That's Debatable had an interesting plot and two main characters that were easy to root for. The dual POV worked well with the story, and the competitors turned romantic interests aspect was fun to read. However, the main thing that made me want to give this book a higher rating was the small and unique details. In particular, the footnotes and the recipes, it's not something you see in every book and made it more enjoyable to read. That's Debatable is a good pick for YA readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

This dual perspective book is enjoyable, but comes with some issues. I thought that the theme of the book was interesting. I have never heard of another book that is based around the debate club. However, this book brought up some topics that were not written about very well. These issues included gender inequality, gun violence, and socioeconomic status. There were a few moments when they were talked about decently, but other times I felt like it was very forced and very preachy.

That’s Debatable is a dual-POV contemporary YA romance following Millie and Tag, two high school debaters. Millie lives in a small town in Alabama and is raised by a single mother. She is determined to win state for the fourth year in a row to win a full-ride scholarship. Tag comes from a wealthy family who is pushing for him to do well in debate to improve his chances for college, but all Tag wants to do is cook extraordinary meals and have debates about what he believes in, not what the prompt tells him to. The two seem to be unlikely friends, but after a shooter scare forces them to lock themselves in a closet, they form a connection.

There were things I loved about this book and things I hated, landing me on a solid 3 Star rating. Firstly, I love this cover. The colors are so bright and fun! I also loved the structure of this novel with the in-text citations that injected some fun side comments into the narration. There were also some of Tag’s recipes included throughout and I loved this idea. I also enjoyed learning all the debate lingo. I haven’t seen any books focused on a debate club nor have I participated in debate, but the author did a great job of introducing the topic to the audience in an easily understandable way and made me want to attend a debate tournament. Finally, the characters were pretty great - especially Carlos! My favorite side character for sure.

I didn’t like how preachy this book got at times. Issues like gender inequality, gun violence, and socioeconomic status were brought up a lot. At times these issues were discussed in an appropriate and subtle manner, but most times these conversations felt forced. These preachy moments took up a large part of the narration and would ruin my reading experience at times.

In general, I did enjoy this book and had a good time reading it. The preachiness bothered me at times, so that’s why I’m settling in the middle here. There was a lot to love and a lot to hate. If you’ve been thinking about getting this book, though, I think you should!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Children’s Publishing Group for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t have any expectations going into this one, but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! The characters were fun, entertaining, and actually made me in a feel-good mood for the entire time I was reading.

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this book! all thoughts and opinions are my own.

That's Debatable is a quick, easy YA read.

It's an enemies to friends to maybe lovers romance during a debate tournament for high school students. Millicent is a headstrong character who does not care much of what others think and does what she can to be successful. Tag doesn't really care for debate and school etc and would rather someone else win instead. They start to unexpectedly work together and learn something from the other about themselves.

I did like Millicent though there were times when she was a bit insufferable but I think that might have been more on the intentional side. I liked Tag as well and the back and forth, push and pull between the two characters. The story is a quintessential YA book and I think many YA readers will enjoy the quick paced writing.

4 stars.

9:21AM - DNF 1 ⭐️

Hello! It's been a very long time since I was active! I have been pretty busy with school and college decisions :/ And I have been either getting rejected or waitlisted from all of my schools, so I haven't really been able to focus on reading lately. This month I did read 75% of this book and Red Queen? And I think I am going to DNF both of them.

Anyways, this review may be a little bias because my life at the moment! Starting with the thing I did like about this book: The themes were important the conversations surrounding them were good. Though I wish those conversations lasted more than a single debate. That said, the entire book felt like an info dump on the ethics of different topics, which dragged the book on and made a lot of parts boring a hard to get through. I know this is a debate book, so I'm not sure how the author could have done it any other way, but I felt like the characters didn't have personalities outside of their thoughts about the rights and wrongs of things. They spoke like adults on a zoom about ethics. This made a lot of the plot feel convoluted and (I hate to say it) boring.

It felt like we were going in circles over an over again because they just debated then the plot moved along a little bit then debated and snail paced plot moved a little bit and so on. I think a lot of the debating could have been cut out and the true meaning and relationships between the characters could have been brought to light more.

Perhaps the ending gets better, but I've been trying to read this book for a month now, and as a burnt out senior I think I will save myself the hassle of finishing. I may have murdered this book in this review, but that is not to say I am not grateful for the chance to read it before June 14, 2022 :) Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to check this out early!

That's Debatable was a great book I loved every second of it. I really enjoy a book that each chapter switches the POV of the main characters. I feel like I connect to the characters better when a book is written this way. Millie and Tag were two amazing characters who made this story very special. I can't wait to read another book by Jen Doll because this one was fantastic!!!!!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the novel. I am rating this book with my own opinion and have not received anything in return.