I'm so tired of books about 25 year olds that act like 16 year olds. And there was a lot of telling but no showing.

Camille Kellogg's novel Just as You Are threads the needle between fun romance and important social justice issues in such a seamless manner that the reader would think that she is a seasoned author with many books under her name. However, this appears to be the first novel for this young writer and I simply devoured it. Kellogg's main character is Liz Baker, a writer for The Nether Fields. Baker writes click worthy, fun articles that generate lots of traffic for the queer magazine, but is not widely respected as real literature. The financially struggling business is given a temporary reprieve when a two wealthy friends purchase it and provide financial direction. Personal relationships develop that create additional problems and Baker finds herself in a work place , love/hate relationship that threatens to cost her everything. One of my favorite things about Kellogg's writing is the casual way she includes "white" as a descriptor when she introduces characters. This levels the playing field in a manner that gives a complete picture of each individual. I look forward to seeing what Kellogg publishes next.

I couldn't request this book fast enough! A queer P&P inspired story? Yes, please!

This was a quick read, probably because I couldn't put it down. The tension between Liz and Daria was palpable. The steam was perfectly timed and great. Such a great read!

3.5 ⭐️

Was this really just 320 pages? It felt endless.. I thought I was about to finish and realized I still had 2 more hours 😵‍💫

I was so into it in the beginning. I thought I wasn’t going to like it after some reviews I heard but I got so into it and I was invested but the length threw me off. It felt like there were conflicts added just to make the story go on longer.

I couldn’t really connect to Liz. I thought there was potential but she felt very immature at many times for the age she was, I didn’t see much character development for her. The chemistry between her and Daria was not there, it felt forced… specially after so many different conflicts.

I don’t agree with the reviews saying the plot was around the work more than the romance. You have to consider the way Daria comes into Liz’s life and that was through work so the work drama is going to be present and the plot will revolve around it. I think there is romance but it just didn’t feel as romancey as it was advertised.

Overall I enjoyed it for a good portion but it wasn’t for me. I’d love to see more from the author.

Compelling protagonist. Snappy plot. Quick read. Not so much a romance, rather a case study on all different kinds of relationships.

Just As You Are is a Pride and Prejudice inspired romance, where every character is gay. All of them. Every one. It’s a blast.
I loved the up to date social media technology and pop culture references—though you *can* zoom in on Instagram profile pictures now—making it feel like I’m overhearing gossip, in a queer-owned coffee shop, sipping on my lavender oatmilk latte, rather than reading a work of complete fiction. It’s quick, it’s dramatic, it’s messy, it’s fun, what more could I ask for?

Trigger Warnings: alcohol, cursing, laid off, homophobia, classism, marijuana, drugs/coke, expulsion, sex, parental abandonment, break-up, toxic relationship

Representation: Lesbian, vegan, they/them pronouns, Dominican, Black, Transgender

Just as You Are is a queer, contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Liz Baker and her three roommates work at the Nether Fields, a queer magazine in New York that’s on the verge of shutting down—until it’s bought at the last minute by two wealthy lesbians. Liz knows she’s lucky to still have a paycheck but it’s hard to feel grateful with minority investor Daria Fitzgerald slashing budgets, cancelling bagel Fridays, and password protecting the color printer to prevent “frivolous use.” When Liz overhears Daria scoffing at her listicles, she knows that it’s only a matter of time before her impulsive mouth gets herself fired.

When Liz and Daria wind up having to spend more and more time together, Liz starts to see a softer side to Daria—she’s funny, thoughtful, and likes the way Liz’s gender presentation varies between butch and femme. Despite the evidence that Liz can’t trust her, it’s hard to keep hating Daria—and even harder to resist the chemistry between them.

My heart swoons! This book is everything I needed from an adult romance and I absolutely adored it! The story is funny and sexy, and it has an awesome cast of queer characters! The chosen family aspect is amazing and leaves you longing for that in your life! The author’s writing style is both smart and steamy with all of the queerness you ever needed! I loved everything about this book and can’t recommend it enough! It’s also a quick and easy read that perfectly balances the complications of figuring out one’s gender expression with the lighthearted quirks of a romcom! Definitely going to be a top ten read of the year!!

Absolutely wonderful and a great way to break myself out of a mini-reading slump.

My number one go-to genre is adult sapphic romance and this delivered.

It did take me a full 60 pages to realize this is based on Pride and Prejudice, which is just my own failure to read anything about this book. But yes, this is a sapphic Pride and Prejudice retelling set in an NYC queer magazine, ala Autostraddle (which is directly mentioned in the story). Liz lives with her many roommates (Jane, Lydia, Katie) and they all work at The Nether Fields magazine, which is about to go under until it bought by Bailey and Daria.

And Daria = Darcy, so you can kind of extropolate the rest of the plot from there.

I loved this story and couldn't put it down once it got rolling. It gave me appropriate amounts of spice and women in well-tailored suits. I also loved how Liz was a curvy woman struggling with how to best dress herself androgenously when it's hard to find a queer wardrobe for curvy folks. I could very much relate to that. We also see Liz struggle with who she is as a writer and if she even wants to stay at Neither Fields writing "fluff" peices.

Daria's character was a little less developed, mostly because we only see bits and peices through Liz's eyes and they don't know each other terribly well beyond their verbal sparring and prejudices against each other. But I could see the softie underneath the tough exterior and was invested in the sexual tension between her and Liz.

Overall, this was a super fun read that I couldn't put down. I love a good fluffy romance, and this delivered! I'll be adding it to my shelf next to my Ashley Herring Blake, Meryl Wilsner, and Alexandria Bellefleur books -- I'm thrilled to keep my eyes out for Camille Kellogg's future books!

DNFed at 55%

This book feels like it was written not for queer people, which absolutely breaks my heart to say. The thing that broke me was every room in the main character's office is named after a different queer people, and I think the photo copier was named after Elliot Page. Why?! I don't know if this was supposed to be a homage to queer people, but it felt like weird.

Also, I love a Pride and Prejudice retelling but these characters were not Elizabeth and Darcy. The Liz in this book was honestly just mean and disorganized and flighty, which is not Austen's Elizabeth. And she was just so mean to Daria (Darcy), but not in a fun way.

This just ended up being not fun to read after awhile, and while I did try to get through it, the characters just felt a little half baked and didn't live up to what I hoped they would be.

4 stars!

I could not put "Just as You Are" by Camille Kellogg down. My god, what a terrific queer "Pride and Prejudice"-inspired romance! From the first few pages, I knew I was going to like this one. All of the characters are pretty messy, so that might turn some people off, but I loved that their flaws shape who they are. I love that they learn from their flaws and mistakes as the book goes on. Because they have emotions, get angry, get upset, laugh, cry, have fights, talk trash, and discuss drama, these characters feel much more authentic and lived-in, and I connected with them more because of it. I loved the grand gestures, I loved the pining, I loved the friendship and the heartache, and I even loved the miscommunication (which I am shocked to say!). I wouldn't necessarily call this a rom-com, more like a rom-dram, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. One of my major critiques is that it ends so quickly! While I like HOW it ends, I don't like that it wrapped up so soon because I was left wanting a little bit more from the conclusion. I cannot wait to see what Camille Kellogg writes next. It's clear she has a fantastic vision, a fresh perspective, a quippy writing style, and a flair for the dramatic.

Thank you to NetGalley, Camille Kellogg, Random House Publishing Group, and Dial Press Trade Paperback for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review

Thank you to NetGalley, Dial Press and PRH Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: internet bullying, family tensions (side character)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-f/f Pride and Prejudice modern retelling
-found family
-workplace romance
-frenemies to lovers

This very much felt like a celebration of being queer and just the different presentations. Of self acceptance, accepting love and self love. I love a good pride and prejudice retelling and this one was so lovely. So many unique touches. Making the different characters roommates instead of sisters. Setting it in a queer magazine and setting up Daria to be Liz's boss.

This was Liz's story in so many ways as she struggled with her gender expression, what she wanted to do with her life, her writing. Se had a safety in her apartment, with her job at the magazine, and going outside of that was difficult. A coming of age in a lot of ways I really enjoyed how Daria came off grumpy but was really shy yet still pushed and encouraged Liz in so many ways. I really enjoyed their dynamic, the misunderstandings and their chemistry. I was rooting so hard for these two and was on the edge of my seat in the third act.

I truly enjoyed the narrator and really recommend this one on audio. A fresh retelling of a classic.

Steam: 3.25

Loved this one so much.

I’m a sucker for any kind of Pride and Prejudice adaptation and this one was truly clever and insightful.

Daria was the perfect Darcy and Liz a beautiful note of Lizzie Bennet.

Having the “Bennet’s” be a found family worked so well. And loved seeing Jane as a Black Trans woman.

I truly cannot wait to see more from this author in the future.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

I ADOREDDDD this book. It was queer as hell and so freaking fun. I want all sapphic books to be this joyful.

While I knew from the description when I first requested this book that it was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice I definitely forgot that fact when I started reading the book, until it got to a specific moment and all of the pieces fell into place.

This was a very fun story and while it was hard to like Daria at first (not surprisingly) I quickly fell in love with so many of the characters. I liked how it was a queer retelling of the story, and I always enjoy books taking place in the publishing world.

The story was close enough to the original that it was comfortably familiar, but different enough that I was engaged throughout the whole story.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: April 25, 2023

A queer Pride & Prejudice retelling? Sign me up. This unfortunately fell flat, and was definitely not the romcom it was billed to be.

Sigh. Chapter one is spent lazily info-dumping every character’s gender identity, sexuality, race, look, dietary restrictions, etc. instead of actually doing the work of writing it into the actual story organically. That along with constantly explaining who each of the conference rooms were named after was borderline offensive. Give your readers more credit. I almost DNF @ 13%.

Alas, I read on. This centers around a toxic, drama-fueled friend group and quite frankly, I’m too old for this nonsense. Yes, people are messy, but surround yourself with better people so you don’t have to go through so much hell. Have real conversations so you don’t find yourself in these messes. In the end, I wasn’t invested in any of the characters or relationships.

I loved this book! Charming and funny, with my favorite enemies-to-lovers story and plenty of chosen family elements, Just as You Are was a delicious read. I enjoyed the character dynamics in both the friend groups and the romantic relationships, and appreciated the insights into the strange world of media and publishing. Would love to read more from this author!

- Raise your hand if you're looking for a sweet, funny, and smart lesbian Pride and Prejudice retelling! Oh, everyone is looking for that, and here it is in JUST AS YOU ARE!
- This book is a loving homage to P&P, to queer culture, to trying to find yourself when you're somewhere between labels. I adored Liz and Daria, modern incarnations of Elizabeth and Darcy down to every last detail.
- One of the things I loved most about this book was how steeped in queer culture it is. So often books feature one or two queer characters surrounded by straight people, but this book is queer down to the bones. Every character is queer, they move entirely through queer spaces, and references to our pop culture touchstones abound. Heaven.

I found this hate-to-love romance to be well paced and full of emotional pulls, to the point where I didn't want to put it down to sleep. It can be so easy to make snap judgements but so fulfilling to get the whole picture.

In this queer Pride and Prejudice reimagining, Liz and her roomies work at a queer magazine that's going under. At their goodbye party, they get word that the magazine has been saved by two wealthy lesbian investors. One of them, Daria, is so budget-focused, she's taking all the fun out of work! Daria is brash and domineering, and she and Liz butt heads immediately. But after spending more time together, Liz realizes there's much more to Daria than meets the eye.

Sparks fly in this delightful, swoony, charming, workplace romcom! I thoroughly enjoyed the friendships, the representation, and the writing! I look forward to reading more by this author.

What a perfect read for lesbian visibility week!

Thank you NetGalley, Dial Press / Random House for the gifted eARC.

This book was so funny and adorable! I loved the witty banter between the roommates. I do wish we got to see more of the romance between Liz & Daria, but it was a sweeet romance novel overall!