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.

DNF @ 70%

I tried listening to this one since I was struggling with reading the ebook copy. While I was enjoying it, I got distracted and just never came back to it. I understand Doe was a high school senior but her obsession with the pranks seemed very juvenile. Her friends were also very inconsistent with their behavior and I just could not relate to them.. It seems this book was just another YA that fell short for me mainly because of my age.

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

I liked this book. It was a typical high school romcom type of story with witty and engaging characters. However, once again, I found the plot to be a bit far fetched. I feel like I have this criticism of a lot of contemporary stories because so many are based on some derivative of the miscommunication trope and the entire story could easily be resolved if the characters just decided not to lie to each other. But, in this case, I thought the way the MC handled her problem was really outlandish. She fights to keep her school a certain way and despite all the other things she says, doesn’t really consider any other opinions until the end of the story. It seemed out of character to be super open minded about 99% of things but THIS was the one thing she just couldn’t hear other opinions on?

Other than that, I liked the side characters, the fake dating trope, and the setting so that’s why it was a 4 star read for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a cute little rom com! I thoroughly enjoyed it and the main character was totally relatable. Thanks to Netgalley and the author for sending me this ARC!