DNF.

I got about 33% into the book, but it just made me frustrated and angry. Couldn't continue reading.

I was a little disappointed in this one. It's a solid YA, but for me the pacing was just a little too slow. Natalie and Reid have been in each other's lives since birth, as their fathers are long time close friends. Reid's affinity for music sort of unknowingly usurps the the affections of Natalie's father causing a current lifelong prank rivalry back and forth. Natalie and her theatre group realize they are in danger of losing their funding while Reid, and the school's band (led by Natalie's father) receive uncontested support from the school administration. Natalie and company decide to try to save their program through a production of an original musical. Through a variety of circumstances (including a prank gone to far), Natalie and Reid must work together.

The writing is solid, and the characters are real - sometimes they are likeable, sometimes less so. But the pacing of the relationship development for Natalie and Reid just didn't really work for me. And the idea that Natalie could just be a little honest in her feelings and most of the animosity would've been long dealt with was a little frustrating.

I absolutely LOVED every second of this. Maybe it's because drama was always my favourite subject in school but it was good from the beginning and I just thoroughly enjoyed every single second. I highly highly recommend.

This is the YA romantic comedy of my dreams. A theatre kid and a band kid who hate each other team up to save their schools arts programs — be still my beating heart!

High school junior Natalie is crushed when her school decides it no longer has the budget to continue funding their extracurricular arts programs, including drama. The only arts program that has been saved is band, headed by fellow student Reid, whom she hates. After a plea to save the arts gone wrong, Natalie and Reid are forced to team up together to produce a school musical, and save their school’s arts programs. Throughout the book, we get flashbacks of different moments in Reid and Natalie’s lives that show how their relationship came to be how it is — it provided wonderful insight into Natalie’s character and went beyond so much more than a regular school rivalry. As If On Cue is a wonderful, heartfelt story about family, friendship, the longing to belong, the importance of art, and the power of believing in yourself.

I loved how Natalie wasn’t perfect — she was stubborn, made mistakes, and could be hot tempered. She was a typical teenager, and reminded me so much of myself at that age. But despite her flaws, it was impossible not to love her. She was loyal, passionate, and incredible caring, and you really felt for her desire to feel understood. Her relationship with her father is such a touching and emotional storyline throughout. And watching her interactions with Reid — whether it was as kids in the past, as sparring enemies as teenagers, or trying to fight their feelings for each other — were all so much fun to read!

This book also illustrates how art plays a role in expressing emotion and why it’s so important for schools to fund and promote arts programs. As a former high school theatre kid who went on to study theatre in university, it reminded me how I fell in love with theatre as a teenager, and how much these programs meant to me growing up.

Truly a perfect summer YA. I actually haven't read the author's previous book, and so I was coming into this one pretty blind as to them and their style, but I really, really enjoyed it and I think I'll certainly be picking it up.

As a confirmed drama geek in my high school years I really felt excited to read this. The rivalries between the different arts cliques are something I remember allllll too well! I liked that the rivalry between Natalie and Reid didn't revolve around something superficial, but instead around their actual passion for the arts and the fact that they both really felt that their clubs and that their programs deserved funding. This is another great example of an author who managed to work diversity into their book without relying on tired stereotypes or overly disingenuous tropes. This small glimpses of everyday anti-semitism and how ingrained in society it can be really brought the book to life and made us, the reader, understand on a level we may not have otherwise.

Was the client conflict juvenile? Of course, but I think that it's easy to forget that these characters are teenagers, of course they're going to behave like it and get caught up in emotion. I did feel that occasionally the pop culture references felt a bit shoehorned in, and they are also really going to date the book, which if that's something you're concerned about, it may turn you off.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this ARC!

Another wonderful book by Marissa Kanter. An enemies to lovers that follows Natalie and Reid, rivals since forever, in a all-out prank war that ends up going a bit too far and ends up with them having to work together on a musical to show their school board they should reconsider the arts budget for the following year. Co-directing the musical is a new challenge for the Natalie and Reid given they’ve only ever known how to be rivals.
I have to admit, despite Natalie being the main character, my favourite character was Reid. You could tell that Reid truly cares about music and is determined to make it his career. He was always trying to prove to his parents how talented he was and show them that’s what he should be going to school for after high school. Unlike Natalie, Reid isn’t afraid of maybes and what-ifs and is always willing to take the risk of a career in the arts. I also absolutely loved seeing how much Reid believed in Natalie even when she didn’t believe in herself. His heart wasn’t as into the act of pranking as it was spending time with and having the attention of Natalie. I found that Natalie often took things a bit too far without thinking thought any consequences first which leads to many problems throughout the book. Whether it was to get attention or because she was insecure pushing the limit was definitely not the best option most of the time yet Natalie went there anyways.
I did feel bad for Natalie as you could tell her father was always a bit too focused on music and often forgot to think outside of it. This certainly left Natalie often feeling neglected and pushed aside for Reid even if Reid wasn’t her dad’s real kid. There was a lack of communication between the two, but even if Natalie tried to communicate her dad would often bring the conversation back around to Reid or music which made Natalie quite upset. There were a few times I just wanted to jump into the book and give Natalie a hug, she really did want to try to have a good relationship with her dad without involving music.
Watching the relationship change between Natalie and Reid from a full-on rivalry, to mixed feeling, to more was so sweet. It was obvious it took a little longer for Natalie to figure out her feelings than Reid but I loved seeing the fairly sudden realization of feelings. And then navigating new waters and figuring out how to be somethings that’s not rivals.
I liked seeing how much both Natalie and Reid looked out for their younger sisters. It was obvious just how much they cared about their sister and were always concerned when they notices things going sideways whether it was with the two’s friendship or outside issues. I also admired at how Natalie and Reid made an effort to show their siblings the importance of their religion and not to just accept it being made fun of. I thought Marissa did and absolutely excellent job at the Jewish representation in the book. Even going a bit into facing anti-semitism in middle and high school which I thought was a valuable thing to include as it’s not something that often talked about in ya books with jewish representation. I commend Marissa for not overlooking the racism and insensitivities that many ethnicities face.
This was such a sweet and easy read that I really enjoyed. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

Natalie cannot stand Reid. He’s constantly around (even for 6am music lessons with her dad) and they are always in competition. So when every arts club is cut by the school, but the band program is left untouched, she has to do something. Reid cannot win again, and the stakes are higher than ever.

This book did a great job with family issues and highlighting the ways that antisemitism comes out in micro aggressions that gentiles like me might not see as clearly.

As someone who had a semi-starring role in her high school musical, this was like diving into a pool of nostalgia. It made me think of all the excitement for being part of something that is chaos until everything comes together on opening night.

The fact that the play turned musical in question is Melted, a parody of Frozen focused on climate change was such a plus. Watching it evolve was such a treat, and I loved seeing Natalie and Reid as battling codirectors. Their banter and competition was a highlight for me!

Overall, I’m so glad I picked this up, and I’m excited to pick up more of her books in the future!

I was a band geek in high school so as soon as I read what this book was about I had to get my hands on it. Being passionate about the arts is something I feel in my bones.
Besides the plot, I was also drawn to this book because of the author. Her previous book What I Like About You was fantastic and made her a must read author.
The reason why this was a 4 instead of a 5 from me was the prank wars. I've never been a fan of pranks and find them immature and unnecessary. That being said, this is a YA novel and pranks are pretty typical for teens so I only deducted 1 star.
Also can we talk about how perfect Reid's name is for being a clarinet player? Loved that little detail.
I would recommend this to any YA music lover!

What a sweet YA!

Who doesn't want to relive their high school band and drama days?? Those were fun times, I'm sure. This book just reminded me of high school all over again, with all the extracurriculars, the plays we would go see, and being in band! Talk about a trip down memory lane!

This book is super slow burn with an enemies-to-lovers relationship with the two main characters, and it's a sweet YA read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the earc in return for an honest review.

This was cute! I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance and this did not disappoint. It was fun, a fast read, and just overall very enjoyable! Definitely recommend.

First off, thank you to net-galley for an eARC copy of As If On Cue, in exchange for my honest review.

Overall I really liked this book, it was rivals-to-lovers, cute romance, and there was star wars references (which is always a bonus). But not only that, the author also included LGBTQ+ and jewish representation and look into the everyday antisemitism and micro-aggressions that jewish adolescents face.

As If On Cue is perfect for anyone that enjoyed a fast-paced YA romance, filled with pranks and theatre filled jokes.

This book was way too adorable! I love me some enemies to lovers and the backdrop of a school musical was just so perfect! The growth between Reid and Natalie felt so real and organic. I really loved their relationship.

I just also have to give a huge shoutout for Jewish rep! Both Natalie and Reid are Jewish which means double Jewish MC rep!! Also I loved the side story about Delia and the casual antisemitism she experienced. Casual antisemitism is such a prevalent part of our society and the points this book called out (like the use of slurs for benign things) was so well done!

Thank you netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In As If On Cue, we follow Natalie who is forced to give up her dreams of running a play she spent the summer writing, due to lack of funding for most extracurriculars in the arts. The school instead funds the band and orchestra, led by Natalie's dad and featuring Natalie's childhood rival, Reid, on first clarinet. Natalie tries to spearhead a protest/prank war to fund the arts and eventually ends up getting her play approved, but with a catch: the arts kids have to join forces with the band kids (Reid included!) and create a musical instead. The rest of the story follows the creation and execution of the musical, while also touching on some familiar coming-of-age themes like family issues, friendships, relationships, and the uncertainty of the future.

I enjoyed this a lot! Rivals to lovers isn't something I’ve never seen before, but the story felt very fresh. The characters were all easy to love (with the exception of Natalie at times) and I loved watching the musical develop from a loose idea to a finished product! The Jewish representation and discussion of casual antisemitism were also some things I appreciated reading about.

However, the conflict annoyed me quite a bit. It felt very juvenile and honestly quite stupid of Natalie to do something like that. Now, I understand her emotions got the best of her but Natalie was continually quick to judge and control others, which made it difficult for me to love her as a protagonist. The story was also a bit slow at first and the romance didn't start to progress until about halfway through, so it took me a while to get into. Oh and this is largely a personal thing but the number of pop-culture references threw me for a loop. Tiktok and Lin Manuel Miranda are not my favourite topics to be thrown into the books I read haha.

Still, this was an enjoyable read, and if you are interested in reading about theatre kids and band kids writing a parody of Frozen, check this out on Sep 21st!

A timely story about high school students fighting for the arts in a year where the arts have suffered terribly. Things I liked in this one include flawed, non-stereotyped characters who aren't all stunningly beautiful and perfectly heroic, a thoughtful look at casual antisemitism, and the sharply written dialogue. Much of the world is about academic theatre production, which is my primary career, so I also enjoyed reading Kanter's take on the development of a new musical and the various pieces that come together to make a whole. As other reviewers will no doubt note, for a book marketed as a rom-com, there is no romance, romantic tension, or attraction for the first half of the book (the heroine is sincerely awful and bitter toward the guy who will become her love interest). The second half that follows is a realistic look at a nascent friendship that gradually evolves into something more complicated. So this is one for the enemies-to-lovers readers who like their enemies to truly be enemies, with a long journey to travel toward attraction and respect. It's also a lovely and layered contemporary coming of age story, with a heroine who has a lot of growing up to do as she sorts out how to approach her friendships, her family, and her future.

As If On Cue was a sweet, engaging contemporary that had me alternating between grinning and tearing up while reading. I loved Marisa Kanter's debut novel, so I was super excited when my request got approved for this one. The story dealt with some important conversations, but balanced it out with light, heart-warming moments that kept the story moving. The characters were flawed, and occasionally I found myself wanting to scream at them to make better choices, but overall it made them more accurate, realistic portrayals of teenagers trying to figure things out. Overall, I read this book in about 5 hours because I just couldn't put it down!!

Ok so I absolutely l0ved this book.

As If on Cue focuses on Natalie and Reid, who are childhood-best-friends-turned-enemies. Constantly competing since they were kids, and constantly pulling pranks. Reid focuses on band while Natalie focuses on theatre. When a prank war goes too far, Reid is forced to work with Natalie and her friends to develop a musical that will help bring back funding for the Arts programs at their school.

This book was a bit slow in the beginning, the actual plot didn't start until like 30% in, but after that it was really fast paced, which I liked. I loved the character development and relationships in this book, and it's a quick and easy YA read!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I should probably preface this review by disclosing that I was a band-kid-turned-theatre-geek in high school--so I was already predisposed to love this book based on premise alone... And Marisa Kanter did not disappoint. That said, what I love about her writing is how real and flawed her characters are, so much so that I occasionally want to reach into the page and shake them! But then I remember my own adolescence and the nostalgia factor hits HARD.

I also love the numerous layers that encompass Natalie's journey throughout the course of this story--it is not just about teenagers banding together to save the Arts in their high school; it explores the complexity of friendships, familial ties and the expectations that come with both, how our personal identities are impacted by what we see happening around us and our perception thereof, the general angst of surviving high school while also looking ahead towards an unknown future and making choices you know will significantly impact that future while still learning yourself and what you want.

Having now read both 'What I Like About You' and 'As If On Cue', it is absolutely clear to me that Marisa Kanter writes what she knows and loves--bringing an authenticity and sincerity to her words that hit home. Just like her debut, this novel includes incredible Jewish representation, there is even a fun cameo with two characters introduced in the former, ensuring we know we are still in the same 'universe'; and then all the little musical notes and references included throughout are just the icing on the cake.

Team Neid for the win! :)

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of As If On Cue in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute. A very well paced, enemies to lovers (theatre kid!!!!) romcom but also definitely not one that brings anything particularly new to the table. Still, if you're looking for a quick YA romance this one's a fun time with a healthy dose of theatre references.

This book was phenomenal. It was a bright and colorful tribute to high school theatre, young romance and the teenage experience.

I was given a netgalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I normally have decent self control when spending time reading. I thought I'd just read 100 pages. I read all 400+ pages on my Kobo and it was 4am before I finished. It was worth it.

As if on cue follows Natalie and Reid. Aquaintences because of their parents friendships. Enemies because of something that once brought them together... Somewhat. When all but band is cut from the schools after school activities, Natalie fights to bring back clubs and put on her original play, Melted, and Reid fights to keep Band as is. Safe from budget cuts. But when a disaster of their making brings them together, forced to turn Melted, the play into Melted the musical, how long can they stay enemies?

So this was a cute Romcom slowburn enimies to Lovers. Not something I thought I needed but am grateful I got.

The characters are strongly mapped out and written. I felt a lot of emotions towards Natalie, I cried a little once cause I related to her so hard with some of her emotions. Reid had a personality from the start, a bold and understandable one. Even characters like Fitz, Henry and the main's sisters had fleshed out and epic personalities and problems. It was realistic. The world doesn't always revolve around the mains.

The plot was epic, I mean talk about the perfect grounds for enemies to Lovers?? I knew what was going on, it wasn't hard to tell between present day and past, and the plot flowed at a realistic, very real, stressful pace. (I mean putting on musicals, yeah, takes time)

The humor was amazing. I laughed a lot. so much I'm surprised I didn't get caught being up. It was bold and very much full of everything that is high school theatre energy.

Finally, the writing. It was fluid, it was relatable. it made the main character seem human. Like she knew she made mistakes and she wasn't proud of them but she was also a human being who has feelings and deserves to be heard. It was everything contemporary novels should have.

I'd also love to shout out how much diversity I saw in this novel. It was amazing.

Overall read this book if you love Romcoms and enemies to Lovers.

Natalie and Reid has been in competition since they were children. Their ongoing prank war has become legendary amidst their families. When the arts curriculum is cut, leaving only the band - Reid is first chair - Natalie and her friends begin a campaign to bring back the arts in the form of a play called Melted (it's the anti-frozen). The plan goes awry when Melted is turned into a musical - forcing Natalie and Reid to work together. When the prank war gets out of hand, the fate of Melted and Natalie and Reid's own futures are at stake.

This was a wonderful story - I read it in one sitting, Natalie is a well-rounded character with flaws that land her in so much trouble. Reid is a mystery to the reader (since he's a mystery to Natalie) with just a hint of who he might actually be. The side cast are funny and the music and theatre experiences read as genuine. I loved this book!