It has been an absolute joy to get lost in this world with these relatable, easy-to-root-for characters. As always, I love Emma Lord's writing style and will gladly read anything and everything she ever writes.

'Begin Again' is a coming-of-age story in which we follow Andie through Spring semester of her freshman year at college. She arrives at the school of her dreams with a boyfriend, a plan, and a ton of determination to make everything work. This college is where her parents met and where they left their mark, and Andie is determined to become part of the secret society that her late mother belonged to. For Andie, it's personal, it's about connecting to her past, and she has a plan to achieve it all.

Immediately, her careful plans start falling apart. But her roommate Shay becomes her BFF and their grumpy, coffee-addicted RA helps connect her with a much-needed Work Study job, and Andie discovers fun and found-family in places she wasn't expecting.

'Begin Again' is a heartwarming, fun read and it gave me all the feels. Highly recommended YA Contemporary read.

Emma Lord has done it again! I loved Tweet Cute, and I loved this book, too. Will definitely be recommending it to the teens at my library.

I have read and will continue to read everything Emma Lord has written. And it's not just because we're kindred theater spirits (When You Get the Chance was everything I ever wanted in a book).

This one was a little tricky because it did have a crush happening while there's still a relationship in place. Now, I've said this before in YA that I've reviewed. I am much more okay with "am I serious about this relationship or do I like this other person?" in YA because it's YA and I was 18 once and crushes exist. That being said, without giving anything away, those kinds of situations have to resolve themselves and they usually do in a stereotypical way that you see coming from a mile away. And that's what happened here. So that felt tired and I didn't love it.

However, the depth of Andie (and her friends. We love a good friend group for our MCs!), her relationship with her dad and grandmas, and the journey she goes on over basically an entire school year (I'm a sucker for a book that covers a long amount of time instead of a whole bunch of growth happening in a week) was delightful.

Thoroughly enjoyed the book and so glad I got an ARC! :)

Begin Again was definitely cute and charming. Andie is a planner and a problem fixer who gives too much to others and doesn't ask for much in return. Andie and Milo meet at Blue Ridge State, and they have more in common than they realize at first - including some healing they each need to do. I can see Andie being quite relatable to a lot of people; I even saw parts of my past undergraduate self in her. Although she did the cheesy thing of saying names foods instead of cursing, I liked her as a character and enjoyed seeing her growth. Milo, the coffee addicted R.A. with green eyes. I love you, Milo! He comes off as a bit grumpy, but he is witty and has such a big heart. I like the way Andie and Milo understood each other, supported each other, and I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop.

One of the book's strengths was its cast of fun characters, especially Andie's confident and bookish roommate Shay. I did lose a bit of interest halfway though, and some of the book's events felt more high school (like maybe a boarding school) than big state college. Overall though, this was a fun ya contemporary with genuine friendships (the found family trope is the best) and a sweet love story.

Oh. My. Gosh. This could not have been more perfect. Thank you so much, NetGalley, for the ARC!

Lately, I've been totally missing college, living in a dorm room, staying up late, grabbing ice cream with friends and totally being carefree. Emma Lord's "Begin Again" brought me that feeling again and I am SO HAPPY.

Begin Again follows one of my favorite and most relatable characters to date, who is obsessive with problem-solving and helping her friends. As the problem solver of my friend group, holy crap did I relate to her and how she felt. Her conversations were always relatable and authentic, the dialogue was funny, but clever.

It didn't even bother me that this was YA, I actually felt like anything more would have been out of place. I found that this was a perfect weekend read and just brought me all of the warm fuzzies. I found myself getting excited to know what happened next and I can't wait to see what success Emma Lord has next!

I thought it was unique having a storyline focused on not just college, but specifically college transfers. It showed another side of the college experience and was done in an engaging way. Andie had many sides to her backstory. Not only was she trying to fit in as a transfer, but she's dealing with things personally across a variety of people who are close to her: her dad, her mom, her boyfriend... even herself. I like how despite all the different storylines and things Andie had to deal with they were taken care of in an organized fashion so you didn't feel like one topic was left out in order to complete the rest of her issues. Everything was also connected in a way that developed Andie's character for a stronger person at the end.

Milo, the male lead, is a dreamy guy both literally and figureatively. I liked reading about his interactions with Andie and see what type of person he was through his actions towards others and the school.

The story had so many other amazing side characters that really completed the college setting. I appreciated how each of them experienced development and progression of their own throughout the story.

Overall, Begin Again was a nice read. It was easy to like the characters and you definitely want to cheer them on as they go through college and all the growing pains that come with finding yourself there.

Emma Lord has written several books ("Tweet Cute" and "You Have a Match") that I really enjoyed, so I was excited to see that she has a new book coming out! In "Begin Again", college student Andie Rose has transferred to her deceased mom's alma mater and is ready to follow in her steps. However, her plan isn't as easy to accomplish when she has to juggle a long distance relationship with her boyfriend, classes more difficult than she expected, and an estranged relationship with her father. Fortunately for Andie, she is surrounded by a fantastic group of friends: Shay, Valeria, and Milo. And what will happen when she finds herself growing increasingly separate from her boyfriend and closer to her cute dorm RA, Milo?

This was a sweet and thoughtful novel, and I greatly enjoyed all of the relationships that Andie was juggling as she had to learn how to handle them all. I enjoyed the sweet chemistry between Andie and Milo, and was incredibly grateful that nothing occurred between them while they were in other relationships. Finally, I really enjoyed this quote from the author, "He is the steady pulse of something known, something understood -- not a person to build your world around, but a person to build one with."

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was the perfect chic-lit read that I needed. I haven't read any of Emma Lord's books before, however I have heard nothing but great things and was so excited to be able to read this one.

Although college feels like a part of my distant past (lol) I was still able to easily connect with the characters. Even though this is definitely a story of coming into ones self, this is not something that only caters to a younger audience and I feel people of all ages can relate to what Andie was going through. Milo was adorable and I definitely felt that SLOW burn. I also loved all the food descriptions and felt constantly hungry throughout the entire read (which normally wouldn't be a bad thing, but I'm on a diet!)

My only complaint is that Andie walked a fine line between not cheating/emotionally cheating on her boyfriend. However, I get that she is young and still figuring things out, so I have to give her a pass on this one. No one knows what direction their life is headed or what the right decision is to make when they are that young. It just made me feel uncomfortable rooting for her and Milo when she was still with someone else.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Emma Lord is really one of the best writers out there in that space, and excited to see her take on college-age characters. I felt the prose and the plot were emotional, complex, and enjoyable.

Definitely a recommended title for YA readers!

BEGIN AGAIN is my first Emma Lord, but I definitely get the hype around her now. There's a certain charm to the way she tells stories: with lots of heart and love and, well, messiness.

There are beautiful friendships in BEGIN AGAIN, as well as a soft romance that left me feeling warm inside. If I'd have to summarise the heart of this novel, I'd say that's Andie's amazing character arc, though. In some ways, this book felt like a love letter to overachieving girls (*cough* with parental issues *cough*), and I loved how Andie went through so much growth yet still stayed true to herself.

Emma Lord took so many things I love about the YA contemporary genre and truly made me fall in love with BEGIN AGAIN for those, but also for so much more. It's such a wonderful book, and now there's no other option from here: I NEED to check out her other books right away.

Okay, the Taylor swift reference title are you kidding me sign me up! This book was cute! It was definitely a step up from her other books and similar to tweet cute. Andie was such a cute and fun character, I especially loved how she used "snickerdoodle" and "frosted flakes" as swear words. The college setting was just so perfectly captured. Milo was just so perfect like where was he at when I was at school because I just love him so freaking much.
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overall this was such a cute read and as soon as it comes out everybody should immediately pick it up!
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thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for advanced access to the latest by Emma Lord. After reading Tweet Cute in 2020 and flying through favorites You Have a Match in 2021 and When You Get a Chance in May, I was eager to get my hands on her newest. Like the previous 3, this was a charming tale by Lord. Not unlike her previous books, she writes relationships well - romantic, friendships, family. This time, she ventured to college roommate relationships and college friendships that bring about a nostalgic feeling and had this reader picturing her own college campus as the setting for the events of this book. I instantly liked Shay (books and zebra cakes, what's not to love?) and the banter between Shay and Milo. While early plot complications surprised me, other events did not come as a surprise. Every event between connected dots both as expected and unexpectedly with a good balance to keep me engaged and wanting to read more. Beyond the surface, Lord also tackles deeper issues in her books that resonated with me: how different people handle grief and its effect on various relationships, wonderings if you're enough, and feelings of anxiety at having to do it all, summed up so well in my favorite quote: "I shrug the coat back on, at ease in its warmth, but uneasy with something else - at the feeling of being taken care of, when so often I am determined to be the one who takes care." Emma Lord's story follows multiple characters getting their chance to begin again and this reader would love nothing more than to read its sequel to see what they get up to next.

I was excited to read this after enjoying Emma Lord's When You Get The Chance, and Begin Again did not disappoint. I liked and felt like I really understood most of the characters. I loved the ribbon search for the secret society and the truth about the secret societies - it was so much fun and very clever. The romance had a very sweet build-up. The cutesy non-swearing sometimes took me out of it a bit, but everything else was fantastic.

Love this so much!!! I've read all of Emma Lord's books, and they're always full of heart, and unputdownable. This one is the same! New characters and setting but still fantastic character development, a voice that draws me in and doesn't let me go, and a fast paced story that keeps me turning pages. I loves seeing characters navigate the ups and downs of college life. The friendships formed are rich, and endearing, and the romance is so sweet and feels immensely genuine. Emma Lord once again gave us characters I was rooting for from page one, plenty of fun and games in the middle, and a truly satisfying ending. This book definitely solidifies Emma Lord as an auto-buy author for me!

Warm, sweet, compelling- I loved "Begin Again" so much. Emma Lord nails the characters every time, and I appreciated the slightly more grown up college setting.

This was my first Emma Lord book, and I really enjoyed it! The story was sweet, the characters were relatable, and the writing was great!

(4.5 stars but man I loved this one)

I’ve followed Emma Lord’s career since Tweet Cute first came out and I’ve loved every minute of it, but I certainly didn’t expect Begin Again to land at the top of the list. In a way, I think this book is a departure from Emma Lord’s previous work. It felt less comedic (though still humorous) and more grounded in the emotions of familial relationships. I don’t know where to begin with everything I loved about this book.

To start, it takes place in college, a subgenre of YA I’ve been loving recently. The detailed build-up and exploration of the MC’s relationships with her friend group and with her family were well-earned and well-executed. Emma Lord’s prose has always been something special, but this book elevated her to another level.

It’s easy to call this book a grumpy x sunshine college meet cute, and as much as I love those, I think that title wouldn’t give this book nearly enough credit. This one is about our learned behaviors when it comes to loving others, how to care for ourselves while caring for others, and how to surround ourselves with the love we deserve. With a touch of workplace shenanigans and a secret radio show. If healthy communication and a foundation of friendship make you swoon the way they make me, you will love this book.

My only grievance is that I wish Andie’s relationship with Connor had been further developed, given how important he is to her.

I can already see myself rereading this book numerous times. Thank you so so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC! I’m in love.

**I was excited to receive a complimentary copy of Begin Again by Emma Lord from NetGalley. Opinions in this review are completely my own.**

I thought this book did a great job of capturing the confusion and growth that happens during the years between high school and university. I liked how Andie was searching not only for the connection to her mother, but also who she wants to be and how she will go about reaching her dreams. I enjoyed the characters, storyline, and mystery of the ribbons and what they represented.

I was able to relate to Andie's want to fix things for everyone else in an attempt to not focus on herself sometimes. I will definitely recommend this book to my students and buy it for my classroom.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read an earc of this book. My opinions are all my own.

This is a delightful novel about the chance college provides to "begin again" even when you're healing from grief--it's a book about realizing there are all kinds of possibilities around you, even when, like roommate Shay's major, it takes to time to find the right one. At the same time, it's a book about realizing which parts of your past are worth keeping. The novel captures that tippy, dizzy spin of starting over perfectly.

Andie manages to transfer to highly competitive Blue Ridge State as a second-semester freshman; she plans to join her high school boyfriend and long time friend Connor there, but she's also planning quietly to reconnect to her family's legacy (her parents met at Blue Ridge State, and her mother set up a pirate radio program that's still a vital part of the school's traditions). What Andie doesn't expect is that Connor has just transferred to the local community college she's just left, and that's not the only part of her careful long term plan that no longer makes sense. I was pleased to discover that the book is not really about Connor at all (although he remains a subplot), but about Andie finding her own space at Blue Ridge.

The book features delightful characters (I am especially fond of Andie's two grandmothers), places, and college-traditions. It also doesn't brush aside Andie's grief for her mom or her RA and friend Milo's grief for his dad or the real challenges of figuring out how to live right now but with the past and future still present. Balancing (and sometimes losing your balance) are central to this book's story, and it captures the speed of college where so much can happen in a week, let alone a semester.

Even though it's set in college, it feels solidly YA to me. Some conflicts work out a little too easily, and Andie is very good at stumbling into the right place to advance the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Andie Rose knows exactly what her life is going to look like, this year and beyond. First, she's transferring from community college to the competitive Blue Ridge State, where her late mother once studied. She'll major in psych and become a self-help guru, all with her long-time boyfriend, Connor, by her side. But then things start falling apart. Without discussing it, Connor had transferred from Blue Ridge to the community college Andie has left. Classes are harder than she's prepared for, and she feels compelled to fix the lives of every new person she meets. Plus, her loveable, but gloomy RA, Milo, has her rethinking her stance on love.

I've read every one of Emma Lord's books and love her humor and writing style. Her personality comes through in her main character's, who are always outgoing, fun, and a little bit chaotic. She also writes really lovely male leads--I particularly loved Jack from Tweet Cute. While I really loved Milo, I thought the romance wasn't given enough time. Andie spent a long time with Connor in this book, so the actually romance with Milo was crammed in at the end. They had scenes together before this, of course, but nothing could happen between them because of her loyalty to Connor. I also thought Andie was a bit immature compared to some of Lord's other main characters, even though she's actually the oldest one we've seen. She did a lot of things that just seemed...silly? Overall, I'm really glad I got to read this one when I did because I've been looking forward to it since it was announced. I'm looking forward to seeing the adult romance that Lord is publishing, because I think it's going to have more of what I'm looking for from her.