everything is a competition, as well as personal relationships, pranks, and secret parties and gossip. It’s a glorious celebration of being young, and treading that fine line between following the rules and being compliant, knowing experiences like these will help for the future, and wanting to break out, live in the moment which may result in reckless behaviour, say like, oh, falling in love. Of course, it also has something to say about how much pressure there is on teenagers to strive, to excel, and to put themselves above others to succeed.

Willa and Finn’s attraction is handled with ease and care. Initially Willa acts, and it’s up to Finn to take the second step once Willa makes her feelings and intentions clear. Both girls have extraordinary talents—both clever academically, street smart (in their own ways), and filled to the brim with innate goodness. Finn is constantly described as, or told she is, kind, a person who always stands up for her beliefs, but in the first part of the book, she loses confidence in herself, and second guesses her decisions. Watching her burden the responsibility for her slack group is both fascinating and difficult. Her admiration for Willa shines through, and their friendship keeps Finn grounded. By the time we switch to Willa’s point of view, Finn has rediscovered her mojo, and for the final two weeks of the camp, she never falters in her quest to be the best leader she can be, and to prove her commitment to Willa. It’s a lovely piece of character growth.

Willa’s perspective reveals a sad backstory. Her mother died, and an absent father means she and her younger siblings live with their grandmother, who naturally is getting on and physically isn’t able to look after the two young children. Willa’s kept herself cut off from her peers, partly because she’s feels inferior and partly because she doesn’t have time to socialise. She has placed tremendous pressure on herself to excel at everything she can. These facts are explained slowly, and just as Finn’s team strive towards success, Willa feels her own team’s position slipping. But her fellow students prove their worth, and Willa’s defenses come down. A lot more happens, particularly with another leader, Drew, but part of the story’s fun is to go on this journey with the two girls as they try to work out what’s the best course of action, both in terms of the camp, and in their own personal situation.

Copy provided by Ylva publisher, via Netgalley and read with thanks. Highly recommended for readers who like their novels full of details of strategic manipulation, and getting the better of narcissistic jerks. The romance starts sweet, and grows in intensity and affection. All the secondary characters have something to contribute, camp hi jinks are kept to a minimum, girls stick up for each other, and the dialogue is snarky and real. Apparently there will be another book about Finn and Willa, so don’t be too dismayed by its open ending. Future Leaders of Nowhere was released all the way back in March, and I urge you to find yourself a copy. It’s an excellent example of quality Australian young adult writing.

Every time I read a book by Emily O'Beirne, I remember why I love reading her books. It's rarer to find Australian books by Australian writers than it is to find the same of America, but that's not it. Emily writes characters in YA like you could know these people.

And also she writes bisexual and lesbian characters. She writes them like they were no different to any other YA characters. They still have the same host of surrounding characters and lives that any other person would have.

Finn and Willa are two of the team captains in a camp that is about the Future Leaders, essentially the most intelligent kids from a handful of schools. It seems, at the start, that these girls are not going to get along well at all, but I kinda love Finn here, cause she has a way of pulling people up all the way through that is integral to her character and also helps the plot along more than once.

Willa is harder to decipher, if only because she hides so much of herself behind her living situation and the goal points that she has made for herself. It's honestly a bit of a surprise for me that she even allows herself to pause long enough to have feelings for Finn, but it's beautiful when they do.

I also loved that there was no moment when these girls were made fun of for liking each other after the mean boy ratted them out to everyone else.

The book is choc-full of amazing quotes that I just want every single teenager to read for themselves to keep their minds wide open. Honestly, even mean boy Drew was someone I felt sorry for at the end of this, rather than disliking. Emily O'Beirne did a good job of drawing parallels between Willa and Drew enough to create that emotion.

Welcome to summer camp for the future leaders of the world, chosen for their academic achievements or service to the school! In this frame of clearly defined space and time, Willa, Finn and their fellow camp mates do not only learn how to be future leaders by taking part in a geopolitical and economic simulation game, they will also grow as individuals and, as a bonus, find love in each other.

I loved that both the protagonists and team leaders we are presented here at this camp for the highly gifted are girls. In general, the book does a tremendous job of being actively non-stereotypical, calling out stereotyping, and including lots of sexual, religious and ethnic diversity. Our main characters are Finn, who is bisexual, even though I would have called her pan ("Have you only liked guys?" - "No, I like people."), and Willa, a biracial lesbian. They learn how to have a healthy relationship with lots of communication, and also a bit about their own identity.

What I liked even more than the romance (the ending was just too sugary for my taste) was the genuine female empowerment. These girls are shown to question what kind of person they want to be, what they want and need from life and in a relationship. This book shows girls having plans and opinions, being leaders and taking control without making them bitchy or less feminine. That is really awesome.

The methods of the camp seemed unrealistic and only driven by the conflict and the plot. Also, all the characters that were not Willa or Finn were a bit flat and just mere cliches. Hence the 4/5 star rating. Other than that, though, this is a really great book!

I really love Emily o'Beirne's work. This is the third novel of hers I've read, and I am yet to be let down.
I loved the premise of Future Leaders of Nowhere. I love camp settings, and I thought the concept of their camp was cool - not necessarily cool as in something i'd want to do, but it certainly made for an interesting story.
The characters felt very realistic and 3-dimensional to me, and I was totally in love with Finn and Willa. Both of them.

Damn, that was good.
I got swept up by this story. The captivating camp setting, the amazing characters, the adorable romance and even the politics drew me in and kept me on my toes the whole time. I didn't know this was gonna be a series and I'm so glad it is because I cannot wait to see more of my two girls.
I'm so happy Netgalley introduced me to this author. And I'm gonna go add all her books now!

If I could give this book an endless amount of stars, I would. Along with the author. I've fallen in love with the simple and innocent relationship between Finn and Willa. I've easily connected with Willa and her family on a more person level of being the one that is the fixer. I'm smitten by Finn and her innocence and heart she has for this quiet keep to herself girl Willa and I love that they easily are liked and get along with everyone and I'm a excited for the second book to come.

This is a great book. The two leads Finn and Willa along with the slew of characters in their respective groups at a camp for future leaders are an interesting bunch. I am not a huge fan of YA novels however this was extremely well done and was extremely interesting with some romance thrown in.

As we get into the game and how each party deals with respective situations they are dealt with we find more about them and ourselves.

There are some funny, sweet, and romantic moments in this book and I was extremely pleased to read that there is another coming in Summer 2017. Emily, this means June ok, not August or September ;)

I highly recommend this book.

I kind of had a hard time with Future Leaders of Nowhere. I liked the main idea behind it with finding out who and what a leader is. It definitely has a very interesting idea behind it. The game is an interesting idea and it showed the different approaches very well. Some students, like Willa, took it very serious and others like Amy not so much.

I liked the story but I always feel like all of the books by Emily O'Beirne are filled with a lot of "fluff" to fill them and so I always catch myself reading over some pages quickly because it doesn't seem to be of importance for the story.

Future Leaders of Nowhere has quite a diverse racial cast in and each character has their own personality. I enjoyed both main characters, even though I have to admit that I liked Willa's point of view a bit more. They are both independent characters and don't need each other to make their character full or draw on each other. Their love develops very slowly and like with all her previous books it is kind of not the main point. They form a friendship first and develop feelings for each other - especially Finn, who comes to realize that she likes girls.

All in all I liked it but it was a little too slow at times.