This was such a fun take on a YA romance! I loved the split timelines and following both of Natalya's possibilities for summer love.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook download in exchange for my honest review.

I rarely love YA, but Dahlia Adler is a must-read for me. This one might be my favorite. All the bi cuteness.

Going Bicoastal is a perfect light-hearted, queer, summertime romance novel with an expertly-executed dual timeline concept. Its broad queer representation felt natural and realistic, including the bisexual Jewish protagonist (a rare double whammy!) who was lovable and relatable without being a typical boring brunette self-insert character. The plot lines about being a child of divorce and wondering what to do about the whole college thing were heartfelt and not condescending, making this a great fit for YA readers but also wholly enjoyable for not-so-young-adults as well. I would rate the "spice" level at a solid PG-13. Mara Wilson's narration is top-notch! I'm definitely going to be seeking out more of her audio work, and although this was my first Dahlia Adler, I can tell it certainly won't be my last.

I read an ARC of Going Bicoastal last month and when given the opportunity to listen to the audio book as well I happily took it. The narration by Mara Wilson was fantastic. I enjoyed the story just as much this time around. I also caught a few lines and moments that felt bigger knowing how the story goes. I don’t often read and listen to books so close together but it is a sign of how much I enjoyed the story. My original review below still holds true.

The concept of a sliding doors romance for a bi-sexual jewish girl is executed to perfection by Dahlia Adler. Natalya Fox is given the chance to stay at home in NYC with her math professor dad and her close-nit friends or living with her mother in LA and working as a summer intern at her marketing firm. The chapters alternate and follow her life as if she makes both choices. In LA she meets fellow intern Adam who dreams of going to culinary school. Staying in NYC she finally talks to the red haired girl Elly that she’s been crossing paths with for over a year. Elly wants to be a music journalist and her father is a musician and mom is a famous musical photographer.

There are a lot of extras that the author brings to the storyline. The Jewishness is prominent in both storylines and although Nat isn’t orthodox, I learned subtle differences in observance. The food descriptions for Shabbat are especially mouthwatering and I appreciate the kosher explanations. With Adams interest in cooking food is a large part of the LA story. Music and Nat’s interest in art are prominent in the NYC plot. I confess I didn’t know many of the modern musicians name dropped.

The absent mom is part of the plots. And I honestly I would have given up some of the friend time on either coast to have a few more scenes with mom and daughter reconnecting. My heart wanted them to have a better relationship. Being okay that mom is dating a new guy seems superficial but is a something. My personal preference is for the sapphic storyline. I love that in the last chapter there were a couple of lines tie this book to Adler’s previous novel Home Field Advantage (June 2022) putting them in the same universe.

This is my third novel I’ve read by the author and she is now an automatic read. Her characters are smart, have depth and are memorable. I love that her she understands the emotions and challenges of being a teen. Appropriate for older middle school and up.

This is honestly my first audiobook and I wasn’t sure I would enjoy books this way but found I really did. I enjoyed the narrator’s choices on tone and inflection to make sure the listener was aware it was a different character speaking and the delivery on some of the lines made laugh out loud.

I loved how fun and light this book was. It is a perfect beach read (or couch read) to just relax and enjoy a fun rom-com kind of vibe and I enjoyed the back and forth of the different ways her summer could have turned out. I also loved the ending in which you get to choose. I honestly couldn’t choose because both story lines are wonderful and both Adam and Elly are the one you hope Natalya picks for different reasons. I also loved the cheeky little overlaps where some things happened no matter which choice she made.

This book had great LGBTQ+ representation and it was different than other books I have read where the MC was out and everyone was supportive and accepting. I enjoyed the joy of these characters just being happy and loved and wish that everyone had this experience.

I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more of Dahlia Adler’s books in the future.

4.5 Stars

Ohhh my goodness! I've never realized how much I NEEDED a book about a bisexual, Jewish girl until this moment. I am a bisexual, Jewish woman and I would have absolutely loved to come across this book in my 20s. THANK YOU Dahlia for bringing Natalya into my life.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this book. I think it officially tops my Queer YA Books list now. Every single one of the characters were really likeable and it was fun watching all of them grow throughout the story. I also lovedddd the dual timeline aspect of the book. It was unique and always had me turning the page. Because of the timelines each chapter was different, but I also loved how some facts (the mom/daughter book club, getting into graphic design, etc.) stayed the same. This will definitely be a book I recommend often.

Audiobook Review: The audiobook was narrated by Mara Wilson and I absolutely loved her. The pacing was great and the voices she gave to each character was fantastic. I especially liked Natalya's dad. Very much sounded like a Jewish New Yorker. 😂

Read If You Like:
-Bisexual Rep (Let's keep it coming!!!)
-Jewish Rep (And not just a minor reference. This book made me long for Shabbat dinner.)
-Dual Timelines
-Choose Your Own Adventure Type Books
-New York and/or Los Angeles
-Stories About Only Children and/or divorce
-Food Trucks
-Music

Thank you so much to OrangeSky Audio for the ALC!

This was told in a really fun way, with Natalya's choice to either stay in New York City or go to Los Angeles splitting her life into different stories. I liked both choices a lot, each has a new romance, Tal strengthening her relationship with her mom, and making new friends over the summer.

It's difficult to say which storyline I preferred, since they both were interesting and helped Tal branch out of her bubble. The L.A. one did come with food trucks and delicious sounding food though, so I'd probably pick that one. I'm a sucker for yummy things and trying a new living situation sounds like a good time.

The pacing was a bit slow in parts and around three-quarters in, I started getting a little bored. The ending was intriguing and not how I thought it would go and overall it was a great summer story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to OrangeSky Audio and NetGalley for the copy.

This was defiantly an interesting read! Thank you NetGalley and to the Publishers for giving me an oppurtunity to get an advanced copy.

I really liked how the story was spilt in two. I think that it gave the book so much more dimension and provided a look into someone's world who might fall into this category. I especially loved the bit at the end where it says to go to chapter 24 to see the ending for one version but also to chapter 24 to see the outcome with the 2nd.

The best part was how accepting the main characters family is and I wish everyone was so lucky. I also found the love life and relationship descriptions to be well thought out and well written....Nothing spicy here folks and that is ok since the characters are so young.

I will for sure be recommending this to some of my friends and family.

"Going Bicoastal" is a delightful read about a teen who must decide between spending her summer before senior year in New York with her father or LA with her mother. The story follows her in each place in alternating chapters, and you see how her decisions and relationships change based on which summer she chose. It was interesting. There are two love interests (a girl on one coast and a boy on the other). This is a queer story about joy and living life and not about coming out, homophobia, etc. if you need a queer, happy story.

I love Adler's writing style. Her imagery and description makes it so easy to visualize and follow the story. Her style is straightforward and easy to dive into.

Natalya Fox has to decide if she wants stay with her dad in New York City or go to Los Angeles with her mom for the summer. The book splits into two timelines, one where she stays in NYC and one where she goes down to LA. I thought this book was just vibes, there was no dilemma or development even. Nothing really happens except of course she gets the man and girl of her dreams in each timeline. I wanted a bit more but I’m also not too mad because it was an easy read.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

Rep: Jewish bi mc, questioning female li, agender sapphic sc, trans sc, achillean scs, sapphic scs, Jewish scs
Rating: 4.25

This is a very fun and light romcom. I saw a review saying this book was basically the “why not both” meme, and that is 100% accurate lol It has a very cool style, very similar to a choose your own adventure. Its basically two stories in one. The book has alternating chapters of two different timelines of possibilities. One in which Natalya decides to stay with her dad in NYC for the summer, and pursue her crush on a cute punk redhead girl, and the other in which she goes to live and work with her mother in LA, and develop a relationship with a cute guy coworker.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this before. It almost felt like two different books. It’s an interesting concept. We do see some things that happen in both scenarios, while other things are entirely different. A few conclusions are reached in both timelines, but the journeys getting there are different. It was cool to see how things played out in each version.

This book isn't very plot heavy. Its just a chill summer where we see Nat exploring both outcomes. There isn't really any big problems to overcome or angst. It’s just a nice light slice of life read.

The ending was cool, where you can choose which ending you want by skipping to that chapter. I read both, because I’m too curious to know how both play out. It was almost like little Easter eggs to see hints and mentions of the other love interest in each story.

Natalya has a really messy family. Her parents are divorced and her mom moved across the country, so Natalya and her aren’t very close. As both of the storylines go on, we see them try to put in more effort and built a better relationship. It was nice to see her dad encourage her to built that relationship with her mom, even though they aren’t on the best of terms themselves. He doesn't want their mistakes and dislike for one another to affect their daughter. Nat and him have a very sweet relationship. And they’re both supportive of their bi daughter!!!

Things started off a bit rocky with Adam in LA, but once his brother came in and exposed his soft side, he started to grow on you. He’s actually a great guy. It was so sweet seeing him respect her dietary restrictions and especially when he cooked Shabbat dinner for her and her mom. He always made sure they made food she could eat when they hung out with his friends. I really liked his brother as well.

I loved how many queer characters this had. Most of the side characters and friends are queer. This is what I love to see.

The narrator did a great job. And the cover is gorgeous!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Its a perfect summer read

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

Audiobook Review - This is a fantastic YA rom-com that is perfect for so many teen readers! I am usually not a fan of YA books that feature dual storylines or flashbacks because they can get really confusing. However, Adler really delivers a polished, non complicated dual storyline here! Recommended for all YA collections!

It's so often that sliding doors type stories can go so wrong, that I couldn't quite believe just how ~right~ they have the potential to be. This is so many things done well regardless of timeline - gorgeous and endearing coming of age, swoon-worthy romance, healing story of messy families who try to make things work. Cannot recommend this enough!

I was very skeptical of the "Sliding Doors"-esqe premise of this one, but it turned out to be super creative and a really great story. I liked the "Choose your own ending", because I was super curious on how it would end after two very good and convincing storylines. I did think that Nat had more romantic chemistry with Adam and more platonic chemistry with Ellie, so I would have liked each couple to have more of the other. I also wish this had been bumped up to New Adult, rather than stay YA, just because some of the scenes with each of the couples did make me uncomfy knowing that Nat was still in high school (I thought it was strange that Adler did not make Nat a recent graduate who was taking a gap year or something).

Natalya Fox has been given a choice for the summer: stay home with her dad in NYC or visit her estranged mom in LA. She knows that she has to get out of her routine and explore the city, repair her relationship with her mom, and figure out her future. But is she going to do that while chasing the girl of her dreams or falling for the guy she never saw coming?

This book felt like the perfect depiction of the “why not both?” meme and I absolutely loved every second of it. Going into the story knowing only that it was “a queer Sliding Doors YA rom-com” and not knowing what Sliding Doors was or even having the foresight to look it up, I definitely stumbled a bit in the beginning once the split between the New York and Los Angeles timelines happened, but I caught up really quickly and fell in love with the way in which Dahlia was able to so effortlessly not only flow between the two but to also weave elements of one timeline into the other.

I’ve always been a believer that people have more than one soulmate, that timing really affects who is the right person for you. And that’s exactly the same vibes that I got from this story. Natalya lives out two very different paths, but even though they happen on opposite coasts with different groups of people, they both made sense for the person she was becoming in their respective timelines. There isn't so much a wrong choice as a different choice with a different outcome.

Anyone who lives off vibes or moods will be happy to find that this book’s release is very timely. All the summer vibes are there in both timelines and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this book is going to be one of the books of the summer. I want to pull up a lounger by the pool with a fruity umbrella cocktail in one hand and this book in the other and just relive the experience over again. Oh, and please add in some tacos. Speaking of which, do not go into this book on an empty stomach. All the food talk had me salivating and wishing I was actually living the story instead of just reading it.

The audiobook is narrated by Mara Wilson, who was perfect as the voice of Natalya. The differentiation between characters was subtle but noticeable and she was able to bring the story to life with her ability to emote with just her voice. Even at 2x speed (which is the speed at which I religiously listen to audiobooks), every bit of the narration hit its mark and never felt stilted or awkward.

Going Bicoastal is going to be THE romance novel of summer☀️

It was very very sparkly. It gave me the sparkles? Idk sometimes I just get a certain sparkly, instant classic vibe from YA romances and this is one of those times. I want to be this book.

It’s hard to talk about the book experience without spoilers, so I’m putting my full review under the warning! I don’t think the things I reveal would negatively impact your experience though. They might even alleviate some stress 👀

**SPOILERS BELOW**

For those curious, this absolutely IS a delightfully queer romance, but what it isn’t is a love triangle!! It’s almost a choose your own adventure novel, as there are two HEA tracks at the end. I read it all as I loved both the New York and LA romances, but there’s technically the option to only read a singular HEA between either Natalya/Ellie or Natalya/Adam.

Both relationships were simply delightful. Before I knew we were getting both HEAs, I was in PAIN. Genuinely, I don’t think it’s possible for me to choose a favorite. NYC and LA almost felt like main characters, as the relationships seemed to really embody the cities. They were both so different; it really felt like two whole romance novels in one.

New York: I adored the pining between Natalya and Ellie; they were both obsessed for ages before making a move. It was such a great demonstration of having a totally brutal crush that may possibly be mutual…aka the most confusing, butterfly-inducing state of being. The summer camp and cute kid content was also a plus. Nat’s relationship with her dad was lovely, and her virtual book club with her mom really melted my heart. (I was so happy to get the mom content in NYC as well, since it was one of my favorite things about LA.)

Los Angeles: I loved how Nat put herself out there and made friends in LA. It was entirely wholesome. I guess I didn’t really clock the taco truck on the cover when I started reading because I was definitely not prepared for the glorious LA food scene 🤤 I especially loved watching Natalya vocalize her religious dietary restrictions (pork, shellfish). It was so HOT when Adam prepared Shabbat dinner for her and her mom!!! And don’t even get me started on the TOWEL SHOPPING. There’s something so deeply sexy about running errands with someone. *I swoon.*

As for the audiobook, I really really loved Mara Wilson’s narration. The concept of the book had the potential to be super confusing via audio, but I actually grasped it pretty well. I do definitely recommend reading the summary for a little background.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


Thanks so much to the publisher for an ALC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

The description of a story line similar to Sliding Doors sucked me in immediately!

Natalya's long divorced parents live on either coast of the US. She lives full time with her dad in New York, but has been invited to spend the summer with her mom in LA.

It's a tough call as her relationship with her mom has been mostly nonexistent since she moved out west. Will she take the chance to rebuild that relationship or focus on her life in NYC?

In this book you get to see both options play out, complete with two separate love interests.

In the latter half of the book I kept wondering how the author would bring the two story lines together, but it never happens. Instead you get a choose your own ending bit at the end. Which honestly was kinda disappointing for me, but I can see how some would love it.

Also a big fan of the play on works with "bicoastal" as Natalya's bi in the romantic sense too and her love interests are in turn a girl and a boy.

The highlight of the book is that it's narrated by none other than Mara Wilson!!! She is a beloved performer for me and obviously was an excellent choice to narrate this book.

It was great! And I loved the duo storyline. The only thing I would add is to put LA or NYC in the beginning of the chapter so we know instantly what place we are at

This was a fun read. I enjoyed both timelines and both romances and they both seemed real. I didn’t love the chapter names because it summed up what was going to happen, although kind of reminded me of the show friends. There were also a lot of characters to keep up with and that was a tad much. I loved the idea of seeing what happened on either path. It’s a very interesting perspective.

All in all a cute read. And i really enjoyed the narration. I think she did a great job and was fun and easy to listen to.

When a character is faced with an important decision, do you ever wonder what would have happened if they had chosen differently? In Going Bicoastal, Natalya Fox has to choose between staying with her father in NYC (and muster up the courage to speak to the cute red-headed girl working at the cafe) or go to LA to stay with her estranged mom. Told through the sliding doors trope, we can to see how both paths pan out.

This was such a fun queer sliding doors story. I found that I was equally invested in both storylines, and I thought the author did an excellent job portraying the various components to Natalya's identity: a young woman, a bisexual, a child of divorce, a Jew, etc. This book would be very relatable to YA readers, and it does a good job of being "modern" in its language and references without trying too hard to be "woke." I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, and the narrator did an excellent job!