A coming of age story set during the summer, at a camp for theater kids, with enemies to lovers? Yes please!

Bea is a super smart teenager who has been homeschooled her whole life. When she gets accepted to Oxford, she wants to go but her parents don't think she has experienced enough to go off and live on her own. So, they send her to a Shakespearean theater camp for the summer, where she is expected to do typical teenager things and prove to them that she is capable of going off to school in the fall. Along the way she makes friends, attends her first party, faces fears, has her first crush and learns that there is much more to life than studying.

I could go on forever about all the reasons I adored this book. I was able to relate to so many of Bea's struggles about not being a "normal teenager" and trying to learn how to fit in, while also being a little scared to put yourself out there and try new things. Seeing Bea grow into this new version of herself and make relationships along the way made my heart so happy. Bea and Nik were so adorable, I love them! Mia and Nolan made this book so fun and I think they were the perfect people to help Bea find herself.

This book exceeded my expectations in so many ways! I felt all the emotions while reading this and found myself laughing at every chapter. It was so sweet and fun to read about these kids and their unforgettable summer, and it left me wanting to go to camp.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me a digital review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I requested Long Story Short without thinking too much about it…I maybe glanced at the blurb and thought it sounded good? Little did I know it would be one of those books that spoke to me.
While it’s not explicitly stated, Beatrice is depicted throughout the book as autistic-coded, with a narrow set of interests and struggles fitting in with “normal” teens. And while I could see people having issues with the rep in the book, I personally saw a lot of myself in Beatrice.
At the start, I could totally understand her narrow mindset of wanting to focus on her studies, taking an awesome opportunity to enroll at Oxford…not taking into account she’s been sheltered for most of her life. And while her parents’ methods for getting her out of her shell are a tad extremec and some of their ideas about this are toxic as hell…like, talking about how camp would “force her to be an extrovert,” I sort of understand the sentiment beneath the BS, especially as I’m a stubborn ND person who has also resisted many of my own therapist’s suggestions for “exposure therapy” as “too hard.”
The environment of the camp and the friends she made there also brought back memories of my own theater experiences, something I fell into in part because of the way it fit in with my “track” of choice in high school, aka the one I was least bad at. I fell in love with the theater in part because of the support of my classmates, and Beatrice has a similar experience with the other campers, who, for the most part, don’t judge her for being different.
There’s also a super-cute romantic plotline with a fellow camper, Nik, which leans into “Taming of the Shrew meets Pride and Prejudice” vibes.
While this book is somewhat predictable and tropey, I can’t help but love it, because of the connection to my own teen experiences. If you enjoy YA contemporaries and are looking for nuanced neurodiverse rep, you should check this out.

Reader’s Notes:

– this is told from Beatrice’s point of view

– there are about 40 curse words

– there is under aged drinking in a scene

Review:

If you’ve read and enjoyed Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter, you’ll love this story even more! I absolutely loved this funny story of a girl who has tons of book smarts but needs to learn the ropes of being a teenager. I found it a bit difficult reading the first couple of chapters and enjoying Beatrice as a character but I was hooked once she was on her way to the camp! I loved the friends she made when she got there and their big personalities as well as their willingness to help her navigate the finer points of teenage society. They helped her come out of her comfort-zone while still keeping in mind that she had limits and wouldn’t push her past them unless she really needed it. I loved Beatrice’s banter with Nik and their Shakespeare themed contest. I also loved her friends’ commentary on said banter and how it took Beatrice a bit to accept their thoughts on it. I loved so much of this book, but some of my favorite scenes included: a day on the lake, practices for Romeo and Juliet, their day out, and the impromptu party the campers threw.

Beatrice is a highly intelligent homeschooled girl who dreams of learning at the hard to get into Oxford University. So when she gets her acceptance, she expects her parents to be thrilled. But instead finds that she needs to convince them to let her go. They don’t want her to keep to herself, they want to be sure that she interacts with people her own age. But people confuse Beatrice with their ever changing moods and personalities. To acclimate Beatrice and get her outside of her comfort-zone, her parents sign her up for a Shakespearean theater camp and give her a few things she’ll need to do to show them that she can be a real teenager and should be allowed to go to Oxford in the fall.

When Beatrice arrives, she finds that she is even more out of her depth when it comes to teenagers. But luckily she is adopted by some outgoing theater kids who are willing to help her learn how to be a real teenager. Unfortunately, Beatrice also manages to make an enemy of the popular son of the camp’s founders and the queen bee…all before auditions, which Beatrice stills needs to figure out how to navigate.

Will Beatrice find that she likes being a teenager? Or will she revert back to the books that can do her no wrong?

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

When Beatrice is admitted to Oxford after years of homeschooling, her parents don't feel she's prepared to attend. Before they'll agree to let her go to school in another country at 16, they ask her to attend a summer theater camp. And they create a Teenage Experience Experiment list of tasks she must complete.

The theater camp was so fun, and the characters were fabulous. I love that Bea is written as strong and able to stand up for herself. Too frequently, the smart girl with awkward social skills is also stereotypically dubbed timid. Likewise, I adore Mia. I want her to adopt me as a BFF, too. And I really enjoyed the relationship between Nolan and his twin sister, Shelby. Their relationship helped both have a nuance that transcended the stereotypical gay best friend and mean girl character types they might otherwise have fit.

The various camp activities and "normal teenage experience" felt quite nostalgic. I loved all of the Shakespeare references, and I enjoyed the multiple types of diverse representation. For me, the only annoying downside was that Bea was really bad at checking things off her list when she completed them. I really enjoyed this book!

4.5 stars rounded up

Beatrice Quinn is a young genius who graduated high school early and dreams of going to college at Oxford University. Beatrice hasn’t made many friends or seemed to want to though, so her parents are worried about sending her across the sea. The compromise: Beatrice attends a Shakespeare summer camp and experiences all the teenage milestones that she missed before her parents agree she’s ready. Beatrice reluctantly agrees, but when she arrives at camp, she finds there’s more to acting and life than she ever anticipated.

This is a story that I wish I had when I was in high school. In some ways, I relate a lot to Beatrice. There are so many girls aren’t social butterflies, and who don’t fit in perfectly with everyone else. This novel shows them that it’s okay to be yourself, and people will still love you for who you are. I also love how Beatrice slowly got out of her shell with the support of her friends, and showed how brave she was by trying new things and embracing them. The romance in this book was also top notch, with some of the most creative use of Shakespeare quotes that I’ve ever read. The writing pulled me in, and I couldn’t stop reading.

I highly recommend this novel for fans of YA fiction, and young women who are a little bit different. Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Long Story Short is the quintessential summer read. It’s humorous, inspiring, and romantic. You’re rooting for Beatrice Quinn to come out of her shell, to find joy in theater, to discover the depth of platonic and romantic love, all against the bright backdrop of summer camp. I cannot believe the quality of 2022 debuts this year, like where is all this talent coming from (and can I borrow it?)

First of all, I would just like to give a shoutout to the fact that Bea wears glasses??? Like, let’s normalize people not wearing contacts??? And her best friend Mia is African-American and Nik is mixed-race with East-Indian and white-British heritage. This is just such a refreshingly diverse read that defied expectations.

Of course, a lot of the characters do read a little…stereotypical. That didn’t bother me but some might feel upset about it. In all honestly, I think that the theater kid/summer camp stereotypes actually enhanced the book, because it makes it feel like an early 2000s teen movie!

Anyways, while the book felt stereotypical at times, it was just an incredibly fun ride chock-full of friendship, romance, and Shakespeare. THERE WERE SO MANY SHAKESPEARE QUOTES. In fact, Bea (with her insane memory) and Nik (with his love for the Bard) literally made a bet to see who could recite more lines. It’s so wholesome and fun and sweet!

Much thanks to NetGalley for the advance read of this thoroughly delightful YA romance.
As obvious as this book is from beginning to end, in its characterizations and storyline, I couldn't help falling for it. (And as a former theater kid and forever theater buff, "Long Story Short" had me at hello.)
I'd defy anyone not to warmly embrace Beatrice Quinn, the 16 year old, homeschooled gifted genius who's had about as much contact with the outside world as The Boy In The Plastic Bubble. She's brilliant. funny, adorable. ( possibly on the spectrum with Asperger's syndrome)......and in her almost total lack of social skills and little to no experience interacting with anyone her own age, she's achingly vulnerable.
Bea's major dilemma........her parents won't allow their 16 year old daughter to fly off to Oxford, her dream college that recently accepted her for the fall. Not until she plunges into a series of challenges they've devised for her to prove she can learn to successfully cope with the great big outside world at large........and socially interact with her peers.
And ground zero for these challenges - a summer at an exclusive Shakespearian theater camp. It's the perfect place where Bea will not only find herself thrust among a host of quirky, talented, outgoing and ambitious theater kids, but will no doubt be compelled to take to the stage herself. Yikes.
Sure it's easy to predict the cast of characters Bea encounters at the camp........the few who become fast friends, dedicated to bringing her out of her shell, the inevitable Mean Girl Diva who instantly despises her, and most important of course,, the camp's premiere leading man heartthrob Bea clashes with........ and whom you know she'll fall head-over-heels for. (and vice versa.).
While there's nothing here we haven't read before, every page of it was lively, witty, sweet and entertaining.......the kind of book where you can't help thinking up your own imaginary casting for a potential film version. And that's the very definition of a fun 4 star read.

Long Story Short is about teenage genius and socially inexperienced Bea spending her summer at theater camp in an attempt to act more like a "normal" teenage girl at the request of her parents. Bea's character is one I haven't seen too often in YA, which is cool, but personally I found it hard to connect with her. Even though she's 18 and heading off to college soon, because she was so inexperienced, her voice felt more like that of a 14/15 year old, and younger YA isn't my preference.

While this book wasn't exactly for me, there was a lot I appreciated about it. The relationship between her and Nik was adorable. It was pretty apparent early on that her opinion of him was too hastily formed and that there was more to him than she thought. It was also nice to see how supportive her two camp friends, Mia and Nolan, were of her quest to do teen things to fulfill her parents wishes. At the same time, though, it felt a little unrealistic just how nice and accepting everyone seemed to be of her. Even the "mean girl" was barely mean at all and got a cliched ending. But ultimately, the summer camp setting was fun, and as a theater nerd in high school, I really enjoyed that aspect of the story.

I think this book would be a good fit for readers who like younger YA and slightly nerdy characters.

Beatrice has one goal this summer- convince her parents that she’s socially ready to attend her dream college program at Oxford. They will support her, but first she must attend theater camp and complete tasks to prove she’s participating. Also known as her worst nightmare. Beatrice soon realizes that theater camp is unlike anything she’s known before and tries to rush through her list of tasks. When the camp puts on a production of Romeo & Juliet, Beatrice is forced to open her mind, try new things, and make friends outside her comfort zone.

This was such a fun book! The theater camp is friendly, inclusive, and filled with excellent secondary characters. I loved the emphasis on the unconditional friendship that Beatrice finds in Nolan and Mia- they immediately accept and love Beatrice for who she is. I enjoyed watching Bea learn to trust her friends as they help complete her list. Long Story Short has theater kids, pranks, camp traditions, new friends, enemies, and as much Shakespeare as one could want. Beatrice is full of sharp wit and honesty. Some of her retorts to Nik, a boy she has complicated feelings about, really made me laugh.

Long Story Short is filled with the joyful chaos of theater camp, stage fright, and getting outside of your comfort zone. Beatrice is coded as neurodivergent, without using a specific label, and I loved this choice. To me it helps question the idea of “normal” (normal really doesn’t exist) and invites readers to feel more comfortable with themselves. I think many readers will find aspects of themselves in Bea and the choices she makes. I look forward to seeing more of this type of representation, especially in contemporary books! I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys neurodivergent heroines, theater kid mischief, and Shakespeare duels. I’m looking forward to whatever Serena Kaylor writes next!

Thank you to Serena Kaylor, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, Wordpress blog, and Barnes & Noble etc

Synopsis: Home schooled math genius Beatrice Quinn has dreamed of going to Oxford her whole life. When she applies on the sly and is accepted she’s tasked with the challenge of selling her parents on allowing her to go. Beatrice’s limited social exposure has her parents doubting that attending would be the best move for her future. They challenge her to attend a Shakespearean Theater Summer camp and meet a series of tasks in order to prove that she can demonstrate an expanded palate for social interactions and wouldn’t be a hermit if allowed to attend Oxford. Imagine the shell shock of attending summer camp when you’ve had almost no social interactions! What ensues is a series of social missteps that force Beatrice to take on the role of a lifetime, a true teenager!

📚 Review: What a delightful little nugget this was! It brought me back to being in high school and even without having been home schooled I FELT for Beatrice. The social challenges that teenagers have to deal with made me cringe. I enjoyed the development of Beatrice (as she transforms into Bea) and loved the relationships that she developed with Mia and Nolan. I loved their willingness to take her under their wings, show her the ropes, and gently force her out of her comfort zone. This was integral to Bea’s growth and development. And Nik. Do boys like this exist in real life?! I love that he challenged Bea and got her teenage blood and heart pumping! Such a great debut and it’s definitely one to be added to your TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I dnf’d this at 48%. It was a struggle to get that far, but I wanted to give it an honest chance before I gave up.

The story is fine, though imo a little harmful. I don’t care much for the characters, except for Mia and Nolan. I especially don’t care for the enemies-to-lovers thing that seems to be taking shape.

The writing feels a little juvenile, but not in the sense that the author is inexperienced, just in a way that makes it seem that the story is for a younger audience. *Which is TRUE*, as this is YA. It’s just not for me. Which is why this book has made me realize that I just don’t enjoy contemporary YA as much as I think I should.

Reviews Posted: July 15, 2022
Goodreads
Storygraph

This book was so freaking cute. The romance and characters all blew me away. I went on an emotional rollercoaster, one moment, I’m laughing, and the next, I am balling my eyes out.

Okay, so I really reacted to our main character Beatrice. I thought her character development was done well, and while we got to watch her grow, she still maintained her core being through the whole story. As someone who also struggles with putting myself out there, I identified with Beatrice, and every time she reflected on her past, I could feel her emits through the book. I think her friends Mia and Nolan blanked her out nicely, and they worked really well as a trio. I also enjoyed the fact that her friends did not blindly agree with her and challenged her to be the best version of herself possible. At first, Nik defiantly rubbed me the wrong way, but he grew on me by the end and thought he was a good love interest for Beatrice.

The premise of Beatrice coming out of her shell by going to theater camp is literally something I did when I was really young. And while she defiantly becomes more comfortable with the world around her, there are still things that she sticks to, and her friends learn and know to love her the way she is. The friendships are what made this book shine. Because while they wanted to Bea to come out of her shell more, they also respected her boundaries. Also, I’m a sucker for anything theater based because it reminds me a lot of my childhood.

The one thing that missed the mark for me was the pacing. The start was slow and sluggish, and things sped up after the halfway point. There were many moments that I wished the author stayed on for longer instead of rushing to the next plot point. I also think the pacing caused me not to feel connected to the characters until the latter half.

Overall I had such a fun time reading this book, and it was the first book in a long time that actually made me cry.

What I wonderfully YA book! I haven’t loved YA lately because they have felt so young, but j really enjoyed this one!

I enjoyed the camp setting and the themes. It brought back so many childhood memories that I reminisced with.

To me it started out a little slow, but once it got going it was a fun read.

Great character development and sweet story.

First, I’ll be honest, having both a Bea and a Ben made me think this would be more of a direct MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING retelling, so I was confused when that didn’t happen. Second, I know it was the point of the story, but Bea was...a lot. Thank goodness for Mia and Nolan.

Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor

Published: July 26, 2022
Wednesday Books
Pages: 328
Genre: YA Romance
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Serena Kaylor likes to write about that first flush of summer love, whispered conversations at midnight, and endings happy enough to make your toes curl. She grew up running wild as a changeling through North Carolina swamps and hiding in book stacks until she was dragged back into the real world.

“The ugly realization that I wanted this.”

Beatrice is smart. Incredibly smart. And that has allowed her to build walls that have prevented her from living through normal teenage things. She was also homeschooled. So she is also awkward. And very set in her routine. When she gets into her dream school, her parents make her a deal to go with their blessing, and she has to spend the summer at a camp that will shove her out of her comfort zone and directly into the spotlight. She never expected the experience to change her life.

This was such a sweet story. I fell in love with Beatrice immediately. And Mia. And Nolan. And Nik. These characters were fantastic.

I enjoyed the pacing and storyline arc of this novel. I love that the things Beatrice learned weren’t just that she was right and should go to college in the fall.

But that she did need to learn to be a teenage girl. That she needed people. That being spontaneous and silly is okay.

I also loved that her parents learned that there was more to Bea than books and theory. The way this story unfolded was both a coming of age and self-realization that who we are right now is just fine and that we will grow and change.

This was a beautiful journey, with many laughs along the way.

why do Nik and Bea even like each other i feel like they have nothing in common also i feel like it's not rly explained why beatrice is so desperate to go to oxford?

Well, this one was just a delight. The story focuses on Beatrice. Beatrice has been home schooled her whole life, and she dreams of breaking out of her shell and seeing the world. Unbeknownst to her parents, she's applied and been accepted into Oxford. Before her parents will let her go, they want to make sure she's ready. To this end, they send her off to a Shakespeare summer camp. With this camp, they provide her a list of "challenges" she needs to complete to prove she can handle life at Oxford. While an unusual premise, it was a fun layer of this story as Beatrice navigated love, friendship and acting. I love a relatable lead character, and Beatrice was so, so much that. This was just a cute, happy story that made me smile. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this upcoming July 2022 release!

This book was perfection and elicited such great feelings from me.

Beatrice is a no nonsense girl. Homeschooled her whole life, she has never had time for friends or a life that didn’t involve her studies… and this has been all her own doing. When she tells her parents that she applied early to Oxford and got in, they fear that she won’t be able to handle the very jarring differences that a college life so far from her California home with entail. In order to go, she will have to spend her summer at a theater camp, completing a list of tasks to show her parents that she can handle it.

It’s there, at this camp that she will make new friends, have endless new experiences and catch the eye of the camp owners’ handsome son. This is all new and very intimidating, but Bea is tough and smart.

I loved this so much. I adored the friends she makes, who will stop at nothing to build her up and show her her worth. I loved the enemies to lovers aspect with Nik, the boy who is constantly giving her mixed signals, making her head spin. I loved the heavy Shakespeare we get in this book. It is woven through this book so beautifully. Mostly, though… I loved Bea!! She was such a great character. She learns so much about herself and remains true to who she is through the whole book.

LOVE!
This was such a cute summer read. The enemies to friends to lovers trope never disappoints and this book was so heartfelt. I was a huge fan of Bea and her character development. The banter was amazing too! I loved this book and definitely recommend it.

What a cute YA rom com!

Beatrice Quinn (an actual genius) is trying to prove to her parents that she is ready to go to Oxford at the age of 16, so she goes to theatre camp with a list of normal teenage experiences that she must engage in while she is there.

Really quickly, she learns that all that she read about being a “real” teenager did not prepare her for actually doing it and acting was the absolute last thing she wanted to do!

I thought the characters in this novel were sweet. I had a hard time connecting with Beatrice, especially when she kept going back and forth about her feelings about Nik, but overall I was happy for her in the end. Her two friends Nolan and Mia were literally perfect for her. The love story aspect was one where I literally just wanted them to admit they liked each other, but it was definitely a slow burn.

bookish elements:
- lots of Shakespeare quotes
- enemies to lovers
- coming of age
- YA
- closed door (kissing only)

Ultimately, it’s a sweet and easy read!
Thank