I really wanted to love this book, but it’s not doing it for me. I gave it a good try and got 59% in, but for now I’m choosing to DNF. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

What can I say? It was kinda cute. Kai did get on my nerves now lol. I have the attitude of Aunt Ida lol so whenever he'd say something sweet or whatever, I'd roll my eyes. I did identify with him and his due to his parents. I won't spoil it but he comes to realize something about himself. But this books is cute

This was a cute book about the struggles of teenage life, major life events and first loves. I enjoyed it overall but at times did feel a bit disconnected from the story. Overall a solid read though!

i thoroughly enjoyed this story and the characters! i found their struggles realistic and their emotions/reactions valid. adored how this was a cute black romance. this romance felt natural and the standout characters made it easy to like this as a whole.

my only real struggles with this novel is the length and mystery plot. i found the rest of the plot fun but the mystery felt sort of forced. i feel like if some parts were cut, this would've been much better.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of Zyla & Kai in exchange for an honest review!

My favorite setting: a theme park, amusement park, carnival, fair -- whatever -- give me greasy food, rigged games & rides any day. A portion of Zyla & Kai takes place at a fair & so it's obvious that I'm already here for it.

This book is cute! I like the formatting - the jump from past to present throughout the pages to explain the relationship between Zyla and Kai really worked for me. Also, the relationship, in general, felt very real; these two were absolutely adorable.

This was a very cute slowburn story about first love. i really bought Zyla and Kai's feelings for each other. I really enjoyed the scenes at the amusement park where they started bonding with each other. Kristina Forest is so good at building characters you can fall in love with. And I liked the complicated family dynamics in this book too.

My only problem was that the book drags on and on at some points. We got way to much detail about Kai's day to day during the school year.

The mystery was very anticlimatic so all the build up was a waste. And honestly those parts in between where we got outside povs were my least favorite parts of this book. I would've liked this book more if it didn't try to structure the relationship like flashbacks to build a mystery.

If we trimmed the book down to less than 400 pages it would've been so much better. At the end it felt like I was waiting for the book to end.

This book was another Black Teen Romance that I have been wanting and would've appreciated as a teen. It was a different feel from Kristina's previous two books in the fact there was multiple POVs and timelines but I loved it! I had so many questions as certain things were said but they were answered in the right time and I appreciated that. My one qualm with the book is that there was no epilogue but other than that, I really loved this book!

i am a sucker for stories told in reverse, or stories that approach the climactic event from both after and before the event, and this book pulls it off amazingly. i loved that the romance between zyla and kai moved quickly, and that there were timeskips in between chapters, because it kept the pace of the book up and kept me exciting to see the conclusion. this book is a little repetitive in some areas, and there are also times where the book tells instead of shows a lot of major events, especially towards the end, but overall it was an engaging read. also!!! both zyla and kai have unique stories and explore different aspects of being black, although the story isn't explicitly a book about race. as a non-black person, seeing these perspectives approached without the intention to educate nonblack people was actually really nice! i got to see into the lives of black characters without being talked down to, and also without the characters being compromised to account for a non-black audience. it was super cool. also points for casual polyamorous and bisexual representation!

this book is a nice read if you want a little suspenseful slowburn-esque romance featuring an all-black cast!

Overall, I think that this book is the ideal romantic comedy.

Zyla and Kai are characters that exude humor while also getting into the deeper emotional aspects of the story. I haven't read any of Forest's work before, but I am definitely interested in reading more of her work! The main dynamic between these two characters was incredibly interesting to read! As a reader, I wasn't exactly sure what was going on but the switching back and forth between past and present gave me some more insight and added a lot more to the puzzle!

While the plot was interesting, it didn't keep me all that engaged towards the end. It did drag on for a bit and I just wanted to find out what happened. In my opinion, it was a bit too long for a contemporary novel. I think that the author spent a bit too much time on their relationship at its height rather than the whole situation up the mountain. However, I think that Forest did a great job of acknowledging Kai's mental health issues and how he is dealing with grief and trauma.

It was good, but I don't know if I would read it again.

I LOVE YA Romance, the relatable, complicated, hate to love, love to hate type of Love. Zyla & Kai will make you REMEMBER what it’s like to be young and in Love, and of course they’ll take you on a a beautiful journey.. their journey.
Written through each Zyla & Kai’s perspective, gives the reader insight to their feelings, thoughts.. actions.. wants.. all the things. This made the story extra special. Heartbreak, mystery, love, laughter.. friendship.
This story encompasses all of those important topics, and portrays them in the most unforgettable story!

3.5 stars
This was fun! Told in dual timelines, we follow Zyla and Kai as they get together in the past and, in the present, go missing from their Senior Celebration Day. We follow the timelines to learn how they ended up in their current predicament. I quite enjoyed this, but to me it felt too long. Obviously we had to build both timelines so that the reader knows and loves the characters, but it just seemed to go on forever; I was waiting for the reconciliation of the two timelines and it seemed like it wasn't ever in sight! That being said, though, I did really like our main characters; we get both of their perspectives and they are really well-written, three dimensional individuals. Kai is a triple threat--attractive, sportsy, and smart, and Zyla is more introverted and dreams of attending fashion school in Paris, so their personalities mix really well on the page. If you're looking for an enjoyable, longer contemporary about first love, then this is one you should pick up!

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.

What ended up not working for me was the whole mystery plot line of the story. I felt like Forest really dangled the carrot of the “mystery” plot line within this story, but the ultimate answer was anti-climatic to say the least. I also noticed that when we would do the time jumps to before (which is where we see Zyla & Kai’s relationship blossom and flourish) versus after (the mystery aspect), I just wanted to fast forward to be able to get answers, so I got really impatient with the storyline.

I also felt like this book was just way too long. Coming in at just under 500 pages, so much of this story could’ve been trimmed because the last 25% of this book really dragged on.

While this one wasn’t one of my favorites from Forest, I still plan on continuing to read her stories!

This is Kristina Forest's best book yet. I loved it! Zyla and Kai's romance was real and authentic. I'm excited for whatever Kristina writes next.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

A very swoony story about first love.

Zyla has plans. She’s putting together a portfolio to apply for fashion schools all over. Her dream? Paris. Kai has been dating around. A romantic at heart, his aunt and uncle worry that he’s going to be distracted from his own dreams. They forbid him to date, which doesn’t seem like a huge problem…until he meets Zyla.

I wanted to love this book more. There were so many aspects that I loved about it. I loved the representation of young Black men in therapy. I loved the representation of Black joy. Of Black love. Black families in general and all the different varieties they come in.

I think what didn’t work for me was the back and forth between the senior trip and the past. I honestly felt like the book could have been told in a chronological timeline. In my mind, the whole “running away” thing seemed like a miscommunication the entire time. I loved reading the parts about them getting together, having their first kiss, etc. The flashes to the present seemed a little redundant. Also, I felt like the climax of the story was pretty anti-climatic. :/

This story felt like reading a contemporary adult novel with the way it was structured. I wish I could explain that better, but I’m not sure I can. Hopefully you’ll understand what I mean. 😅

Overall, it’s a good book. I think that it’ll really speak to some readers, especially young Black readers! They deserve to see themselves in romantic YA stories. I think that it’s worth picking up if you enjoy contemporary YA romance novels. If you enjoy Elise Bryant or Justin A. Reynolds, definitely pick this one up!

Thank you PenguinTeen for this eARC! My review is live on Goodreads. I’ll post to Amazon and Barnes & Noble on publication day.

This was a really cute one! It felt a little long and slow-moving at some points but I liked it overall.
The romance was super sweet and I think a lot of readers will enjoy this as a fun summer romance! I also enjoyed the friendships included in the story. I liked the alternating timelines and flashbacks and I think those added a lot to the book and development of the characters.

Zyla & Kai is one of those books which leaves me in awe. The way that Forest weaves the two timelines together is masterful. Not only that, but in the present timeline, most of it takes place from other character's POV. Through witnesses or people our lives touch. It makes you really think about all the misconceptions and biases people in our lives have. The reasons they think we aren't good for each other, or are perfect. All their thoughts about us. And Forest commands these POVs not only to expose pieces of the plot, but also about these perspectives which influence us.

Zyla & Kai is full of opinions. Reasons why Zyla and Kai shouldn't be together. But what matters most are Zyla and Kai. And these characters stand out in their vulnerabilites, definition, and flaws. How Zyla is deeply scarred by her mother's own heartbreak and wondering when the other shoe will drop. While at the same time, Kai believes true love eclipses all. That it is this perfect force worth pouring ourselves into, but what about when we run out?

This book is a wonderfully written story of teen love told in an interesting way. I always appreciate Forest's writing and sensitivity to her characters, and I like how so many authors are taking risks with structure as they grow more confident in their storytelling ability.

This was such a sweet story. Totally swoon worthy and in true KH fashion I was smiling the entire time. I can't wait to rave about this one to everyone.

This was not what I was expecting it to be, but in a good way. I thought it was going to be a cute summer romance, but right away you're told it's also a mystery. I loved the style, and couldn't wait to find out what happened to Zyla and Kai and what their story was. I was so sucked into the story that when I finished I was shocked! I could not put this down. It's the perfect contemporary mystery I never knew I needed.

This was such a fun book! I *think* it's a Bonnie and Clyde retelling, but I'm not 100% sure. It definitely had similar vibes to Trouble Girls, another Bonnie and Clyde retelling. Honestly, the beginning of this book was a little confusing because it's one of those books that jumps around and works its way through time backwards, kind of like People We Meet On Vacation. Kristina Forest writes very fun and cute romances, but I feel as if this book was more coming of age than romance, and more mystery than contemporary. I definitely was not expecting this story, but I was pleasantly surprised and ended up enjoying it overall.