❌/⭐ | DNF AT 36% — Aaa I really wanted to fall in love with this but I just couldn't!

At the beginning I found myself really enjoying the overall vibe of the book, but later I found out that I am actually liking the contemporary elements, not the romance ones. It was as if I was reading a story about Macie's and...whatever the other girl's name was, friendship instead of a romance book! 😵‍💫

To be exact, during those nearly 40% I have read the love interest (who's name I actually remember!) only appears few times just to have a short talk with the MC, yet she's still totally head over heels for him??? Like I would fall in love with him too not gonna lie 🤭🤭 But still, it pretty much disappointed me and bored me 😕

But I do have to say that I really enjoyed MC's and Macie's friendship! It was very sweet and adorable! 💘

I decided to not continue this though. The story felt boring to me and I've also heard a lot of people complain about the ending leaving them very disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley and Level Best Books for providing me with this eARC. I adore this book so much.

So, it's a sweet YA romance story with a lot of drama and that's what high school romance is about! It's enjoyable to read. I love both main characters, the secondary couple, and even the female antagonist in this book. It felt like I was watching a teenage movie while reading it. It's also very well written. I hope there'll be a second book because I want to see what will happen next for Scarlett and Nathaniel. They do deserve more!

Rating: 2.5/5 ⭐️ (rounded up to 3⭐️)

Publication Date: March 7th 2023

Author: Alison Schaffir

Review: SO….. This book was a little too highschool for me, don’t get me wrong it was a cutesy book but that’s as about it really did scream YA so did about 90% of the book.

That ending though… really you are just going to do that to us? Man the book was fine it was an easy ready truly but that ending is what kind of ruined it for me🤷🏼‍♀️ maybe that was the point so you are more willing to read the next book if there’s one (which I would do to get some answers)

If it was based more on adults like if these same characters were in college I think it would of much a much different storyline. But still a cute and easy flowing book.

I read Your Dream For Me in one sitting. Good plot, good character development and an easy read. Lots of teenage angst. It does need a trigger warning for some readers. However, I felt it was a great story with good life lessons to share. It's a definite... you find out who your friends are storyline. I would recommend this book to YA readers.

Seventeen-year-old Scarlett, unlike her theatrically gifted parents, is not one to spend time near a spotlight. Scarlett dreams of becoming a renowned fashion designer, where she can flex her creative talents away from a crowd. So it's no surprise when she sneaks into her school's costume shop to explore the racks. Unexpected, however, is coming face-to-face with Nathaniel Wilder, a talented theater student who piques a new interest.

With fashion still as her main priority, Scarlett vows to learn how to make a 50s-inspired dress for her best friend, Macie. After all, she needs a strong portfolio of work to help her get into her dream school, the Fashion Institute of Technology. The one problem? She has no idea how to operate a sewing machine. Thanks to Nathaniel's encouragement, Scarlett decides to shadow the school's drama teacher to practice her skills, hoping to fuse her passion for fashion with theater...and be closer to him for the spring play.

Scarlett's designs are unfolding, but a distressing event involving Macie shakes everyone in Scarlett's world—causing their friendship to falter and Nathaniel to unexpectedly pull away. With building stressors threatening the rest of the year, including a rival who wants to tarnish Scarlett's reputation, Scarlett must rely on her determined spirit and newfound sewing skills to keep her fashion dreams—and her most important relationships—from unraveling.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. It had potential but it was just a struggle to really get into.

Scarlett didn't feel like a 17 year old at all. It more felt like I was reading about a 13 year old at some points.

The dialogue both internal and external didn't feel super natural. It more felt like I was watching a show from Disney Channel in the 2000s.

Let me say that is not a bad thing. This book would be Fantastic for a younger audience. I think around 14 years old would be a great time to read it and 14 year old me would have loved it but I think I might be a habit old for this one

This one’s a sweet YA story about love and friendship. There was a lot of drama.. because obviously! That’s what high school romances are all about. For a debut novel, I must say it’s very well written. I loved the strong female friendship representation here and the perfect balance between sweet and emotional moments. As the story progresses, it did have some surprising moments. While some bits seemed a tad bit over the top and predictable, overall I quite enjoyed this book and hope there’s a second one because the characters deserve more. I really really wanted to see more!

I thought this was a really cute, clean, coming-of-age book. I liked how the author could right about high school experiences in the present world and still keep it clean yet engaging.

With a dream to have a career in fashion design, wonderful friends, and the chance of a new love, Scarlett's junior year is bound to be epic but she must learn how to navigate high school first.

With first loves, challenges, and new experiences, being a teenager can be rough but still fun. I liked that Scarlett was written in a way that shows confidence yet vulnerability.

This is such an enjoyable easy read and as someone who loves a slowburn with plenty of character development this had it all for me!

I loved all the talk about fashion and I really enjoyed the realistic ending.
A great YA book!

Scarlett has big dreams and wants nothing more than to become a successful fashion designer. But first, she's got to finish high school!

With her focus on the future, she didn't expect to meet theatre prodigy Nathaniel, especially during such a moment of weakness. But now that she has, he's managed to change everything. With only a few months before Nathaniel heads off to College, how will Scarlett's life be changed?

This was a classic YA read on first love and the challenges that come with it. The characters were all in high school and there was a lot of drama! Scarlett definitely came across as immature in comparison to her peers, which was evident in the decisions she made throughout the book. Sometimes this made it hard to appreciate the storyline as it seemed that she jumped from the mind of a young child to a typical teenage scenario in an instant.

I would love to read an epilogue that showed Scarlett in the future working towards her dreams. There was a lot of time put into sharing her hopes for the future so I think this would be a sweet way to end the story.

Thank you to Author Alison Schaffir, Netgalley and Level Best Books for providing this ARC. I've willingly and freely written and shared this review. Look out for publication on the 7th of March 2023!

The main character, Scarlett, had major “pick me” energy. And what was that ending? I have so many unanswered questions.

The writing felt more middle grade, while some of the themes and topics were on the mature side. I did enjoy the interactions with Macie, Scarlett’s best friend. The “relationship” with Nathaniel didn’t feel fleshed out enough. It didn’t seem like they spent enough time together to be that obsessed with each other. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been out of high school for 10+ years now but so much of this book felt unrealistic.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A charming and sweet YA debut that is probably best suited for younger teens. Scarlett is 17 and dreams of making a name for herself in the fashion world. When she meets mysterious Nathaniel in the costume closet of the theater department, she starts to think there may be more dreams worth having. Scarlett seemed to be a very naive and sweet 17 year old, and the more mature themes (tw: attempted SA) didn’t really seem in line with the overall feel of the rest of the book. The ending is bittersweet but realistic as Nathaniel graduates from high school and moves away from Scarlett.

This YA book is so adorably sweet with a dash of mystery that kept my interest. The story is very clean and wholesome with the characters only being 17 and 18. I loved reading about Scarlett navigating the relationship with her best friend and kids at school. Plus dealing with all the feels that come with a new crush. I felt transported back to high-school, living vicariously through Scarlett. The whole story felt very authentic and I liked the ending.

This book was an easy, enjoyable read. Scarlett is a girl who is trying to navigate the complexities of life, but she does it with a relatable inner monologue that reminded me somewhat of my school experiences. She faces problems that most everyone can generally relate to having at some point in their life. She makes mistakes, she doubts herself and she struggles with knowing her worth at times, however she tries to do what she believes is right in all situations. I found her friendship with Macie to be a wonderful representation of support and unconditional love and her budding relationship to be more of a cute side plot for most of the story.

Thank you to Level Best Books, the author, Alison Schaffir and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review. These opinions are 100% my own and I do understand that some people do like this book, I did try very hard to get into it but it just wasn't for me. I did finish the book after several days of forcing myself to read it in hopes that I would like it.

I do wish that this book had a trigger page prior to the book starting for those who may suffer from trauma due to rape or other domestic violence. I know it wasn't much, but for some that could be a lot to bring back old memories.

My main issue with this book is that I really felt that it had nothing to do with the main character mentioned in the blurb about the book. The beginning of this book was very much so about Scarlett, who is supposedly 17 but let's get real acts like she is more like 14-15, who meets this mystery older boy Nathaniel while poking around the theatre room. That only lasted for roughly 2 chapters then we spent the majority of the book discussing hre and her best friends and then them fighting and working it out. which is fine but to me I took this book as a journey of Scarlett from zero to knowing all the stops (which happened but it was barely talked about) in the world of fashion and her career.

Also when it comes to high school drama I do not know a single group of students where EVERY SINGLE conflict gets resolved.. not a single grudge is held. This left me wanting more, more drama, more conflict and more to the plot of the book. Even finding out that Nathaniel was going to college and family was moving left little to be desired. Very anticlimactic.

Overall 3 stars and definitely not my favorite read of the month.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the Arc .

Genre: Ya / teen , high school setting.

It was a cute romance, between Scarlett and Nathaniel .

Scarlett is seventeen years old. Her dream is to becoming a renowned fashion designer.

Overall a cute romance.

Your Dream For Me is a very sweet young adult romantic read with a slow-burn kind of romance. The characters were well-developed, and the ending was a bit of a shocker—something I didn’t see coming. Your Dream For Me read like a movie and pulled me in from the beginning.

Your Dream for Me-⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok so one of the down sides of picking books strictly off of covers and titles is that you don’t actually realize you’re picking a young adult book. Obviously these books are great and we need to have them, but they aren’t exactly something I enjoy reading anymore.

On another note though, if you are looking for a cute book for your teenager to read this one is it! Honestly while reading it I did giggle a few times at home realistic the characters were to how I felt in high school. I laugh at myself now but I realize that all teenagers go through the same types of emotions and it’s just part of growing up.

Do you ever look back on high school years and think, wow I was worried over that?

Thank you @netgalley and publishers for the advanced copy!

Your Dream For Me is a sweet YA contemporary about finding yourself, and following your dreams. The main character Scalett is relatable, and Nathaniel a kind heartthrob. But unfortunately there's no depth to the story, and while I had a pleasant reading experience it left me wishing there had been more to the story and the characters. Something that made this book stand out, because this is a good story and I wish I could have loved it.

I need to preface this review (and the star rating) with a reminder that YA novels are not usually my faves, and this one just didn't jive with me. I probably wasn't in the right headspace for it.

That said, I think it's a sweet coming of age story that has a lot of great elements and less mainstream pursuits that the characters are pursuing and I just think that's so lovely to see swimming, theatre and costume/fashion design represented so well in this work.

I also like that it ends (spoiler) on a happy for now (or goodbye for now) note, rather than some sort of unrealistic high school HEA. There's a lot that I feel is missing from this novel to make it a bit more realistic, but perhaps that's also the YA way - there's some stuff that's done so well, and others that I don't know if they're all that realistic...

I would read something else by this author but maybe something aimed at adults, rather than a YA title.

I loved the fashion and acting themes on this book, and I wished that these themes could be explored more, rather than brief mentions here and there, Few cliche moments between Scarlett and Nathaniel but they were executed smoothly. The ending was the winner for me, it was realistic and it showed both main characters's developments. Thank you NetGalley and Level Best Books for the eARC