I really enjoyed this book. I loved the two different timelines and how things overlapped throughout them. I liked all the characters and it was a fun read.

Going Bicoastal has one of the coolest, most unique book concepts I've ever read, following a bisexual female main character who gets to explore love with both sexes in alternate timelines. I love the creativity of the plot and I really liked the repeating of paragraphs each time the author switched timelines. I also really enjoyed how Dahlia Adler handled the LGBTQ+ and Jewish representation. It was nice to read a book where all characters are treated with respect and there are no instances of -phobia or antisemitism, as many diverse books still include these scenes. The only thing I wanted from this book was a bit more depth to the characters. Most of the characters felt flat and I didn't connect to either love interest strongly enough to root for one over the other. However, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a cute, fun, YA summer romance or a quick beach read!

3.5/5 stars

CONTENT WARNING: brief mention of prior self-harm

I’m at the point with Dahlia Adler books where I don’t even need to read the blurb to know I want the book, and it’s never been more clear than with this book. All I needed to see was bisexual and I wanted to read it. The fact that it had Jewish representation only made it more appealing. But … when I started reading, I was surprised by the alternating timelines, because I seriously didn’t bother to read the blurb.

Natalya is an awesome character. She’s an only child, and in the summer before her junior year, she’s given the choice to stay in NYC for the summer with her dad or head across the country to spend her summer in LA, where her mom lives. But each of these options comes with pros and cons: staying in NYC means she’s doing what’s easy and comfortable, spending the summer with her big group of friends and the parent she’s closest with, and potentially getting to know the mysterious redhead she’s been crushing on for a while. But getting out of her comfort zone and spending the summer in LA means months with her mother, with whom her relationship is very distant, all to secure an internship she knows would look good on her resume but she isn’t sure she really wants.

The story allows both scenarios to play out, making this the ultimate bisexual dream. I really enjoyed seeing how both experiences challenged Natalya, allowing her to grow and change. At 17, she’s struggling with the path her life should take, especially when (on both coasts), she’s surrounded by people who know exactly what they want to do, and she’s kind of foundering. As she forges a path in each scenario, she realizes more about herself and discovers a new path forward for herself, but what was intriguing was not only the differences between how things go on each coast, but what stays the same in each scenario.

Perhaps my favorite part of this story was the proud Jewish representation in it. Every Jewish family practices differently, and this is never more clear than in this book. Natalya and her father make sure to have Shabbat dinner every Friday night, and to avoid using electronics afterwards, instead spending the night reading on the couch together. Their neighbors are Orthodox, and are much more observant than Natalya and her father, but Natalya does keep kosher, which gets brought up more than once in the story. When she goes to LA, her mother is more of a secular Jew and doesn’t have Shabbat dinner or practice much of anything.

I especially loved the fact that not only isn’t there any negative pushback on the Jewish representation, or any antisemitism incorporated into the story, but there are also a number of openly LGBTQ and non-binary characters in the story, and there’s nothing harmful regarding that either. None of the characters experience homophobia, transphobia, or anything negative, and it was beautiful to see a book with so few triggers. There is mention of divorce and a brief mention of prior self-harm, but overall this was a sweet, fluffy romance that was beautiful. My only complaint is that it doesn’t come with any samples of the food mentioned in it, because now I’m starving!

Going Bicoastal is like a pick your own happily ever after with alternating storylines that either keep Natalya in NYC with her father over the summer, free to pursue the hot redhead of her dreams, or take her to California to reconnect with her mother and share a desk with a very attractive fellow intern. It’s an intriguing concept to pursue both paths at once, but I was super impressed with the execution. I loved the way Natalya stays true to herself and the things that matter to her throughout and manages to discover her ideal college/career path, regardless of the path she chooses. I honestly wanted both scenarios to work out! I was happy either way, which is so not like me and a credit to the well-developed characters and storylines. It’s a great reminder that our choices have consequences but there are often more than one path to happiness.

A BISEXUAL DILEMMA
rating: 4 stars

In this young adult novel centered around bisexuality and Jewish representation, Natalya Fox enjoys her travels in two cities: New York and Los Angeles. She meets Elly in New York, and Adam in LA. Getting to know both of them more, Natalya finds herself falling for each person. But there's a choice she has to make: does she want to stay with Elly, or choose Adam and continue a life with him?

I really love the name Natalya, it's a pretty name. Adler was really creative when she created her name; a mix of Natalie and Atalya. As for the plot, this was really a peak bisexual dilemma. Natalya's crushing on both Elly and Adam, but she can only go further ahead with one. The cover is so beautiful as well, it captures the plot perfectly in a mix of bright colors, and you definitely cannot forget the bisexual colors. I don't know much about Jewish culture, but it was very interesting to learn more about it with the Jewish representation in this novel. The ending of the novel was certainly a very creative surprise, as I liked how you got to choose the ending.

If you're looking for more LGBTQ+ recommendations and a fun adventure, this is something perfect to pick up, especially for the summer season.

I had some hope when I first saw this, but for some reason I was expecting it to be structured as a choose your own adventure kind of story. It might be my own fault that I couldn't enjoy this book but it was very difficult to read.

The switching perspectives being read one after another made them lose some sense of their impact. I felt cheated, almost, when paragraphs from one chapter were repeated in the alternate timeline. Though I think both stories would have been good on their own, the formatting was extremely off-putting and completely ruined both narratives for me.

Unfortunately, I could not appreciate what Adler was trying to do here, though that might be my own fault. I think if I had read each timeline separately I could have appreciated them more and that's how I would personally recommend this be read.

Thank you to NetGalley, ‎Wednesday Books, and Dahlia Adler for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

My first, but definitely not my last, read by Dahlia Adler! In Going Bicoastal, Natalya has to decide between coasts/parents for her summer plans. Rather than choosing one, this novel allows our main character to explore both options! This was done so intentionally and creatively throughout, which I loved. I also thoroughly enjoyed the inclusivity of characters/language, vivid artistic descriptions, and the ending! While I really enjoyed the story, I found I was rooting much harder for one storyline than I was for the other. Overall, I will be recommending it as soon as it officially hits the shelves!

I love the concept of this book so much but the ending is what really sold it for me. I was so surpised and delighted by the choose your own adventure aspect (Obviously I read both despite being team adam) but the was the two stories dovetailed so the final chapter could be either was beautiful. I felt like the LA storyline was a little stronger, a little more hopeful but the duality of the storytelling was super fun and the novelty didn't wane at any point in the book. A great summer read.

I love Dahlia's writing, so I was excited to receive an arc of Going Bicoastal a few months ago. But honestly it took me a long time to finish despite being a short read. I didn't feel the same charm reading this that I felt while reading Home Field Advantage. The "sliding doors" concept is what immediately made me want to read this. That's one of my fave movies! But this was definitely the "romcom" version of that movie. But here I had trouble following the timelines and understanding where I was in the plot. It didn't read as linearly as the movie felt while watching.

I honestly didn't really care for either timeline, nor either MC. Natayla's "like" for Elly never really felt genuine to me. It felt forced. Although I did like her life in NYC, it wasn't my preferred timeline. I did like LA but also it just kind of fell flat for me too because I never liked Adam. I just didn't want to root for either relationship, unlike in the movie "sliding doors". I kind of just wanted there to be a timeline where Natayla was alone and chose herself.... idk.

But all that to say the rep in this was great! Dahlia always does a great job of giving good rep.

Okay, this book was an absolute DELIGHT to read! I thought the way this book was written was so freaking cool. It felt like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books. I liked seeing the different ways Natalya grew, depending on her environment and the people she had around her. Also, the way bisexuality was done was top notch. I did feel more connected to her story in L.A. with her mom and Adam (found family AND food trucks!), but her story in New York was also really great. I loved both groups of friends she had in both places, but like I said, the L.A. group just really spoke to me. I also loved the way L.A. was more food focused (do not read this on an empty stomach!) and NYC was more about music. I don’t know, I just loved this book. I haven’t stopped smiling since I finished it. What a cool way to write a story about choices and expanding your horizons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Eternal gratitude to Wednesday Books for an arc of this one!

When Natalya has to choose between two options for her summer- stay with Dad in New York City, or visit her estranged mother in LA- it feels impossible to choose. So she chooses both. Cue the split into two possible timelines as Natalya experiences summer in New York with the hot redhead at the same time as summer in LA with the hot intern. All the while, both Natalya's are figuring out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.


This was so good! I knew I would love it because Dahlia Adler is a god, but this was so so good. I don't understand how I could root so hard for two completely different options at the same time! I love both Elly and Adam and how creative and determined they both are. It's so cool to be able to see both possibilities.

I truly love Natalya and her friends and family so much! There are so many interesting characters in this book I just want a spin off for everyone of them. Like please give me a book about Evan and Mateo!!!

I learned a lot about Shabbat dinners from this book which is super cool. I love how confident Nat is in both her bisexuality and her religion! And it was cool to see the way she experienced those things with her parents.

This book is so so good and will sit in a metaphorical place of honor with my other beloved Dahlia Adler books (metaphorical because I have no shelf room for a physical place of honor).


CW: self-harm (past, mentioned), parental abandonment, divorce

This was a cute concept! I really appreciated the Jewish rep, including a Jewish main character who isn't Orthodox but keeps kosher (a rarity in books these days), who also has a Modern Orthodox friend. I would've loved for one of Natalya's love interests to be Jewish, and the writing wasn't my favorite. 3.5 stars.

This was a cute book that I think depicted sexuality and teenagers in a very healthy and interesting way. I do think it read a little young for me but it is a young adult contemporary.

This book was really fun and different. I loved that it had that sort of choose your own adventure vibes. Also the romances were just so sweet and book just in general gives off the best relaxing summer vibes. Put simply this is the perfect relaxing summer read.

I absolutely loved this! The dual timeline idea is so creative, and I found myself rooting for both love interests. The author did a great job at making both outcomes equally desirable and good for Natalya! I loved the sapphic Jewish rep as well. This is going to be such a great summer book, and I can’t wait to recommend it when it comes out!

DNF. Although this book had an interesting premise, I found the narrative style of repeating chapters but changing the location repetitive. I'm sure readers will enjoy Adler's characters and the perspective of a young, bisexual girl, but unfortunately this book was not for me.

Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler is a cute summer romance novel that explores the challenges of long-distance relationships. As a reader, I particularly enjoyed the book's Jewish representation and the choose your own adventure ending. Additionally, as a fan of Adler's previous works, such as Homefield Advantage, I appreciated the callback to her earlier book.

However, while the book had its strengths, I found myself struggling to connect with the characters. I found them to be somewhat flat and underdeveloped, which made it challenging to become invested in their journey. In fact, I considered not finishing the book multiple times.

Despite my issues with the characters, I still found Going Bicoastal to be an enjoyable summer read. The story is light and fun, and the Jewish representation and choose your own adventure ending add an extra layer of interest. Overall, if you're looking for a cute summer romance, this book might be worth picking up.

I loved this Sliding Doors retelling from the POV of a bisexual teen—both stories were equally compelling to me, which is a tough feat with a project like this! I was rooting for both romances and both internal character arcs. What a joy to see Adler's work evolve over the years, and what a delight to read this fun, authentic story!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I would give Dahlia my first born at this point. Anything she writes is gold and I obsess over it. She's an auto buy, auto request- what Dahlia writes, I want it. Going Bicoastal was no different. It has that signature heartfelt charm and sweet romance that I've come to know. I got sucked in from page one and couldn't put it down until I finished. It was engrossing and I loved every minute. It made me feel seen and understood. Dahlia- another winner!

Do you want a meet cute sapphic romance with music and concerts? Or do you want a rivals to lovers hetero romance with tacos and food trucks?

Either way, the choice is yours in this incredible YA romance from Dahlia Adler! Natalya is faced with the choice to go visit her mom in LA for the summer or stay in NYC with her dad. Follow along with how both options play out and pick how you want it to end.

Plot: 4/5
So this story has two alternate plot lines based on the choice that Natalya makes. They both follow the same beats and progress at the same pace. I think this whole concept is really clever even though it caused me a lot of stress once I picked a side and had to still go through the other side lol

Characters: 4/5

I loved how we got to see Natalya flourish under each situation and how she had the same kinds of growth on either side of the story. I felt her awkwardness on a spiritual level so that was painful and fun at the same time. I loved seeing the important of her religion, even as a casual practitioner, and how both love interests support her in that.
If you present me with two options; dislike to lovers OR instaloveish/friends to lovers. I will ALWAYS choose dislike to lovers, even if that means I’m rooting for a man.
Adam Rose is hilariously adorable and I loved him for Natalya.
The romance with Elly felt a little too much like infatuation and instalove for me. It really wasn’t, I just like a little tension at the start lmao.

Writing: 4.5/5

The writing style is witty and relatable. I love how Adler balanced the stories. She broke the story up into perfect parts. It takes a special kind of skill to be able to write the two plot line equally IMO

Overall: 4/5