I was not feeling this book. I hate when black shame other black people for their upbringing. I wasn't able to get through this and I really wanted to like this one.

This audiobook was amazing at keeping my attention and being a wonderful performance. This book is a wonderful fit for all of the current ya romance I'll love and devoured as light, enjoyable fiction. The conflict was so much nicer than some other books I've read recently, not extremely annoying at the little ways it could be combated. I hope to plan to pick up more of Goffney's work in the future.

This was a cute little novel with characters with relatable problems. In some ways it was trying to do too much. I felt like a few important topics got skipped over. Overall enjoyable read.

Wow, this one was a doozy. I have so much empathy for Quinn as someone who also keeps a crazy amount of lists. I found her and Carter so sweet and loved listening to this story. I was surprised by the audio voice, but I got over it quickly. This was an easy to enjoy work.

Quinn is a senior in high school. This year has not been going as planned. She's not doing well in her classes, she lied to her parents about college, she not speaking to her boyfriend and now her journal is being held for ransom. Her journal is filled with lists; boys she'd like to kiss, places she wants to visit, and things to do before she graduates. When the blackmailer challenges her to do the things on the graduate list to get the journal back, she isn't ready. With the help of some new friends, she will try to tackle the list and get her journal back.

Thank you to Harper Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This book really held my attention throughout. This was a very different story than I've read before. I'm a big fan of YA and this one was really good. Quinn is the type of character that you can relate to. I think when I was a teen, I made a lot of lists of things I wanted to do and boys I thought were cute, teachers and I didn't like and ones I loved. I would have been devastated if my secret personal thoughts got out into the world.

Quinn treats her journal like a best friend, sharing all her fears and secrets within its pages. When studying together, Carter accidentally picks up her journal with his books, inevitably losing it at school the next day. Before she knows it, her private journal pages are being posted and she begins to be blackmailed over her darkest secrets. She has no choice but to team up with Carter if she wants to stop the blackmail and get her journal back.

This was so good! I was so happy that the book had the perfect amount of humor added to the story. While I think the overall plot wasn't extremely intricate or unpredictable, the romance and humor kept me hooked. I listened to this one with the synthetic voice audio and I still felt like the delivery was great and could only get better in the "real" versions.

I also loved seeing Quinn talk about her identity and finding people she could relate to because of that. Quinn has obviously made some mistakes (thank god she kept a handy list of all of them in one notebook LOL) but that made her character real and her growth all the more satisfying as the story progressed. I was so happy to read a romance about Black love and I have seen Black reviewers also praising the romance for that reason though I cannot speak to that representation myself. I feel like I was able to learn a lot from this book!

This was good but the romance didn’t do it for me and that was the part I was hoping for. This book dealt with a lot of issues but it didn’t feel fully formed and instead felt like all the topics were scattered.

I recently learned my lesson when it comes to requesting advanced listening copies. I didn't think twice to realize that since the book could be changed, that the listening copy wouldn't be narrated by a person. The monotone of the narrator wasn't my jam, and I couldn't get into it.

I think, if I was to read this book, instead of listening, I would have enjoyed it very much.

I have learned my lesson!!!! Ahhhhhh

Quinn was beyond relatable with her anxiety, her imposter syndrome, her overthinking, I mean almost everything about this girl was me!

It touched on super important racial issues that still thrive to this day, The diversity was effortless and perfectly written and the chemistry between Quinn and Carter was off the charts. Despite not being an audiobook lover, this story sucked me in and would not let me go.

I loved it.

I freaking loved Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry. I absolutely loved it! The plot is great, the characters unforgettable, and the writing is so clever.

This isn’t a fake-dating trope, but it’s reminiscent of To All the Boys I Loved Before. Quinn keeps lists of everything, including all the things she doesn’t want anyone to know. So when her notebook goes missing and she is being blackmailed into admitting the things she never wanted to tell anyone, one of her worst enemies because her unlikely ally. What follows is one of the very best enemies-to-lovers stories I’ve ever read.

I loved the characters - Quinn, Carter, Olivia, Matt. Everyone was so wonderfully thought-out and well-developed. Obviously, Quinn writing all her secrets in a generic easily mixed up notebook was, for lack of a better word, dumb. But without it, there’s no story. And while I hate that she’s literally being blackmailed, I’m glad she is given a push to accomplish all these things that are important to her.

The romance was so sweet, but the deeper topics were also handled really well. Racism and colorism play large roles in this book, but weren’t the main focus of the book. I adore when a writer can portray such range and balance between the loveliness of a story and the challenging topics that add truth to fiction.

I will read Joya Goffney again - I can’t wait to see what she writes next. If this debut is any indication of what’s to come, we are all in for such joy.

This book was okay! Different than I expected it would be, but they covered a lot of important topics.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say that I enjoyed this book. I love the main characters personality and how the books covers various problem such as high school drama, trust and fear.
I felt bad for what happen to her but I enjoy the ending.

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry is such a cute contemporary and romance story. The novel covered a wide range of topics including racism, bullying, and privilege. I love that the story centered around Quinn and her lost journal. Without her journal and knowing someone is blackmailing her with the content, she is able to go and do the things she wanted to do but didn't have the courage for. I didn't love that she only did them because she felt forced to by the cyberbully but it was great to see Quinn break out of her shell and experience things she really wanted to. Quinn and the rest of the characters in the book were all super likable and I loved seeing them all go through changes throughout the story. I loved how the romance played out and I would definitely love to read more about it if there was ever a chance!

I will not be giving this book feedback. I thought it was a book, not an audio book. I will leave feedback when I read the physical copy.

This book was so cute! I loved the character growth we got to see through Quinn, how she realized her world was different than she thought it was. I also liked how we get multiple people who face the consequences of their actions, people reflect and apologize or are punished, its nice to see people learning and growing. I did like the romance in this book but really I loved the self love Quinn earned. She learned a lot of life lessons and just like the photo of her taken on Hattie's property, she pops off the page at the end of the book.

It's a cute YA book with an interesting premise.

I did struggle a bit listening to this on audiobook with the computer generated voice. With an actual narrator or physically reading it might have been easier to connect with the story.

I liked the idea of the main character holding a journal . Always wanted one too. This read holds a lot of heartbreak, some honour and a lot of love. Totally enjoyable and loved the audiobook version of the book.

I received this book at an audio galley--which i didn't realize meant it would be a robot voice. I didn't get through it, but have added it to my TBR pile as a physical copy because the first few chapters grabbed me!

This whole book is amazing!

𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬
𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴!

This is 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 a fantastic book everyone should read! I hope this review doesn't sound 𝘵𝘰𝘰 jumbled, but bear with me!?

Like this bright & beautiful cover, I feel like this book is partially about learning how to 𝘱𝘰𝘱 against the background instead of fading into it♥️

This whole book is amazing! I love the writing & how well-developed the characters are! More than that, I feel like there are so many aspects if the characters that are realistic & relatable.

This book was a good reminder in a few areas... Sometimes you (in this case, both Quinn & I!) think that if you don't look at it just ignore something for long enough, that it'll take care of itself. Eventually it should 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳, whatever the problem. But that's lying to yourself & this book illustrates it can hurt both yourself & those around you. If you have the opportunity to tell the truth, you have to go for it.

I love the chapter where Quinn goes back to revisit her grandma Hattie's property right before the new owners move in. Seeing Quinn accepting who she is on the 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 property where she used to bond with Hattie was beautiful. Plus, the photo Arden took of her was 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 way to capture the moment, & the way the photo is 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘥... 😍 Quinn's 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 off the page, looking so perfectly herself, flaws & all. I was just so proud of her as the reader in that moment for finally seeing that side of herself & kinda celebrating her recent triumphs.

Something sorta relevant to today's social & political climate, is that it explores how to deal with friends when they say & or do something racist. At the end of the book, Quinn finally has a conversation with her friend Destiny that - at the very least - gives the audience a peek into how to 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 a conversation about race between friends, & how color blindness isn't a great answer either.

I wasn't expecting this read to be so cute. I love that it challenges the idea of blackness and of course the romance happening with the characters. Definitely a fun read!