This YA Romance was a fun journey. It centers on Doe, a senior at an all-girls high school, who is the ring leader of her friends involved in a prank war with the neighboring all boys' school. During her last year, they find out that the schools are going to merge.

The prank war was a fun premise for a story. The romance ended up being a nice surprise - fake dating versus the enemies to lovers trope. I loved the arc of the romance and I also enjoyed the arc for Doe. At times, she seemed really immature, which was annoying, but then by the end you could see her growth. I also loved how the book dealt with friendships and that was almost a bigger part of the book than anything else. This was a sweet, fun YA novel but at times I was feeling like it was slightly on the more childish side.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

This May End Badly ended up being a really great book and it was just what I needed at the moment. I'm a complete sucker for the fake dating trope. The setting at a boarding school was an excellent addition. This May End Badly was a fantastic debut that fans of YA will devour.

Such a fun ya read! Funny, clever, and adorable. Also - good growth story of the MC! Loved it! Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Pranks wars between two rival schools make this an entertaining read! Great for fans of She's the Man and Mean Girls. Doe was a little challenging to relate to and there's almost too much going on for this story to flow well.

Thanks to NetGalley for my e-arc of this book. All opinions here are my own.

The cover copy on this book made me think of an older favorite: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson. It’s also a boarding school story with an enemies to lovers arc and loads of banter and snark. I LOVED that book when I read it, so I as soon as I read about this book, I knew I wanted to read it.

And it totally delivered on all my hopes for it. I loved Doe’s character with her single-minded passion. I loved Wells with his mysterious sorrow peeking out beneath the “I don’t care” attitude he had going on. On top of that, I loved Doe’s friends, when they pushed her, made room for her, loved her despite her misguided or hurtful actions. I loved the way they operated as a team and protected one another.

I also loved the banter! The pranks. The teasing comments. The awkward, hilarious conversations. I laughed out loud more reading this book than I have in a long time. It was exactly the story I needed this week.

If you like fake dating, boarding school stories, or prank wars and banter, this book is one you won’t want to miss.

I love a good boarding school story so I couldn’t resist requesting Samantha Markum’s debut YA contemporary novel, This May End Badly, which is set at Weston, a prestigious all girls boarding school. I was especially intrigued by the premise that there is an equally prestigious all boys boarding school, Winfield Academy right across the street and that the two schools have a century-long rivalry that is ongoing. I was hooked on the story from the opening pages, which centers on epic beginning-of-the-school year pranks the students from each school play on each other.

As entertaining as I found the pranks, however, I will admit that I got off to a very rough start with the protagonist, Doe. She’s the prank mastermind at Weston and she is also obsessed with Three, a boy at Winfield that she considers to be her arch nemesis. Even though she’s a senior and should be applying to colleges and preparing for her future, she is completely obsessed with escalating the prank wars between the schools and even more obsessed with getting under Three’s skin in any way she can, especially once it’s announced that the two schools will be merging into one next year and Doe suspects that Three’s family had something to do with it. I could understand her frustration that Weston, which has been her safe haven since her parents divorced, would basically cease to exist after the merger, but in the early chapters of the book, she just came off as immature and obnoxious. I read a couple of reviews on Goodreads that advised being patient with Doe, that she would eventually grow and learn from her mistakes, and I was glad I stuck it out because there really is tremendous character growth with Doe.

Even though I struggled a bit with Doe in the beginning, the same cannot be said of her friend group. I adored these young women. They were so much fun when it came to helping Doe with the pranks, but it wasn’t all fun and games for them either. They truly cared about Doe and were not afraid to step in and give her tough love when she needed it, when it was clear she had lost her way and was crossing lines she shouldn’t be crossing. These girls are friendship goals!

I’m also a big fan of the fake dating trope so I was really into the plot line where Doe fake-dates Three’s cousin and fellow Winfield Academy student, Wells. I did think it was a bit odd that Doe chose to fake date Wells just to annoy Three, but the reason aside, Wells and Doe were so cute and sweet together. I loved their banter and loved it even more when their feelings for one another started to change so that it became more about them and less about annoying Three.

The ending of the novel is also fabulous, particularly in the way it brings those rival schools and their pranking super powers together for a very worthy cause. I found myself very proud of all of these kids by the time I finished reading. If you’re interested in reading a book about friendship, falling in love, and standing up for what you believe in, you should give This May End Badly a try.

Fake dating spurned from a war between schools made for an incredible YA title that I really enjoyed, thank you Wednesday Books for the advance copy to read and review!

This male vs female rivalry took prank wars to a new level and I was here for it. I loved how the book made me think of so many of the best parts of living on campus combined with the perfect amount of modern technology and close proximity that made it charming and real, it was very easy to imagine how each and every scene could happen to Doe and her friends.

Beyond the feud between Doe and Three, there were so many issues packed into this book that kept it moving and relatable at every turn. Fights with friends, the idea that we all have secrets, being scared to grow up and move on, Markum crafted all the feelings in this book in a way that made even the harder issues relatable and fun. I felt as though I WAS one of these ladies, fighting for what was right, those growing pains of the then, now, and what will be.

Having a love interest like Wells certainly never hurts, I was a huge fan of him as a character, and the best parts of the book for me were when the two of them were getting to know one another better. SWOON

"And no matter what happens to the school from here, we'll always be Weston girls."

I love YA boarding school books. Doesn't even matter what genre, but I love it. Add in a rival boys school, prank wars with the other school, fake dating, and forced proximity - we have ourselves a book that is specifically targeted for me. And I loved it.

Doe and her friends are starting their senior year at Weston and continuing to prank the Winfield boys school, led by Three - a legacy and one of the five 'founding family' types of Winfield. They've been at war since freshman year but this year is different - the schools have announced they will be merging for the next academic year. Doe will do anything to stop the merger from happening, she loves the school as it is and takes it upon herself to keep up the pranks. But, she has to get under Three's skin as well - and fake dating his cousin Wells is the perfect irritant. But, can this fake relationship turn into a real connection before the pranks get away from them?

My only issue with this book was the immaturity that Doe displayed with with her friends and the pranks. I know this was the point - but it was almost too much for me. And then the ending took this book from light-hearted to very serious, it was a bit jarring. It had a great message and I fully support the point behind it, but I wish it had been a bit easier of a transition. I did love Doe and Wells together, and was really glad there wasn't a hint of a love triangle with Three. I was really worried it would go that way which would upset me - but phew.

Very solid YA contemporary read. Recommend.

**Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

Hi everyone! Today I'll be reviewing This May End Badly by Samantha Markum.
This is Doe's last year studying at the Weston Academy, so when she finds out that her school will merge with Winfield Academy, she comes up with a plan to stop the merge from happening, a plan that involves fake dating, and a lot of pranks between the two schools.
I really liked this book, I had a lot of fun reading it. I really like the fake dating trope, and I just loved Doe and Wells' relationship. I think this book is the perfect mix of romance, humor and drama.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable, fun-loving romp through senior year, balanced with fielding the consequences of your actions and understanding that change *can* be a good thing!

I really enjoyed the progression of all the characters over the course of this book. Senior year is really hard, and it’s even harder when you don’t know where you’re headed, only that where you are is going to change dramatically.

I won’t say that Doe handles herself admirably, because she doesn’t lol. But she does know when things are serious, and how she wants to handle those serious things. And she *learns* how to handle *herself* when things come up that she doesn’t know how to deal with, which, is an incredibly hard thing. Managing what you can, when you can’t really manage anything takes a lot of patience.

Luckily, Doe is surrounded by people who love and support her! Seriously, I think this is one of the most well adjusted supporting casts I know, and it includes a nervous wreck and a victim of some childhood toxic masculinity, so that’s saying something. Special shout-out to Jade and Shawn for being reasonable people, and willing to spend time trying to help Doe understand when she’s wrong.

The sexual predator subplot was dealt with very seriously, and in my experience, very realistically. It was very relieving to see the girls triumph in the end.

Once I got into the flow of the story I didn’t want to stop! The sequencing and plot are done well, giving enough breathing space between all of the elements that make it feel busy but not rushed.

Overall, I really enjoyed all the hijinks and tension—didn’t make me nostalgic, but did bring back the optimism of a whole new adventure ahead.

Thank you to Wednesday Books at St. Martin’s Press for giving me the chance to read and review this e-ARC.

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.