I very much enjoyed this book! I loved the LGBTQ relationships and navigation for this young adult novel. I think the storyline was really interesting and the book was very aptly named. The concept was really cool having two consecutive timelines, with the same main characters. I liked the New York plot better than I liked the California plot and I wish the ending was tied a little bit neater in a bow where there weren’t two endings. But overall a really cute read!

Dahlia Adler’s latest is such a great read. Natalya has two choices for the summer: stay with her dad in NYC or go across the country to LA with her mom who she hardly knows. Her dad leaves the choice up to her but tells her that he hopes that no matter what she chooses, she’ll branch out a little, make some new friends, and maybe talk to the cute girl that he’s heard her telling her friends about. A summer with her mom means that she’ll intern at her mom’s marketing company. Instead of making the choice, Adler tells both stories. In one, she stays with her dad, meets the cute girl and hits it off, and has a memorable summer. She even grows closer to her mom with weekly phone calls and a book club for two. In the other, she moves to LA, and falls for the cute guy whose desk she shares at her internship. She gets folded into his group of friends and grows closer to her mom, while staying connected to her dad. Her Jewish faith is very much a part of both storylines and I loved seeing how it played a role in both versions of her life. This is an imaginative and wonderful story.

Thank you to @netgalley and @ewednesdaybooks for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @prhaudio for a free download of the audiobook.

Does she stay or does she go? Natalya has 24 hours to decide if she will stay in NYC for the summer or head out to LA to be with her mom. This is a fun back and forth as both outcomes play out. Does she stay for the girl she has a crush on, or does she fine love with a male intern?

Natalya and her friends and family were interesting characters. I always enjoy learning more about Jewish traditions. It was cool reading about a teen so confident in her religion and being bisexual.

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #smpromance #wednesdaybooks #ltbreaderteam #goingbicoastal #dahliaadler

This was a really interesting YA book about a young bisexual girl. I particularly liked the choose your own adventure ending that you could go down based on the story you felt the most chemistry with/pull towards.

We witness Natalya (a young, bisexual woman) in two separate timelines in where she either chose to stay in NY with her dad or move to LA with her mom and both involve a different love interest and conflicts but ultimately similar personal growth.

I really enjoyed learning all about where each option would lead her and getting to decide for myself where she should end up.

4 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the concept of a choose your own ending, but I was VERY biased towards one ending before I got there. I'd say who, but I think the fun of it is that every reader will get to decide for themselves who the right person is. I'm a huge fan of Dahlia Adler, and I love this addition to her collection.

I wanted to love this book but I felt it dragged a bit because there was so many repetitions. I loved the characters but wish there was more to the story. The writing was good and it had a lot of potential but it was overall just okay for me. I can see this one being a hit for some people so I hope you have better luck if you pick it up!

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was so much fun! What a fantastic book. I love parallel timeline stories, and Adler does such an excellent job with the dual timelines here. It was so fun to see repeating actions and dialogue across both, as some things simply don't change.

I loved every character in this novel. Adler does a tremendous job with character development--even though Natalya has multiple friends across the two cities, some of which only appear in a single timeline, I was never lost or confused as to characters' identities. I consider that a major feat in balancing so many minor characters as well as she does here. I also loved how different both Elly and Adam are as love interests to Natalya. They are both equally swoon-worthy once we learn more about them, and there was nothing that really made me love one more than the other. I love how the dual timeline also skirts around the potential issue of a love triangle. Finally, the bisexual and Jewish representation in this novel were fantastic. Despite Natalya's hesitance about her future, these are two aspects of her identity that she never wavers from and if anything she comes to embrace more as the novel progresses. Truly love to see it.

I was surprised by the "choose your own adventure" aspect of the ending. I genuinely thought one of the timelines wouldn't pan out as well as the other, and that we would either get a clear or ambiguous ending as to which timeline Natalya ultimately lives out. The ending was far more cleverer, and will satisfy readers leaning towards either (or both!) timelines.

Anyways, this was just a pure delight to read, and Adler is 100% on my authors-to-watch list.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

Natalya is the main character and she is very loveable! She is funny and her friends are a big part of her life. She is openly "bi" and she is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life.

This is a cute book and I recommend reading this.

This is the book that everyone who is a teenager needs to read. Better yet, let's add it to every school's required reading list. Books like this are NESSCARRY to make children feel seen and heard and teach others empathy. Going Biocastal is a masterpiece; I will fight anyone who says otherwise. This book is the bisexual bible, and it's about time these types of stories are being told and pushed out there.

I loved how the story unfolded, the character growth, the adventure, and knowing that just because you are confused and don't know what is going on doesn't mean you aren't worthy of love. Was I disappointed it wasn't a love triangle, a little but the dual timeline and seeing Nat grow with each relationship was so worthwhile. I loved all the Jewish aspects as well. It made me feel at home.

For me, this was an okay read. The switching back and forth between the two timelines/cities was a bit confusing and I would have liked the chapter headings to help clarify. I did enjoy both the bisexuality and Jewish rep in this story. This was a fine read for me.

This book was such a rollercoaster. This was such an adventurous book that combines wit, romance and self-discovery! Honestly the characters are interesting and realistic and there is delicious banter. This book is a whirlwind of emotions, unforgettable moments it's a fun read to sum up the summer!

The perfect split summer read- an absolutely wonderful read. Dahlia Adler is a must-buy author for me no matter what she puts out, and this book lived up to her hype

Thank you for the advanced copy to review.

This was a really cute book and idea, but the ending kind of killed it for me. It wasn't a deal breaker, but I thought it could've been figured out by the author another way.

I really loved this!! I was nervous going in that I was gonna get confused trying to keep up with both of the timelines or that I was gonna prefer one over the other but it was so easy to keep track and I loved both timelines so much!! I really loved that it wasn’t the kind of story where one timeline turned out bad and the other turned out good and instead shows that while your decisions can change a lot about your path, it doesn’t mean that the one you didn’t choose would’ve been better! And I loved that even though some side characters were only in one of the timelines, everyone still felt really fleshed out and whole! I just really really enjoyed this one a lot! Very much recommend!! 💖

i actually loved this so much!! far and away my favorite from Dahlia Adler so far. i really enjoyed the switching locations and the chose your own ending was perfect if you ask me. Nat was a very fun protagonist and i would take spin off books from each of Nat’s relationships if Adler felt so inclined 👀very solid 4.75⭐️

What a fun rom com! Thabk you to Netgalley for this advanced copy. Love a good LGBTQIA read. I would definitely recommend.

There were just so many things I loved about this book! I loved both timelines as they provided for a well rounded story. I loved how this book was such an adventure!

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

This may be hyperbolic, but this is the best YA book with bisexual representation that I have ever read and I want every single young person and even some adults to read this. We follow Natalya through a single summer but two different timelines - one where she stays in NYC and one where she goes to LA. Through alternating chapters, we see her developing relationship with the girl she’s been pining for and the surly intern at her mom’s company.

I was worried that there would be one love interest that would clearly be the better choice, but both Adam and Elly are well rounded characters and equally strong romantic partners. At the beginning the dual timeline was repetitive but as the two timelines diverged, the story really flows.

Absolutely loved the Jewish and bisexual representation and the complicated relationships with divorced parents. 4.5 stars

3.75

This was adorable, a perfect summer YA romance. At the beginning of the book, Natalya must decide if she’s going to spend the summer with her dad in NYC or the mother she hasn’t seen in years in LA. She is indecisive and struggles with the decision, so we see both versions of the summer play out. In New York, she finally talks to the girl she’s been crushing on for ages, but in LA she explores her attraction to a boy at her internship.

I loved the way Dahlia Adler included elements of Natalya’s family life in both timelines and that despite not going to LA in one of them, she still works on her relationship with her mom. I adored the exploration of the music scene in NYC and the food scene in LA. Fair warning, reading this book will probably make you hungry. I also loved exploring Tally’s Jewish identity and especially how Adam and the friends she makes in LA are so accepting of her dietary restrictions.

I did think that this book felt a little too long at parts, though that could have been the dual timeline plotting making some parts feel redundant. That being said, I loved the choose your own adventure ending, and of course didn’t follow the rules with that because how am I supposed to choose? I loved that we had multiple love interests without having any of the angst of a love triangle, and I loved that both relationships were such positive parts of Tally’s life.

Honestly, at this point, I will read anything from Dahlia Adler - of Cool for the Summer fame- because she manages to write perfectly human characters, deep relationships, and fun dramas! This one was surprising - a choose your own adventure/dual timeline/alternate universe allllllll rolled into one story. I love how Adler handled our main character's relationship with her divorced parents and Jewish heritage. I also love how, since our main character is bisexual, Adler makes no judgement call on "who she should choose" or which relationship she should end up in - instead the reader can choose to read through everything, one timeline at a time, AND you can choose your preferred ending or read them all. This book has it all. I loved it.