The betrayal that is me giving this a 3 star rating is unspeakable and undeserved

Joya Goffney's last two books have been 5 stars each for me, and have literally taken my top book of the year spot TWICE now... the third time is not the charm I lament to inform

It's just like... okay. We start the book with Nikki planning to go to California during her spring break to audition for a singing girl group. She's trying to sneak out of town without her controlling, unloving mom finding out. She gets convinced by her best friend and her girlfriend to go to her (ex) best guy friend's house for a party before she leaves town. Nikki and the guy friend, Malachai, haven't spoken in two weeks, ever since Mal asked a girl to prom and started dating her.

I guess I'll put this in a spoiler tag so I can really explain the breakneck speed of the beginning lol <spoiler>Nikki goes to the party, tells Mal she's leaving town, he asks her not to, she decides she is, she goes to her mom's house to change shoes before she leaves... and ends up running into her sister, getting dropped off drunk by Nikki's ex, then the girls' mom shows up, and Nikki's sister, Vae, throws Nikki under the bus with their mom, then Nikki gets kicked out of the house, wakes up at Mal's house, devastated that her mom kicked her out even though she planned on leaving anyway?,

but it's cool because Mal's parents happen to be out of town for the week, but Mal's not content with having Nikki spend the week at his house, he's like fuck it let's go to COLORADO (they live in Texas, where Nikki has never even left the state), and Nikki is like your girlfriend? and Mal is like oh we broke up at the party lol, like it was the whole purpose for the beginning conflict between the two of them so idk it got resolved mighty quickly, but anyway, they go to Colorado, and I was like okay cool this is when the plot starts, but they spend like one night there and get a call that Vae, Nikki's sister has run away, so then they go back to their hometown, and by this point we're ABOUT at the halfway point of the novel</spoiler>

I think we get told and not shown about a lot of the initial attraction between Mal and Nikki that led to them being "friends" (aka friends who were due to date at any time). I think Nikki's mom is SUCH a bitch, and I don't know that the pacing of the storyline with her is realistic at all. I don't think we focus enough on the fact that Vae just.. disappears from home without even taking her phone lol

I mean, it's got aspects of what I've loved so much about Goffney's previous titles. It has Black love, characters with personal issues that are realistic (although Nikki's are a lot less nuanced than Monique's or Quinn's), emotional conversations, complicated parental relationships. But those elements just don't quite hit the same benchmark as the ones in her previous books have.

Mal was adopted from foster care after his birth mom tried to abduct him from his foster parents, and he had to move in 8th grade because of it, and even change his name? That part kind of sucked lol you'd think moving would have been enough. But his parents are like, loaded, and they are kind of pushovers, even though he doesn't take advantage of them, and it kind of makes sense after you find out his backstory.

Nikki and Vae live with their mom, and they're poor. Nikki and Vae have different dads, and Vae is younger, so when Nikki remembers when Vae's dad and their mom were married, and Vae's dad is still somewhat in the picture even though he's remarried. He's sorta a father figure to Nikki, but not really really. But he's a decent support system for her, and decent is like, pushing it.

Nikki apparently has spent countless nights at Mal's after fights with her mom, and Mal's parents like, damn near want to adopt her, but they never call CPS even though there's clearly problems, idk man it just feels like a draft of a novel I don't know if I'm just not grasping something lol

I think teen readers won't mind the problems I've pointed out, because really there's nothing bad about the story, it's just convoluted and simple at the same time and as a critical reader AND a big fan I just am left feeling confused about the execution. I don't get enough from Nikki and Mal to really root for their relationship. I don't get enough from Nikki's mom to really have an interest in their "reunion" arc...

I'm just rambling, I guess this is what you do when you truly feel indifferent about a book you expected to love lol. I can't really say I recommend reading this, tbh, so if you have any interest in it, I'd just refer you to Joya Goffney's other books instead. Unfortunately :(

I haven't come across a Joya Goffney Book that I haven't loved yet and this one was no different. I loved Nikki and Mal but I really loved how she captures Nikki's relationship with her family more. The complex emotions that come with never feeling like enough and the back and forth between feeling like "I don't care" and "why can't you love me" when it comes to difficult relationships with parents were really spot on. I was a little tossed at the beginning with the situation with her sister but I loved how the story came together in the end. I really loved this book and the emotional journey that it took me through. I would definitely read this one again.

RTC

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I ate this up with a spoon! No suprise because I love Joya Goffney and would read her grocery list but this was amazing. She just gets better and better. I can’t wait to get a copy for my shelves.

I have read Joya Goffney’s books so I knew when I saw this one, I HAD to read it. We meet 2 friends, Malachi and Nikki who have been best friends for years. Nikki’s home situation is not good and she does not have a good relationship with her Mom. She and her sister are close but then her sister betrays her and she is kicked out. And it’s Malachi to the rescue to help her with her family situation but also helping her to realize her dream. And they decide they don’t just want to friends anymore but something more. So many things happened in this book and I just couldn’t put it down. I don’t want to give anything away but read this book! You won’t be disappointed! Joya Goffney has another great book on her hands!

4 stars

I came into this read THRILLED because I absolutely love Goffney's first two YA novels, and while I don't have the same level of enthusiasm for Nikki and company here, this is still a great read for many reasons.

Nikki, the m.c., is an extraordinarily talented musician who is hoping to get her big break at an audition in California, but since her mother is a world class piece of work, she's really going to have to make this happen on her own...it seems. Then, readers get to meet Malachi, Nikki's long-time best buddy and maybe something more, and with all of his resources, Nikki's chances for success and support increase dramatically.

Favorite elements of mine here include the characterization, pacing, and family relationships. Nikki, Malachi, and Nikki's little sister, Vae are all fun to read and round enough to get invested in, even when some (okay, Vae) are not as present in the actual narrative. This book moves FAST, and I have to say that as one of many readers who are a bit burned out of these 400+ page YA novels that could've been handled better in 300 pages, I love this. Nikki's relationships with her mom, sister, and former stepfather, and Malachi's relationship with his parents, are engaging. Nikki's mom is tough to read and seems extreme, but I think that's the case for people who have fairly reasonable parents and whose friends do, too. Anyone who has had a parent like this - and there are a lot of those folks - will benefit so much from the way that Nikki's expressions of isolation in this area will make them (ironically) feel very much not alone.

There are some aspects of this that did not work as well for me, including what I still find to be an oddly chosen title, missed opportunities for more interaction with Nikki's friend group, and some more insight into specific family dynamics that come up but are not necessarily fully explored.

Goffney remains a you-write-I-read-no-questions YA author for me, and I'll recommend this one to students, too, but transparently after they've read Goffney's first two efforts.

This is a really good look of never judging someone by where they come from. It didn't dictate where they are going.
Mal and Nikki have a good friendship that turns into more, once they can both get past their own misgivings.
I can see a lot of teens liking this one and relating to the characters, especially if they are headed off after high school.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This angsty, raw, and sweet book surprised me. The story is told from the perspective of Nikki, our main character. Nikki’s a close-to-graduating senior in high school who is hell bent on getting to California for an audition. She feels like it’s her wonky chance to escape her mean and emotionally/verbally abusive mother. Her best friend / not-so-secret love of her life Malachi tries to convince her that she doesn’t have to leave for life to get better.

I would have liked a little more “meat” around some of the pivotal scenes where Nikki interacted with her mother but the story is probably more realistic the way the author laid things out. We don’t often find out exactly why people treat us badly. I also would have liked like a teeny bit of epilogue.

All in all, the book was very good.

I enjoyed this story by Joya Goffney about Nikki, whose home life is chaotic to put it nicely, and her best friend Mal, who maybe wants to be more than just friends. When Nikki runs away and her sister goes missing, Mal is there to pick up the pieces. Parts of the book fell flat for me but it was an overall enjoyable read.

I was expecting a frothy romcom since this was advertised as “friends to lovers,” but this was so much deeper. Nikki’s relationship with her mom was more important than the love interest, and its complexity cut deep. The friends to lovers aspect fell flat for me, because of how quickly it burned, but that was more than made up for by the way Godfrey handled themes of growing up, reconciliation, family, and intimacy.

I love every book Joya writes. It’s like she takes a look into my childhood and puts it on a page. While I loved Nikki, Mal pisses me off with the mind games he was playing when he could have simply been upfront with his feelings. I felt deeply connected to the relationship Nikki had with her mother as it paralleled the one I had with my mother as a teenager. Over all I love this book and will read anything this author writes.

This was what I was hoping for when requesting this, the story was beautifully done and worked well with the characters. I enjoyed the way Joya Goffney wrote this and created the characters themselves. The characters felt like real people and I'm glad I got to read this.

"So, he does. He showers, while I’m left in his bedroom with my rampant thoughts. Then we go out to eat at a steak house down the road. Just about everyone in the restaurant greets Mal, and we even get our drinks for free—perks of dating the most popular boy in Moore County, I suppose. We get back to his house, and it’s like we both feel too full for comfort—and not from food. We’re spilling over with a need to get closer."