This was a great read! I loved the way the relationship between Kai and Zyla developed throughout the book and I loved the writing.

This was such a charming, heart-warming second-chance romance set against an idyllic setting. I loved watching the two leads lose each other and find each other again.

*Given a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest is a young adult romance bringing together two teens who think they are too different but find enough common ground to develop a relationship that always seems threatened by outside factors. 

The story starts with the title characters going missing from a school ski trip, but it really starts the summer before where the two are lowly amusement park employees trying to earn extra cash for college. 

Hezekiah “Kai” Johnson is working at Sailor Joe’s Amusement Park over the summer when he and his on-and-off-again girlfriend Camille start arguing in front of customers. Camille approaches Kai over his alleged flirtatious behavior with other girls on the job. Kai denies the allegations, but the hullabaloo has almost cost them their jobs. Once Kai gets home to Aunt Brenda and Uncle Steve, they tell him he needs to swear off girls until he graduates high school and matriculates at the family alma mater Morehouse College, the historically Black men’s college in Atlanta. His father and Uncle Steve are college alumni while his mother and Aunt Brenda attended the Black women’s college next door, Spelman College. The dream to continue the HBCU legacy keeps Kai motivated, especially since he lost both of his parents in a car accident. Even when he catches up with his therapist, he doesn’t seem to understand why he keeps getting entangled with the wrong girls.

Zyla Matthews is the opposite. She’s afraid to commit to any relationships. Her mother constantly curling herself up in a ball and crying over her latest boyfriend is enough relationship drama for Zyla to handle. Since Zyla, her mother, and her sister live with her great-aunt, Zyla wants to add more money to her college stash. She has her eyes on fashion school in Paris. So, she’s spending her summer at Sailor Joe’s. When a rowdy customer threatens Zyla at a booth, Kai inadvertently comes to the rescue.

Sparks fly between the two employees even as summer fades and they attend their separate schools. Morning text message exchanges kindle the flame. Once Zyla and Kai start getting serious, they fret over introducing each other to their respective guardians. Kai’s uncle and aunt had already banned him from dating while Zyla’s mother and great-aunt have track records of making mistakes with men. 

Despite their families’ reactions to their budding romance, they get the blessing to continue seeing each other. Zyla goes to parties with students who go to school with Kai, including his trail of ex-girlfriends. This worries Zyla, who has never been in a relationship and fears she’ll get hurt like her mother does every other week. Kai, who’s still battling the overwhelming grief of losing his parents suddenly, tries to reassure her that he only has eyes for her. Then on Valentine’s Day, when they shed all their insecurities, the night is ruined to the point they have to face their fears again about their relationship. 

What stands out in this book is how both characters are dealing with their inner demons and letting those demons get in the way of their relationship. With Kai growing up without his parents and Zyla still facing the post-divorce reality within her family, they are trying to figure out how to define love for themselves. The hormones are telling them one thing, but their brains are forcing them to think further on their gravitational pull. Kai is known as a player when in actuality he’s looking for love in all the wrong places. He tries to live down his reputation as Zyla becomes insecure about being thought of as another one of Kai’s girlfriends, mainly when they’re around Kai’s crew. 

The family dynamics also play a large role in the story. Kai is close to Uncle Steve and Aunt Brenda, but he feels he is failing at being his best for them. They’re the ones who took him in when he became an orphan, so he feels he’s letting them down when he prematurely commits to his promise of not dating any more girls. In the beginning of the book, we see Zyla comforting her mother in the car after another breakup. Zyla is the one who lets her mother rest in the backseat and drives them to their destination. She has to be mature beyond her years for herself and her younger sister Jade since her mother doesn’t have it together and that’s why they live with Aunt Ida, a curmudgeon always muttering about how bad men are. 

If you’re interested in reading the audiobook, narrator Tashi Thomas does a fantastic job of switching up the characters’ voices. When she returns to the story narration, sometimes her voice comes off as mechanical, but the audio recording is a smooth listen.

Overall, this YA romance dives deep into how family dynamics can interweave into a blossoming relationship. The mental health aspect ties into the family dynamics as we see Kai attending therapist sessions that contribute to his character development of trying to be more self-aware about his relationships. Zyla, an aspiring fashion designer, uses retail therapy as her outlet instead finding pieces at the thrift store to create her own designs. They are teenagers looking for ways to cope with their environments, and once they bond together, they start to question their stability as a unit and as individuals. The ups and downs to get to the happily-ever-after feels like a pleasant ride on the Ferris wheel.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I enjoyed the story and the writing. My issue is that it felt so long. There were many chapters that seemed pointless. We had the POVs of people that didn’t matter and didn’t add anything special.

Overall It was a cute story and I would definitely read something else from the author.

Kristina Forest can do no wrong.

I found this book to be quite an enjoyable read! Having recently delved into some heavy literary works, I was delighted to discover that this book provided a lighter, more relaxed reading experience. Despite this, the author did not shy away from exploring some rather serious themes, including the loss of loved ones and mental illness. I was particularly impressed by how the protagonist, Kai, consistently sought help through therapy to deal with the traumatic events of his past. The connection between Zyla and Kai was undoubtedly the highlight for me. Their relationship was simply adorable, and despite facing various obstacles like misunderstandings and petty drama, they remained steadfast in their commitment to each other. I was particularly impressed by the author's portrayal of queer characters in the book. I found it refreshing that the characters were portrayed naturally and authentically without any need to explain their queerness.

Overall, I will be recommending this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Opposites attract but make it a teen romance. I loved this book and the writing style, it was a cute read with some twists and turns. The author did a great job if writing the characters and their emotions.

Thank you to Kokila and Netgalley for my review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a cute high-school love story. I liked the dual-POV that Forest employed and that it touched on some bigger issues, like anxiety and toxic relationships. It felt more realistic this way, because teen love - and first love at that - isn't neat and tidy like it's sometimes portrayed.

I think because of how long it was, it got a little repetitive in places, so it could have been a little shorter.

Overall, it was a pretty good read. If you like love stories, YA, and a bit of mystery - why did they break up? - this one's for you.

3-3.5

"Love is a beautiful thing to witness when it's real. When it's right, it makes all the difference in someone's life."

I love how sweet this romance was between Zyla and Kai. A girl who I saw myself in and related who avoided relationships because she didn't want to follow in her parent's mistakes. So Zyla decided to focus on getting into fashion school in Paris and avoiding love, but meeting Kai changes that and breaks down that wall and helped see that she has to experience love.

"We don't want you to be perfect. We love you exactly as you are, and we are proud of you, no matter what."

Kai, on the other hand has tried to perfect for everyone in his life and anything in his life- sports, grades- and and has been so focused trying to be perfect and why all if his exes haven't lived up to his standards and when his aunt and uncle tells him he needs to focus on his academics than relationships that's when he meets Zyla after his breakup with his latest girlfriend. I love the anxiety rep. I thought it was really interesting in how the point of views were in everyone else's and when it was important Zyla and Kai came in. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This was cute and told in alternating chapters. I liked seeing how their relationship was built. I think it was a bit on the long side for the type of story it was and it dragged at times. It would have been better if some things were trimmed out to really keep the story going

CW: toxic relationship, death of a parent, anxiety/panic attacks, depression
3.5 stars. Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an eARC of this one! Kristina Forest is one of my favorite YA romance authors, but I'm sorry to say that this read isn't on the same level as her first two books. She spent a bit too much time flat-out telling us how the characters felt and why they reacted in certain ways instead of showing it, which definitely contributed to the book's extended length. I also didn't love the ending; it just didn't go the way I was expecting it to go. Given all of the buildup about how these two need to deal with their individual insecurities and not project them onto the relationship, I was anticipating that they would spend more time apart and get together again during one of their breaks from college (via an epilogue).

I enjoyed the dual timeline and how Forest used it to give us perspective into the thoughts of some side characters. For me, the mystery aspect wasn't so much "did they run away" as it was "why did they break up in the first place?" (and of course, "what happened on Valentine's and St. Patrick's Day??"). Kai in particular was a strong, multi-faceted character and the reader is given a lot of insight into the pressure he puts on himself to appear "perfect" through his talks with his therapist. Throughout the book, Kai demonstrated the non-linear nature of grief due to the loss of his parents, which is such important representation for YA literature to have. I also appreciated the complexity of the relationships that Zyla had with her mom and dad, showing that you can love and respect people without agreeing with all of their life choices.

Finally, I want to add that the overall story was really cute! Not as lighthearted as her previous books, given the aforementioned topics, but Kai and Zyla were both sweethearts who made me think of my own first love and how exciting it was. This book is sex-positive, features strong friendships, and takes place in New Jersey (with a few jaunts into Philly), which I loved. If you're looking for a YA romance that takes a thoughtful approach to some really tough topics, then this book could be a great choice for you or a teen in your life.

I adored Forest’s debut but this book did not work for me at all. I am a total black sheep when it comes to this book but to me it felt like in a TV show where the Will They or Won’t They ? couple gets together too soon and then the show isn’t as good.

The book opens a year into Zyla and Kai’s relationship, the pair have run into the mountains and everyone is trying to figure out why. We then flash back and forth between the course of their relationship and the present day, slowly building to the mystery of why Zyla and Kai ran away.

I was intrigued at first but by the middle, I was just bored with it. We get told everything that is going to happen in the past by the present-day narrative and, to me, (mild spoiler) when the narratives meet it was so anticlimactic.

While I think this book has some interesting things to say about class dynamics and mental health in the Black community--the plot dragged for me.

Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest was such a GOOD listen. I was RIVETED. This story follows the title characters through their love story. It opens when Zyla and Kai sort of runaway while on a joint school field trip in the Poconos. There's a storm coming. The two have been broken up for months. Everyone is looking for them. The story then shifts back to summer at the amusement park, where the two meet after Kai gets into some trouble and gets moved to a different position at the amusement park. He and Zyla are just friends, until they become something more, until they end.

I really enjoyed this contemporary book. The audiobook of Zyla & Kai was so easy to follow along with -- even sped up. I loved Zyla, even when she wasn't feeling the most confident in her relationship and let some past issues impact it. Additionally, I loved Kai too -- he has great intentions and just messed up by not really thinking something through. Also, I loved his ambition to get into Morehouse. Both Zyla and Kai are Black and get a beautiful love story without it being some kind of tragedy or lesson. I loved this. The audiobook is narrated by Tashi Thomas who is perfection. It's 13 hours and 35 minutes long -- I listened at 2x with no issues follow along.

Zyla & Kai tells the complex love story of two young teenagers who are struggling to figure out how to incorporate romance into their lives. Having witnessed her parents marriages and subsequent relationships quickly fall apart, Zyla is a bit of a love skeptic. Afraid of being hurt and betrayed by anyone she opens her heart to, she simply decides never to date. Our boy Kai on the other hand is a hopeless romantic. He falls for any cute girl he meets quickly and completely, accumulating a total of 9 ex-girlfriends since middle school. In fact, he gets so distracted by his fleeting romances that he is put on a dating ban by his aunt and uncle (his legal guardians) until he gets his act together.

I loved both Zyla and Kai (and their best friends Beatrice and Jamal) very much. They’ve been hurt by past (and current) events and are struggling to find out what matters to them and who they want to be. Their budding romance was one of the cutest things I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. This book is definitely a good choice for romance lovers around the world.

Regarding the plot, it’s a pretty standard high school contemporary. Relationships are made and broken, family drama rears its ugly head several times, and college applications/decisions are a major plot point. These things will show up in basically any YA contemporary/romance novel you read since many authors choose to make their main characters juniors or seniors. Still, the story is both enjoyable and well-written, so nothing about these reoccurring things bothered me at all. It is told using dual timelines of “present day” (where Zyla and Kai have been broken up for weeks and are seeing each other for the first time in a while) and the past (where we see how their relationship started and why it ended).

I felt the ending of this novel was perfect for the characters and their journeys into adulthood. My only real complaint is that the third-act breakup required a very overused miscommunication trope that I basically never enjoy reading. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this novel and definitely recommend that you check it out if you’re interested!

such a heartfelt story! the characters were lovely, well developed. The plot was engaging and the unraveling of things definitely put things in perspective. Looking forward to more by Forest.

The premise of this was interesting because it was pitched as a young adult romance with a mystery. However, I was sorely let down by the mystery aspect and found myself not even caring about the relationship. Zyla and Kai seemingly go missing on their school trip, but that is only about 1% of the book, if that. Most of the story is told from the past, leading up to the school trip. I honestly did not feel anything for their relationship and I actually cringed a lot. This book often gave me secondhand embarrassment. For example, Zyla often used the words "insecurity dragon" and "esophagus butterflies." These phrases were so overused and so cringey. Although I did not have a great time reading this, there was great anxiety representation and positive views on therapy.

The first 75% of this book was thoroughly enjoyable and really captured the all consuming emotions of being a teenager and dealing with difficult life situations such as loss of parents, messy parents, and the pressures of high school. I also LOVED that that Kai is so open about being a Black teenage boy who regularly goes to therapy and how the grief can you hit you at any given moment without any warning. There’s also a really fantastic conversion about co-dependence, communication, and projection…all things that need to be normalized in YA books especially. I felt like this book was just way too long. At just under 500 pages, so much of this story could’ve been trimmed because the last 25% of this book really dragged on.

I went into this book expecting a fun tropey story and ended up crying in my living room. That should tell you everything you need to know.

4/5 stars. opposites attract is basically this love story. Zyla is quiet while Kai is the popular kid known and seemed by everyone. Their two worlds collide when Kai gets in a fight with his ex and get sent to work at games with Zyla. You’re rooting for them from the beginning. The story is told in the past and what’s currently happening, where the past leads you up to this point.

This is the sweetest YA romance ever, I absolutely loved it. Their banter, the relationship development, the tropes!! I definitely recommend this to others, and will feature it on my page soon :)