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.

such a cute romance book! i love a good school romance and this one made me live out the dream that i was good at math in high school when i actually wasn’t

I have mixed feeling about this book. The main thing I like it the book was romance, it was absolutely adorable! It was a little cheesy at some parts of the book, but it was still cute. on the other hand, I didn’t really like the main character. At first I was hopeful for her, but it was hard to understand her. I feel that Nik was the only character who was fully developed, I had a hard time connecting with the others. I will say I recommend this if you are looking for a cheesy romance book!

This was a fun read!

Serena Kaylor's debut, Long Story Short, offers up a terrific summertime adventure for all of us who are nervous to step outside our comfort zones.

Yes, this story is promoted as a rom-com, but it's not only that. It's a fun adventure about a socially awkward girl trying to learn more about people and the world around her while discovering more about who she truly is and what she likes in life.

And yes, it is funny. There were several laugh-out-loud moments for me. For example: "I imagined that like most skills, there would be a learning curve to kissing, and I could anticipate poor performance until given the opportunity to receive some instruction."

While overall, I loved the book, there were a few hard to believe moments: when her finger "slipped" and she accidentally applied to Oxford; when her parents, who are therapists, discussed clients by name and issue (huge violation of HIPPA laws and gives therapists a bad rep), and when the physical touching aspect of her new-found relationship happened too fast. But none of these criticisms overshadowed my enjoyment of the book.

If you're looking for a fun, light, summer read, pick up a copy of Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor.

Some of my Favorite Lines:

"I nodded , always a beat behind as the conversation moved forward before I could organize my thoughts enough to contribute."

“It’s easy not to care what other people think of you, when you obviously don’t care either.”



[I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion.]

I was in a reading slump for a fair amount of time and this was actually the perfect read to get out of it! I literally cannot remember the last time I actually binged a book all the way until sunrise but this was the ONE. I devoured everything about this story and loved absolutely every second of it. I'm kind of embarassed how badly I squealed into my pillow by the end but it's fine. I was twirling my hair and giggling like a school girl for basically this whole book and I'll stand by that.

I would say that this book is the perfect mix of Morgan Matson, Wibbroka, and its own special sauce. If you're looking for probably the perfect summer read with interesting characters, a cute romance, and the feeling of making s'mores next to a camp fire at sunset then this book is definitely for you. This had everything: a summer setting?!?! theatre camp?!?! fantastic banter?!?! I loved seeing Bea grow into her own but also staying true to her quirks and who she is. I also loved our main love interest and side characters. Absolutely every aspect of this book had me losing my mind and I will need to give this a reread when it comes out. I just fell in LOVE.

A Shakespeare summer camp? Sign me up! A wonderful YA that you won’t be able to put it down. A fun and heartwarming story. You will adore these characters.

I went into this book with the expectations of a great summer read with some cute romance. My expectations were met. I love the “getting out of your comfort zone” plot and I love how awkward Bea is while trying to navigate this perspective of being outside of her element. I enjoyed how it was not easy for her and how she had to overcome some internal difficulties to be able to be comfortable in her new setting. The pacing of the world-building was really good and wasn’t elongated to an unnecessary extent and really highlighted the important areas of who, what, why, and how she even ended up at theater camp. I love the characters they were very enjoyable. Bea is a digestible character, you grow to love her but at times she was overly quirky to the point where it was annoying but I think her friends helped balance that out. Mia is my favorite character by far in this book I imagined her while reading to be the strong and understanding best friend that everyone needs. But she is my favorite character I loved her being so supportive to Bea even when times got rocky. The character development was realistic watching how they all grew individually and together as friends. From this perspective of them being secluded to themselves at this camp they had no escape so learning to live with each other and communicate was important because they had no one else. Overall this book was an enjoyable read for me; it’s lighthearted, medium pace, an unlikely duo, enemies to lovers, great support systems, and a good plot. My heart melted then exploded at times and I related to too much of the story it was amazing.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Serena Kaylor for this advanced readers copy :)

Omg this was so cute?! If you're looking for a Shakespearean-themed, summer camp rom com, full of adorable cliches (but in the best way possible), check out this book!!

Rep: South Asian love interest, (possibly) Neurodivergent MC, Queer side character(s)

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book to give an honest review*

As part of a compromise with her parents, homeschooled, introverted Beatrice is sent to a Shakespearean theatre camp to learn how to be a "real teenager". She is given a checklist of things to do, like 1) make a friend, 2) play a prank, etc etc. There she meets an eccentric group of theatre kids and is thrown into an adventure full of friendships, romance, and drama in order to truly find herself.

Okay, first off: we had the classic "quiet nerdy girl x charming popular boy" trope AND the makeover trope, which I am a sucker for (only when done right though, which in this case, it was). I was worried this book was going to be another re-used "omg the nerdy girl takes off her glasses and suddenly she's H O T", but this book did a great job of challenging that notion AND not making it about how the girl needs to look a certain way for a guy. Also, IT WAS A SOUTH ASIAN LOVE INTEREST!!! I was so excited to see it wasn't another mediocre white boy and Nikhil is definitely a quality guy. He and Bea had a bit of a rough patch when they first met but you grow to adore their romance overtime.

However, my favorite part of this book was definitely the friendships!! Bea gains a wonderful group of supportive friends at the theatre camp and they honestly add so much joy to this book. I loved Mia's energy, and both her and Nolan provided excellent witty commentary throughout. I was worried that they might be super pushy about her bucket list, like her parents were (they really wanted to completely flip their daughter's entire personality...not great parenting in my opinion, but at least they seemed nice?) but you can really tell over the course of the book how much they care about her and just want her to feel herself.

I also thought Bea's character development was really well done. She starts off doing the bucket list to please her parents, but over time it becomes more of a "building up confidence" / "finding my true self" sort of situation and I really liked that story arc. I loved getting to see her break free and just start having fun with everything. Plus, we love a woman in STEM <3

Overall, I think the whole concept of this book was super entertaining and did not disappoint!! If you're a theatre kid, I'm sure you'll love this one even more than I did. I binged the majority of it in one sitting too, so take that as a sign that it's very good. Also, if you're a fan of Sophie Gonzales's work, I recommend you check this out!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Summertime vibes, Shakespeare quotes, banter, perfect rivals to lovers— this book had it all!

Beatrice Quinn is a mathematical genius and I love her because of that, amongst many other reasons. She is smart, she is a girl in STEM, she knows what she wants— we honestly love to see. She wants to go to Oxford, but convincing her parents is the hardest part.

It was nice that her parents wanted her to try something new— such as theatre camp, but I was just so annoyed with her mom. She wanted to completely change her daughter— and that made my blood boil. Yes, she was better towards the end of the book, but pushing your child so much to be “normal” is not okay. Moving on.

Long story short (see what I did there hehe) Bea is made to go to theatre camp, to prove she can handle herself and do something new— only then can she go to Oxford University. Over there Bea makes new friends and has a crush on the son of the owners of the camp! I loved Bea’s camp experience so much and I want to talk about that a little bit.

Usually in the books I have read or the movies I have seen— this new person just comes into a play/show and is SO AMAZING that the people who have been working for it their whole entire existence and shunned away, and this new person is given all the opportunities. This happened in High School Musical, and guess what? I was not happy™. But, in LONG STORY SHORT— this doesn’t happen! Bea is given her own importance, she has fun in her own way, and in a way she feels comfortable. There was no pushy-ness about being “normal”, because what is normal anyways?

I loved the friends she made at camp, at first they came off as a little pushy to me, but later on they realised that letting Bea have fun in the way she wanted to, and was okay with, is the best thing to do! I also loved Nikhil Shah my best boy— he was honestly so amazing. The Shakespeare quotes? The banter? The always (well after he got over his superiority complex) supporting Bea? It was all so great, and I loved Nikhil and Bea together! Not to mention the whole Shakespeare quotes competition they had— that was so *screams*.

In conclusion, honestly this book had such a great vibe— it was so summer romance at theatre camp-esque I absolutely loved it! It had friendships, Shakespeare (I hate that old white man, but eh at least he was good for something in this), theatre camp, and a summer none of the characters would every forget!

This was such a wonderful YA book.

Forced to go to Shakespeare camp in order to be allowed to go to college, Beatrice challenges herself to break out of her (extreme) comfort zone in order to get what she wanted.

This book is wonderfully YA about having formative life experiences and pushing yourself and trying new things. I flew through this book and while it IS a YA romance, it's not completely about the romance. I loved Beatrice's personality and her reactions to the events feel so genuine to her personality.

I loved how multi-layered Bea was and how she allowed herself to have new experiences and wasn't completely closed off to everyone. This is such a gem of a book and I can't wait for the world to read it.

Long Story Short is a book that I wish had been around when I was in high school. It is comforting, sweet, funny, and a great reminder that everyone is different but our differences are what make us special.

Our heroine, Beatrice, is neurodivergent and dreams only of going to Oxford. Her parents don't think their homeschooled and socially awkward 16 year old is ready to live in another country alone so they send her to a Shakespearean acting camp for the summer with a list of goals to complete. There she makes fast friends with Mia and Nolan, and quick enemies with our hero, Nik. Long Story Short is a fun YA read about knowing who you are and broadening your horizons while staying true to yourself.

*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Well I gobbled this one up! Such a cute and fun and meaningful story about growing up and finding love and loving who you are. Not importantly about testing boundaries and going on adventures. It was sweet and lovely. I highly recommend this one to all teens, people who love coming of age stories, and anyone who loves Shakespeare like my daughter proves ice cream… that’s a lot!

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy.

Thank You Netgalley for the arc!! :)
To start off i was really excited to read this after reading the description. This was a cute rom-com, and enemies to lovers book. I related to bea alot throughout the book .I liked her friendship with Mia and Nolan.. However i found them to be kinda pushy sometimes. Her parents did get me frustrated at moments. Nik didn’t really catch my interest that much as well. And the fact her parents were trying to completely change her didn’t sit well with me. I did still enjoy reading this :)
(to cheesy for my taste but was still a fun quick read)

I liked that the characters and the relationships between the characters felt realistic. Some of it was kind of cheesy, but that's always expected from a YA contemporary.

I enjoyed this YA rom com by author Serena Kaylor.

Math genius Beatrice was hard for me to relate to at first, but once out of her element she really grew on me as a character. I enjoyed her growth as she learned more about herself.

The found family was great, but the romance took me awhile to get into.

Overall, an enjoyable YA rom-com!

I actually ended up really enjoying this!!! At first I was really frustrated with the main character. In the words of Olivia Rodrigo, it seemed like she was always “1 step forward, and 3 steps back” but gradually she stopped making retreats and really grew into herself. The setting was really cool and I loved the hints of Jane Austen that I saw in there. I love the friends our MC made and how she grew to appreciate both herself and her family. Beatrice (Bea) is really different from most ya protagonists that we get in ya lit but I think she’s such an important character to have! I really loved this book and loved how it ended and would recommend

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced readers copy & Wednesday Books. All opinions are my own!!

Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What do you get when you add theater camp, anxiety ridden teenagers, Shakespeare, no nonsense main character and a well done hate to love relationship? You get this gorgeously crafted coming of age story about Beatrice Quinn & Nik & Mia & Nolan & even Shelby.

I stayed up WAY past my bedtime to binge read this & it was so worth it. This story made me feel all the things!! 🎭🌲☀️💖✨

A mostly clean read with relatable but complicated feelings and angst. Beatrice was unapologetically herself while still learning how to navigate new places and new people/ relationships.

& Nik was the Darcy to Bea’s Liz & them together was *chefs kiss!!! ( I could’ve died from their banter alone ahhhhhh)

LONG STORY SHORT COMES OUT EVERYWHERE JULY 26 2022.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Super fun and mostly light-hearted. And omg I was so emotionally invested in Bea 😭

This was a great heart-warming YA novel. I loved the setting, the relationship development, and the friendships we got to see. Overall, this is such a good coming of age story for young adults who are grappling with their own confidence and future.

While I wasn't homeschooled, I did really relate to Beatrice's social anxiety and introversion. I think this is a novel that would have been very beneficial for me as a young adult and I hope it gives today's teenagers the comfort they need as they navigate their own social circles.

Thank you to the publisher, author and netgalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.85⭐️

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!
release date: july 26 2022!

this was overall a really entertaining read. i mean, an enemies to lovers that takes place in a theatre camp? where they’re producing romeo and juliette?? i mean come on!!

i loved both the characters, their banter was great! nik, you are one of a kind, i love you ❤️‍🩹

i also love the genius trope so having the mc as one was really cool! seeing her learn to adapt to the “regular teenage life” was incredibly entertaining & i love seeing her character develop & change!

i do however wish the ending wasn’t so rushed!