I feel like the coolest people I know, know Haley Jakobson — so this has been a highly anticipated read for me since it was first announced.

For roughly the first quarter, I was afraid this book wouldn’t meet my (admittedly high) expectations. The early scenes set in protagonist Savannah’s Gender and Sexuality Studies class, as well as the introductions of Sav’s friend group, felt less like descriptions of real humans and their interactions and more like carefully (though respectfully) constructed queer tropes and archetypes.

However, as the novel went on, a tremendous amount of depth surfaced in both the characterizations and the plot. Witnessing Savannah be held by her friends (and swoon-worthy crush!) during such a difficult time will warm the hearts of anyone who has known the joy of chosen family, and anyone still looking for theirs. 4*.

CW:
Recurrent mentions of: sexual assault, alcohol use, victim-blaming
Brief instances of: transphobia, blood, vomit

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the e-ARC.

5/5⭐️

I loved this debut so much! I’ve followed Haley on Tik Tok for a few years and was just so excited to read this as an early copy.

I loved the queer relationships in this story especially the found family aspect. Besides from Haley’s great writing, I also enjoyed this so much because I felt like I could relate to the main character on a deep level. Specifically, I also came out while in college and navigating that identity after moving away from home is tough.

It is important to note that Old Enough has a trigger warning for sexual assault. Although the themes and plot line include heavy topics, it is such a touching coming of age novel. It truly is beautiful seeing the progression of Savannah’s character and the end definitely made me emotional.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was not what I expected in the best way possible. I found myself wanting to finish it in one sitting.

Haley Jakobson beautifully explores the relationships between friends and oneself. The emphasizes and importance of queer acceptance and community is astounding. I found parts of myself in this book, which felt scary. It was like Haley was looking at me and writing about me on paper.

Savannah Henry, our protagonist in this story, deals with coming out in college and healing from her trauma of past events. Not everyone knows who they are at first and don’t truly discover their parts of themselves until they reach a later point in their life.

This book was just so well done; it brought me to tears. It felt clear that Haley was trying to let her readers understand that our past doesn’t define who we are and queer is beautiful!!!!!

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a new read that not only explores bisexuality but explores the intricacies of trauma and healing from it.

I’m having a hard time pinpointing what I loved about this one, because I genuinely think I loved every aspect of it.
I felt really connected to every character and every moment of this story and felt myself afraid to finish because I didn’t want to be without them.
This is a beautiful love story to queer friendships, an incredible representation of outgrowing old friendships and the heartbreak and grief that comes with that, a really powerful story of trying to heal from sexual assault, and the nuances that come with a lack of education and resources and the messed up system that influences our ability to know that we’ve been assaulted, and honestly so much more.

My personal favorite character was our queer witch, Vera, favorite element was a lovely gender studies class, and loved pretty much every scene where Sav realizes she has incredible friends that I wish were mine.

I don’t know that I’ll ever forget this one, I can already see myself rereading it very soon.

Content warnings for sexual assault and rape, depictions of PTSD, alcohol use, friendship breakups, biphobia & homophobia, and probably a few others i’m forgetting.

Haley Jakobson’s debut novel follows Savannah “Sav” Henry as she navigates relationships, queer identity, and trauma during her sophomore year of college. Sav is in the midst of her own coming-of-age moment — navigating an old fling and a new crush, making queer friendships, embracing her bisexuality. Her journey is interrupted when her childhood best friend, Izzie, announces her engagement, and Sav is forced to reckon with what happened between her and Izzie’s older brother when she was 16.

I fell in love with Sav from the very start and wanted to pull her into a big, tight hug. Her journey is unflinchingly funny and honest and I recognized a lot of myself in her. I particularly appreciated the Taylor Swift and The L Word references, which took me back to my own college experience. Jakobson’s ability to create characters that are fully formed with their own unique voice is a truly beautiful thing to behold. I could visualize and hear every character as they were brought to life on the page. By the end, I felt as if Candace and Vera were my own best friends, too.

Old Enough handles trauma so tenderly and authentically that I found myself in tears multiple times at its sheer honesty. In fact, the scene in which the title of the novel is explained — in a moment of dialogue that you could almost blink and miss — momentarily knocked the wind out of me. Jakobson is able to explore Sav’s experience of healing with a level of care that feels like a reassuring “I believe you” to the people who need it most.

Old Enough is funny, heartfelt, and honest, and I am eagerly looking forward to reading more from @haleyjakobson in the future. Be sure to pick up a copy when it’s published on June 20th. Thank you to @netgalley @penguinrandomhouse @duttonbooks for the eARC!

I really wanted to like this book but couldn't quite get into it, something was off with the pacing and the writing

I had a string of books lately that were just lacking in plot in character development in lame-in terms they sucked it was trash. THEN I see this intriguing cover and even more see the genre is LGBTQ and I’m already amped up, then I’m 10 pages in and I’m like YESS! And 3 hours later Im glued to this book, I’m walking and reading it I mean even taking it with me in the bathroom! What I love most is finding a brand new author who writes a book that is truly phenomenal it’s relatable and most importantly it’s ABSOLUTELY REAL. A disclaimer it’s a book about sexual trauma and I found myself rooting for Sav the entire time and for her healing. The writing was truly captivating and I loved almost all of the characters and Sav’s friend. As a fellow lesbian we all want these people in our life and it was comforting! I am greedy with my 5 stars and this was such an easy choice, absolutely 10/10 of ten and is so far my top 5 of the year! Will be absolutely adding this book to wishlist to purchase. The biggest thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy to read this book! PPS Haley —- you have a new fan!!! So excited to see what you write next!!

I was SO excited to read Jakobson's debut novel. What I loved were the themes of queer discovery, coming of age and community building. Despite the characters being relatable and realistic, I couldn't quite engage in a deep connection with them. The non-chronological format mixed with less than robust character development made it hard to invest in one group, as then I was right back learning about the earlier characters. That said, I think my issues with this book boil down to personal preference. The writing style felt very Young Adult, which is a genre I don't generally enjoy. I was expecting a more literary fiction meets contemporary fiction vibe, and with that expectation in mind I was left craving a sort of richness and rawness I never found. I will continue to follow Jakobson and check out her work!

haley jakobson is one of my favorite writers, and i couldn't have been more excited to read and review an ARC of her debut novel! old enough is authentic, raw, and wildly accurate to the queer experience. i saw myself in this story and it made me feel seen. i also loved haley's use of gen z lingo and references in her writing - it made it even more relatable! overall, old enough is a beautiful story about the intersection of queer friendships and trauma and i loved it so much!!!

I often found myself relating and finding myself in almost literally every character. Old Enough is about queerness, self discovery, friendships, and sooooo much more. Can’t wait to recommend this to all my friends once out!!

This was such a fantastic debut from Haley Jakobson! It really with so many tough but unfortunately relatable topics in a unique way, and I felt so many different emotions while reading this book. I loved Sav’s character arc, especially her story with Wes. They both deserve all the happiness in the world

I loved this book. The writing was spectacular I could not put it down. I look forward to recommending this to everyone.

Old Enough by Haley Jakobson was a raw yet stunning coming-of-age debut!

So I literally couldn't stop reading this book.
Jakobson has created a beautiful thought-provoking exploration of friendship, strength, love and acceptance. And what finding your people can feel like.
These characters here are finding themselves while overcoming trauma that has happened.
And I couldn't help but love and feel for them.
I thought the writing was done so well. Haley Jakobson kept me engaged and honestly not wanting this story to end so soon.
Such a moving and powerful read. That I devoured and couldn't get enough of.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You Netgalley and Penguin Group & Dutton for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

I'd really like NetGalley to start putting trigger warnings.
I hadn't seen this book dealth with sexual assault, therefore I won't be reading it and reviewing it, I'm sorry.

This is a very good book. I really love the characters and the way it was written. Having already been following the author for a while, I was reallh excited to read her book. It didn't disappoint and I do think this is a very good book for young adults. This is a queer and honest book that hits so many topics close to many. Very beatiful debut and I can't wait till I read more of the author. It is highly recommended for anyone who loves YA queer books.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review!

Read this to give your baby gay self a big hug. This was an utterly charming and simultaneously raw depiction of what it feels like to be newly out, in college, growing apart from your childhood best friend, trying to find your people, and grappling with trauma. This is such an important book that will mean so much to so many people. I wish I could go back and give this book to younger me and my friends. I laughed, I cried. Brava, @haleyjakobson <3

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were so well developed and not at all trope-y. I found it to be very relatable as a queer person, and i fell in love with the characters. I wish they were my friends! I’m usually not one to reread books, but I will definitely be buying a hard copy when it comes out to add to my collection, and i will definitely be telling other people about it. Can’t wait to see what Haley writes next!

I could not put down this “coming of age” book! The way the story explored finding yourself, outgrowing relationships, understanding queerness (bonus points for bi visibility), and the intricacies of trauma and healing.. it was just so well done. The relationships the main character forms in University were so heartwarming and, for someone in this life stage (or even after for that matter), the messages are so important to hear. I also appreciated how the author danced between timelines, it made me want to keep turning the pages; the pacing was quick and each chapter was purposeful.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC!

Literally just finished this book. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, so I went in with an open mind. In the beginning, I found the book to be a little challenging to follow. There were a lot of moving parts. I felt like I was trying to understand where Sav was, how old she was, and the friends that she was talking about. It took a few chapters to realize who was who and what was going on. Once I got that down, it became more of an easy read. This book was honestly a little too slow for me. There was information in the book that was leading up to an event that Sav was trying to understand herself. This book is about how Sav was learning about herself and self-growth. I think that this book is great for people that are in the LGBTQ+ community or even people that are friends of the community and maybe want to see the struggles that some may face. I caught myself having to do a google search over some of the terminology, but I kind of loved that at the same time, because I felt like it helped me become more knowledgeable. Overall, I thought it was an easy read once I figured things out.

I wanted to enjoy this but found it to be not what I was expecting. I couldn't get into the story or the characters and found the writing a bit off.