I am a 32 year old woman and I just want to declare that YA novels MAKE ME FEEL ALL OF THE THINGS. If you grew up loving The Parent Trap and summer camp then You Have A Match is the book for you! This book is full of references to great nerdy films, an homage to Instagram fame, and what it means to come of age in the time of social media. The characters were all very likable from the beginning and yet still possessed so much room to grow. Cannot recommend enough, the perfect summer read! Now please excuse me while I go sign up for one of those adult summer camps.

The latest novel follows the lead character Abby discovers she has a biological sister her parents put up for adoption prior to her birth. She then embarks on a journey to work at a summer camp where her sister also works to spend more time with her. The plot was cute and also included a love story between Abby and her friend Leo. I think both stories added a lot to the story, but I did wish for more from the love story at times.
Overall the book was lighthearted and a delight to read!

Lord has delivered another gem of a story. I’m now confident that she’ll be an autoread author for me.

Her characters are imperfectly perfect to the point that you want to reach in and give them all a hug, a mug of cocoa and be best friends with them all.

If you follow Lord on any form of social media (especially Twitter) you know her trademark easy humour. All of that humour oozes into every crevice of her storytelling and becomes vivid as well as giggle inducing.

You Have a Match is a young adult contemporary romance standalone by Emma Lord. This book was a super cute read that instantly transported me to summer time. I loved the summer camp setting, the friendships explored in You Have a Match we great and I loved all of the romances present as well. All in all this was a fun book. I didn't fall head over heels in love with it, but I did enjoy my time spent reading the story.

In You Have a Match we meet our main character, Abby who discovers she has a secret sister that she never knew anything about. I know you are totally thinking parent trap like I was, but here they are not twins and Abby (and her sister's parents) are still together. They are not divorced and they are only parents to Abby. So there is another element at play here as to just what went down between Abby's parents and the parents of her sister- Savannah (or Savvie). Abby and Savvie decide to attend the same summer camp so they can get to know each other. I liked that this story was just as much about friendships as it was summer romances, because I enjoyed watching Abby and Savvie get to know each other most of all. They are complete opposites, and though I found myself relating way more to Savvie than I did to Abby, I could appreciate their path to getting to know each other and getting along.

I think the main reason why my love of We Have a match didn't blossom into more was because I felt a disconnect with Abby. I couldn't relate to a lot of her actions. She goes about things in a very different way than I do (especially with school) so it was hard for me to feel a lot of sympathy for her. I could sympathize with the loss of her family member and with what happened with her best friend Leo, who I loved! All in all this was a fun book and is perfect for readers who like stories that are focused on the relationships of a group of characters, rather than just the main two characters. In We Have a Match we get to know (and get to see) what is happening with Abby, Savvie, Leo, and about 3 of their other camp friends. I appreciated all of their individual storylines very much!

This is a young adult novel that I could not get enough of. It does deal with very heavy topics but it is an all encompassing novel that talks about love, mental health, grief and some deep teen angst. The story opens with a life changing event for Abby, what she thought was going to be a genetics test of her unibrow abilities turns out to actually unearth a long lost sister. A sort of Parent Trap story ensues with the two meeting up at camp. With the Puget Sound in the background, they find that unearthing their parent’s secrets might be what breaks the camel’s back. There’s also a whole bunch of fun at summer camp with summer romances and character changing discoveries.

I read one of Emma Lord's other books and enjoyed it, so I thought I would try this one as well. It wasn't quite as good as the other one I read, but it was still a good read. I managed to finish it within a day, and found myself wanting to know what would happen next. The main character's relationship with her deceased grandfather tugged at my heart strings because it was reminiscent of my own relationship with my now deceased grandfather. I found myself getting frustrated that a lot of the problems in the book could have been solved if the characters had just opened their mouths and talked to each other, but reminded myself that they are teenagers, and teens don't always do things the way an adult would . This is definitely going to be a hit with the YA crowd.

4.5 STARS

I loved  TWEET CUTE. With YOU HAVE A MATCH Emma Lord ups the ante and if she continues on this path she'll soon become one of the top YA author comparable to the best of the best in this genre. I adored this story.

I adored the growing friendship between Abby and Savvy that started out a little antagonistic. I loved Abby's love interest Leo although I think the romance took a bit of a back seat in this one but it made Abby and Savvy shine all the more. The summer camp setting gives you this feeling of freedom you have when you are on vacation where you visited as a teenager and fondly remember your youthful idiocy. I loved to see Abby grow from someone avoiding confrontation to face issues head on and Savvy, the stickler to rules to become more relaxed. They had a balancing influence on one another.

A few days ago I had no idea Savvy existed. Now I feel like she’s been slowly leaking into my life for years, lurking in places I never thought to look— apparently even in places I already did.

I enjoyed all the Harry Potter references and other pop culture nods that are so YA. They are what Star Wars references are to me. Also, I'm a huge nerd when it comes to marine wildlife and all the talk about killer whales and the Pacific North West which I consider my second home made my heart go pitter-patter. The story about Springer, the orca that was reintroduced into the wild after being separated from her (Northern Residents) pod is true and well researched.

The secret why Abby had a full-blooded sister she didn't know about was kept far into the story and it was what made this story unputdownable. I really wanted to know how that came about and the solution was pretty heartbreaking and I didn't see it coming.

YOU HAVE A MATCH was an immensely entertaining coming of age story that gave me food for thought and made me a little nostalgic. I will definitely continue reading this author's stories!

"I wish you saw yourself the way I see you."

You Have a Match is a young adult romance that follows a teenage girl discovering a secret older sister and opening herself up to love over the course of one summer. It’s a funny, dramatic and emotional read that covers a lot of ground, from found family and adoption to finding your path as a young adult.

Abby Day knows who she is: she’s the oldest of four, a photography fiend, best friend to Connie and Leo, and a bit of a screw-up. Since the death of her beloved grandfather, Abby hasn’t been getting the kind of grades you need to pass English, let alone to get into college. She’s also struggling with feelings for Leo, not wanting to ruin their lifelong friendship when

Abby knows he doesn’t like her back. Enter Savvy, eighteen years old, an Instagram phenom, and, somehow, Abby’s older sister.

Abby and Savvy only have a few weeks before Savvy goes to work as a camp counselor, so they work fast. Abby capitulates to her parents’ desire for her to go to SAT prep camp, coincidentally, the same program Savvy is a part of. This gives the two girls a whole month together, away from both sets of parents, to figure out how their parents know each other, what happened to drive them apart, and why neither knew about the other. At camp, Abby chaffes against the strict rules, and the girls’ personalities clash, though Abby is able to make new friends with her cabinmates and even bond with Savvy’s friends. Strangely enough, the same camp that Savvy has attended since childhood is Leo’s summer camp, and Abby isn’t expecting to see him when they meet at the ferry to the camp’s island location. Abby has to reckon with her feelings for Leo and her reluctance to resolve conflicts if she is going to find any closure before the end of the summer.

This book is deeply complex. It has a large cast of characters, both at camp and back home, and both Savvy and Abby have rich lives and interconnected problems. All of the secondary characters have their own issues to resolve and are well-defined as people. The story is paced very well and follows Abby’s emotional journey in a realistic and satisfying way.

Leo is a really great love interest; he’s kind, gentle and passionate about his interests. While I think the romantic gesture can be a bit overdone, Leo’s soft encouragement and the things he does for Abby are perfectly supportive without being overbearing. I really liked him; he has a journey of his own in the story, of coming to terms with being adopted himself, and connecting with his Filipino culture after being raised in a white family. The love story is high stakes, considering his and Abby’s lifelong friendship, but high reward, given the potential for the same kind of lifelong happiness.

The only thing I didn’t love about this book was the constant obstacles that were thrown between Abby and Savvy; it didn’t feel necessary to have them at each other’s throats over one perceived slight or another. Every time they make up and resolve their issues, another one crops up seemingly out of nowhere. The manufactured conflict wasn’t really necessary; the girls are different enough that they don’t need a botched prank to drive wedges between them.

Overall, I really loved reading You Have a Match. It’s the perfect read for anyone nostalgic for summer camp.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent retailer
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Thank to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book as an eARC.
I adored Tweet Cute by this author! It had just the right blend of teenage angst and love interest and family drama with a sweet ending. Unfortunately, You Have a Match just didn't hold my attention and doesn't read the same. I was expecting a light-hearted and fun teenage story about a girl who unexpectedly receives the results of DNA testing that she did with her friends for a laugh and she finds out about a full sister who has been raised in a different family. To me, as an adult maybe and therefore not the target audience, I felt like for a girl who claimed to be tight with her friends and family, she didn't handle the situation as one would anticipate. Because of this suspension of any reality, I just had to give up on this book.
I'm sure it will be loved by many who it is targeted to but that's not me.
I will continue to consider Emma Lord's future work as a possible read for me. This one just didn't do it. The writing style is still great and consistent with what I would expect from this author, so the book wasn't the problem, it just wasn't a match for me.
#YouHaveAMatch #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #WednesdayBooks

Abby Day signs up for a DNA service to support her adopted friend Leo who is doing the test to possibly find out more about his birth parents. When Abby gets her results back, she’s shocked to find out that she has a full sister in the system, who she never knew existed. Abby and her newly found sister Savannah meet and decide to go to a summer camp to get to know each other and to figure out why Abby’s parents had a daughter who they gave up for adoption a year and a half before Abby was born.

The Parent Trap was one of my favourite movies when I was a kid, so I was so excited to read this book with a similar premise. In the movie, two twin sisters meet each other at a camp, and realize that their parents split up and each took one of the twins. This story is a little different since the girls weren’t twins and one was adopted to another family, but it had the same theme of finding a sister that you never knew you had.

This story was also a little suspenseful because of the mystery surrounding Savannah’s adoption. It seemed unusual that Abby’s parents would have a child who was given up for adoption and then a year and a half later have another child who they kept. I couldn’t figure out why that happened, so it was a surprise when it was revealed. I have heard of cases like this happening with adopted children before, where parents give up a child for adoption and then have more children later. DNA services are also making it more common for people to find relatives that they didn’t know existed, which I think will be a common story in many books in the future.

I really enjoyed this fun summer story!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful sophomore novel from Emma Lord! I just love her writing style and her characters, and I think the development in her writing between Tweet Cute and this novel is obvious. I had total Parent Trap vibes in this novel, and since that’s my favorite movie of all time, you know this had to be a hit for me. I can’t wait to see what else Emma Lord comes up with!

After reading Emma Lord's 'Tweet Cute,' I knew that I'd have to read everything else she wrote after that. 'You Have A Match' was a sweet, heartwarming story that captured me almost immediately. I found myself wanting to invite myself into the friend group that is Abby, Leo, and Connie, while also wanting to discover a secret sister that I never had.

I found it refreshing to read about a main character who isn't perfect. Abby Day doesn't get the best grades and sometimes makes the wrong decisions and has a never-ending list of regrets and has no idea what she really wants to do with her life, but all of that's okay. She's young and living life day by day, as she should. It was also refreshing that on the other side of things, having a character like Savvy who from the outside perspective is perfect, confront the truth that she's not everything she makes herself out to be on social media.

This was a really refreshing read. Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved Emma's debut novel, Tweet Cute, so when I was reached out about reading You Have A Match, I couldn't say no. And I was not disappointed either.

I landed myself in a HUGE book slump in 2020, and contemporaries seemed to be the only thing that was helping me read, and I remembered I had this e-arc from netgalley I had started and never got back to. When I started reading You Have A Match again, I was immediately sucked back in and consumed the novel practically from start to finish in one night.

It was engaging, adorable, and SUPER emotional. I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a few times reading some of the more emotional moments between Abby and Savvy, as well as Abby and Savvy's parents with each other. I was not expecting the twist behind how Abby and Savvy were sisters and how they came to be separated. It was raw and emotional and I really felt for these characters.

Even the side characters brought so much life to this book - I almost want a story about some of the other camp members. But that's wishful thinking. The romance was probably my favorite part. Best friends to lovers with a dash of unrequited love. SO good.

I desperately want more of this universe. If you liked the Parent Trap, you'll LOVE this book.

How sweet is this book!? Sisters finding each other, secret crush revealed. This is all kinds of perfect. Funny and Sweet. One of the best reads of the year.

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Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy to review.
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I had high hopes for this book since I adored her first book, but I struggled with this one for about the first half of the book. I couldn’t get into the relationships between the characters. It did develop more in the second half so that’s what pulled me back into the book, but not enough for me to adore it.
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This one is a 3 star for me. It was okay. I will continue to read her books since I’m at a 50/50 split.
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In a world where DNA test are being used to build one's family tree and ancestry, this books offers a relevant and unique storyline.

Even after reading the book description, I still was surprised by many elements that were added in between the pages. Abby, a great photographer and even greater friend, joins her best friend/secret crush Leo in doing a DNA test for more support, or so she thinks. She does not think much of it, as she clearly knows where she comes from, until she doesn't once she receives the results.

Many families might have skeletons hidden, but Abby's discovery leaves her thinking maybe she does not know her parents. This ultimately affects her into her self-discovery, and dealing with one unexpected family member. that just so happens to look like her and be her crush's summer buddy.

This books has so many elements that worked wonderfully throughout the story, and it might be overwhelming at some points, but it contributes with the magic of it. I could not put this book down until the last page.

Strongly recommend it for readers that are looking for a unique topic and a wholeheartedly storyline!

This was my first book by Emma Lord and I would be willing to try her again even though this book was not my favorite. I liked the writing style but had a hard time connecting to the story!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for supplying me of an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In You Have a Match by Emma Lord, Abby and her two friends take a DNA test. Abby is reluctant and not actually that interested, so she is shocked when the results come back and reveal that she has a full-blood older sister that she knows nothing about! After the two meet, Abby realizes that she and her "secret sister," Savvy, are nothing alike. However, Abby decides to attend the summer camp where Savvy is a counselor in an attempt to get to know her sister better and for the two to try to unravel their parents' secrets.

I haven't read Emma Lord's first novel, Tweet Cute, but I have heard great things about it and was looking forward to this book being a fun, cute, relaxing read. I was not disappointed! The summer-camp setting was entertaining, but my favorite part of the book was how genuine all of the characters were and seeing both Abby and Savvy develop throughout the book.

While Abby and Savvy clash at first, they get to know each other at camp and start to act like true sisters—in the ways they fight and the ways that they support each other. Both sisters have anxiety, but deal with it very different ways. Abby is impulsive and sometimes reckless and deals with her anxiety by ignoring and running from her problems. Opposite to her, Savvy copes by being extremely organized and following rules. Seeing the two coming together and bonding was so heartwarming!

For a book that dealt with a whole lot of issues and multiple plot lines—secret sisters, friends-to-lovers romance, camp shenanigans, and a whole lot of parental drama—I was incredibly impressed with how balanced the book felt. It didn't feel like one aspect of the book overpowered any of the others, which isn't uncommon in these types of books.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this story! I laughed (a lot) and finished the book smiling. It was the perfect happy, heartwarming, fun read that I was looking for. I highly recommend this one!

I went into this book thinking it was going to be just a cute love story but boy was I wrong. This story packed a punch. Yes, it had its share of romance, even if the characters were stubborn and had their heads up their butts for the majority of the book. But that's not what the meat of this story was about. It was about family, relationships, lies and their power, and it was about forgiveness. I really enjoyed Lord's first book and feel this is a great follow up book that shows a little more depth. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. I really enjoyed this book.

When Abby sends off a cheek swab DNA test with her best friends as part of a genealogy unit in science, she gets a lot more than she bargained for: a sister she never knew she had. Despite the fact that they came from the same bio parents, they couldn't be more different. Savvy is an Instagram influencer with a crazy number of followers, organized to the extreme, always in charge and on top of everything. Abby is something of a rule-breaking daredevil, and her frizzy hair and the holes in her jeans tell the tale of her always climbing things to get the perfect camera angle. The two girls agree to attend the same summer camp to see if they can get to know each other and figure out why their parents kept them apart. But with old friends and secret crushes in the mix, things get very complicated very quickly. And when their families eventually come together, will they get the answers they've been looking for or end up separated again...this time for good?

I love Emma Lord's writing so much. She has such a breezy style but somehow manages to say deep, poignant things that just get right to your heart. This one wasn't as light-hearted and fun as Tweet Cute, but I still really enjoyed it. I think there was just a more serious tone to this one, and there wasn't as much room for humor (although it was there in occasional places...Finn was hilarious and I kind of hope he gets his own book). There are a LOT of heavy and important things in this story: adoption, figuring out where you come from vs. who you are, family, divorce, grief and loss, Instagram vs. reality, learning what you want to do with your life, friendships changing with time, forgiveness, acceptance that parents aren't perfect, etc. etc. I mean, Lord covered a lot here. The characters are real and flawed but learning and trying and growing. Even the adults, thank goodness! As a parent of teenagers myself, I think it's SO vital to send the message that no one ever has all the answers or gets it 100% perfectly right. We're never "done." I loved that.

As a silly side note that is entirely a "me" thing and will not necessarily be the case for all readers, it drove me nuts that Abby gave her camera a name and referred to it as Kitty throughout the book. She and Kitty would climb a tree, Abby would run back to the cabin to grab Kitty...gah! I get that the point was that the camera was so real and important to Abby that it was like a person, but it really bugged me. I almost knocked off half a star for that, but the rest of the book was so great that I just couldn't bring myself to be that petty. :)

Anyway, no sophomore slump for Emma Lord! This was a great follow-up from her, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!**