What a sweet, fun, romantic YA book. The characters were mostly on point though some seemed a little too” mean teen”. .I enjoyed the Shakespeare theme as well as the Jane Austen theme that ran through the book. My one criticism of the book, Would be that Bea seem to instantly dislike Nik. With her being such a shy and awkward teen, I don’t think she would’ve been so aggressive at first. Overall as the ice melted they both became favorite characters and I enjoyed how the book ended.. ii would recommend this one to teens i know..
Also, thanks Net Galley for this advanced copy.

I'm conflicted on what to rate this book. The scenes and most of the characters are compelling and engaging, and the chemistry between Beatrice and Nik is described incredibly well. (Overall, a great enemies-to-lovers arc here.) That being said, I felt like Beatrice's parents are ableist in making their daughter (who is clearly neurodivergent) go to this camp to prove that she can survive on her own at Oxford, and the side characters are really aggressive with her. This also plays into how abruptly Beatrice changes during the course of the book--at times her actions and dialogue didn't make sense with her progression.

I'm settling for a rating somewhere in the middle, but I'm still thinking about this book and how its entertainment value compares to its plot points.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

This book was just an absolute delight from beginning to end.

Beatrice Quinn is the socially awkward teen that we all were at one point. Her total ineptitude at understanding and interpreting social situations felt real and genuine, and I loved how Serena develops this character over the course of the novel.

The Shakespeare summer camp setting made both this former theater kid and HS English teacher so happy, and when that was combined with serious Pride & Prejudice retelling vibes, I adored how everything played out (pun intended!). The dialogue and banter was fast-paced, witty and made all of these characters come alive.

And speaking of characters, gosh I loved Mia and Nolan so much. They accept Beatrice without reservation, and I found myself being a little jealous of their found family friend group.

While this story has a perfect teen romance storyline (Nik makes a great Darcy stand-in), I love that this is also about Beatrice discovering more about herself and recognizing her own strengths and what she wants for her future.

One final note: I love that this is a true young adult novel. The content is age-appropriate for the target audience. Other than mild language, this book never strays to explicit topics.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Age Level: Young Adult
Content: Kisses, mild language

Beatrice is a brilliant 16-year-old who has already been accepted into the university of her dreams; Oxford. The only problem is that Beatrice suffers extreme social anxiety, so much so she has been homeschooled for most of her life. Beatrice has never been to a party. She's never had a friend; she has never even deviated from a specific weekly dinner menu. Needless to say, her parents aren't thrilled with her acceptance, so they decide that Beatrice will have to prove to her parents that she is emotionally and mentally ready before they allow her to go. and boy do her parents have the perfect challenge for her, she will have to successfully a program, well actually a summer camp that is completely out of her comfort zone; camp where she will have to interact with others, speak in public, and share personal space...a Shakespearian Theatre camp! And while she is there, she'll have to fulfil a list of accomplishments her parents create for her.

The dream of attending Oxford is enough to get Beatrice out the door and onto the bus that will take her to camp; however, she soon faces embarrassment and rejection when she tries to cross a task off her list and talk to a stranger who just happens to be the most popular girl at camp; the "Ice Queen".

I found this novel charming and a wonderful break from popular teenage angst-riddled dystopian literature. It is very well written with endearing characters (I absolutely LOVE Mia and Nolan!) It is a sweet, light-hearted novel that will be the perfect light summer reading fare.

I both like this story and have some pretty big grievances about it.

I enjoyed the bonding aspect of the theatre. I know a lot of theatre kids find it as a second home for a multitude of reasons and I can tell Bea certainly did at the end.

Another thing I like is that I found myself in Bea. Bad at social cues, awkward, kind of walk to the beat of my own drum kind of person. I lock down when overstimulated. I can definitely see my 16-year-old self in this character. I also never really had those teenage experiences, either. So I can deeply resonate with this character.

Lastly, I really enjoyed the feeling. After the initial breaking in of the book, I tore through it and wanted to know what happened next. I think once I sat down, it took me a couple of days to read it.

And while I enjoyed this book, there were some major issues for me. This is coming from someone who is neurodivergent and it’s kind of implicated that Bea is also, as her parents didn’t want to get her diagnosed with anything to keep her from being held back. (That in itself I have a big bone to pick because having resources helps so much more.)

The biggest issue I have are her parents. The fact that they would put her out of her comfort zone in such a severe way to prove that she can survive outside of the US is jarring. They kept her homeschooled. They didn’t take proper steps to try and help her with any possible neurodivergence. And after that, they want her to survive away from any resources during the week? I didn’t like her parents. Not at all.

I mostly liked her friends. However, Nolan felt slightly stereotyped with the amount of “darlings” and “babys” he used. I also didn’t really like how they didn’t consider neurodivergence because most kids her age—long line of theatre kids in my family—would most definitely be attuned to that. They would take it into account and help her feel accommodated, but ostracized for her “weirdness.”

There could’ve been some awesome autistic rep in this story if it was handled correctly. I think just changing a few places could even fix it—pointing out what her parents are doing isn’t okay, Mia and Nolan giving her solace and helping out, things of that nature. Or, if it was framed where she was an introvert could also be doable. But there would need to be emphasis on that.

Other than the major issue surrounding autistic-coding and following through sloppily, I enjoyed the read!

This book had me giggling, smiling, screaming, and blushing. Beatrice was probably one of the most relatable main characters I’ve ever read and watching her come out of her shell was heartwarming and made me so happy. Nik was just… he speaks for himself honestly. I love him to bits. Mia and Nolan were just perfect and weren’t just reduced to side characters. They had vibrant personalities and were just great overall.

The use of Shakespeare in this book was great. Even if you don’t have a complete understanding of some of his works the book still made sense which was nice.

The only thing that I didn’t really like was her parents. It made no sense to my that her parents, who are psychologists may I add, would just try to continuously change their child (and not to mention that Bea is very autistic-coded) so it just makes me feel super uncomfortable.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Overall, I enjoyed the plot of this story—it moved at a nice pace, and the camp sounded like a super-fun place that an English nerd like me would have loved to spend my summers as a teen. There were some really great friendships introduced in this story that I liked to follow along with, and I actually liked the love interest in the end, despite really not feeling any type of away about him in the beginning. I like stories where the characters have to check things off a list or follow an adventure already mapped out for them.

That being said, I didn’t love how the main character, Bea, was portrayed. She is obviously on the autism spectrum, which her camp friends seemed to realize and embrace quite quickly, but the fact that her parents were forcing her to be something she wasn’t didn’t sit well with me. If you’re naturally very introverted, no one should be forced to perform on a stage in front of people—how would that possibly mean that she’s ready to go off to school on her own? Although everything worked out in the end, I’m not sure it would have happened that way had Bea been a real person because that was a lot of change for a person in a very short time. I wish the author would have been clearer about Bea instead of making her (and many of the people at camp, if I’m being honest) stereotypical.

I really liked the love story between Bea and Nik. It was nice to see how it blossomed and how they grew to learn about each other throughout the summer, and if you know anything about me, you know I love a good enemies-to-lovers story (though this one is very, very chaste—as it should be!). I would almost like to see where Bea ends up next, with a few tweaks, of course. It made me miss summer camp, even though I never went to one that was anything like this. I wish I did!

3.5 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I'm not usually drawn towards YA summer camp books, but wow, this one is WORTH THE READ. It exceeded all expectations. I absolutely loved Beatrice, the MC. I definitely related to her social awkwardness, but I loved her dedication to trying new things and her ability to stand up for herself. I loved her story of finding out who she is and accepting that she can change and still be herself. And I loved her interactions with her two new friends, especially Mia. Their friendship is so wholesome and heartwarming.

AND DON'T FORGET THE ADORABLE ROMANCE. The loathe to lovers was absolute perfection with all the teenage angst and crushes. I loved that Nik had some Mr. Darcy-inspired traits. And the Shakespeare camp backdrop was perfect for developing the romance!

Don't miss this one! I devoured this in one day, staying up late to finish it. It's delightful, and the perfect summer read with lighthearted friendship, an angsty romance, and a heartwarming message.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 5
Plot/Movement: 5
Character Development: 5
Overall: 5

Thank you, Wednesday Books and NetGalley, for the ARC!

ADORABLE. The characters were loveable and the pace was perfect. I did find at times that the main character was neurodivergent coded which made MANY of the interactions between character uncomfortable and oftentimes mean...Otherwise, the story was cute, the story was fun and extremely cute.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

I devoured this sweet, endearing book! Beatrice is an incredibly bright young woman. Her intellect has gotten her into Oxford but her parents are concerned about her moving out of the country, especially since she has limited social interactions as a homeschooled student and she has a very regimented life. They challenge her to attend camp…. Theater camp. If she can make it through, and complete the list of “teenage” things to do, they will seriously consider her going to Oxford.

As a teen, I was very introverted and ahead of my class, so there were elements of this book that hit home. I would have loved reading a book with this premise because it would have made me feel less alone at that age… and like I could still be something.

Beatrice, or Bea as she decides, is taken under the wing of two amazing people when she gets to camp. There are still good, caring people in this world, and their impact on Bea is tremendous. They seem to know the right time to push her and when to back off. And though she’s out of her element, Bea begins to blossom… even if she doesn’t realize it.

A beautiful story about growth, finding inner strength and being your true self.

Thank you @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for the opportunity to read this book. The review expresses my own personal opinions.

I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It was a standard YA novel set in a camp with good friendships and a summer romance. The thing is, and I'm not sure if the author intended this or not, the main character is implied to be autistic. Which is great, because I'd love to read more books with autistic main characters... but every single person spends the entire book trying to "fix" Beatrice. The way she eats (her unchanging meals, ie: asparagus on Mondays and mushroom pizza on Fridays, etc), the way she dresses (her mother calls it "her uniform", polos and khakis), the way she attacks problems (a big white board with red or blue marker, depending on if she has the solution), not understanding social cues, sensory processing issues, etc.

Her parents honestly kind of sucked! If she was just introverted, maybe they wouldn't seem so bad in my eyes, but if she's autistic... They just seem kinda cruel. Her therapist seemed good but we unfortunately don't get a lot of him. Anyway, her parents (and her new friends) seem to want her to change almost every aspect of her personality. And by the end of the novel.... she kind of does. Probably a spoiler, but she ends up making out with someone by the end of the novel when at the beginning (simply 4 weeks earlier) she can barely hug people.

I think this novel would have been better if Beatrice was simply just a little different; homeschooled, introverted, etc., because then when she "changes" it doesn't feel quite as icky. I think there were better ways to have Beatrice open up by the end of camp besides the romance, like keeping her having real friends and "flirting for the hell of it" would have been great. Instead, what I got out of the novel was that autism could—and should—be fixed.

I received a digital ARC from Wednesday Books via NetGalley.

This story was enjoyable. I appreciated the friendship dynamics, and how each character learned from the others. I especially liked Mia, and how she forced Bea out of her comfort zone.

There are so many good YA novels coming out this summer but this one is extra cute!

Beatrice is a 16 year old girl who has just gotten into Oxford but when her parents find out, they aren’t as thrilled as you might expect. You see, Beatrice is a girl that refuses to leave her comfort zone. She has her “uniform” (as her mother calls it) of khaki’s and earth shade polos, eats the same meals on the designated night of the week, and limits all her social interactions to ones she is forced into. Her parents are understandably worried about throwing her out into the world on her own.

Together they all come up with a comprise. A summer acting camp to get Beatrice out of her comfort zone but in a controlled environment. The catch, she also has a list of teenage experiences she must check off while she is there.

This is a hilarious, laugh out loud journey Kaylor has invited us along for and I am here for it. I was rooting for Beatrice and all her quirky theater friends. And honestly, is there any better place to find yourself then at a Shakespearean summer camp?? The love interest was top notch and I loved their little feud.

Content Warning: mild language, bullying, kisses

Who doesn’t love an awkward teen making their way through life trying to figure out the awkwardness of being an actual teenager ?

Beatrice being homeschooled has made her so socially awkward it was cute to read. Her new friends Mia and Nolan were totally the perfect support team for this story ! Helping guide her through her first summer at theatre camp before moving England to attend Oxford in the fall.

If you’re looking for a cute coming of age teen story with a touch of romance this is the absolute perfect read for you ! Thank you so much for letting me read this book before publish !

Maybe it's my love of Romeo and Juliet (which I've taught to 9th graders for 16 years) or it's that Beatrice is so relatable in the way she is trying to find herself in the world and find comfort in who she truly is. Maybe it's the enemies to lovers trope (my favorite) or maybe it's the way that the author crafted the perfect summer camp friendships and experiences. For me, this book was just perfect and a delight to read. I love when a book surprises me and this one did! The wit, banter and all those lines from the Romeo and Juliet! When homescholled (genius) Beatrice wants to attend Oxford in the fall, her parents are concerned that her quirky qualities and lack of relationships with peers will hold her back from success. They craft a list of expectations for her to complete and send her to theater camp. Everything that follows is just fantastic. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion..

I would like to note that I am not currently diagnosed with autism but it is strongly suspected by many people and I am seeking an assessment. However, when I was reading this book, I consulted my friends and family who do have diagnoses to make sure that the things I found distressing were in fact bad (spoiler alert: they were).
This is going to be a pretty long review, so let me summarize it for this of you who don’t want to read it: I found this book to offensive, upsetting to read, and if I had read it a few years ago, I would have come away with the idea that I had to fundamentally change myself and be around people that called me a “robot”, asked if I had feelings, and criticized my needs, because those people were my “friends”.
If this is all that you read of my review, I would also ask that you not attack the author on any social media platforms. That’s not cool.
Onto the longer portion!
I would like to reiterate that Beatrice as a portrayal of an autistic person was accurate and well done. I am NOT criticizing that at all. In fact, it felt very refreshing to see myself on the page.
What was upsetting was the way the author and the story treated Beatrice. Beatrice herself was not the problem, but I will get into that in a later section.
I would like to note that on the page Beatrice is not stated to be autistic or neurodiverse. It is implied, but she was never assessed (in chapter 2, her parents pulled her out of preschool at the age of 4 so she didn’t get “diagnosed with anything”...that’s a direct quote).
Beatrice is not diagnosed because of the author’s personal decision (stated on Twitter). She says that she doesn’t feel like labels have helped her all that much, and I respect that. I would like to note that 3.4% of children’s books have disabled (including neurodivergent) characters (bookriot statistic). There are no studies about how many YA books have disabled characters, but I would assume that to be a similar percentage.
My problem with Beatrice being undiagnosed on page is that the author continually advertises her book as having ND representation (on Twitter and Instagram). However there is no statement in the book that Beatrice is autistic or neurodiverse. When I pick up a book that advertises itself as ND rep, I expect that to be stated on the page in at least some way (book genre and character situation permitting, obviously, and Bea’s situation and book genre made it very possible for her to obtain a diagnosis). And not only did this not happen, it didn’t happen intentionally. And that is a bit irritating to me.
(this didn’t really affect the rating for the book, as I found out about most of it after finishing said book, but I did feel that it was important to note)
As I mentioned above, Beatrice was in a situation where she was able to obtain a diagnosis, but didn’t get one. Let me elaborate a bit more.
Both of Beatrice’s parents are therapists (who regularly break HIPPA for the plot, but that’s a different issue that I won’t really be getting into in this review). Beatrice is also seeing a therapist outside of her family.
Beatrice’s family is also rather well-off, as they send her to a theater camp with the “New York Elite” which seems like it would cost quite a bit of money. Beatrice is also white. Her parents should have said “Beatrice is autistic, let’s use our combined therapist contacts to get her a diagnosis because our therapist skills let us know that people with diagnoses grow up with higher self-esteem and have other benefits.” but instead they went “Beatrice is probably autistic, and also she’s 4, so let’s homeschool her forever.”
That is…not okay. Her parents then proceeded to enroll her in a theater summer camp (something she wasn’t interested in) to try and make her “a normal teenager”. Shouldn’t therapists know that forcing people to be normal never ends well? I am still confused about why they didn’t send her to a science camp where she could have connected with those who had similar interests. Anyway those are my problems with the family.
As a character who was autistic, Beatrice was well-done. She was a savant, which is generally frowned upon by the autistic community because of the misleading stereotypes and assumptions that it leads neurotypical people to have, however that was my only issue with her.
I was really glad that there was another character who was a picky eater and had sensory issues. She also loves routines and doesn’t enjoy change at all. I relate to all of this and so it was really refreshing to see it on a page! It made me feel seen and that is something that rarely happens in YA literature.
My other big issues were the relationship Beatrice had with Nik and the implications this will have for readers who may try to learn social rules from this relationship, and Beatrice with her friends and what will happen to readers who think this behavior is normal.
Nik, the love interest, is cruel to Beatrice and never properly apologizes to her. He is portrayed as this dashing man who only teases Beatrice, however Beatrice doesn’t…know he’s teasing most of the time. Her friends tell her that. However I feel like actions speak for themselves and so I want to give you a list of things that Nik has done.
-called her ugly
-did not shut down comments about her being a virgin or a robot (it is good for lovers to stick up for each other)
-called her a robot
-asked her if she “felt anything at all”
-asked her if she was hiding behind her facts and words to avoid being a real person
-mocked her for always running away from him after he does some of the aforementioned stuff
-apologized in the last 10% of the book, and only for calling her ugly…not for any of the other things
-called her beautiful and tried to flirt with her IMMEDIATELY after apologizing
None of this is okay to me. If I had read this as a 13 year old, when I thought I was unlovable outside of my family because I didn’t see anyone else like me, and was reading books to try and figure out how to socialize, I would have come away with some terrible messages. One of them would have been: a man who is incredibly rude to you because of your autistic traits is in fact secretly into you and just mean to you because he likes you. This would have probably put me in a variety of dangerous situations.
And the “he’s just mean to you because he likes you” trope is outdated and isn’t actually true in real life. It teaches young people (especially young AFAB people) that you should stay around people who are cruel to you because they secretly care and will show that eventually. As one can imagine, this could lead to a variety of unhealthy and abusive relationships where people stay with their partners because they think this is how the world should work.
There is a time and a place for toxic romances that are so terrible you just have to keep turning the page for more…a rom com is not that place. In my opinion, a rom-com is a place where people should see themselves in relationships that are nice and supportive and fluffy…not things like this.
And Beatrice’s friends supported her relationship with Nik and the “he’s just mean to you because he likes you” ideal, and this is not the only thing her friends did, and we shall get into that right now.
Beatrice’s friends…I have many issues with them. They are supposed to be the people that encourage Beatrice to get out of her shell and grow into herself and everything like that. However they constantly shame Beatrice for her neurodivergent traits and try to change things about her, as well as push her to be with Nik.
One of Beatrice’s friends, Nolan, refers to her as having a “robot mode” and sometimes makes comments like “Beatrice’s robot mode is back” which is…offensive. So very offensive. I'll explain.
Many autistic people (often AFAB) do something called masking. This is when they act like a neurotypical person to fit in and avoid being bullied. Autistic people unmask around those that they are close to, so close friends and/or loved ones. Beatrice is unmasking and Nolan is mocking her for it.
Nolan also mocks her for picky eating and for being change-averse, which are also typical autistic traits. He also hugs her a lot despite Beatrice not wanting to be touched.
Beatrice’s other friend, Mia, is even worse. She tells Beatrice that she is selfish for not wanting to hug characters at Disney World (or DisneyLand, I honestly can’t remember) and tells her that she doesn’t actually care about her parents because of this. She tells Beatrice that she is not good at social relationships because of her selfishness. She also implies the same thing when she learns about how Beatrice is picky at home too.
Then to make matters worse, Beatrice’s therapist also tells Beatrice she is selfish for these things.
I want to say something else. People with neurodivergent traits are not selfish. People who are picky eaters are not selfish. I have often wished I could be less picky with food and tried to be less picky…and guess what, I am still picky with food. And that isn’t something that should be shamed. Yet Beatrice’s friends (AND HER THERAPIST) engage in this behavior.
They also take her shopping for new clothes and peer pressure her into buying them, peer pressure her into going to parties with alcohol involved even though she doesn’t want to go to them, and tease her about her sensory issues. This is not okay and should not be normalized.
Once again, if I was a 12-13 year old reading this book I would have come away with the conclusion that I should hang out with people who mocked me for my differences and tried to make me more normal.
Since I have been very negative, I did want to highlight that the author wrote a diverse cast. The love interest, Nik, was Southeast Asian (I believe). Mia was black and bisexual and Nolan was gay. It was nice to see all of that in the book and not have it be portrayed in a stereotyped manner! I’m always happy to read diversity in books!
The author intended to write a story about pushing boundaries without changing who a person is, but she failed. She wrote a book where the main character has her autistic traits ridiculed throughout the story until she learns to mask them and “be more normal”. The book ends with Beatrice’s parents rejoicing because she is more normal and asking her to continue being like that (such great therapists /s).
Once again, I am asking people to not attack the author. Not liking the book does not mean people can or should hound the author about it.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, as I found it incredibly offensive and distressing. I would have more to say, but I don’t want to write too much more. I hope that this author writes better books in the future, as I really did enjoy her writing style and storytelling abilities. That is why I’m giving this book 1 star.

I thought this was a great YA book and I am definitely glad a read it. I was also homeschooled but I am no genius.

I think this was a good story about getting out of your comfort zone and exploring life. I would definitely recommend it.

Long story short - READ. THIS. BOOK!!

Sarcastic enemies to lovers.
Shakespeare.
Summer camp.
What more could a reader want?? I loved how Bea gained her confidence (and friends) throughout this book. I kind of figured out the ending early on, but the writing was great and I really enjoyed seeing Bea grow into herself and learn about friendship and love as she figures out who she is as a person.

this book was really sweet! i loved all the characters and the storyline was compelling. it read kind of like a long lost plot of a missing 2000s romcom, which i loved. the only thing i really struggled with was that bea’s (at least to me) obvious neurodivergency was never named beyond the fact that she had a therapist. (unless i missed it at the very beginning and it was never brought up again?) i’m not saying she needed a specific diagnosis or anything but the way she acted and the story as a whole i think would have been more meaningful and impactful if it had been acknowledged in the text that she was neuedivergent and not just quirky. i loved mia and nolan though and i loved shelby and nik’s arcs though! overall a fun read.

SPOILERS FOR NETGALLY:
oh set piece disappearing to display too people kissing in what they thought was a private moment trope my beloved. genuinely i have loved it since love actually. mia and nolan being helpful about the list instead of weird about it and fully accepting bea but still pushing her outside her comfort zone was so lovely. and i struggled with the arc with nik and bea had but at the end i was rooting for them which is what matters.

This was a really fun read. I enjoyed being immersed in life at a Shakespeare theatre camp, the banter was great, and I loved the MC's friends Mia and Nolan. At times the characterization of the main character, Bea, felt a bit uneven, but I was rooting for her all the way.