Enjoyed reading both paths in this journey. I did feel a stronger connection to one story as I felt that character, and relationship, was described more. The main character was enjoyable to watch through both scenarios.
The food and culture throughout was what kept it fun for me. I looked up a few dishes and would love to try making them.

Ok, I'm going to be honest here, but it probably won't surprise you. I picked up this book based purely on the cover. That and the fact that I've loved the last two books of Dahlia Adler's. SO, I went in blindly with no expectations but to enjoy it.

Going Bicoastal is the story of 17 year old Natalya who has 24 hours to make a huge decision of how she is going to spend her summer between her junior and senior year. She can either stay in NYC with her father who she currently lives with, gets to see her friends that are sticking around and maybe keep running into the red-head girl she has a crush on. OR she can go stay with her mom in LA and intern at her work. It would be a big change and a chance to do something new and to get to know her mom since they rarely see each other or talk to one another. What would be easy and comfortable would be NYC, but she really does need to branch out, right?

I loved the way this story was told. It was almost like a "choose your own adventure book". In some ways, I wish I would have read it that way. All NYC story back to back and then LA, but the way Adler alternated chapters and had Natalya living her NYC life while also living her LA life was perfect! I loved it! I actually had to go back the first time I read when Talya had decided to stay in NYC and then the next chapter has her going to LA. Very clever!

We saw Talya bring her cool, bisexual Jewish girl vibes to both coasts and it worked. 2 love interests that I really enjoyed and friend groups that made it even better. I love the way the Jewish culture along with the LGBTQ community was brought to both 'stories' and how positive it was. Add in the fact that I love music, art as well as food trucks and this was a total winner. It's just a book that makes you feel good. It also made me look forward to summer.

If you've read Dahlia Adler's previous books, you may catch a few surprise guests. But this book totally stands on its own and it was a pleasure to read from beginning to end. I really enjoyed how the relationships developed between Talya and her love interests as well as her friendships and relationships with her parents, especially her mother. This is definitely a book you should put on your TBR if you want something fun and positive and filled with great characters all around. A true joy!

"It feels like the waves continue to move and we just have to move with them and hope that when everything lands, we've still got solid footing."

4 stars

This is such a fun read, featuring a round main character, great representation, and two coasts' worth of possibilities!

Natalya, the m.c., has a big decision to make: stay home in New York with her dad for the summer or visit her mom in L.A. during that time. Fortunately, Adler doesn't make her choose; she gets to do both! Readers follow Natalya on a very fun adventure as in one half of the novel, she visits her mom, makes new friends, sparks a new love interest, and learns about herself. In the other half, she does the same thing but stays home with her dad. Folks wondering if this back and forth gets tedious should be assured that it doesn't. There were absolutely times when I found myself starting to root for one coast over the other (as a lifelong West Coast dweller, I couldn't even stay partial to my home!), but the refreshing part is that the whole narrative is engaging. It's impossible to read this and NOT be attuned to Adler's exceptional organizational and planning techniques. Readers will come away from this one feeling excited about the many possibilities Natalya's present and future hold.

This is an innovative approach to the _Sliding Doors_ motif, but readers will feel right at home in two entirely distinct locations, rooting for Natalya's happiness and success wherever she may land. Also, the representation is an added benefit.

I'll be recommending this one to my students and beyond for all of the aforementioned reasons.

This book was super cute but a little boring. It was a really cool concept though! I just wish the two timelines had merged somehow at the end, instead of it being completely split. Still a good book though.

If you had two choices and had the chance to see how each one would play out, which would you pick? Going Bicoastal was exactly that and I absolutely LOVED it. Tal is truly one of my new favorite YA protagonists. Her energy was amazing and I loved how proud she was to be bisexual and Jewish. In one scenario she stays in NYC and the other she's in LA and I was hooked on both versions of her. I loved her group of friends in each city and how they both brought out new pieces of her personality and interests. The Jewish rep was phenomenal and it warmed my heart to see weekly Shabbat dinners, kosher food, and other Jewish traditions on the page of YA contemporary. I also thought the cast of characters was so diverse and well rounded. There were more Jewish characters and a variety of queer members as well. I thought each relationship was so thought out and well done. Dahlia did the alternating cities plot so nicely and I was invested in both worlds. This was an absolutely fantastic book and it's the perfect read for summer! Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC to read and review.

This was SO much fun! It's like a younger, more modern (and inclusive) version of SLIDING DOORS -- love the alternate timeline thing so much, and seeing it explored in different ways. The main character here was adorable, although I didn't find her as relatable as I'd have liked (I did still like her though)!

Aside from the alluring premise, I found the writing of this book to be quite entertaining & very well written. I highly recommend this book to any readers of YA Romance!

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really liked it at first but with the two different storylines, I got invested in Adam and I wasn’t a fan of Elly at all, which is surprising because I’m usually more into the queer characters but nope. The more emotionally invested in Adam and Taly I got, the more anxiety I got because I really didn’t know how it was going to end since completely different storylines were going on and I just wanted to skip to the end to see what happened but also wanted to finish the story. I did like how the author did the ending though so it helped with my conflicted feelings.

Ever wonder what would happen if you made just one different choice?

Natalya has a choice to make - stay in NYC and chance meeting the girl she's crushing on or go to LA to see her mom and maybe hit it off with the cute intern. Nat also has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She loves art, but that can't be a living. Can it?

This was a really neat take on What If...! Each chapter alternates between what if Nat goes and what if she stays. Adler essentially wrote 2 rom coms and spliced them together, and it WORKS! Also, I loved how Nat's friends respected her Jewish traditions and made space for her needs!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

4.5 stars.

One of my earliest reading memories is finding old “Choose Your Own Adventure” books in my grandparents’ house. Going Bicoastal has those vibes. Natalya has to decide whether to play it safe and stay in NYC (and maybe finally meet the hot redhead girl she’s been crushing on) or to visit her mom in LA and try to repair their relationship (while figuring out how to deal with her hot co-intern).

I think what I liked so much about Going Bicoastal was not the romance (although I am OF COURSE a sucker for that) but that Nat seems to come to the same decisions and revelations, despite what choice she made. Either way, she worked on her relationship with her mom, made new friends, and stepped outside of her comfort zone.

I did have a favorite of her love interests, as one of them felt like a more genuine connection. But both were good choices, regardless.

Going Bicoastal was a fantastic read. Great Jewish and bisexual representation!

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the review copy.

Dahlia Adler does it again! Going Bicoastal starts with our bisexual main character Natalya trying to decide what to do during summer break. Stay in New York with her friends and dad, possibly talk to the girl she's been crushing on for years. Or go to LA where the only person she knows is her mother, who she barely talks to, and a paid internship with a cute boy.

Natalya can't decide, so we get a fantasticly wonderful book with two timelines! I LOVED this book, I couldn't put it down! The romance, the food, the characters, the two different timelines we get to see Natalya grow and change, and THAT COVER!

5 stars! Thank you, NetGalley and St Martin's Press, for another fantastic eARC!

Going Bicoastal has uniquely done alternating timelines. Personally, I think the alternating timelines were a lot of fun! This book does deal with some heavier themes like divorce, but overall, I think that these themes are handled with care.

Going Bicoastal is a YA rom-com that explores the dual narratives of a bisexual teenager named Natalya Fox, also known as Tal or Nat (depending on which parent you ask), who must choose whether to spend her summer with her father in Manhattan or try to mend her relationship with her mother by interning at her marketing firm on the West Coast. The author does a phenomenal job of portraying the bisexual community and honoring the characters' identities authentically. The lack of angst around the characters' sexual identity is refreshing, and the inclusion of Jewish culture and traditions adds depth to the story. The unique dual narrative structure of the novel allows readers to experience both sides of Natalya's decision and creates a heartwarming story about self-discovery, family, and love. Overall, the book is an entertaining read that will leave readers feeling both satisfied and longing for more.

Full review will post on duffRUNStough on May 19th. Will update feedback with link then.

I read an eARC of Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

This book had an interesting premise. Natalya has been given twenty-four hours by her mother by her mother whether she wants to spend her summer before college with her in LA at an Internship at her mother’s job, or stay with her father in NY. She is stuck between staying with a father she’s close with, and spending time with her friends she might never see again, or getting to know her estranged mother and fixing their relationship and using this time to do something daring and explore a new place.

Twenty-four hours is not enough time to decide, and that’s when the premise is revealed. At the crucial moment, the story splits, alternate chapters telling of the story when she went to LA and her romance with the grumpy fellow intern, and the other at NY where she stumbles into summer jobs and has an awkward relationship with a long-time crush “the red-haired girl”.

You can probably tell which one I prefer.

The thing about this book is it can be painfully boring. Natalya is a privileged young woman whose biggest hangups besides her mother’s estrangement seems to be finding restaurants that serve kosher food and learning how to cook for the sabbath. This makes her time in NY boring to read. Her relationship with the redhaired girl is one of those cutsey clumsy types, that I like, but only if interesting fantasy things are happening around them.

That leaves the LA storyline, which is much more interesting. Natalya is forced out of her comfort zone, her mother isn’t perfect, to begin with, and her love interest she instantly dislikes and has a much more interesting backstory and dynamic with her. It still wasn’t riveting, I’d say once they got together, the most interesting part was when Natalya was forced to realize her own privilege when put up against his, but even then, her life runs just a bit too smoothly for me to ever get really invested, and as a person, Natalya just wasn’t interesting enough of a character to carry an everyday story with normal characters of a girl just living her life, the only difference being where she decided to go.

So not a bad book, and I can see people who like low-stakes romances with a little twist, just not the book for me in the end.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Romance is not my preferred genre but I was looking for a cute book and this one seemed to fit the bill. It was super cute but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted too. The beginning was a touch confusing with switching between two alternate summers with each chapter but after a few chapters I got used to the switches and that was okay. Mostly, I was waiting for the LA/Adam chapters and would have loved a whole book just on that summer. There was something about Elly that bugged me (probably that she’s too into music and that’s just not something I’m into so I couldn’t relate) but I felt like I was slogging through her chapters. The Jewish and bi rep were both top notch and well done! If you’re into romance books and don’t mind them YA (no spice here) I definitely recommend checking this one out!

I loved the message of "there’s more than one path to happily ever after." This plot was unique and fun! This was funny and very cute!

This book was just pure delight. I loved the parallel timelines so much! It’s such a fun take on the pun of bi and neatly skirts the love triangle trope that this could have fallen into. I enjoyed the culture, the growth, the family bonding, the romance, and the writing style thoroughly. The ending as a choose your own adventure moment was also super cute!

Trigger warnings for divorce and brief mention of past self-harm/scars (not detailed)

I read one of Dahlia's previous books, CRUEL FOR THE SUMMER, a year or two ago and had a great time with it, so when I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I was in for a good time.

GOING BICOASTAL follows Natalya the summer before her senior year, and she has to decide if she's going to spend the summer with her dad, who she lives with in New York, or her estranged mom, who lives in LA. Staying in New York would give her the opportunity to get to know the redhead girl she keeps running into and is harboring a crush on, but going to LA gives her an opportunity to intern at her mom's marketing firm and work alongside the other intern, Adam. The story is told sliding doors/dual-timeline style, following what would happen in both timelines.

It's ambitious to write a dual-timeline story; there's a lot of potential room for error with creating a satisfying ending and the reader could have trouble distinguishing the timelines--but none of that was the case. The flow between the two timelines was seamless, and I never struggled to follow along with it.

The romances with both Elly and Adam were so well-developed and adorable; I still honestly don't know which partner I prefer for Natalya because I loved them both so much.

Not to mention, all of the friendships were so fun and as well-developed as the romantic relationships--you could tell that those friendships were important to Natalya, and it was so fun to get to know the entire cast of characters.

I think a lot of people can also connect with Natalya's struggle to identify what she wanted to do with her life and balance finding something she's passionate about without necessarily exploiting the hobbies that she loves.

The one concern I had throughout the story was the ending; I wasn't sure how the story could be wrapped up in a satisfying way with these two diverging timelines, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it was handled, and I thought it was the perfect ending.

I had so much fun with this book and would absolutely recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is absolutely adorable. I was a little confused at the beginning when the perspective shifted to an alternative timeline, but it was really easy to feel the switch between the two stories.

Natayla can't decide between staying in NYC for the summer, or going to see her mother in LA for an internship, and to try and mend their fractured relationship.

In NYC, Natalya goes by the nickname her father gave her, Tal, and is determined to finally talk to the cute redhead girl she has a crush on, and figure out a plan for her future, and maybe a summer job.

In LA she goes by her mothers nickname for her, Nat, and gets off to a rocky start with her fellow intern Adam, and struggles to find her place with both work and her mom.

I loved the fact that although the stories were different, Natalya stayed true to herself in both timelines. She grew as a person, grew more comfortable with herself, her relationships, her passions, and so much more in both timelines. I also really loved the way her relationship with her mother blossomed in both timelines, although they did grow at different rates based on where she was in the country.

I was hoverer, not the biggest fan of Elly. She didn't seem to have a big personality outside of "quirky girl who likes music" and Natalya seemed to try and change to fit what Elly wanted instead of being fully comfortable with herself. With Adam, it felt like that both grew and changed together as people instead.

Natayla is Jewish, and I really liked the way her religion factored into both of her lives. With her father, religion played a much larger role in their day to day lives, but it was interesting to see how being around her mom shifted both of their views on it as well.

There was also the aspect of Natayla discovering her passions, and it was really interesting to see the way that this played out in both timelines, once again she did reach a similar realization and dream, but it played out at different speeds and moments.

The book ends with the reader being able to pick which ending they want to read - Elly or Adam, which of course I did both, but there definitely was one romance I preferred to the other. Surprisingly, it wasn't the one I thought I would have preferred.

Last note, I LOVED the fact that Natalya was fully and surely bi in both storylines. When she was with Adam she still was bi, and he was aware and supportive of that fact, but at no point in the storyline was she suddenly considered straight. Bi erasure is still nauseatingly present in both literature and real life and I'm so happy to see it.

I really enjoyed the Sliding Doors-style parallel stories between New York and L.A, and it was nice to see bisexuality treated as equally valid regardless of the gender of one's partner. I also felt like I learned a lot about Jewish identity in a real-world sort of way. It's always wonderful to celebrate a culture rather than hear about its tragedies and crimes perpetrated against it.