I loved this book. A lot. 4.5/5 stars. .

The only reason why this is 4.5/5 stars instead of five stars is because, while I love a good slowburn romance, this one was very, very slow. But the plot was strong enough that even though it wasn't centered around the romance, I enjoyed it immensely. Once I got into this book I could not put it down and I found myself up at 2am straining my eyes to read it. The pacing was incredibly fast and the plot was well thought out and suspenseful. I loved all of the mischief that the characters got into helping Aideen complete favors, and each of these favors were unique and not repetitive. As someone who typically reads fantasy and adventure for the adrenaline rush, I found my heart beating incredibly fast during some of the more suspenseful scenes.

I also fell head over heels in love with each and every one of the characters, especially Aideen, Meabh, and Kavi. Each of these characters felt like real, complex people with intersecting lives and multiple conflicts. Both Aideen and Meabh were incredibly well developed and I loved the lesson learned from Aideen taking care of everyone else problems accept her own. Her inner monologue as well as her interactions with her teachers and other figures in her life were absolutely hilarious. The book, while lighthearted, with a ton of funny lines, also dealt with many serious topics such as alcohol addiction, bullying, class differences, and friendships. The way that the author wrote the difficulty of letting go of an old friendship despite knowing the toxicity of it was incredibly well done and I could see my own experiences within that conflict. Kavi, Aideen, and Meabh have what must be my new favorite fictional friendship. Every time they had a scene together, I found myself beaming and trying to savor the rest of that scene until it ended. I also loved how this book had a wlw romance, but it wasn't centered around coming out. It just involved two girls navigating their feelings together with a high school backdrop. This is the queer book I've been looking for.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve fallen arse over tit in love with Ciara Smyth’s hilarious writing style. If I had to relive my teenage years, I would definitely want to hang out with Aideen because I know that we would never have a dull moment between us. I couldn’t stop laughing at Aideen’s entertaining wisecracks and I truly enjoyed tagging along with Aideen, Meabh and Kavi while they were caught up with pulling off mischievous schemes in order to help other students solve their problems. This phenomenal author went above and beyond to create relatable, endearing and well fleshed out characters who were trying their best to deal with their emotional baggage and painful family issues.

After being blown away by how good of a debut Ciara Smyth had last year with The Falling in Love Montage, I was eagerly awaiting her next book, and was super excited when I received an ARC of Not My Problem.

And my high expectations were totally met. This book is great!

This book follows Aideen, who is struggling to take care of her mother, struggling with her grades, and struggling with her relationship with her only friend, but seems to have a knack to come up with solutions to all of her classmates problems. One of these is she "helps" model student Meabh get out of several of her extracurriculars by breaking her ankle with a little push down the stairs, she is seen and that sets off a chain of actions Aideen didn't exactly sign up for.

This book was so enjoyable. It was extremely funny, it was heartbreaking, it was interesting in the sense that you couldn't always guess what was going to happen next, it was raw, and felt real.

I loved Aideen. She is such a wonderful and flawed character, and had to grow up so fast, and with that hasn't always learned the best coping mechanisms. She is so funny, her witty retorts can almost carry the book all on its own, but there is so much more to both her and the book. As an adult reading, a lot of her choices she makes can seem so frustrating but also so believable because I honestly couldn't say if I wouldn't take similar actions when I was in school. Aideen cares so deeply too. She is very closed off but after the life she has, naturally her defense levels are high, but people she trusts, she really loves despite flaws. Aideen just felt so human a character and was so well rounded.

Also seeing a character like her was really refreshing in the sense, a lot of YA books I've read recently, the families might have some struggles but never with money. I really appreciated having a character who isn't coming from a wealthy background and can't throw money to solve many of her problems. Similarly with her grades. Many YA novels that show students in high school, grades aren't a real struggle- the struggles can come from other places. But having an MC have many things she can't control in her life affect her grades, to me felt very real.

The relationship between Aideen and Meabe is very cute and I enjoyed seeing them progress from not being able to stand each other, to growing on each other, to genuinely learning from each other and open up, to a relationship. It was a very heartwarming progression. But my favorite relationship and how this book explored it was the strained friendship between Aideen and her best friend Holly. Aideen can feel Holly pulling away from her and is very hurt by this, but as Holly is her only real friend, there is no one she can talk to about it. And at the same time she needs Holly when other areas of her life spiral. And I felt like it was a very real dynamic between friends. It reminded me a lot of the dynamic of being friends with exes (for the record Aideen and Holly are not exes) and walking on eggshells with certain topics around them, but also them sometimes being the only ones who see you when something is going wrong. I just really like how Smyth explored the decaying of their friendship yet a strong bond between them. It was really well done.

There are other relational dynamics that are really well done too, especially the complicated relationship Aideen has with her mom, her new friend Kavi, and her teacher who cares for her and sees through her. I can't pontificate about everything in a review, but there really is fantastic character work in this book.

The story is really amusing too! I think shenanigans would be a good way to describe everything that happens, but it's wildly entertaining seeing Aideen jump through hoops with her little crew to solve everyone's problems.

As a side note, I have seen criticisms in reviews of other queer books, both YA and adult, often times sexualities aren't specifically labeled. And that isn't always a bad thing, but it is nice to see specifics mentioned. And in this book Aideen (and Meabh) definitely aren't afraid to call themselves lesbians.

I had a streak of disappointing to above average books for a bit, but this is the second straight book to get a 4.5 or above rating and I hope I'm on a new streak of great books! This was great, especially with it's characters. I'm definitely a full fledged fan of Ciara Smyth now, and will eagerly anticipate her future releases! 5/5

In Not My Problem, Ciara Smyth provides for a well-worn but appreciated trope of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. The concept is far from new, and the actual pacing of the novel isn't superb, but the story as a whole will likely steal readers' hearts. The text is extremely readable and the resolution is adorable and real.

Not My Problem is a book I would suggest to both teens and adults who love a good book. Ciarra Smyth did a great job of weaving marginalized populations into one story while avoiding stereotypes. She kept the writing light when the topics were heavy. She added a touch of romance without stealing the importance Aideen's character growth. Overall, this was a great read that should be enjoyed by many.

Click the link below for my full review.

A smashing sophomore novel about a teen who's struggling to hide the difficulties of her home life, who accidentally ends up running a social enterprise to solve her classmates' problems. Both the romance and friendship sub-plots were masterfully developed.

I loved The Falling in Love Montage so I was very excited to read this book and it did not disappoint whatsoever. The writing was very funny and also very serious when it needed to be. I really liked Aideen's character arc and how she dealt with her feelings around her mother and Holly.

Thank you, NetGalley for a digital ARC of Not My Problem.

Wow, wow, wow was this book such a pleasant surprise! I've heard a lot of good things about The Falling in Love Montage, although I haven't read it myself yet, and of course I'm always down for queer literature so I felt compelled to request this book. I went into this book without any expectations but I was totally hooked by the first chapter.
I related hard to a lot of the themes. As someone who grew up in a somewhat impoverished area, Smyth hit the nail on the head when it comes to Aideen's struggle with poverty and how it doesn't just affect her home life, but her education and social life as well. As a chronic overachiever, I also related to Meahab's struggle with taking on too much just to feel adequate.
I really just fell in love with all the characters. I'm a sucker for "people who seemingly have nothing in common accidentally become best friends" and this definitely delivered on that aspect. Also, Kavi will forever be a comfort character.
The problems Aideen helped her peers with felt true to real life. They didn't have super crazy or dangerous problems like a lot of teen dramas tend to portray nowadays. Smyth really brought to life what it means to be a teenager while avoiding some of the cliches and tropes other YA novels tend to indulge.
One of the things I think I liked most about this book is how the romance developed. I'm not a huge romance fan, especially when it comes to YA, but I do like romance when it develops naturally and isn't always the forefront of the story. I found myself rooting for the romance in this case and I think wasn't oversexualized like some wlw romances are. I'm also SO glad the characters falling in love were already "out" as queer. Don't get me wrong, coming-out stories are super important, but I think it's just as impactful to see two queer characters fall in love without that tacked on as well.
This has been one of my favorite reads so far this year, and that's saying a lot because I've read some pretty good stuff lately. I'm excited for it to be released so I can buy myself a copy!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3940903566

I enjoyed reading this book. It was rather easy to read. I liked the characters, I liked how they all had flaws. I think the story and the plot progressed quite well and that was good. I feel like how Aideen was treated by Ms. Devlin wasn't super realistic, I'm not Irish so maybe that how things work in Ireland, but I don't think that Aideen would've been able to constantly get out of classes and homework without an actual teacher or principal intervention. Additionally, I found her to be really annoying at some times in the book. Of the things I liked, I loved how Aideen's and Meabh interacted and how their romance worked, I loved the favor for a favor plot, I think that was such an amazing concept and it was handled well. I'm not sure if teenagers a really that nice or desperate but maybe it's just an Ireland thing. I especially loved Aideen's character arc involving Holly, and how she realized that Holly wasn't such a good friend, and how she handled that maturely. All in all, the reason I probably don't find it realistic is that I call my mom mother instead of mam (joke).

I really loved this one. It wasn't a romance, in my opinion, but it was great. I felt like the romance wasn't the most important part of this book, it was a great bonus but to me this book really was about how to stop avoiding your problems and learning to ask for help and how that's not so easy.
I had a really good time reading this. I mean, I cried some and raged from time to time but I also laughed. A lot.

4/5 stars

Not My Problem is a story about a girl named Aideen, who feels as though her best friend doesn't care for her anymore and is struggling. She barely attends class and is getting low marks across the board. Aideen absolutely despises Meabh, who is an overachieving and annoying person. But one day, she finds Meabh on a brink of a total meltdown and together they pitch a plan for Aideen to push Meabh down the stairs so that she can get a break from everything going on in her life. But when a person overhears this entire encounter and starts to bring in more "clients" for Aideen to help, it starts Aideen's new project.

This book was super fun, I loved Meabh and related to her on a personal level. I absolutely adore the friendship dynamics in this book and how they interacted with each other. This was an easy and quick read that had me wanting more. There were a tons of raw discussions of alcoholism and how a child is forced to deal with the actions of their parent.

The romance in this book is to die for. It is a slowburn and they do not get together until the very end, but it was nice to see their interactions and see their feelings develop. It didn't feel rushed or too slow and everything happened within reason.

But, I had one major problem with this book. The ending. It felt rushed and unfulfilling. It left me with more questions than answers. I wished the book did a better job of wrapping up the alcoholism aspect of this book. There were also a couple of pop culture references that I know will not age well and in a few years will not make sense.

I would recommend this book. Anyone who loves a good coming of age queer book will love this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Not My Problem” by Ciara Smyth was such a joy to read. This book made me laugh out loud more than once and I found myself grinning like a fool more throughout most of it.

Smyth did a fantastic job of developing all of the characters in the book. The reader really gets the sense of everyone’s personality and their purpose in the story.

The buildup of the romance—though I wouldn’t classify this book as a YA romance—was a real slow burn. It wasn’t the central plot in the novel and I know that many will find that to be a breath of fresh air.

My only real issue was that it wrapped up very quickly. The problems that Aideen dealt with throughout the book resolved in a way that felt unsatisfying. But, that could just be a me thing.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read YA, especially books centered around LGBTQ+ characters where the issues in the book aren’t surrounding coming out or coming to terms with one’s sexuality.

What an absolute delight of a book. Heartfelt & funny. It was such an enjoyable read. The characters were so interesting and dynamic. I felt the same about Ciara Smyth’s debut The Falling In Love Montage. She writes incredible YA characters and couples. It feels very authentic to how teenagers are. I enjoyed this so much.

This book was amazing. I loved every bit of it. The story had so many levels of problems. Personal, family and friend problems. The author was brilliant with bringing the issues to the personal level. I loved how everyone and I mean everyone had stuff to deal with. No one is exempt from issues. We are all struggling with something. We need to remember that.
Enjoy!

A fun and fast YA LGBTQ read. I wish there was an epilogue or something to wrap the story up a bit more. I would also have liked a pronunciation guide for some of the character’s names as they were unfamiliar to me.

This book follows Aideen who is struggling with her relationship with her mother who struggles with alcohol use, struggling with her grades at school, and struggling with her best friend who seems to be the queen of passive aggressive comments. Aideen is also queer, hysterically sarcastic, and somehow falls into a new scheme at school of helping her classmates get out of trouble. And that all starts with Meabh, her 'enemy.' We love an enemies to lovers trope, and this book is absolutely laugh out loud funny. It didn't fully work for me but fans of Smyth are going to LOVE this book as much as TFILM (which I still need to read). Definitely a great sapphic novel with so many deeper themes!

"Not My Problem" was entertaining, with a spunky protagonist, and a lot of heart. The first few chapters took a little while for me to get into, only because the school terminology is so different from what I experienced growing up in the United States. Once I got learned all the terms and slang, I got to know Aideen and really enjoyed the relationship grow between her, Meabh, and Kavi. She may think she is a misfit at her school but, after a whole host of shenanigans, it turns out she has a squad of people she can call on in her time of need. I can't wait to see what Smyth writes next.

4.5 stars rounded up.

In Not My Problem, sixteen year old Aideen makes it her mission to fix everyone else's problems; all except her own, that is. It starts with Aideen pushing her nemesis, Meabh, down the stairs. When others start finding out what she did, they come to her for help. Soon, Aideen is fixing problems for everyone else, and making her own problems that much more glaringly obvious. With a chance of new friends, and new love, on the horizon, Aideen has to wonder that if she can help others, maybe it's time she starts helping herself.

Let me start by saying I absolutely ADORED this book. This book is full of diverse characters and great lgbt representation. Ciara Smyth is definitely one of my new favorite authors after reading this!

I related to Aideen so much. All the struggles she has with trying to keep herself and her family together all while trying to cling on to the one friend she has, meanwhile battling the little voice in her head trying to put her down with every chance it has. I can't relate to Aideen's high school experience in the form of pushing anyone down the stairs, but I can definitely relate to having to battle all your inner demons while trying - and failing - to make it through math class.

This book is so full of feelings and emotions. I think a lot of people will be able to see themselves in Aideen, especially a lot of gay readers. All the characters in this book are so full of life, and I loved getting to watch Aideen grow throughout the pages, and see how all her friends influenced that growth in her.

The romance in this book was so sweet and fun. I loved the buildup to it and getting to read Aideen's thoughts. The plot itself was great from beginning to end. I love how neatly the ending wrapped everything up - I just wish it was longer so we'd get to find out more about what happened!

I definitely recommend this to every YA reader. And I'll totally be buying a copy of my own for my bookshelf.

You know how sometimes you try something for the first time and while it is fun, it doesn't quite hit the way you thought it would? But then you try again, and suddenly you can't stop thinking about it? That is me currently with Ciara Smyth and NOT MY PROBLEM. This novel is a fun romp in sapphic romance and high school hijinks, with a dash of reality to bring the reader back down to earth. You gotta read it.

A thoroughly engaging YA book full of humour and drama.

The book opens with Aideen Cleary’s views and thoughts of Meabh Kolwaski, the polar opposite of Aideen; Meabh the overachiever and Aideen, generally going nowhere.

When Meabh had an unprecedented meltdown, Aideen agreed to “fix” Meabh’s problem which subsequently led her to be the “fixer” of other students’ problems. However, underneath the resourcefulness and quick wits, Aideen had been keeping a secret, one that is diminishing her brightness and consuming her whole.

4.5 stars. There is so much to the character of Aideen that readers would enjoy. She is quirky, bright, sarcastic but really funny. I enjoyed watching her manoeuvre and twist under trying circumstances and in the midst learn and grow through her bumps.

I just reviewed Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth. Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publisher for the ARC.