This book wasn't for me. Sadly I have tried to pick it up a bunch of times and it just wasn't grabbing me. The cover is gorgeous though! I will give it that. I wish I felt more connected but it just was a case of not for me.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection and will recommend it to students.

This was a great book! I appreciated that the author drew the parallels between their story and Wuthering Heights because I have never read the original story. I loved the characters and the angst. It was a fun book to get lost in!

Interesting tale with wuthering heights and foster brother situation. Different but I liked the journal aspect of it

This was a book that I tried to finish, but could not do so. The main character's personality was such a turn off that any development she may have had later in the story would not have fixed my opinion. Perhaps I could have enjoyed the story more if the best parts of Wuthering Heights (England and realistic dialogue) were incorporated into the story.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: July 17, 2018

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 13+ (some mature scenes, questionable relationships that might be somewhat immoral)

Pages: 352

Author Website

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Emma’s life has always gone according to her very careful plans. But things take a turn toward the unexpected when she falls in love for the first time with the one person in the world who’s off-limits: her new foster brother, the gorgeous and tormented Dylan McAndrews.
Meanwhile, Emma’s AP English class is reading Wuthering Heights, and she’s been assigned to echo Emily Bronte’s style in an epistolary format. With irrepressible feelings and no one to confide in, she’s got a lot to write about. Distraught by the escalating intensity of their mutual attraction, Emma and Dylan try to constrain their romance to the page―for fear of threatening Dylan’s chances at being adopted into a loving home. But the strength of first love is all-consuming, and they soon get enveloped in a passionate, secretive relationship with a very uncertain outcome.
Tiffany Brownlee's Wrong in All the Right Ways marks the exciting debut of a fresh voice in contemporary teen fiction.

I’d never read Wuthering Heights, but I decided I could read this book without reading the classic. Maybe I was wrong in the end? Who knows. Anyways, I loved the writing of the book and I thought that for the most part the characters were really well developed. I also felt the pacing was really well done.

However, I do feel that the book has some flaws for my own reading. I felt that there was too much instalove and the relationship between Emma and Dylan gave me the creeps. I felt that Dylan and Emma were too cliché and I did not enjoy the male objectification at all. The ending was confusing and it felt like too much was happening. I also didn’t really enjoy the plot twist, but that’s just my opinion.

Verdict: If you like Wuthering Heights, you might like this one!

Emma is intelligent, competitive and talented. She’s on top of her class and at senior high though she’s only 16. Emma dislikes the idea of having a foster brother or sister because she knows she’ll be jealous and she’ll lose her parents attention. Further, her biological brother Matt is excited to have another sibling. And they met, Dylan, Emma and Matt’s foster-brother and around Emma’s age. Dylan has a very tragic story that led him to live in foster care. He use art to express himself and to let go some of his feelings. Also, he goes to school with Emma and had become classmates in one subject. And an intimacy developed between Emma and Dylan. But there are things that hinders their relationship.

It is exciting to read stories about secret forbidden relationships because you keep on guessing how it will turn when someone find it out in the end. There are some parts where my stomach drops because of the effect of those scene to me. At some point, I kind of disappointed at Emma because of how she use Keegan and how she became confuse with her feelings between Dylan and Keegan. When Keegan was introduced in this book, I know he has important role and I can’t help but root for him. I kind of wish that Emma decides to keep Keegan because Dylan is sometimes annoying, irrational and over sensitive. I know he needs protection and that he needs love and care from Emma, but he should not stop her from things that she wanted to do. And surprisingly, Keegan is way better than Dylan which I don’t know if it’s Tiffany’s intention to do that. I mean, I would totally fall for Keegan’s personality and attitude if I’m Emma.

Moreover, I like it that it did not only focus on the romance but also highlights family relationship and friendship. I’m glad that Emma gain best friend, Karmin. She is Keegan’s twin sister and a refreshing character. Further, at a certain time, Emma’s parents relationship struggles after what happened to Dylan. And I believed that opens an opportunity to clear things out and for Emma to speak out. Honestly, I’m speechless at Emma’s outburst.

The story is in good pace and characters are likable, funny (sometimes) and relatable. Most twists are unpredictable and page turner. The anticipation of what will happen if the parents find out added to my excitement and interest. I commend Tiffany’s writing style. It is not complicated and it is engaging.

Highly recommendable if you’re into reading forbidden romance and complicated relationships, and if you’re looking for YA summer read.

P.S. Let’s indulge to that beautiful cover!

This fantastic debut novel is a book I would highly recommend for fans of the Did I Mention I Love You series by Estelle Maskame!

Emma’s life is turned upside down when her parents decide to foster the gorgeous Dylan McAndrews. At the same time her English class are reading Wuthering Heights and with no one else to confide in Emma starts to write to Catherine about her forbidden relationship which threatens Dylan’s chances at being adopted and the other things going on in her life.

Thank you, Macmillan, for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"I've already been your sister and your girlfriend, so being your friend shouldn't be that difficult." —Emma

Wrong in All the Right Ways does have a fantastic cover, but I can't say the same thing about the content. I really wanted to like this modern reimagining of Wuthering Heights, but it fell short in terms of character development, plot cohesion, and dialogue construction.

Initially, I had high hopes for Emma, the protagonist. She was a fellow nerd. Both of us took our studies seriously, loved books, and disliked children. In other words, I thought that I had found a kindred spirit. My opinion changed when Dylan, her foster brother, came into the picture. I had no qualms about the not-really-incestuous relationship, but I just couldn't tolerate the instalove, which was unsurprisingly founded on mere physical attraction. At the end of the book, Emma explained why she fell in love with Dylan. However, it was too late to salvage her lusty image.

Another thing that I didn't like about Emma was her catty attitude toward her parents, her dad in particular. I understood why she resented him. I myself don't want my parents to micromanage my life. Still, Emma's dad didn't deserve to be hated. It felt like the author painted him in such a negative way just because she needed a semblance of an antagonist.

My dislike for Emma increased when she toyed with Keegan, her best friend's twin brother. Honestly, male objectification is just as bad as female objectification. I believe in girl power, but how can manipulating someone be a sign of empowerment? I needn't say more.

As for Dylan, I thought that his arc was pretty ironic. He got pissed off when Emma "assumed" that all foster children had a dark past. Guess what, he actually did have one. In retrospect, Dylan was your typical boy in YA contemporary: handsome, broody, and quite rebellious. Oh, and he was very good at being corny. Just recalling his cheesy conversations with Emma is making me cringe.

Finally, I had a problem with the plot twist that made the last 100 pages seem like a weird Filipino soap opera. The dramas in my country are notorious for using amnesia as a plot device, so I was both surprised and annoyed. Ironically, this overrated trope made the book quite original; it was my first time to encounter it in a Western novel. Har-har.

To end on a positive note, I appreciated how this book made me reflect on love's boundaries. Emma and Dylan's romantic relationship was complicated. I was confident that it was instantaneous, but I wasn't sure if it was illegal or immoral. While reading, I often wondered how such a complicated romance could be dealt with in real life. That open ending didn't help at all.

Overall, Wrong in All the Right Ways deserves two stars because it has more flaws than virtues. I didn't love it, but hardcore fans of Catherine and Heathcliff might feel differently.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this one, even though I wasn't a fan of the original Emily Bronte version of Wuthering Heights. I have a full review posted to my Goodreads profile!

@NetGalley #partner

Thanks to #NetGalley for the review copy of #WrongInAllTheRightWays. All opinions are my own.

This novel WOWed me. You do NOT want to miss Tiffany Brownlee's debut novel.

This novel is a YA reimagining of Wuthering Heights. Emma's not sure what to think when she finds out her parents are bringing home a new foster sibling. She's 16, but she skipped two grades so she's getting ready to leave for college at the end of the school year. Surely she can deal with her foster brother or sister until then. What she doesn't expect is Dylan McAndrews.

Emma finds herself falling in love for the first time in her life. Unfortunately, it's with Dylan, who is definitely off limits. If anyone found out, he would be taken away from them, but everyone loves him in the family. How can she keep this secret hidden without losing her mind?

Seriously, I loved this book. I felt for Emma and just really wished she was my friend so she could confide in me about Dylan. I'm not sure what I would have said to her, but I definitely would have loved to be her friend. She was such a genuine character. Aside from the romantic parts, Emma also just grows so much as a character throughout the book. She starts to meet new friends (She's kind of been a loner since she's so much younger than everyone else) and starts to learn a lot about herself. A+ for character development.

Tiffany Brownlee's new take on an old story is refreshing and exciting. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes YA lit, stories about your first love, and stories about forbidden love and living in the gray area of a life that's never been black and white.

This book comes out tomorrow, so go buy your copy now!

#books #bookstagram #reviewer #ARC

When I saw this book on Netgalley, I was excited. A Wuthering Heights reimagining? Heck yes. I loved Wuthering Heights when I read it at the end of last year, and was excited to see a different take on the classically tragic story. Now I’ve read adaptations of classics before. Jane by April Lindner is an excellent example of a classic turned modern retelling. Is it the best book in the world? No. But it does the classic justice while also giving me some trashy romance to love. So I went into this book with totally realistic expectations. I wasn’t expecting it to blow me away, but I was expecting to like it for what it was.

Boy was I wrong. The dialogue was ridiculously stilted. Sometimes we would change scenes within a chapter without any break or indication that it was happening. Kisses would come COMPLETELY out of nowhere. The main character has no redeemable qualities. Originally, she portrays herself as a plain Jane, easily forgettable type of girl. This assessment is backed up by the fact that she doesn’t have any friends and has never dated anyone: forgettable. However, as soon as the foster brother/love interest character, Dylan, comes into play, we learn that she’s extremely gorgeous. In fact, other female characters back up this fact. Why give us the false representation of her in the first place? Is this supposed to help us feel a camaraderie with her? Because it doesn’t.

I get that this is a reimagining of Wuthering Heights, but don’t make the dang love interest her foster brother. In Wuthering Heights, at least as far as I perceived it, the main roadblock to Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship is the social standing. Foster brother/sister situations back then were extremely different than they are now. He’s basically a glorified hired hand in Wuthering Heights than anything else. Make him the pool boy or something. The “sibling love” relationship trope needs to be OVER.

Now let’s dig in to this foster situation. Emma knows she’s going to be receiving a foster brother/sister. She assumes he/she will be younger to match in age with her younger brother. Before the potential sibling arrives, she’s already jealous of the attention they will be taking off of her from her parents (even though she blatantly disregards both of her parents’ affection for her throughout the book). When she sees it’s a boy her age, she flips immediately. She has a crush on him from the very first second. But then she also doesn’t understand why he won’t call her parents mom and dad. WHY would you want a guy you have a crush on to call your parents mom and dad? And why would he be expected to? He is a 16 year old foster kid and he just met all of you! The fact that she and her parents were bothered by him calling them by their first names/surname BOGGLES MY MIND. Not only that, but Emma and her family are under the impression they will be adopting Dylan when he seems to have no idea about that happening.

Sorry that I’m ranting but this book really gets my blood boiling. Beyond the fact that they’re foster siblings, Emma doesn’t care that their potential relationship could ruin Dylan’s prospects for a happy family life. She doesn’t even consider his side of things in any scenario. The first night he’s in her home, she interrogates him about his home life and is offended when he doesn’t trust her with the “secrets in his eyes” or some crap like that. I can deal with dislikable MC’s if it is shown that they will grow and evolve. I saw no indications of that happening.

The family relationships and dynamic were weird. Not just between Dylan and Emma, but between the parents and younger brother as well. I didn’t root for their relationship, even thought it was implied that I’m supposed to.

I received this book as an arc from Netgalley for my honest opinion. I wanted to like it, but I didn’t. There you go.

I really liked the sound of this book, but sadly it was a disappointment. The relationship between the two MC's was very instantaneous and unrealistic. They also went back and forth quite a bit and didn't know what they wanted. Emma was almost intolerable as a character and changed her feelings multiple times. For me the writing was under par and a bit cringy, so I couldn't connect with it fully and found myself skimming many times. This book had so much potential and the idea was there, but it fell flat for me.

A different spin on 'Wuthering Heights' that brings plenty of drama, conflict, and forbidden romance, but lacked - for me - swoons and a likeable (heck, even tolerable!) MC (Emma) which I guess is par for the course in comparison to Catherine because I don't remember liking her very much either. Honestly, by the end of this book I couldn't stand Emma - her wishy-washiness and downright confusing inconsistencies in her emotions and/or feelings were completely off putting, but again - par for the course! And to be honest, Dylan wasn't that much better. :/

While the story did keep me interested enough to make it to the end, I guess I was expecting something more and unfortunately, this just fell flat for me. :(

*Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review early.*

Kind of like the Hallmark channel . . . completely ridiculous, but you keep watching for the mindless entertainment factor. Well, it was like Freeform meets Hallmark because of the run-of-the-mill high school theatrics of senior year. Yes, you're going to college. So you've never been kissed. So you live in the pool house. Argh. But then there's the romance and you're like, a foster brother, huh? And then you go and find your tattered paperback copy of Wuthering Heights and you start dreaming of Heathcliff. So you wrap up the read and realize they just don't make them like they used to . . . . But really, if you're looking for mindless, this book will go down like a cold can of Sprite on a summer afternoon.

To quote a line from The Great Gatsby
“I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.” That's how I feel about this book.

What I loved: Can't say I LOVED anything.
What I liked: I liked the connection with Wuthering Heights, to be fair though...I've never read Wuthering Heights. BUT, this book did make me want to read it.
What I hated: I didn't feel a strong connection with any of the characters. I'm not sure why.
RA....I think people who loved the Did I Mention...? Trilogy by Estelle Maskame may enjoy this. Some of the same themes resonate.

I just couldn’t connect with either main characters. The stepsister felt too desperate due to the stepbrother’s mixed signals.

Ummmm...not even gonna finish it because it is the very definitions of trite, trope, and tired! I wish I could say it was redeeming in some way, like a great secondary character or something. But, I genuinely can't find anything good about which to comment! It has been almost a decade since I disliked a YA title this much...and that title was wildly successful, so maybe this one will be, too. That's right, I am placing this book in my "Twilight" box with the books that are so badly written that I can't finish them. Sorry.

Not my favorite. Didn't love it connect with the characters. Decent ending but not my favorite. I think some of my students may enjoy this more than I did

Maybe today's youth will find this novel about a girl's first love with her new foster brother interesting, but I didn't. The characters weren't believable. Nothing pulled me into the story. Caveat: I abandoned it about halfway in.