Call me obsessed.
Every element was just perfect.

Lovable characters.
Mental health rep.
Complicated family relationships.
True found family.

This is a totally unique modern love story with the perfect amount of angst and drama — with an extra heap of emotional gut punch.

The author seriously hit it out of the park with these characters; even when I wanted to scream at them, I was still rooting for them 🥰

Now excuse me while I go watch When Harry Met Sally 🩷

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this eARC.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

Need a break from those perfect, high achieving, polished romance characters? Then this is the book for you! You, Again has some of the most frustrating, messy, judgmental, slightly pretentious, characters. And I loved it. I didn’t even like the characters for almost half of the book, but their banter and their pull toward each other (even through dislike) was captivating. I love how there were no other storylines, just interactions between Josh and Ari over time.

This just the exact book I needed in this seasonal transition time where my mood is also slightly darker and light summer romances just doesn’t feel right. Themes of imperfection, messing up, being left, and finding someone be miserable with, just resonated with me.

Disclaimer : I’ve never seen When Henry Met Sally so I can’t speak on the parallels but I love that the movie was such an inspiration for this book.

We have had some weird weather here in LA and I am so ready for crisp mornings, changing leaves (we do get a few!) and all things pumpkin and fall.

You, Again is a perfect fall cozy and hilarious romcom. It is the story of two people whose paths keep crossing through the years. They bicker and hate each other at first but then become friends and well, you know how that ends up. It is clever and witty with very dry, sarcastic humor that had me cackling out loud. The dynamic between Ari and Josh as a commitment-phobe and a romantic was perfection and their chemistry worked perfectly, nothing felt forced just to make the book work. This had all the vibes of When Harry Met Sally and I absolutely loved it. I am still grinning thinking about it.

Short synopsis: Ari and Josh become friends over the years as they run into each other after bad breakups

My thoughts: This is a modern retelling of when Harry Met Sally. I liked how the unlikely friendship evolved, and how they seemed to be there for each other just when they needed each other. I really liked the New York City setting and especially enjoyed the “airport run” scene.

That being said, I felt like the characters were very one dimensional. Ari was quirky (which is great) but she was so selfish and uncaring for everyone around her. I kept hoping to get a better insight as to why she was the way she was but it just never happened.

Read if you love:
- Fall romances
- NYC setting
- When Harry Met Sally
- Unlikely friendships
- Friends to lover

I tried, I really did, but this book is filled with two whiny main characters who are to blame for their own misfortune. It just never ends with their pathetic lives and even worse romance lives. It’s just sad and way too many words trying to be something worthwhile in literature. Maybe this is for someone else, but certainly not my idea of a good read. 1.5⭐️, 2.5🌶

The author said this book isn't a retelling of When Harry Met Sally, but a homage to it. And yes! This book had a lot of heart to it and the characters felt very genuine to themselves yet so human? I'd say they were pretty unlikable for the first 40% of the book. I could see why this book may not be for everyone or can be frustrating because of this. They were characters growing up and making mistakes and you actually watch their growth through the years with themselves and each other. This felt very on par for friends to lovers done pragmatically. The dialogue to me was actually such a strong suit in this book with the banter done so well between the two. It's so fitting that Ari is a comedian and I loved the Bi and Jewish rep! The NYC setting was impeccable with all the details, especially the end of the book with the NYC list Kate added to it. I'm actually going to The Strand Rare room tonight!

This romance was very different in regards to pacing and time jumps than what I've usually read. The time jumps moved quickly, but even in Harry Met Sally, they were quick encounters until they met again with major life changes. It took me a week to finish this, which isn't my norm for romances. I usually want to get right back into it. I even watched When Harry Met Sally in between reads during this week. That is to say, I did feel this book was a littttttttle bit too long for me personally and could've been cut down shorter. I loved the ending and think Kate is a phenomenal writer. And yet I think about it and I could never write something like this so well and expressively like she did.

If you like books featuring…
Enemies to lovers
New York City as a character
Time jump stories & epic meet cutes

Great for fans of…
When Harry Met Sally
You’ve Got Mail
All things Nora Ephron

I mean, can anyone resist that glorious fall cover???
If you're a fan of When Harry Met Sally and New York romances, this book is for you. Read if you want an emotional, angsty, enemies to lovers and grumpy/sunshine romance. You get to see the couple fall in love (and they don't, right away) and find yourself rooting for them more and more after every period. Perfect fall romance enjoyed with a cup of PSL.

Josh and Ari keep meeting in the most bizarre ways. At her apartment when he came to see her roommate... that they were both sleeping with. In a restaurant where her best friend works for him,etc... These two despise each other yet when they come together, they can’t help but lean on each other during dark times.

Josh is a grumpy person who also believes in soulmates and his person.
Ari is a serial “dater” who doesn’t believe in monogamy.

I didn’t love or hate this book, but I could not connect to the characters. Josh has been handed every opportunity in life and still hides himself away from everyone after ONE failed attempt at something. Ari is the definition of hurt people, hurt people.

Read if you like:
You like multiple chance encounters
Enemies to lovers
A Harry Met Sally retelling

*Thank you NetGalley, Random House & Kate Goldbeck for my copy to review.*

I am 100% in the minority but I sadly decided to DNF’d this one. The characters were unique and full of personality, but for some unknown reason I couldn’t get into it.
It does give When Harry Met Sally though!

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck is a modern telling of When Harry Met Sally. You have two very unlikable characters, Josh and Ari, and somehow they work together and deliver a comical romcom. The banter and messy relationships had me intrigued but the writing was off and on. Sometimes it held me and other times I had to skim to get past parts. I guess I was wanting more and not to get aggravated with the characters as much as I did.

I tried, but this book just isn't for me. The characters are so unlikeable I'm putting it down at the 20% mark

I’ve never watched When Harry Met Sally, so I’m unable to draw that comparison here. What I DO know is enemies to lovers and this is exactly that. This is so messy and angsty and HOT and I’m already thinking of rereading it. I loved how they absolutely hated each other .. until they didn’t. I cannot believe this is a debut. It was that good.

Josh and Ari get off on a very bad foot and continue to meet over years. I don’t always love dual POV but it was completely necessary for this book. Ari was such a hilarious mess and Josh was so serious and lost without someone to take care of.

If you like : enemies to lovers, SLOW burn, ANGST, real-life messy problems - this sex-positive love story is for YOU!

Five huge stars from me! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC!

DNF at 20%

I just cannot make myself get through this book for the sake of reading it. I really don't understand where the story is going to go from where it is because it jumps from place to place and relationship to relationship and the two MCs just happen to run into each other at the most random places. I don't find either MC likable, which is probably the main reason I don't want to continue the book. There's no real love story or plot that I see really working out in a favorable way. Not my cup of tea, which I'm really sad about because the cover gave all the Fall vibes.

A When Harry Met Sally retelling for the modern era. I was pleasantly surprised by this! The banter was as witty and enjoyable as promised and I really loved the annoying strangers to friends to lovers aspect of the story. Bonus was all the New York and culinary references!

A lot of the conflict was more internal for the couple and they each had their own issues that they needed to confront and deal with in order to be open to a healthy relationship. While I really liked that aspect and the exploration of feeling like a failure in life or struggling with intimacy issues, the "third act breakup" felt more like the two characters losing their complexity and getting reduced to stereotypes of their relationship-centric issues in order to create enough reason for them not to be together.

That being said, the story does make an effort to really explore the reasons behind the characters decisions and it's not a quick fix and the conflict conveniently resolved. Overall, I thought the story was entertaining and endearing.

While I've never watched When Harry Met Sally I felt like this was a very cute love story that gave vibes of This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens. The pairing of Ari and Josh felt refreshingly unique and organic, with a slow burn complex that felt very believable.

Admittingly, it took me a bit to get into the story, but once it did I could vividly imagine these characters come to life in my mind. I loved the bisexual rep, Jewish rep, as well as the mental health rep within the pages. The time jumps gave that believable progression of two people falling in and out of love, and ultimately concluding with a satisfying ending. This was a lovely debut by Kate Goldbeck and I'm intrigued what she opts to write about next!

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 is one of my all-time favorite movies so when I heard there was a book reimagining of it, I knew I had to read it.

Like the film, 𝗬𝗢𝗨, 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡 is a love letter to New York City (Veselka! Odessa!) and has a grumpy-meets-sunshine, enemies-to-lovers storyline. A person in love with love and a commitment-phobe meet and don't like each other and re-meet and still don't but eventually become friends who become lovers which ruins their friendship until the relationship-averse one realizes their mistake and professes their love in a grand gesture. So I should have loved it. But I didn't.

I did appreciate the Jewish and bisexuality rep but the time jumps that work in the movie were jarring in the book and the characters weren't all that likable. Lots of people have loved this one but I guess like Sally, I just want it the way I want it.

Thanks to Dial Press for the copy to review.

Thank you so much for this wonderfully fresh, absorbing love story! Described as a modern-day When Harry Met Sally, this is a very true and apt expectation going into the book. With very witty banter and the experience of two individuals falling in love through chance encounters in New York City, this book has me hooked from page one. I also loved that New York City itself was such a vivid and important character in the book. I can’t wait to read anything else Goldbeck will write!

The best retellings capture the heart and soul of the source material in a fresh, unique way, and You, Again was the perfect combination of When Harry Met Sally and Josh and Ari's love story. I loved everything about this story and how it was written.

It took me until 29% in to get like I wanted to keep reading. But after this slow start, once we were at a point where Josh and Ari actually start talking and interacting more, it got really interesting. The writing is very pithy, and the banter was relatable and entertaining. After a slow burn, their relationship gets serious very quickly. Letting them struggle for awhile was torture but very realistic and dramatically effective. The grand gesture is very fulfilling and climactic, and of course very "when Harry met Sally."