4 Stars

Thank you for the early peek at this one! I truly enjoy Erin Hahn's writing style - she has an amazing ability to truly just pull you in from the first chapter. Her characters are likeable, relatable, but also fully unique and usually have a little bit of quirkiness to them that I love and appreciate. This book might not be for everyone as I thought there were a few heavier topics and maybe some things that might make others uncomfortable. But I think that is the beauty to it as well - life can be messy and uncomfortable - its handling it with grace and humor that helps us all get through it..

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Awesome, heartfelt, fun, unputdownable. This is a spin-off of "More Than Maybe", but it can be easily read as a standalone novel.
Some parts of this story were hard to resonate with for me because it revolves so strongly around the character's relationship with the church, and a fundamentalist church at that. This is a very abstract concept for me, as my own beliefs are so vastly different. However, the characters were so endearing and the story was an interesting peek into life with an ultraconservative upbringing. Meg was a phenomenal character and so full of sass and vibrancy. She was just *FUN*. Micah was also great, and it was fascinating to follow his own struggles with his issues surrounding and caused by his dad.
All in all, a wonderful story by a fabulous author!

So I am rating this along with the average because it is one that I honestly shouldn't have agreed to read. Usually I read the summary pretty closely but this was highly recommend by a friend so I just dove in. Totally my mistake.

While I can appreciate the journey of these characters (they are well written), Christian lit is not my preference.

If you read the summary and it sounds intriguing, pick it up.

Full review on goodreads. I couldn’t put this in teen hands. I feel like profanity has a place in so,e books, but this seems forced and serves no purpose. The story isn’t strong enough to overshadow that, so it’s just not one I’m loving.

As a religious person myself, I found this an interesting read. I didn't connect with the journey of the characters as much as other books, as I have never experienced many of the things they had , but I did find the story fun to follow because of my different perspective and experiences. I was able to see how these character viewed their faith in conjunction with their own arcs. It was very different from a book I would normally pick up, since I'm very, VERY selective about contemporaries. It wasn't as escapist as I would have liked, and sometimes got heavy, which I can't blame the book for, only my own tastes! If you like contemporaries, it would probably appeal to you! The characters were lovable and witty, and fun to follow along! Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the early review copy!

I finished up, Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn soon after I was approved for this book. I couldn't believe how much I liked it. (Although Hahn's You'd Be Mine is one of my favorite YA books ever, so maybe I shouldn't really be surprised.)
Meg's life is completely turned upside down when she learns that her Dad is not really her Dad and that her parents have been lying to her her entire life. She discovers that her biological Dad died in a car accident before she was born and she has a family that she didn't know existed. Meg decides to take a gap year and spend time with her Uncle and great grandmother. She also meet Micah. He also has is only complicated family and church relationship.
I loved how this coming of age story tackles tricky church relationships and ridiculous pressures that churches and families can sometimes put on teens. She addresses faith, religion, and the church in such a modern way. She also touches on first sexual experiences and self discovery and (much more!) I think this book is an important read for teens and their faith.
One part that really stuck out to me....Your family will let your down, your church will let you down, but God will never let you down.
Meg and Micah's journey was a really pretty cool to be a part of.

I enjoyed this one.
Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I have read Erin Hahn's previous books and loved them, and this had a different feel to it but as much as it made me uncomfortable at times, I did really enjoy the book and would recommend it. It was a realistic approach to Christian teens today and the things they deal with. The characters were well written, I was very invested in their story.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were relatable, for the most part, and I really enjoyed watching them grow as the story went.

Big thanks to Wednesday Books for reaching out with a review copy of this book!

Erin Hahn is quickly becoming an auto-buy/auto-read author. Her book, You'd Be Mine was one of the first books I'd requested when I became a member of NetGalley and I instantly fell in love with it. More Than Maybe solidified my love of her story-telling and sweet romances. But knowing all of this, Never Saw You Coming still surprised me. You could say I, NEVER SAW IT COMING. bahaha

Meg's life is turned upside down when, on her 18th birthday, her mother informs her that she's divorcing the man she always knew as her dad, and that he wasn't the entire time. Her real father died in a car accident before she was born. The fact that her mother had sex out of wedlock and that her real father died while intoxicated fueled Meg's mother to instill hard religious values on her daughter. So when Meg decides to take a gap year and run away from home, she's faced with everything she's ever been taught was wrong and that maybe she can still be a llving human being while still keeping God in her heart.

As much as I feel this primarily Meg's story, I enjoyed Micah's POV a whole lot. He's the son of a disgraced pastor and strives to outrun his past, but ultimately finds that he can't run from it until he can forgive what his father had done. His father's parole hearing nears and the pressure mounts on whether he will attend. He's a sweet muscled cinnamon roll who works at a sporting goods store who meets Meg and finds her life going from bad to...good.

Meg and Micah are perfection. They each deal with their own issues but find solace in one another. As Meg grapples with her Christian upbringing and thinking her bare shoulders are leading Micah to sin, Micah grapples with his own faith, mainly the topic of forgiveness, which does not come easy for him. Together, they're a strong, sweet, and understanding couple.

The way Erin Hahn tackles the hard-hitting issues has always stunned me. A book like this could have the potential to come off preachy, but it failed to do so with me. I felt Meg's confusion about sex and sin like it was my teenage self with the voices of my parents, pastors, and youth leaders whispering in my ear that kissing a boy was sinful and would lead me to hell. She grapples with the double standards in the churches and it lands just right. I think books like this are so important for youth who want to have a relationship with God, but also have the freedom to love who and when they choose.

Overall, I loved every second of this book. I'm a fan of Erin Hahn for life. She should make t-shirts.

Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn is such a sweet book! It reminds me of an updated, more modern take on The Christy Miller Series by Robin Jones Gunn. I love that Hahn wanted to write a book for teen girls and this one is very thoughtful and nuanced.

Meg's world is turned upside down when her parents tell her they are getting a divorce and oh yeah her Dad isn't her Dad. Instead her biological father died in a car accident shortly after she was conceived at youth group conference by her teen parents. Meg's world spins out and she travels to the upper-peninsula of Michigan to meet her father's family and learn more about herself. There's love, laughter, soul-searching and cliff diving; what more could you want in a book?

I’m really surprised by how much I liked this book. The story, the characters and the author’s faith caught me off guard in the best of ways. The main character, Meg, reminds me of so many girls I have known through the years at church and Catholic school. Her journey and the discussion of a modern relationship with church & God were so honest and timely. Overall the book left me feeling joyful and a little emotional. I definitely recommend it!

An interesting read that touches on how to deal with religious feelings. I loved the characters. Really liked this one.

Never Saw You Coming is one of my most anticipated releases this year and it did not disappoint! I loved Meg in More Than Maybe so I’m so happy that we get more of her story. It was wonderful to see her find herself and not let how she was raised and what people would think of her dull her sparkle. I adored her relationship with Micah (I mean Erin Hahn knows how to write love interest that makes me wish they were real *sigh* haha). I really loved seeing their relationship grow. As always there are amazing side character who are equally as wonderful and the book wouldn’t be the same without them.

This book does not shy away from calling out the topics that all young people (mainly teenage girls) have heard being raised in church. Having grown up in church and attended a christian school and college I am so familiar with how much church people can honestly be the worst.
Life will always be messy and I am far from perfect but God loves me for my messy imperfect self and this book reminded me of that.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It was such a fantastic read and I’m going to have a hard time not rereading it over and over again!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Nethalley for the ARC of this book!
I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a honest review

Where was this book when I was a youth group-attending, church-going adolescent? No matter, it's here now. <i>Never Saw You Coming</i> spoke to both anxious adolescent me and now late-twentysomething me; it encapsulates a bundle of contradictions. More, please, Erin Hahn.

Hahn did such a great job depicting the life a a teenager who grew up in a christian church culture. There can be judgement, legalistic teaching and not enough love and grace if people aren't careful. I experienced this personally to a degree and I love what Hahn was aiming to do in this book. She really wanted the teens to be seen, heard, and understood. She wants them to find a safe space in life to feel like they can make mistakes, explore the world around them and not feel condemned. Through the story of Micah and Meg, Hahn was able to show how two teens from broken families could find a way out of that brokenness, find God and a healthy relationship where they could truly be seen and loved for who they are. This book definitely won't be for everyone but it really resonated with me and I hope it will with many others as well.

I feel like my perspective on this book is... well, to be frank, not relevant. I’m a grown adult who has the freedom of choice in all things & it gives me such a skewed perspective on evaluating the accuracy of the portrayal of these characters. I grew up in the beginnings of purity culture. I’ve seen hypocrisy in the church & been part of the hypocrisy—such is being human. I am a Flawed & mistake-laden human, but I remember expecting so much more from the adults in my life & I was surrounded by incredible adults. Truly. So the struggles of Meg & Micah seem authentic & relevant, but they also seem... a little forced? Like Hahn is trying a little too hard to undo the wrongs of the sanctimonious? I just reviewed Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn. #NetGalley

I very much enjoyed this book.

Micah and Meg work well within the story both as individual characters, and as a couple. The dynamic between the two is tender yet believable.

The religious aspects of the plot also work quite well within the story and I found myself able to relate a little too much to certain aspects of it.

My main issue was a small nitpick which is that I find it hard to believe that a fundamentalist church would let a new in town 18 year old have charge over 14 year olds. I felt also they likely would not have been quite so accepting of her status as the illegitimate niece of one of their pastors.

Over all however, the characterization of this book rang true and the dialogue flowed easily rather than in the stilted manner many books do.

This book is a worthy companion to More than Maybe which gives us the Luke and Vada backstory.

Review coming soon. Thanks to Erin Hahn, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC; the opinions are mine.

Pub Date 9.7.21

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book*

Never Saw You Coming is a dual POV book, with Meg and Micah as the main characters. Both characters are struggling with their faith, relationship with the church, and discovering who they really are. This book does a really good job of displaying the Church and God in both good and bad contexts. I, myself, grew up in church, and it wasn't until I was older and able to form my own views about faith and God that I realized a lot of the hypocrisy and corruption that goes on in the church. I personally have left a lot of my religious beliefs behind, and I don't necessarily like church, which is why I rated this down a star. That's obviously my own personal belief though, and I thought Erin Hahn wrote an amazing story. While I wasn't super excited to pick up a book involving religion as the main plotline, I really enjoyed it. I think the internal conflict that both characters go through is very well done and it doesn't sway you to believe one way or another. If anything, this book is about becoming more accepting than religion tells you to be, and I loved that. It wasn't a book all about praising God and following all the rules, but more so about finding yourself.

Overall, it was a good book that I had a hard time putting down sometimes. Regardless, I am still a little wary of books surrounding religion so openly though, even if I did enjoy Never Saw You Coming. If you are an atheist, I wouldn't recommend this book. If you are a person of faith or member of the Church, I would definitely say to give this book a read!

This novel really opened me up to people and experiences unfamiliar to me. I don't have a lot of insight into conservative Christianity, and if you'd asked me if I would want to read about it, the answer would have been a resounding no. But I loved Hahn's More Than Maybe, and was excited to rejoin the world. She shows Meg as someone who is unlearning some unfortunate ingrained habits, and Micah as someone learning to forgive - including himself. I enjoyed the contrast between refusing to compromise one's beliefs and recognizing that sometimes, beliefs change with new experiences. I think a lot of students from homes like Meg's could really relate to this.