Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday books for a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Better Together is Christine Riccio's follow up to Again, But Better. Better Together is The Parent Trap meets Freaky Friday. Jamie and Siri were super close sisters when they were young. Only a few years apart, they were often mistaken for twins. After they're parents divorce, Jamie left to live with her father and Siri remained with her mother. Jamie was upset with her mother when she left so growing up, she tried to put her out of her mind. While Siri grew up, she had very few memories of her older sister. So few that she thought she may have dreamt her sister up. After both of them go through a rough patch, they each are sent to a camp to find the calm within them. An accidental meeting, and the sisters are reunited. Riccio throws in some mysticism and comedy to help tell the story of found sisters, new friends, new loves and a peak at familiar characters from her first novel.

I really enjoyed reading this story. It had everything I was looking for: humor, heart, and fun. It checked all my boxes and I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to read it prior to release!

Oh no, I could not get into this book whatsoever. It was way too long and boring. I didn’t enjoy the characters or any of the plot. I personally would say pass.

This is a super fun, summery YA read with a Freaky Friday / Parent Trap mash-up that gives you warm fuzzy feelings by the end. I can see tremendous growth in Riccio's writing since her first novel, and I loved the character development that both Siri and Jamie go through in this book. I enjoyed the camp vibes and the contrast between both girls' city lives when they switch places and learn more about how each other live with their respective parent-guardians. It was a great heartwarming story of long-lost sisters and childhood trauma that led the main characters to have a great relationship, regardless of how difficult their parents made it to start. It goes without saying that the parents in this book do some pretty irredeemable things, but I feel the positive spin on how the daughters come together and confront each parent shone above everything else and this was a really fun read!

Freaky Friday meets the parent trap Jamie and Siri are sister who hasn't seen each other for years until one day they met again at a retreat so what do you do when you see your sister after years? well you switch places and read a weird fortune that kick off some crazy shenanigans.. It a light and fun read

If you grew up watching The Parent Trap this book is for you.

Better Together by Christine Riccio is a modern-day take on Freaky Friday meets The Parent Trap meets Dysfunctional family. I loved the sisters, Siri and Jamie. Their personalities are almost polar opposites but both are hilarious and charming characters to get to know. Siri and Jamie run into each other after more than a decade of disconnect. And I mean they literally run in to each other in the shower room at the Colorado mental wellness retreat they're both attending.

Here's some things to know: Siri is 18 and is reeling after the realization that her back injury has ended her ballet career. Not just put it on hold, no, her future as a ballerina is completely out of the question. That's been her trajectory since about age 4 so she's trying to figure out her next move and what the heck her entire future will be like now that everything she's worked for is over. Her mother is there but barely, she works constantly and Siri felt like the one thing that held them together was their connection through dance, which she's effectively severed.

Jamie is 20 and she's floundering. She's an emerging comedian and actor but just recently experienced a horrific failure during a 10-minute standup set where she wrapped things up by vomiting all over the stage. She's mortified. She's been kicked out of her apartment and forced back into her childhood home where her father has made her sign a contract, yes an actual print document contract, of steps she will complete to get her life back together. One of the conditions was a wellness retreat in Colorado, so away she goes.

Where Siri is full of emotion Jamie is aloof and flighty. They make the perfect pair and after their tumultuous reintroduction they come up with a plan to switch places. Each sister has a mess to work through with each of their estranged parents and it all comes to a head when they make the switch back in Las Vegas.

Oh and also there is actual glittery magic involved in the swap too.

I loved every second of this book. It was fast-paced switching between narrators frequently with short chapters and engaging characters. The girls are flawed. Their parents are definitely flawed. And instead of pretending like this will some how magically work out in the end without conflict, there is conflict aplenty. And with the conflict there is a normal, mature, and healthy relationship with therapy. Therapy is for everyone, friends. I love how Riccio manages to normalize it in this novel - something I hope to continue seeing more and more of in today's literature.

Unfortunately this book was a "Did Not Finish" (DNF) for me. I will give it another try at a later date. Could be my mood at the time.

Riccio brings the parent trap from the past to the future. In this funny, warm, and sharp book, Better Together. Jamie and Siri are sisters but only one of them knows it. When the universe brings them together they cook up a plan to get their questions answered. I enjoyed the contrast between the two sisters and the updated feel of switching places. I felt like I knew both characters fairly well and had enough depth to carry the story. The plot is fast and action-driven since the sisters change their appearance and can only confront the parents when together. What really made this book stand out from all the other Parent Trap and Freaky Friday plots is that the goal is not to bring the parents together but to gain knowledge and information. Both parents are horrible human beings but gave the daughters the ability to be their own people and reflect their past.

I was hesitate to pick up this book for the first book was half and half review for me. I tend to give more grace for a debut author. But since this her second novel, I wanted to give her a try again. Let’s just say this book didn’t go anywhere. The story concept seem really fun with similar plot like Freaky Friday. But the fun stops there. It got really strange quickly when sudden the sisters started to look the same due to magic. I felt like author didn’t well plan out her storyline and just kept writing to meet book deadline.

I was thankful to receive an early copy for review for this book from Netgalley! This book has gotten so many wonderful reviews and I can understand why!

3.5 look, listen I wasn’t aware of the pretty bad reviews for this book until I put this at currently reading but the reviews are bad. I didn’t think this was a bad book though. I feel like maybe it was a bit too long and definitely needed some editing on that part but for the most part I had a good time with this book.

Wow. What a perfect summer read! I had an absolute blast reading Better Together! The parent trap and freaky Friday aspects defiantly came through in a very intricate and entertaining way! I especially loved how the sisters were so different from each other, but also complimented each other’s hopes and dreams.

After reading and loving Christine’s debut novel, Again, But Better, I knew I HAD to read her new novel ASAP. Again, she had me so wrapped up in her story and I loved this one so much. This book was described as Freaky Friday meets The Parent trap, and that’s exactly what it was! This one gave me all the feels and the similarities between this book and those two (amazing) movies, somehow had me feeling nostalgic. I loved the characters and found them all to be so real and relatable. Another home run by Miss Riccio, and I look forward to her future work!

I really liked this book and how she got over someone. I enjoyed the romance and the friendships. I liked she came to enjoy her family. I liked that she was able to get over a boy and move on with her life. Great story.

This book was okay, though I did enjoy Christine Riccio's previous novel more. It was quick to get through and fun, though the longer I sit on it the more I have to nitpick about it. I'll probably be interested in trying out more books by Christine in the future, but this one just wasn't great for me.

Oooh, give me a good Parent Trap or Freaky Friday storyline and I am here for it every time. Mix them together, even better. To top it all off, it didn't feel redundant or overdone, with Riccio setting her story apart really well from both inspirations.

Right away, the voice of each POV was off the charts. Each character was truly herself and lent well to the other. I did enjoy Jamie's POV better (and her love story).

Overall, I thought this was well-written, funny, and entertaining to the last page.

3 Stars!

I found this to be an interesting mix between Freaky Friday and the Parent Trap as per the blurb. I do feel like maybe both of these things was too much. This is Riccio’s sophomore mover and much like her debut Again but Better- the magical realism is a key plot item but in this case it seemed a bit gratuitous. I think this story could have been super impactful just as a Parent Trap retelling and exploring the relationship between families.

I didn’t particularly like Janie or Siri (her name seemed to have been chosen just for the sake of an Apple joke). Siri using “excrement” and “intercoursing” as an expletives was nauseating. I also felt like the main characters where deliberately different to the extreme.

I would maybe read another of Riccio’s books but I have found them to be only okay so far.

I appreciate the chance to read and review.

This book was okay. I really loved the author's first novel so I had high hopes for this one. While I really love a good swap story like Freaky Friday or The Parent Trap, this one just didn't grab me. I didn't care about the characters enough.

I love the move The Parent Trap so assumed based on the description that I would love this book. Maybe because I'm an adult but I found this book to be a little immature and didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

I really enjoyed Riccio's other work, Again but Better, and I'll be honest that in the first few pages this book felt a little flat. It starts up feeling very much like the Parent Trap, but as I kept reading, I realized the nuanced differences. I didn't connect with the characters as much as I did in Again but Better, but the plot in the book was familiar and surprising all at once.