"...at our cores we're all more alike than we think. Hung up on the same worries, wishing on the same stars."

For the past four years in a row, I've been lucky enough to read (and review) an arc of Emma Lord's newest book. And with all of them dropping at the same time each year, I can honestly say it wouldn't feel like January without reading a new story from her. And this one might just be her best one yet!

Begin Again perfectly captured the growing pains associated with the transition from high school to college, and all the charm and cringe that accompany that milestone. You'll fall quickly for these characters as they attempt to navigate various struggles fueled only by copious amounts of coffee and relatable levels of naïveté.

First loves, heartbreaks, betrayals, and majors are only a handful of the hurdles this crew will face, but Lord ensures you'll be laughing along the way. There's an excellent balance of humor amid the pressures of the plot, and whether you're closer to applying for admittance or attending a reunion, there's a little something for everyone tucked away in the text.

My minor gripe with this one was Andie's curse-averse substitutions. It's cute, I get it, but there are situations where "snickerdoodle" just doesn't cut it. And sometimes the food-filled verbiage completely took me out of the moment and the severity of the scene.

Ultimately, the pros outweigh the cons, and I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet story with a loveable found family.


Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing me with an earc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book almost makes me want to be a college freshman again.... almost. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and seeing them mature. Andie was a little over the top at times, but who isn't. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ this was a very fun read.

This is a sweet first-year-of-college/coming-of-age story.

Andie is a very relatable MC as she navigates her first semester at her parents' alma mater, following in their footsteps while also forging her own path. I appreciated her struggles with balancing her hard class work, her relationship with her father, her underground radio persona, and her feelings for Milo, her coffee-obsessed RA.

Again, this is a sweet story that captures well the experience of finally arriving at your destination, only to discover that the real adventure has only begun.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Level: Young Adult
Content: kisses, language, previous loss of parent

In Begin Again, freshman in college, Andie, is thrilled to be following in her mom's footsteps at Blue Ridge University. While she transferred mid-year to be with her boyfriend, she's searching for her legacy on the same campus that start her mom's. Andie quickly finds new friends, a new love interest, and begins to explore her identity and how it may not be what she expected at first.

I thought this was a great read and one I can see some of my students really enjoying. There is drama, but ultimately the central theme of the story is about identity. As a high school teacher, this is something that I see my students exploring daily. I like that this book felt more real and was about struggling with relationships and school in a realistic way. I do feel like many high school students could connect with Andie and her friends.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an egalley!

'Begin Again' is Emma Lord's fourth YA offering and I just enjoy her style of writing so much--she understands character development and relationships and balances explorations of grief and loss, fear and self-discovery with just the right touch of humour and occasionally 'corny' (or heartwarming for the less cynical reader) moments.

This particular story follows Andie as she transfers to her parents alma mater--which is its own kind of complicated given it fulfills a lifelong goal, but also serves as a constant reminder of her mother, whom she lost to cancer years earlier, and the essentially long-distance relationship she has had with her father ever since. And the cherry on top? She and her boyfriend--both hoping to surprise the other--transferred schools and ended up swapping places rather than sharing a campus. Oops!

Ultimately, (for me as a reader) this was a journey of self-discovery for Andie--initially determinedly following in her mother's footsteps, but gradually overcoming fears born of that loss and her grief, regaining confidence, and learning to forge her own path on her way to becoming her own person.

Is this story terribly new and unique? Honestly, no. Did I love it anyway? Absolutely, yes. Emma Lord is officially the queen of lovely comfort reads (with substance). 4 STARS

I binged this coming-of-age, radio show romance last month and LOVED it! I’ve been following Lord’s work since her fab 2020 debut, Tweet Cute, and can confirm: Begin Again is Emma Lord at her best. This book is so sweet and and joyful and it basically starts out like the TikTok Couch Guy saga: college student Andie surprises her long-distance bf by showing up at his dorm room and it doesn't go as planned (was #couchgate an influence OR a marketing ploy for this book? sound off below!)

Andie is a classic Lord protagonist––a young Leslie Knope with theatre kid energy; a bubbly, ambitious overarchiever. I was particularly charmed by Andie’s friend group, which includes her #bookstagrammer roommate, her romance-writing stats tutor, and her grumpy love interest Milo, who is also her RA (he’s a sophomore, it’s fine).

But what stands out about Begin Again is Lord’s excellent pacing, both in her plot and character development. Andie and Milo’s romance is a slow-burn friends-to-lovers (epic), and their individual growth is really moving. This is a book about what it means to ‘show up’ for the people you love, and to lean on (and be part of) a support system. It’s also about grief and chosen family and forgiveness. AND there’s a sapphic B plot. How does Lord do it??

This is Lord’s first story set in college, which is likely why it resonates with me (even) more than Tweet Cute. Begin Again is a total January-to-March book––it opens with Andie starting her second semester. It’s for anyone who’s braved a blizzard, or trudged up a slushy hill at 7:00AM to get to class. Emma Lord makes you feel like you’re in the safest hands. I can’t wait to see where she goes next.

I really enjoyed this book right from the start. I love Andie and her desires to follow in her mom's footsteps at Blue Ridge University as a way to feel closer to her. I also love that nothing goes according to plan and that she realizes what's important as well as how to really be herself. Fantastic supporting characters in Shay and Valeria. And I love Milo and his mildly grumpy self.

This is fantastic, clean older YA that I would absolutely recommend and the narrator is really great.

*Strong language (including f-words)
*Previous death of a parent

Thank you to Netgalley for my complimentary e-arc and alc of this book. All opinions here are my own.

Another win from Emma Lord! This was absolutely adorable and I genuinely can't wait to read anything and everything else Emma publishes.

📡Summary📡
Andie always dreamed of going to Blue Ridge State for college. It was where her parents met. She thinks by going there she will feel closer to her mother, who passed away. Andie's plans go awry when she doesn't get in originally and is accepted as a 2nd semester transfer, but instead of telling her boyfriend who goes there, she decides to surprise him. But he transferred back to the community college Andie had been attending. Right off the bat, her plans are falling apart. Then Andie finds a friend group; her roommate Shay, her RA Milo and her tutor Valeria. Andie's life is going differently than she expected but maybe best laid plans aren't always the best thing.

📡Review📡
The book started slow for me. It took me a bit to get into the story, but I'm glad I stuck through it! This was a sweet book about friendship, found family and finding yourself. Andie was so concerned about living up to who her mom was, and being a good girlfriend, she forgets to put herself first. It was a bit repetitive at time but a sweet story.
I love a grumpy/sunshine romance. Milo was adorable in his grumpiness. The romance was a slow burn, and not the main focus. It was more about Andie finding her way.

I have loved Emma Lord's books since her debut and this one did not disappoint. It was full of character development, funny moments, quirky and unique characters, and a fun love story. I do think out of all of her books, this one fell the most flat for me. The college setting did not match with the characterization of our main character, Andie, and that put me off. I would have enjoyed having a more mature character or the setting be slightly different. Other than that, I was also not in the mood to read a coming of age college book so this was definitely an obstacle I had to overcome while reading. Despite some negative aspects of my reading experience, I still had a really good time reading it and would highly recommend it to lovers of other Emma Lord books!

This was a really interesting book. Surprisingly, it was the second book I read where the main character's mother has passed away. However this book felt happier and the focus was more on not disappointing her mother than grieving for her mother.
I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. I would have loved to see more of the grandmothers. They seemed to be so much fun and caring. Andie's awkward relationship with her father helped move the story along as well as help Andie find out about who she wanted to be.
I really enjoy reading stories by this author. They make me think and reflect. They make me smile and at times laugh. And I am always sad when they end.
Enjoy!

Begin Again is about Andie, who transfers to a new school to be closer to her boyfriend and her mom's legacy. She has a clear vision of what her semester at this school will look like, but from the moment she arrives, things don't exactly go according to plan

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a heartwarming, light and cute read that also handled complicated emotions with authenticity.
Even though this is a romance, I don’t think that that’s the main focus of this book. It is a lot more focused on growth, friendship, family and grief.

👍
+ I found the emotional development of these characters to be very authentic. She comes across as annoying at times, but I especially related to the main character who is overly selfless, to her detriment. I was the same at her age. Years have made me much more selfish, but reading this really took me back to those days, and all of it felt deeply accurate to my feelings.
+ I loved all the side characters, the love interest, the friends, family, even professors. There were also a lot of great friendship moments that warmed my heart.
+ The romance, while it is a very slow burn and is not necessarily the main focus, was really cute. I could tell they were endgame from the first moment they meet and he’s just the sweetest guy.
+ I also thought that her relationship with her dad was handled with lots of nuance. Their relationship is very strained because of how he handled her mom’s passing. Everyone will feel differently about this, but I also lied how their storyline was resolved.
+ Other stuff: pirate radio, chicken coops, lots of coffee, wild bagel flavor combinations & more!

👎
- I found the whole lore around the school, the ribbons, the knights etc a little too confusing. Focusing so much on the details of it also took away from the main point of the book at times.

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

I've always loved a good YA read and happened upon Emma Lord about a year ago. There's something about her books that I just LOVE and couldn't wait to dive into this one....it quickly turned into my favorite of hers. I mean, there are Ryan Reynolds loving grandmas, the amount of romcom, both book and movie, references (Ryan Reynolds not withstanding but also instead of one bed we have a one kayak situation 🤣🥰🤣), Andie comparing making it through every season of Grey's Anatomy to not being a quitter (you go girl!! That is QUITE the commitment), bagels are one of my love languages....I'd love to get one from bagelopolis. Also. Can't not mention Milo. From the first, of several, references about getting lost in sea foam green eyes, I knew we were going to be in for quite the friends to lovers story, and I am HERE for it!

This is the PERFECT reminisce about the best parts of your freshman year of college book....the friends, shenanigans, crushes and found family.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

It's been well-established that I'll read everything Emma Lord writes, even if YA is lower on my list overall these days. I've never been disappointed by one of her books (even the ones that maybe don't sound like my favorite premise) - and luckily BEGIN AGAIN was no exception to this rule! To be fair, it was probably my "least favorite" of her books (which seems dumb with a 4+ star rating)... but I don't fully know why.

I liked that this was a slice of life story set in college (let's make a petition to get more YA books set during that time period) and the characters were really enjoyable. I liked that there was a solid mix of new friendships taking off, romantic relationships and crushes, and tons of family feels. The whole premise was good but the ~love triangle~ vibes were a bit drawn out IMO. My jaw dropped at a very unexpected twist that made for some intrigue for a few chapters, but I kind of with the dual love interest situation was wrapped up earlier.

The main character, Andie, and her friends had their ups, downs, and flaws, which were all well-explored. I really liked that there wasn't any major drama and miscommunication - the vast majority of the time, all of the characters said how they felt (within reason) and forgave each other for certain issues. It was definitely refreshing to read!

I'm now craving a very fancy bagel and ridiculous flavored cream cheese.

Delightful! Emma Lord brings you straight back to your college beginnings with its, uncertainty, stress, fun, friends and activities and you really feel like you are on campus with Andie and her gang. While reading #beginagain I felt like Andie AND her aunts who raised her at the same time. Thanks go out to #netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for this digital copy.

Begin Again by Emma Lord
Young Adult
Pub Date: January 24
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun young adult story about Andie Rose. I requested this one on Netgalley because I thought the cover was cute 😂

I really enjoyed this book though. Andie just transferred into her goal school Blue Ridge college from community college. Blue Ridge is where her mother and father met and all their stories were from.

However once she gets there things take a bit of a rocky turn. Her long time boyfriend and her have a miscommunication, her classes are not what she expected and for Andie who likes a plan things are just not going perfect.

I enjoyed the friend to family relationships, the characters all were witty with good personalities. Andie was able to see she had changes to make and opened up to try and make them work.

I highly recommend this if you like cute YA romance books. That also includes some good witty banter and growing relationships.

Emma Lord does it again. Another cute YA romance with a mostly feel-good, heartwarming story. I loved the budding romances and warmth in the story.

I think this is a new favorite of mine. I loved this more than anything. Emma's writing is so much more mature in this one, showing her true talents as an author. The setting of Blue Ridge State was so much fun and brought me into this college. I loved the way Andie created a world for herself at Blue Ridge. The friends that Andie made were amazing and I would love to be her friend. This was amazing.

This book missed the mark for me personally. It feels too YA to be college age, with a cast that makes decisions immaturely and a storyline that is inherently a concern due to the power dynamic of the RA role.

I won’t go into the RA role aspect more because I think that’s a separate concern, but really this plot feels like it was a high school story transposed onto a college campus instead of being an authentic college experience. There is a level of understanding of university politics that is missing, and the character development doesn’t really align with any student development theory.

I was hoping this could be a strong book to recommend first year students and transfer students, but it just misses the mark for me.

Emma Lord has a way of writing her contemporary novels that is just so charming and fun! I always enjoy my time with her books, this one included!

Following Andie through her journey of healing, self-discovery, and growth was really satisfying. And her group of friends/found family were all lovable and I cared about them just as much as I did about Andie.

Also, I want a bagel.

If Emma Lord continues to write books like she has, I will continue to consume them. They are some of my favorite contemporaries to ready!