3.5*

Begin Again was an entertaining and endearing read. While the characters are in college, it definitely falls more in the YA category, rather than NA. It was a slow burn, and not in the romantic sense, as this was more of a coming of age tale than an out and out romance. Although it did have some romantic elements, that wasn't really the focus of the story.
While I enjoyed Andie's journey, the story did drag at times and I found myself skimming a bit in the middle. Andie tended to get bogged down in trying to almost relive her mother's legacy, instead of making her own mark, and that got a little frustrating. But I was very happy with how she did finally come into her own by the end of the book.
There was a really great supporting cast of characters in this book, and I really liked that they all had their own little side stories as well.

I think this book will resonate with a lot of teens. Andie is a likeable and relatable character for sure.

I always love Emma Lord’s books and Begin Again was no exception.

Andie Rose, always a planner, has worked hard to be able to transfer from community college to hyper competitive Blue Ridge State where her boyfriend Connor goes. Their relationship has been rocky because of the long distance, and she decides to surprise him and not tell him she’ll be transferring, instead choosing to show up at his door. I was sure this would end up with her catching him cheating, but no. Instead, Connor doesn’t live there anymore and Andie finds out he transferred to their hometown community college to be with her. And so begins the trials and tribulations of Andie’s first semester at Blue Ridge State.

This book covers a lot of territory. Andie is still dealing with grief over the death of her larger-than-life radio host mother, and the subsequent abandonment of her father who didn’t seem to be able to handle being around her after her mom died. She was basically raised by her grandmothers, and now at school she’s dealing with a little bit of imposter syndrome trying worrying that she only got into the school because her parents were alumni. Ultimately Andie struggles a lot with both trying to live up to her mother’s memory and pave her own way.

Along the way she makes some great friends—an amazing roommate Shay who is so much better than any assigned roommate I ever had, a statistics tutor, and her seemingly grumpy RA, Milo who always seemed unbearably sweet to me. Milo is dealing with his own heartbreak and Andie connects with him almost immediately on a level she didn’t expect to.

I thought this was a wonderful coming of age book about a first year in college that will give a lot of insight and inspiration for teens about to leave the house for the first time. I loved the arc Andie had with her father and the understanding they came to in the book. He was a wonderful character and hats off to Emma Lord for making him so likeable when his actions could have made that a lot more challenging.

I wish we had a little more of the positive aspects of Andie’s relationship with Connor. It was always pretty clear she was going to end up with Milo (and have I mentioned I LOVED Milo), and I understand Andie’s attachment to Connor and his family after the way she grew up, but I wish he hadn’t been quite so awful. I also didn’t love the very end of the book. I didn’t need Andie to get the great guy and the great friends and figure out college and also get a national radio show opportunity as well. I wish it had been enough to just have her be happy at college, but that’s a small quibble in a book I really loved.

The audio was wonderful for this one as well. I think the narrator did a fabulous job with the different voices and I could absolutely distinguish who was talking throughout the book. As Andie, the narration was infused with her pep and optimism and really helped me get in the mindset of the book. I did think that the tutor’s voice sounded a little like Britany Murphy in Clueless, and I had to keep reminding myself she was not a clueless character.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers of YA romcoms!

Andie Rose transferred from her community college to Blue Ridge State to major in Psychology. Her boyfriend, Connor goes there, and she views it as a chance to repair their rocky relationship. She was hoping to surprise him with her arrival but was the one getting surprised when Connor called her to inform her that he had transferred to her community college to be with her. Woops!

But Andie makes the best of it with her I-haven't-declared-a- major-yet roommate, Shay and her constantly drinking coffee RA, Milo. Andie also finds her voice at the college's pirate radio station.

Going away to college and making friends is a rite of passage for some. You have your family and then you have your family of friends who see you at your worst and best. You try new things, meet new people, and learn more about yourself.

This was an engaging book about finding yourself, finding your family, finding your community, beginning again, and personal growth. I enjoyed Andie, her grandmothers, her group of friends and of course, Milo.

This was a great YA romance book that was equal parts charming and engaging. It’s all about the journey and I enjoyed the journey that several characters in this book went on.

As always Emma Lord delivers a book full of emotion, heartfelt plots and likeable characters. I immediately cared about the main character, Andie Rose. She has been through so much in her short life and now that she has transferred to her parent's alma mater her college life should be perfect....but all does not go as planned. Shay, Milo and the Grandmas are fun and amazing supporting characters.
This book tackles some tough topics with great sensitivity and in the perfect moments. The plot is not weighted down by these topics but they are worked in throughout to make the book much more lighthearted than it actually is at times.
From the brilliant cast of characters to the well-conceived plot I enjoyed this book very much. Although it is categorized as a YA book it is easily enjoyed as contemporary/realistic adult fiction.
I am extremely grateful to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this delightful book in exchange for an honest review.

Since her incredibly, well … cute … and fun debut, Tweet Cute, I’ve read every one of Emma Lord’s new books. I admit I’ve hoped each would be as hugely entertaining as that first one, but I’ve been a bit disappointed. That’s not to say each hasn’t been a good book on its own merits, but it’s hard not to compare. This latest young adult book (really a new adult book, with its college freshmen and sophomores) is the same: a fine story with depth and good characters but just not quite as full of the charm and chuckles as TC.

In Begin Again, Andie has managed to transfer to her dream college in the middle of her freshman year. She is surprising her longtime best friend and boyfriend from her small hometown, who has been there since the beginning of the school year. The school is also where her parents met and her late mother was the first host of its underground radio show, “The Knights’ Watch.” Being here is a way for Andie to feel closer to her mom, who died when she was 11. Since then, she’s been raised primarily by her two grandmothers. Her father took a job out of town and only visited. The grief they both have felt at their loss has not drawn them together; rather, it’s kept them at a distance.

Now is where her meticulous and thorough plans for her life will really take off, too. Andie will get her psychology degree to help advise other people, as she has been doing in a column for her high school paper. She’ll eventually marry Connor. They will collect ribbons at the famous activities held for freshmen throughout the year for the secret groups they can be part of during their whole college experience.

It’s all coming together.

But then Connor isn’t there: he’s transferred back to their town’s community college, where Andie went for a semester (to surprise her!). School is hard, particularly statistics. And Andie keeps bumping up against some painful truths she’s been able to kind of suppress. Plus, her hall’s RA becomes a good friend — and has the potential to become something more. But there’s Connor to think about back home.

Begin Again follows a young adult who is trying to find out who she really is and what she really wants, much as most people her age. Andie has the added concerns of her distant father to deal with and grief for a mother she lost young — and expectations she’s set for herself based on those gaps in her life. As she makes new friends and slowly faces her fears, Andie begins intentionally creating a life that truly fits her. It is a young adult romance book on its face, but it’s fully a lovely story of blossoming into adulthood.

Begin Again was such a charming, heartwarming young adult story that had me hooked from the beginning. It does cover some heavier topics but still left me with such a warm feeling. This was my first book by Emma Lord and I just loved her writing style. I’m definitely going to need a physical copy of this book for my shelves!

Andie is a planner and is always out to fix everyone’s “problems”. She’s a freshman in college and has just transferred mid-year from her local community college to Blue Ridge State (where her parents went to college and met) with a fail-proof plan to study psychology and become a self-help icon. But as soon as she transfers to BRS her big plans begin to go off the rails.

The character development was amazing in this story. I loved seeing the characters grow and confront things in order to continue developing into their best selves. I absolutely love a good “found family” friend group and this one was top notch – the love and support between all of them was outstanding.

All in all, this was such a moving coming of age story. Just do yourself a favor and go read this if you enjoy young adult contemporary fiction/romance! Now I need to go back and devour Emma’s backlist!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy!

I am a huge fan of Emma Lord's writing—her voice is fun, quippy, and upbeat. In particular, Tweet Cute and When You Get the Chance were standout reads, making Emma Lord an auto-read author. I was excited to see this new release featured a (slightly) older main character and set at college, as I've been reading less and less YA. Unfortunately, while this wasn't a total miss for me, there were a lot of elements that just didn't click.

My biggest issue with the book was the sheer number of storylines and themes this book attempted to include—radio broadcast, college life/extracurricular activities, academic pressure, family relationships, friend dynamics, romantic relationships, workstudy, career path decisions, and sooooo much moooore. And because of that, the things I was excited to read about—the fun stuff—seemed to happen off-page between chapters. Perhaps this was supposed to mimic Andie's (our main character) struggle to keep up in the college environment, but it just left me exhausted from trying to be invested in all the different pieces.

So, alas, it wasn't a hit for me, but I'm still a big fan of Emma Lord's work and can't wait to read her next release.

ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"It smells like death."
"It smells like resurrection," Milo corrects me.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this ARC. I read this in 7 hours. it was that amazing. It had me smiling and laughing to the point that my partner asked me to start reading things out loud because he wanted to be in on the jokes.

This book felt like I got to revisit my freshman year in college and I adored it. As a fellow Andi(e) Rose, it gave me an instant connection to the character even though we were nothing alike. But what I didn't find similar in Andie, I found in Shay, as I too had a roommate who refused to swear and had a multitude of expletives that sounded out of a nursery rhyme. I found myself in Milo, due to being an architecture major with a pension for all-nighters and a coffee addiction that would have rivaled Milo's. But as the story progressed I did find where I connected with Andie. I too was a freshman who tried to do too much in hopes of joining an organization that ended up being an weight pulling my grades down.

This book has endless humor, a slow burn romance, found family, and lessons of forgiveness and finding yourself by losing yourself. I adore this book with my entire heart and wish there were more to the story. I want to pull more quotes out desperately, but I want everyone to be able to explore the humor on their own.

After finishing the book I went and looked at the 1 star reviews because I couldn't understand how people didn't love this book. I found that many comments were about finding Andie annoying as a character for her quirks, as well as a some of the university aspects "not being realistic". What I would like to remind readers is that everyone's college experience is different, and just because it was unrealistic to these reviewers, doesn't mean someone else couldn't have had a similar experience as these characters. As for finding Andie annoying? That was the best thing about college. It was a new start and we got to pick who our friends were. Andie may not have been a friend they would choose, but I personally think that Shay, Milo and Valerie were very lucky to have her, and I feel lucky to have followed her story as though she was my own friend.

I adored this sweet romance and all the young adult angst that came with it. The characters were well-written and experienced a lot of growth, and I loved that they had each other's backs when needed. The ribbons and mystery radio host added an intriguing vibe and came together so perfectly at the end. I need to check out this author's back list now!

Begin Again by Emma Lord is a YA romance set at college. This is a no sex, a some swearing, a little drinking, but an innocent read for the young adult audience. The book follows Andie on her adventure at a new college as she transferred in. I love how this story is more about finding one’s way. I loved the friend group Andie made and how they developed. Can we talk about the fun the friend group found themselves in? Such a fun part of the book! I really enjoyed this read from this author who I already love. Looking forward to many more reads from Emma Lord!

I haven't picked up a YA novel in quite a while, but when I was offered Emma Lord's most recent YA as an ARC, I couldn't say no. I thought I was no longer at a point in my life where I could enjoy YA, but Lord proved me wrong. Her tale quickly sucked me back into the world of YA. At times I felt like I was back at my small town university and it filled my heart with a warm glow.

I love that I just happened to start reading this book on national bagel day. I also love how food is integrated into all of Lord's stories. She definitely speaks more than one of my love languages.

I enjoyed this almost as much as I enjoyed Tweet Cute and y'all know I loved Tweet Cute. If you've read Lord's work before, I highly encourage you to pick this one up too, and if you haven't I highly recommend her work. Now quick, grab yourself a bagel and some coffee and read this book. Once you're done reading, I want to know, are you team Milo or team Connor?

Thank you Emma Lord, Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press for this eGalley!

Thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for this read of Begin Again by Emma Lord. Emma Lord never fails to give you a book that is going to be a good read, entertaining as well as full of life lessons. This one did not fail to provide and I had a great time reading about Andie and her friends. This book was full of good characters! Entertaining! I do not like to give too much away as it almost prevents you from going out to read it, I suggest having a read on your own with this one.

Begin Again was easily my favorite Emma Lord book yet, and that's a high bar because I've loved them all! It was such a fun read. Andie was relatable in a lot of ways, even for me as a YA reader in her 30s. I loved the idyllic college setting and the just kiss already romance, the friends/secondary characters were great, and they had me craving a really good bagel (cookie dough cream cheese?! 🤯). Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for early access.

There was the obvious plot hiccup at the start of the book when Andie got to Blue Ridge State to surprise her boyfriend and he no longer lived there, but I knew at that moment that this wasn’t going to be a book where Andie and her childhood boyfriend went through college together. Andie’s life was on a different trajectory of self-discovery, and the more I found out about her boyfriend the less I liked him for her. Since her mom died, Andie is determined to fix things. She is generous in her heart and with her time, to the detriment of her own wants and needs. Her roommate needs to determine a major and Andie is there to help! Here RA is addicted to very strong coffee and Andie is going to help him cut back. She is fixing all of the problems around her but pretty much ignores her own. As a reader I was both admiring of her need to help and cringing that she wasn’t looking after herself. Luckily her group of friends is there to help her out!

I really liked Milo- as her budding love interest but also because he was a contradictory character. He was a grump who drank too much coffee and didn’t get much sleep, but he always seemed to be there to give sage advice. Their friendship was slow moving until it finally changed to something more. If you like quick romances, this is not the book for you. This was definitely a slow burn romance. They both had a lot of personal angst to work through before they could be there for each other. I kind of liked that though! You really got to know each character and care about where their story arc was moving, allowing the reader to totally buy in to the change in direction.

Begin Again was a sweet, slow moving, coming of age (yet in college) young adult novel. For those of you who want to know the heat level in the romance, this was definitely on the tepid side. It really was more a self-discovery novel with a side of romance. I enjoyed the pace and all of the diverse characters. If you’re in the mood for a slow moving story that is heavy on the sweet, this might be the book for you!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Begin Again by Emma Lord
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Andie transfers to the college her mom went to years before she died, she has a plan to make everything perfect. She'll be with her boyfriend again (hopefully to fix their strained relationship since he started there a term before her), she'll figure out how to be part of the secret radio station her mom started, and will be on track to becoming a self-help icon. But then everything goes awry and she has to figure out who she is and what she'd going to do now that her plan has failed. Thankfully, she has her roomie and her grumpy, sarcastic RA Milo to help her a bit by challenging her beliefs.

This is a story all about self-discovery, family issues and found family, finding your place in the world, college pirate radio, and "Just Kiss Already" romance. I was already a fan of @dilemmalord books and this one did not disappoint!

Thank you to @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for the ARC! The book is released a week from tomorrow on Jan 24/23 and you should definitely check it out!

#BeginAgain #EmmaLord #YABooks #AmReading #ARC #NetGalley #College #Romance #BookReview #BookRelease #NewBook

ID: black eReader with book cover on it, leaning against a grey backpack

Emma Lords books always feel like a hug, and Begin Again is no different. Begin Again follows Andie on her journey at a new school, a school she transfers to in order to surprise her boyfriend Connor. Little does she know, Connor transferred back home to be with her. Although inconvenient, Andie takes this time to make a name for herself, follow in the footsteps of her late moms legacy, and form amazing friendships that turned into another family. Andie has felt alone for a long time, always being the helper and never tending to her own wounds. With a little help from her friends (and an adorable RA), Andie realizes she’s much more than her mothers daughter. She is independent, she is brave, she is kind. She is someone her mom would be very proud of. A book filled with finding yourself, finding your tribe, chickens named Samantha, cheesy garlic bagels with strawberry cream cheese, friends to lovers trope, and so much more. It is guaranteed to make you smile! Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Andie has it all planned out. She planned on transferring from a community college to Blue Ridge State for a few reasons. One was that her boyfriend was studying there. Another is that this is the college that her parents went to so it meant a lot to her to go to Blue Ridge. 

I love the way Andie fits right in with her new roommate Shay. Shay is a bookstagrammer who doesn’t have a major yet. I got way too excited to hear how much she loves books. 
She has questions for the RA in the building, Milo. Milo becomes a big part of the story. He has a snarky attitude and I love it. He gave me Luke from Gilmore Girls vibes many times. 

I did enjoy Andie’s journey of trying to fit in with a new school, making new friends, and making her own path with the radio station. 

My only downfall is that I felt it went on for a bit too long. There were times when I struggled a bit because not much was happening. 

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first time reading Emma Lord, and I became engrossed in the book, so it definitely won’t be my last. I’m well past the New Adult stage in my own life, but have several kids in this age group and have always enjoyed reading Young Adult/New Adult fiction. The characters are well written and fleshed out so that you see glimpses of yourself in the main characters. Andie’s and Milo’s stories have difficulties as part of them, but they seem relatable, even to one past their stage in life. I haven’t done any research to see if there will be other stories set in this same setting, but it would be easy to see Lord using the same college and maybe even some of the same characters in future books. This was a quick read - in part because I really didn’t want to put it down!

Emma Lord has become one of my go-to YA authors. Her books are sweet but not saccharine, they’re romances but not *just* romances, and they focus on characters whose struggles are authentic and require some real growth.

I should say that I still—somehow—haven’t read Tweet Cute, but I’ve adored each of her other books, including this newest one, Begin Again.

Andie Rose has clawed her way into a mid-year transfer to Blue Ridge State, her dream school, the college where her parents met . . . and her boyfriend Connor’s school. In a moment of misplaced romance, she decides to make her transfer a surprise. And then she discovers, in a sort of Gift of the Magi twist, that her boyfriend has also made a surprise transfer to Andie’s much-less-prestigious college. Cue chaos and angst.

Despite the less-than-fortuitous start, Andie decides that her boyfriend can just transfer back after this current semester, and she resolves to make the best of the situation, as she often does. She and her new roommate, Shay, hit it off, and though she faces some academic challenges, she’s ready to dive into the traditions that her parents and, particularly, her deceased mom told her about.

I’m going to pause here to say that I absolutely loved this book. Lord captures Andie’s college experience so well, the promise and peril of seeking a promised fresh start when you know that you’re still just the same person you’ve always been. Andie is an amazing character who is strong and inspiring and always willing to help her friends, yet she’s simultaneously fragile and all too willing to avoid conflict, even if it means sacrificing something that means a lot to her.

The development of Andie’s formative relationships is clearly a huge part of Andie’s identity. Lord shows us the grandmas who dropped everything to raise her after her mom’s death, the father who became distant in his grief, Connor who has been her friend since childhood and whose family became a second sort of family for her, and of course the mother she lost who has become such an inspiration—and someone to live up to—for her. Yet Lord balances the ways that her new relationships help to shape who she’s becoming. Those include Shay but also Milo, the RA who quickly becomes a source of support, and Valentina, who starts as her much-needed math tutor but quickly becomes another friend.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of this book. There’s so much here that it’s tough to cover it all in a review, but it doesn’t ever feel like there’s too much going on. Instead, Andie’s story feels like the real story of a college freshman who is both building a new life for herself and still working to figure out the life she has.

I read this one in as close to one sitting as I could because I just had to know what would happen next. I can’t recommend Emma Lord’s Begin Again enough.

This was a really sweet and cute YA read about. College and finding one’s way. I loved how the friendships and found family were developed and portrayed. Also, the hijinks from the friend group and secret societies were a lovely added bonus (and the cute non-swears used by the MC had me giggling often)