Beatrice just got accepted into Oxford, but as a nearly recluse teenager, her parents have reservations about her leaving for a England on her own. To prove that she can handle all the changes and socializing that comes with college, Beatrice has been given a list of “normal teenage experiences” to complete while attending theater camp. Beatrice is determined to complete the list so she can get to the only thing that matters to her, Oxford. Serena Kaylor has written an entertaining and witty book for teens that includes just enough drama, romance, and cringe-worthy encounters that readers of all ages will enjoy.

To read or not to read? That simply is no longer the question.

Love love loved! This is THE delightful summer YA rom com that everyone needs to add to their TBRs immediately.

Beatrice is a self proclaimed awkward homeschool teen who likes things…a certain way. She’s been hurt and bullied and has taken herself out of the social scene. In order to get to her dream school she needs to spend 4 weeks at summer camp doing everything that makes her feel anxious.

I loved watching Bea blossom and realize sometimes the most dangerous boxes are the ones we build around ourselves!

Why read this book?
- a wonderful and colorful cast of main AND supporting characters that give you all there feels
- a woodsy summer camp setting
- Shakespeare and drama camp (I have been in performing arts all my life so this spoke to me)
- A little loathe to love action with wit inspired by Mr. Darcy himself
- An engaging inclusive book about learning to love yourself and finding those people who will love you as you are too.

“His voice washed over me, and he was young love embodied…He was secret meetings in a garden…he was yearning and relief and every sticky feeling I’ve ever had rolled up into one.”

This book made me one happy camper (pun intended) and I hope you give it a chance too! Thank you @wednesday_books and @netgalley for the arc. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was a cute summer read! It took me a little while to get into it but once I did, I could not stop reading. Bea and Nik’s banter was fun, and I liked how their romance wasn’t rushed. I recommend if you’re looking for a quick and easy YA romance!

Perhaps a 2.5, as there were some things I enjoyed here: I was so here for the Shakespeare summer camp setting and all the theater that comes along with that, as I just don’t see enough theater in fiction. I really enjoyed Beatrice’s friends Mia and Nolan and appreciated that we could trust them and never saw them disappoint her. Nik and Bea had some fun dialogue, but I was disappointed that we didn’t see him really trying to understand her or get to know her the way Mia and Nolan did.

However, the characterization and framing of the main character, Beatrice, really does not sit right with me. She seems very coded as neurodivergent and specifically autistic, and yet there is nothing there on the page to clarify. Other than a missed opportunity for clear representation and confusing depiction, it particularly bothers me that Beatrice is labeled consistently as awkward, abnormal, sheltered, etc as an explanation when she clearly seems to be neurodivergent. While some of the representation/descriptions were very relatable to me and I felt seen by them, and her character did have some welcome dimensions beyond these characteristics, I was more frustrated by how they were always framed by “Bea is awkward” and “doesn’t know how to be social yet.” I’m not sure if this is own voices and what the editorial decision was here, but it was consistently off-putting at best to me.

Thank you to Netgalley + the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for fans of Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, “Long Story Short” by Serena Taylor is a YA rom-com that follows Beatrice Quinn, a teen who finds herself at a theater summer camp.

Sheltered and homeschooled, Beatrice has always wanted to go to Oxford because she's well, a math genius. When her parents send her to the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy to make friends, she has to learn how to be a normal teenager. Things get complicated when she butts heads with the son of the camp founders.

Serena Taylor's debut is a worth-while story.

After seeing so many people praise this book, I downloaded it on a whim and ended up really enjoying it! It’s been a while since I’ve a good, fun camp story, so this book was something I really needed at that moment. Long Story Short follows a homeschooled genius who finds new friends and possibly love at a Shakespearean theater camp.

Homeschooled and eager to get out of Berkeley, Beatrice is thrilled when she finds out she’s accepted to Oxford at the age of 16 for their statistical genetics program. There’s just one thing holding her back: her parents. They’re worried about her living in England by herself since she has yet to break from a strict routine she sets for herself. To prove that she can do it, Bea agrees to go to a Shakespearean theater camp and accomplish “normal” teenager things, such as making a friend and overall getting out of her element. There, she befriends her roommate Mia and her friend Nolan while also seemingly making an enemy of Nik, the camp’s golden boy.

While Bea does not have specific representation on-page due to her parents not wanting her to “be diagnosed into a box,” it’s evident that she is neurodivergent. She eats the same meals on a particular schedule and has some difficulty acknowledging social cues. I liked reading about her growing over the course of the books and opening herself up to new experiences while also remaining her prickly self.

I liked the characters! Mia and Nolan take Bea under their wing immediately, showing her around the camp and encouraging her to accomplish the “normal” teenager task list. They actually also add some more tasks to it, including dancing without abandon and kissing somebody. While they respect Bea’s boundaries, they also know that she needs a push to get out of her comfort zone sometimes. I liked seeing how passionate Mia and Nolan were about their respective fields, acting and fashion design, too.

Nik also proves to be an interesting character. Bea disagrees with him from their very first conversation and dislikes him from then on. However, the camp is small and they’re in the same concentration so they can’t stop running into each other. Although they clash a lot, it’s clear that he brings something out in Bea. I liked seeing her gradually see she likes him despite also disagreeing with him.

Again, this is a story centered around a camp setting. I liked the writing and reading about all the hijinks that usually occur at summer camps, Shakespearean component aside. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this book, and I’m intrigued to see what this author writes next!

Long Story Short is a story about opening yourself up to new experiences and discovering new friends. I liked the characters, and the romance was very cute. If you’re looking for a fun summer contemporary, you should pick up Long Story Short!

(3.895 stars because a solid four stars feels too generous) I don't love books that try to tell teenagers to change every little thing about themselves in order to become the person they're meant to be. I also don't love how the author gave the main character autistic tendencies and wrote them off as 'quirks'.

But I can't deny that this was a cute, fun read. The love interests had real chemistry and I loved all the side characters (minus our MC's parents, they can go rot somewhere. We only love parents who support their children REGARDLESS of their personality) This was just joyful, Shakespearean fun. Definitely recommended if you want a light read this summer.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced reader copy!

I LOVEDDD reading this!! I read it while I was in Florida so it just made the summer theater camp vibes so much better.

I actually really liked Beatrice and her friends they’re so hilarious and fun to me. I heard about this book on TikTok and I was told it was an enemies to lovers so you know I just haddd to read. Personally, I didn’t really likeee the way it became an enemies situation but to be fair the MC also didn’t understand social cues and such so it did make sense.

I thought it was a cute fun book to read though and just watching her grow out of her shell and appreciate life more as a teenager
HAHAHA I LOVEDD GJE ENDING AND THE ‘MERCUTIO AND ROMEO CHEMISTRY’
4.5 :)!

I just reviewed Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Long Story Short will go up there as one of my FAVORITE YA reads.

Bea has been homeschooled her whole life, a gifted mathematician who sticks to a very set schedule. Same meal plan each week, same outfit. Bea recently got accepted to Oxford but her parents will only let her go under one condition: go to summer camp and learn how to be a teenager.

Thus comes Bea's fun journey through Shakespearen summer camp. She's got Mia as an adventurous roommate and Shelby as the mean girl roommate. She's got Nolan as the costumer with ALL the best advice. She's got a list that her parents made that will prove she's socialized and experienced being a teen. What she doesn't have a playbook for? BOYS. Especially ones named Nik.

Serena Kaylor shines in her debut read, Long Story Short. Kaylor gives strength and power to every character written on page. I automatically clicked in with neurodivergent Bea and her journey to discover who she really was. I also NEED a follow up story on Mia and where everyone is in a few years. The setting is realistic and the Shakespeare element is written with depth. I personally look forward to all that Kaylor will bring to this world.

This is a cute YA story of a homeschooled Beatrice going to theater camp before college at Oxford to learn to "be a teenager." Bea honestly didn't seem very real - she was very one dimensional and stereotypical. Other supporting characters were more intriguing.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute, easy and surprising read :) I very much enjoyed the FMC coming of age journey with all its awkwardness, camp fun and new relationships. I love how the FMC wasn’t what society calls “typical” for a teenager but it was shown that there is spots for everyone and no one is really typical anyways. Add in some zany camp adventures, Shakespeare and the nickname “Mouse” for the “cherry on the top” of this delightful read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
LOVED this YA rom-com from a debut author!! I’m trying to read more YA books so I can visit with my middle schoolers about the books I’m reading. This one was great!!

Beatrice is a home schooled student (think awkward teenager who wears the same khakis & polo everyday & struggles with social interactions). She gets accepted to Oxford; but before her parents will allow her to go, they want her to experience the ‘real world.’ So they enroll her in a summer theatre camp. Nothing like throwing her right in the ‘deep end of the pool’ with loud, opinionated, but very kind and caring theater kids.

Beatrice has never had a friend (or boyfriend) before and the relationships she develops at camp are so charming and real.

I LOVED this book. In fact I couldn’t stop raving about it to my 7th grade daughter & she now wants to read it too.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for this ARC.

I can’t wait until Serena Kaylor writes another book. I’ll be watching for it!

4.5 stars!

This novel is like if you took the Shakespearean backdrop from If We Were Villains and combined it with the teenage “outcast” going against a master of a new extracurricular from My Mechanical Heart (and of course all the pining and “enemies” to lovers). The first couple chapters feel a little clunky but it’s not a fault of the writing- our main character isn’t an easy read, especially at first. She’s very reserved, straightforward, and way too in her own head.

I absolutely love the two friends Bea makes at the camp, I feel like overall the characters are well-written, but these two are my favorites, they’re very fun and sweet, but they also don’t let her get away with anything just because they are her new friends. It was also important to see how even though they tried to push her out of her comfort zone, they understood that she did need some time to get used to so many new things at once.

The growth our main character goes through is really powerful and it didn’t seem like it was too much for a summer away form home. Even up to the end Bea is still learning how different things and people can be, especially from just online research.

The Shakespeare was fun, especially the game between Bea and “Romeo”.

I feel bad that her parents sheltered her so much and then didn’t like how she turned out so they forced her to go to a camp or not get to go to her dream college right away. Something about that just didn’t all sit right with me- but stuff like that does happen in real life unfortunately. At least they are otherwise supportive and loving.

There are a couple good redemption arcs that make the end a little more satisfying as well.

I wanted to really like this one. It had a lot of potential but Bea was a really hard character for me. She was so stuck in her ways that I felt no sympathy for her about 94% of the time. I did like the friendship she formed with Mia and Nolan. That was one bright spot. Basically this just wasn’t a book for me.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

If I’m being honest, I tend to find a lot of YA fiction fairly bland. It’s a lot of “My parents don’t get me!” and “I’m so misunderstood!” And when I started this, I was all ready to dislike it. The main character has been homeschooled and therefore has barely spoken to another human being outside of her parents for most of her life, and I found that extremely outdated. However, once they got to the Shakespeare camp, I just fell in love with these characters. It was such an original idea outside of the basic camp experience. Plus it had a bit of a Pride and Prejudice vibe to it at times that I liked. Overall I really enjoyed this one.

Beatrice Quinn wants nothing more than to go to Oxford, but when she gets in, her parents are less than convinced that she’s ready to move to another county and away from home. So they make a deal, if she can complete their list of tasks at summer camp, than she can go to Oxford.

I enjoyed this. It was a fun, light read. I liked the characters and thought that the pacing was good. If your not a Shakespeare fan, some of the dialogue might be a bit much though.

Overall I would recommend this if you interested in a ya romance set at a Shakespeare summer camp.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC.

Serena Kaylor's LONG STORY SHORT is such a wonderful, strong YA debut. Bea is such an interesting, sympathetic protagonist. I love her journey and development throughout the story and the relationships she makes along the way. Such a satisfying ending, too! I think the writing could have been a little more polished in some areas, and there was a little too much running away, but ultimately everything in the story comes together super nicely. Also, while this is a fun summer read, LONG STORY SHORT also contains such important representation. Can't wait to have this in the library and in my classroom for students. I know they're going to love it! I look forward to reading more of whatever Kaylor publishes in the future.

The cutest, sweetest YA book. I really felt what Bea was feeling.. the awkward/unknown teenagerness down in the pit of my stomach. But also butterflies and happiness for the friendships she found. I’m so glad her story ended the way it did. I LOVE the Shakespeare summer camp vibe. I loved all the characters. This book was a delight.

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

4.5 stars, rounded up

i loved this book so much! it was such a fun, lighthearted, quick read. The writing was very easy to read, and the plot was pretty straightforward and really cute. the characters were fabulous, and the friendships were really well-written and adorable! bea was a really great main character, and the banter between her and nik was quite entertaining. all of the shakespeare quotes and references were really fun, as well! overall, i really enjoyed this book :)