DNF @25%

I don't read YA books too often anymore, especially books set in school. But I've had this arc for so long so I wanted to give it a chance.

It wasn't a bad book but it's definitely one that I'm not into reading anymore. I didn't care about the high school drama or the whole "making a boy jealous" plotline. Again, it's just not a book for me but I can see others enjoying it so I figured I'd just go ahead and DNF it.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU EVER SAW THE BRILLIANT 1998 FILM ALL I WANNA DO!

It has an outstanding cast, (Kirsten Dunst! Rachael Leigh Cook, Monica Keena! Gaby Hoffman! Heather Matarazzo! Lynn Redgrave! Vincent Kartheiser! Matthew Lawrence! Hayden Christensen! Shawn Ashmore!) I mean truly who else are you looking for. It takes place in 1963 and is about a woman’s boarding school that might go co-ed and the girls who try to stop it, mainly by pranks aimed at making the boys look bad. It is hilarious and thoughtful and frankly I don’t know why it wasn’t more popular.

This was one of my favorites back in the heyday of late 90’s teen movies which we have never recovered from as a society and which the film industry has never been able to reproduce.

Anyway this book gave me strong All I Wanna Do vibes and I was not mad about it.

Doe (short for Dorothy) is our main character here, and she’s fabulous. She’s flawed, she’s stubborn, she is COMPLETELY in her own way and totally uninterested in getting out of it. But she’s also just a girl trying to figure out what life after high school will look like, how she’ll survive without her girls by her side every day, and wondering what she’ll do with all the free time she currently dedicates to pranking the Winfield boys.

The friendships were fantastic. Doe and her three friends have been friends forever, but they aren’t afraid to call each other out when one of them is wrong. Wells has his own group, made up largely (completely?) of his cousins. I’ve seen some criticism of Three and his nickname, but listen, I knew a guy who was also something the third and managed to get his nickname down to Trey, because très is three in Spanish and that almost sounds like Trey so you know what? Boys with money are weird.

Doe and Wells do some great fake dating that they pretend isn’t becoming more and more real by the day. They very clearly have feelings for each other but they’re never gonna admit it, so instead it’s just a slowwwww burn all the way through.

Also? This book is just funny. It’s not jokes I can necessarily capture for you, it’s more that the whole vibe is hilarious. The way they talk to each other, the banter, the terms of endearment. The sex talk from Wells’ mom when they aren’t even actually dating? I died.

This is going down as one of my favorites and I will read anything Samantha Markum writes from now until forever.

The beginning of this was fun. The war between schools and the die hard school spirit. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes, but I wish this relationship was a little more developed. I didn’t believe her when she said she finally liked him, and almost felt she had to be convinced? The part about the teacher at the end was unnecessary to the story or the friend group. Could have been cut and the story would have felt less long.

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4 Stars
The description of this book seemed like so much fun and it definitely was. Doe is def one of my new favs, and Wells is now officially on my list of book bf's. Their witty banter was so much fun. On the other hand it was so good at discussing more sensitive topics. Such a fun and exciting read

I unfortunately couldn't get into this one, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to someone else!

I was not expecting to find a new favorite with this book, but MAN I am obsessed. The boarding school setting, the pranks, the drama, and the romance all worked together so well, and I loved it! I laughed, I teared up, and even though I rolled my eyes at Doe sometimes, I couldn’t help but fall in love with her and the other characters. I had to buy a physical copy of this book for my shelves, and I can’t wait to reread it soon!

CW for light sexual content, mentions of gambling addictions (from past, with parent), divorce (past), bullying (past, but still affects main character), homophobia.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of This May End Badly by Samantha Markum.

Thanks Netgalley.

I got this copy a couple years ago when it was available as a read now. It has been on many a TBR and this year I am going to be buckling down and reading my Netgalley shelf because I am embarrased by my Netgalley ratio. It is so freaking low, I am confused as to how I can still get books even from the read now section.

This follows a group of girls who are close friends and they attened an all girl boarding school called Weston. Our main character Doe is a senior and instead of focusing on her life and where she is going to go to college, she is consumed by the decades old rival with the all boys boarding school across the road called Winfield. She is known as the master prankster and the first prank she pulls involves tampons... but that is not the plot.

The whole plot is that during the introductory assembly for the beginning of the school year, the headmistress announces that Weston is going to be merging with Winfield to become a co educational boarding school.

Doe is against it and she feels that she has to make it her mission to make the merger fail. She gets into a fake relationship with a Winfield boy named Wells to make his cousin Three, who is Doe's arch enemy jealous and gets his dad to say no to the merger.

There is one plot line that has nothing to do with the merger but it makes Winfield boys and Weston girls come together. There is a male teacher at Weston who is a sexual predator and one thing all the girls in this school agree on is to never ever be alone with him. Why is there a male teacher at a all girl boarding school to begin with????

The lead up to this particular conclusion happens in the last third of the book while we were focused on Doe and her fake relationship and pranks and her family drama. Also the book has an abrput ending and before finishing the book, I was on the authors Goodreads page and someone asked the question was there going to be anything else on Doe and Wells' relationship. The author answered back that there story was complete.

I get to the end of the book expecting something juicy and cutesy and it ends with Doe thinking about Weston and how it will now be a safe place for girls.

I ended up giving this a three star because while reading it, I knew about the male teacher and the sexual assault thanks to Goodreads reviews, but I did like Doe's family dynamic around Christmas.

This is one of the most fun fake-dating YA romances I've read in a long time! If you're a fan of TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE, definitely check out THIS MAY END BADLY!

Excellent YA title for fans of fake dating, enemies to lovers or boarding school romances. A funny and smart book, I highly recommend.

Weston girls versus Winfield boys, OR Doe versus Three. It’s always been a battle, but who will win? When a teacher makes an inappropriate move on a student, they must decide what’s most important. A rivalry or protecting each other. Oh, and a fake dating plot - which includes Three’s cousin Wells.

I enjoyed this a lot on several levels. However this would have been a stellar book for me had Doe and Three not been truly obsessed with one another for years. How they are always AWARE of each other. While I enjoyed her relationship with Wells immensely, I couldn’t help but think several plot lines into the future where Three and Doe realize they’ve been in love this whole time. It felt like the relationship between Three and Shawn was forced so the reader didn’t think about their lust for one another.

The subplot also felt forced to me, as it didn’t truly come up until about 80% of the way through. Yes, Mr. Tully gave everyone icky vibes, and there were even rumors. But why hadn’t anyone dug into the rumors before then? Wouldn’t you want to know, especially if someone gave you the creeps? I certainly would want to know so that I could be armed with the information to protect myself and others.

As soon as I heard about this book, I immediately added it to my TBR. This was a great read and definitely lived up to my expectations. It's a quick and entertaining young adult book that has adorable charm and humour. I loved the fake dating element and the rivalry — two of my favourite tropes wrapped up in one enjoyable book! I really enjoyed Samantha Markum's writing and am looking forward to her next release!

A lovely young adult romance that can be enjoyed broadly by age group. Could also work well in school libraries. Recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Doe and her friends are the pranking masterminds in the prank war between their all girls school and the all boys school across the street. She strikes a bargain with Wells, one of the elite from the boys school to try and win the war this year.

I truly loved watching Doe and Wells fall in love, and all the shenanigans they got up to in the mean time. The pranks were so much fun, but more than anything the heart felt friendships and the true bond of working together that really made this book special. It also highlighted how often certain things go overlooked, just because you feel like you voice won't be heard but that you can stand up for what is right, no matter your age or the situation. A really fun and cute love story that touched on some topics that need to be talked to about more.

I really enjoyed the rivalry in this one. I couldn’t wait to see how it all tied together in the end. That said, I didn’t find myself longing for more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book! I am very late in reviewing it--my apologies!

This May End Badly is an incredibly fun story! Beloved tropes such as fake dating and rivals to lovers, plus the inclusion of pranks makes for an engaging and enjoyable reading experience. The fact that the characters also face real-world issues and have to navigate things like rebuilding damaged relationships, which adds the appeal for teen readers. I purchased a copy of this back when it was published, and can confirm that my high school readers enjoy it!

I DNF'd this book so I will not be providing a full review for it without reading majority of the book. The genre and setting were just not what interests me so I did not want to finish it. The little part I did read of it seemed like there was potential it was just not for me.

So adorable! Wednesday books has been consistently hitting out of the park with both its paranormal/supernatural AND contemporary books! This contemporary YA had all the tropes I adore and I devoured it! Thank you for bringing so much joy to so many readers

I enjoyed the rival schools and enemies-to-lovers stories between the two characters. It was a fun premise and I really enjoyed it very much. I liked the boarding school and prank wars too. It was hilarious and fun.

This was my absolute favorite prancing rivalry book I’ve ever read. I am so obsessed with everything about this book. This book hit all of the keywords I look for in young adult. We had a rivalry between two schools, a well thought pranking war, and fake dating.
This story had me laughing out loud while falling in love with every single character, even the boys from Winfield Academy. I loved Doe and her passion for every prank. It showed how committed she was to defending her school which became her safe haven. I admired how close-knit her friend group was and how they weren’t afraid to tell Doe how it was.
The romance was very cute and had a lot of back and forth banter. Fake dating is one of my favorite romantic tropes especially when there is a little bit of rivalry involved. I think Samantha Markum executed this book to absolute perfection and I’m so excited to see what else she writes.