I loved this! Such a cute YA with fake dating and just the right amount of slow burn chemistry starting. I loved the banter and the slow way the romance developed. The friends were great and had great diversity rep. I appreciated the conversation on gender based schooling and how opinions can change when people are presented with new information. Another solid Wednesday YA!

This was surprisingly a cute fake-dating trope kind of book. I will say, I was a bit worried about the prank battles when I first picked this up, but the author did a good job handling that.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Samantha Markum's debut young adult novel is such a page-turner! I know that there's a lot of young readers (albeit mature young readers, given some of the content) who are going to love these characters and their insane hijinks. Not to say older ones can't appreciate it either ;) I think it has something to offer just about everyone!

Weston, an all girls school, and Winfield, an all boys, are longtime rivals. And, in present times, at the heart of their rivalry, are school "leaders" Doe and Three. In their senior year, the announcement is made that the school will be working towards a merger after this cohort graduates. Given how much the school means to Doe - and how much she's invested in leaving behind a powerful legacy - she is deeply upset by this. Enemy #1 (Three) doesn't seem quite as disturbed. In an attempt to humble him (on multiple levels), Doe resorts to "dating" a Winfield boy, Three's cousin, Wells. They both have their reasons for wanting to get under Three's skin and use this set-up to do exactly that.

Ultimately, Doe finds out why Three isn't anti-merger. But, in the process, she (obviously) endures the typical struggles of fake dating... with a whole lot of other conflicts emerging in the background.

This author did an excellent job of crafting a protagonist I care about, building strong (and varying) dynamics between characters, and has excellent dialogue interspersed throughout. However, there is a temptation to mark this even lower, given some of the things I didn't love about it. The first? This is entirely too long. And I imagine just about every other issue I have with it comes right back to that. This tries to cover too much ground. There's too many additional subplots happening beyond the main plot. While I appreciated how much Doe's friendships meant to her, we were given a lot of characters to try and keep up with.

I personally enjoyed the fake dating with Wells, the animosity with Three, some of the family drama that existed between the boys, and obviously the prank war with Winfield. I think with more focus, this author will be unstoppable. She was able to craft a natural chemistry between so many characters. For the longest, it wasn't even clear who Doe's ultimate love interest would be, given how organic her banter was with both Wells and Three. Would have liked some time to be spent resolving some of the tension that existed between her and Three, actually. I think that was a missed opportunity on her part.

Something I failed to mention above: there's some nice social commentary here about how problematic the idea of an "all girls," "all boys" institution is. Doe is very anti-merger... until it becomes apparent to her that these concepts are very non-inclusive. They don't hold up with our modern understandings of gender. And I think that part of things was very well done.

Overall, I will definitely be checking out anything Samantha Markum writes in the future. Because the stuff that she did well? That's usually the part I'm disappointed in. But find me someone who has good banter and solid characters? And I'm in.

Fake Dating to the nth degree here and it was quite a ride!

Doe and her band of friends attend an all girls school. Their rival across the street is an all boys school.

They find out some changes are coming and are quite unhappy. No one as much as Doe.

I must admit that Doe had to seriously grow on me. She was quite self centered for much of the book. I often had to take my personal thoughts and just say, "let's just see where this goes."

By the end I was indeed given the redeeming qualities I was searching for. Also, a fake Dating trope never hurts.

My favorite part of the book was seeing a new level of inclusion unfold. There was a great deal of social issues presented and the author handled the narrative beautifully.

Many thanks to the publisher for an advanced readers copy.

3.5/5 Stars

Super cute, and the fake dating trope I was looking for! I do think that the main character is not appealing to readers outside of high school. I personally would have loved this in high school, especially with the realistic way of the dialogue that doesn't censor it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A super cute, YA contemporary that will check all your boxes. Witty banter a plenty, a fun prank war, a fake dating scenario that only builds and of course - FEELINGS! Who doesn't love those?! There's also a cast of some great characters here - the MC Doe was a bit dramatic in the beginning for me, but she turned it around and gave a solid performance. Wells, simply put - I loved him! There's even a great friend and family dynamic here. This May End Badly is out now and if you are in need of a quick weekend read, this is your book!

Cute story!

Description
“The bitingly hilarious, heartfelt This May End Badly takes your favorite fake dating trope and adds plenty of downright delightful shenanigans that’ll have readers tearing through the pages.” - Emma Lord, New York Times bestselling author of You Have a Match

Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.

To protect the school that has been her safe haven since her parents’ divorce, Doe puts together a plan to prove once and for all that Winfield boys and Weston girls just don’t mix, starting with a direct hit at Three, Winfield’s boy king and her nemesis. In a desperate move to win, Doe strikes a bargain with Three’s cousin, Wells: If he fake dates her to get under Three’s skin, she’ll help him get back his rightful family heirloom from Three.

As the pranks escalate, so do her feelings for her fake boyfriend, and Doe spins lie after lie to keep up her end of the deal. But when a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what’s more important: winning a rivalry, or joining forces to protect something far more critical than a prank war legacy.

Dorothy “Doe” Saltpeter is back at The Weston School for her senior year, and she has no doubt that it will be epic. She has one last year to win before she can move on. And she and her friends are determined to leave their mark on the prank war that has been going on since long before their time at the school.

Doe, Gemma, Jade, Sumi, and Shawn first rose to prank celebrity their first year at Weston, when they unleashed ping pong balls over the basketball game at Winfield Academy, the boys’ school right across the street. Winfield struck back, and Doe and her friends answered. As the years went by and the pranks stacked up, and Doe lead the girls while Nathaniel Emeric Wellborn III, also known as Three, has lead the boys. Doe considers him her nemesis, and she comes up with a great idea to get under his skin.

The Wellborns are one of the most prominent families at Winfield, and there are several cousins and brothers there, like Wells. Wells isn’t into the prank war, but Doe knows that if she were to start going out with him, that would get to Three. She decides to go to Wells and see if he’ll go along with it. He agrees, but he wants something from her too. Three has a family watch that was supposed to go to Wells. He wants Doe to help him get it back, and he’ll go along with their fake dating.

Doe knows that there is a flaw with her plan—she may have to lie to her friends about the nature of her relationship with Wells, but when Weston’s headmistress stands up at their first assembly and announces that this will be the last year the schools are separate—that next year Winfield and Weston will combine into one coed school—Doe knows she has to do whatever it takes to win the prank war. She is against the merger, worried that the voices of the young women will be quieted. But Doe is determined to stay loud, to make sure that her voice and all the other students at Weston can be heard.

This May End Badly is the debut novel by Samantha Markum, and she is hitting the YA shelves with a bang. This story takes a playful look at friendship, loyalty, and pranking while also exploring more challenging topics of divorce, gender identity, and sexual predators. It makes big promises with its premise, but it delivers with bright characters, thoughtful surprises, and belly laughs.

I absolutely loved This May End Badly. I was rooting for Doe and her friends from page one, admiring their willingness to take risks as well as their passion for their school and its values. These young women are strong and smart and are willing to get into trouble for what they believe in, and it feels like no matter what they choose to do with their lives, they will be seen as leaders and mentors. I know I loved getting to spend time with them, and I think any reader who loves a good YA story or a good prank war will enjoy this read.

Egalleys for This May End Badly were provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Title: This May End Badly
Author: Samantha Markum
Genre: YA
Rating: 5 out of 5

This book was just good, plain fun! Sure, Doe did some pretty crappy things—and I never really understood her animosity towards Three—but I enjoyed this book from the very first page. Doe’s group of friends was great, and I liked that the guys were actually good guys, too, even if the girls couldn’t see that at first. Doe grows a lot in this story, and while sometimes that change was painful, I enjoyed the story very much. Especially the interactions between Doe and Wells. Her “stranger danger” made me laugh a lot.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)

I had a really hard time getting into this book.

The onslaught of names and the feeling I missed a prologue somewhere, I couldn’t shake the feeling off and it followed me throughout the book.

I was not a fan of Doe and her actions. Very selfish, lied a lot and then there was the fake dating with Wells.

The pranks were fun, but the teacher subplot was not.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This May End Badly follows Doe, a Weston school girl hell-bent on winning her school’s rivalry against Winfield Academy—and more specifically, her biggest rival, Nathaniel Wellborn III (AKA Three). But when the two schools announce they will be merging next year, Doe refuses to accept it. She wants nothing more than to protect the school that has done so much for her. So, she does what she does best and escalates the already-ongoing prank war—which leads to her fake-dating Three’s cousin, Wells. As her senior year goes on, however, her lies begin to build…because she’s focused on little more than defeating Three and saving her school (including her college applications, her friends’ or parents’ feelings, or her grades)—and the growing crush she has on her fake boyfriend as she tries to fulfill her end of their deal. But when a younger girl at her school comes to her for help after an interaction with a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior, Doe begins to realize what is truly important—the girls at the school, not the school itself.

I loved this book so much! Doe and her group of friends were a blast. The characters were so distinct, despite there being such a large friend group, and the story itself was so fun! I never wanted to put the book down (and in fact stayed up way too late on a weeknight). Wells was charming and sweet, and such a great love interest with an interesting backstory.

This is an easy 5/5. Highly recommend ordering it!

oh my goodness. Doe drives me CRAZY !!! She is so bull-headed and sure she is in the right, even when she isn't ! It was nice watching her growth throughout the book, and how her friendships change and evolve.
The rivalry between the 2 schools was INTENSE ! The different pranks were hilarious and inventive.
I liked how the inclusivity in the story was very easily incorporated, it didn't feel like it was shoehorned in, it was just factual and normalized.

The fake boyfriend trope, one of my favourites. This was well done, and a lot of fun;. All the spots where we readers knew what was going on, but the youths in the book didn't. LOL.

Well this was just a delight form start to finish. I thought the characters were adorable and the tropes were on point. VERY cute for fans of the romance genre. Highly recommend!

Overall, this was a good book. However, I wasn't immediately hooked. I put this book down several times and was in no hurry to return to it. Spoiler alert, I did not like the teacher plot, The book could have done without that in my opinion. I enjoyed and laughed out loud a couple of times as I read through the pranks the students were pulling.

This was such a pleasant surprise. It was so fun and the romance was really sweet. I recommend this to fans of Morgan Matson and Jenn Bennett. There's a great friend group, great romance, and great personal growth.

This book follows Doe, who attends an all-girls boarding school. Her one goal in life is to "win" the prank war with the all-boys school across the road, but once she finds out the two schools are merging, everything changes. Doe struggles to figure out her future beyond her pranks and complicates things even more by fake-dating her rival's cousin. Can we guess what happens next? They fall for each other and make tons of mistakes along the way. I love that Doe is a messy character who screws up, but is always held accountable. She is called out by her great friend group, her parents, and her love interest. It was nice to see her grow from these mistakes and become a much better person in the end. Her journey is fun if a little convoluted.

My one issue with this book is something that is hinted at throughout the story but comes to a head in the last 20 percent of the book. There is a creepy male teacher who students joke about until suddenly a girl comes forward and speaks against him. This is in the Goodreads synopsis but doesn't develop until the end and it honestly has no place in this story. Almost every boarding school book I've read does this and almost none of them need too. This goes from being a fun rom-com to a hard-hitting story of feminism and predatory men. Its weird, but the topic is handled pretty well.

Overall, I liked this and will read more from the author. This was super solid and fun and I think students will really gravitate towards it. This May End Badly is an almost perfect book that will easily find an audience.

3.5/5 stars

This May End Badly is a debut novel. It takes place at a boarding school. And I would categorize it as a combination between realistic fiction and YA contemporary romance.

The narrator is 17 year old high school senior Dorothy/Doe (1st person POV).

Doe goes to an all girls school. Her school has an intense rivalry with the local boys boarding school. There are numerous pranks. But the story also deals with some serious issues. There is romance. The book is also about friendships. Doe was an interesting character. She was kind. But she was also very self-centered at times.

The rivalry and pranks were at times a bit much. But I enjoyed reading about the boarding school aspect of the story. Overall this was an enjoyable read.

I love pranks and fake dating, so This May End Badly was a fun read for me.

My favorite part about this book was how it addressed what single-gender schools mean for students that are nonbinary or transgender and how to create a safe place for everyone. I wish that would have been more at the forefront. Doe had a lot of growing up to do and I would have liked to see more of that happen early on. She was tough to root for at times. I really wished that the issues with the male teacher would have been better handled. I do wish there was more of the friendship aspect and not so much focus on Doe and her lying/rivalry with Three.

CW: sexual assault mentioned, predatory teacher

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled to get into this one at first, but I think that’s largely because I didn’t read the synopsis going into it and this books jumps RIGHT in. I had no idea what was going on or even where this book was set. But once I gave it a bit of time, I figured it out and ended up truly enjoying it.

A genuine young adult novel set in a boarding school, high schoolers compete in a rivalry between two opposing schools – and the pranks are endless. That is, until the announcement that claims the schools will be merging at the end of the year. Doe and her friends plot to keep the merger from happening – until more important goals become front and center.

I loved seeing these characters mastermind their pranks, but I also loved seeing them grow up and learn how to make things right. There was a lot of character growth and development in this book and I am all for it.

I really enjoyed This May End Badly. I was unsure how I'd feel about the book for the first couple of chapters but the storyline pulled together rather nicely.

The fake dating trope was used really well and I liked that there are shifting focal points instead of just making the only conflict be the rivalry between the two schools/our main character Doe and Three or the faking dating ploy. These difficult sub-plots touched on topics like abuse, trauma, sexual identity, etc. and that, in my opinion, added some much needed layers to the characters and setting.

Character wise, we meet many from the schools, Doe's family, and Well's family. The number of characters introduced could be very confusing but I actually thought the introductions were handled very clearly, All of the characters were enjoyable and I would actually be interested in learning more about them, especially Christian and Gemma.

This is a YA book so it may not be for everyone but I really enjoyed how the book encourages personal growth and wanting the best for your peers as well. I could see myself rereading This May End Badly and I am excited to see what else Markum has in store for readers.

"One little lie won't hurt"
Never has this phrase been a good one. Little lies stack up and come back and bite you when you are down.

This is a cute book, that has a bunch of the tropes that you expect to see in a Young Adult romance-comedy; fake dating, high school rivals, little white lies, all girls school across the street from an all boys school, rich and middle class, and schools merging.

But this also addresses fights with friends, issues of sexuality (side characters not the main), anger issues, creepy teachers, school administration issues, power of voices, divorced parental units, and how a little lie can spiral out of control.

I really enjoyed the book, parts made me laugh, others brought tears to my eyes, other times I wanted to smack the characters upside the head because they were being really dumb.

Fun story - if you like boarding school tales, fake dating and teenagers trying to figure things out.

Thank you to Wednesday Books, NetGalley and Samantha Markum for the free advanced reader copy. I am freely leaving my review.