Thank you so much @wednesdaybooks, @XTineMay, and @netgalley for the eARC of Attachec at the Hip. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

You know that feeling you get when you start reading a book and you KNOW it’s going to be a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read? That’s exactly how I felt at the end of chapter one of Attached at the Hip. 🥳

I absolutely loved the premise of the book. The Survivor meets reality dating show plot was so fun and so well thought out. I was nervous reading about every challenge, at the edge of my seat for each elimination, and in fits of laughter reading about Orie trying to figure out how bathroom breaks would work while literally attached at the hip of a super hot cast member. 😂

I also felt that Orie was a really relatable character. She’s a 23 year old who’s just trying to go with the flow, while at the same time, not challenging herself to figure out what she wants. Her personal journey throughout the book was so satisfying and I couldn’t help but cheer as she created a way forward for herself. 👏

Perhaps one of the most addictive parts of the book for me was that I was trying to figure out all the other cast members motivations/end game plans along with Orie. I was constantly trying to predict who was being real and who was the low key reality tv show villain! 🦹

If you love reality tv and new adult romance, you should absolutely put Attached At The Hip on your tbr!

In the pages you will find:

🌴 Survivor meets reality dating
❤️ Romance (clean, just kissing)
🎶 Music and movie references
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Strong family bonds
🧘‍♀️ Acroyoga
😳 Awkward moments
💪 Reality TV show challenges
♟️ Alliances
🏖️ A perfect read for the summer!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

You guys, YOU GUYS. I flew through this book - like FLEW through the audio. I haven't watched Survivor since the early days (back when I used to watch it with my dad in his newly divorced bachelor pad), but this book made me want to give it another shot! I forgot the premise, and therefore the gameplay. You never know who is actually your friend, who actually cares, and who will turn on you the moment you no longer serve a purpose.

And let me tell you - there was some turning!

Genre: romance, young adult
Format: audio
Pub Date: May 21, 2024
Star Rating: 4.5 STARS
Narration: 5 STARS

I absolutely loved watching Ori's journey as she went from a "go with the flow" college graduate to figuring out what she truly wanted to do with her life...and the life partner she wanted to do it with. BUT WHO IS IT? You'll have to read to find out.

Read if you like:
Reality TV
Kaitlyn Hill YA novels
Hilarious banter
Survivor but with Love
Love Triangles
No Third Act Breakup

Attached at the Hip is marketed as Survivor meets The Bachelor, which, okay — sign me up. I’ve never watched Survivor, but I am an unabashed fan of Bachelor Nation and other trashy reality TV shows. Sure, they can be overly dramatic, bordering on freaking nuts, but that’s the fun of it. I can tell that Christine Riccio had a lot of fun bringing that craziness into Attached, which made it entertaining for me as a reader.

The protagonist Orie is stuck in life and needing some spontaneity, so she hops on a plane to Fiji to star in a Survivor spinoff called Attached at the Hip — a survival game that has her literally attached by rope to a potential romantic partner. She could come out of this game with the love of her life, as well as with the grand prize of a million dollars. There are some scary challenges, some Bachelor-esque dates, and some serious tea to spill.

Christine’s characters have been a bit too loudly ~qUiRkY~ in her previous novels, but here, it totally works. I really enjoyed seeing Orie interact with this colorful cast of characters. The Asshole Chad, the Competitive but Likeable Bitch, the Surprisingly Swoony Suitor, and so on. Like your typical reality show, Attached also comes with its twists and turns, and they legitimately had me on the edge of my seat. Again, this kind of story can be pretty nuts, and the execution doesn’t always hit the mark, but it was a good time nonetheless.

Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio is an irresistible romantic adventure that captivated me from the very start and left me yearning for more.

Orie has spent her life prepping for her happily ever after, and she's wondering when that's ever going to happen. She's recently graduated and feels like her life is nothing quite like she had envisioned. On a whim, Orie applies for Survivor, a show she's loved for many years. She's shocked when she's cast in an experimental romantic edition of the show. The shock deepens when she discovers her high school crush, Remy, has also been cast. Orie is one of ten contestants aiming for a million dollar prize while surviving in the wilderness of the South Pacific.

Let's take a second of appreciation for this beautiful and summery cover.

ATTACHED AT THE HIP was such a fun and cute read. I adored the Survivor meets the Bachelor reality TV show that's created within these pages. The concept of being attached at the hip to a game contestant for three days at a time before exchanging to a new partner was scintillating. The forced proximity fostered an excellent environment for relationships, romantic or otherwise, to develop. I really enjoyed the bonds that Orie forms over the course of the show. The challenges were interesting and cutthroat, although one of these challenges were a little too much for me.

Orie's character is one that I couldn't help be annoyed by from time to time. Her narration reads like that of a teenager, making her feel less mature than her described age of twenty-three. That aside, I did enjoy the personal growth journey she finds herself on over the course of the book, and particularly enjoyed the relationships she develops with Kennedi, Osprey, her sister Lark, and her dad. These were all beautifully done.

The ending of this book was everything I wanted for this book - so heartwarming.

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions shared are my own.</i>

I saw that this was like Survivor meets The Bachelor, and the reality TV junkie in me had to request it immediately!!

I had both the eARC and the ALC, and spent most of my time on the audio. This was hilarious and had me laughing out loud repeatedly.

Orie and her sister are Survivor lovers and had talked about applying. She signs up and gets picked.

Once she gets there she realizes it will be a new show, Attached at the Hip. She first finds herself paired with her old high school crush, Remy Orlando Lasorsa. The fact that she called him by his entire name at all times cracked me up.

Orie is such a fun and quirky character. She decides she wants them to call her Picadilly on the show and really pushes for that. She has an unrational fear of bugs and other critters. She struggles to do things on her own and is very codependent on her family. She, like all of us, is a huge lover of books and reading. And watching her journey of growth was delightful.

There were twist and turns I didn't see coming. Founds myself doubting and disliking almost everyone, except Orie obviously. I ended up loving Osprey far more than I thought I could early on.

Definitely recommend this one, both for the humor and for Orie and her life journey.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press for an eARC and MacMillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not really a fan of reality TV, but this book was a lot of fun to read. I'd actually consider watching the show it's about. I bet it would be entertaining to see in real life.

It was definitely entertaining in book form. There's a lot of humor and ridiculous drama here. I didn't always feel for the characters (I thought Orie, the main one, was annoying at first but she really grew on me as the book went on), but they were a lively bunch.

I liked all the relationships and that the romance didn't consume the story. There's a twist there that I thought was a lot of fun. All in all, I'd say this was a pretty perfect summer/beach read.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

⭐️: 4

✨ forced proximity
✨ second chance romance
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ reality game show

The premise of this book was so fun - our FMC Orie is going through a (near) quarter-life crisis and signs up for what she thinks is Survivor, but ends up being a Survivor spin-off with a romantic, Bachelor in Paradise type twist. Orie is relatable in all of best ways, and I enjoyed following her journey day-by-day, literally.

Prior to reading this book, I came across a lot of mixed reviews, mostly regarding this book being YA. And let me just say, I didn’t mind the YA vibes at all. It read very much like a clean, adult romance. Don’t let the YA label scare you away.

𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹, 𝐼’𝓂 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹. IYKYK 😉


📚Thank you NetGalley, Wednesday Books and Christine Riccio for the ARC of Attached at the Hip.

DNF at 13%. I usually try to get to 33% before deciding to stop reading, but I just couldn't get through this one.

I love Chiristines other books, Again, But Better was like life changing for me, but I don't like how this book is going. I cannot stop cringing at everything Orie does. Some books aren't for everyone, and I am sad this book isn't for me.

This book was a drug for me for a solid two days and I lovedddd it!

Give me a reality show trope all day, everyday.

I loved this Survivor show with a romantic twist and I couldn’t get enough of Ori’s journey as she goes from someone who has never had to be alone, to an absolute badass.

There are twists and turns that shocked me, and the politics of the reality show and the plotting was such an unexpected but fun aspect of the story that did previously given no thought to.

I loved seeing the over workings and rationale for choices for multiple characters during the production notes/interviews and the format this book was written in was just the perfect amount of event to chapter ratio that kept the pages constantly turning!

I highly recommend for anyone who ever thought Survivor needed more kissing!

Thank you so much to the publisher for an advanced copy.

As a Survivor lover, I was so excited for this one. However, the FMC was so anointing to me in the first 40% of this book that I almost couldn’t finish it. By attempting to make Orie seem “quirky” she became a character that I couldn’t even get a read on. Maybe that was intentional because at the start of this book Orie didn’t know who she was either. I truly don’t understand the Piccadilly thing? Like no one even calls her that? Don’t get me started on Remy. I could tell he was going to be phony from the start. There were just too many similarities between him and Orie.
When I got to the 50% mark things started to pick up (when it started getting more into the Survivor-ish part) and the rest of the book flew by. I liked the ending but I wish the rest of the book had been like the last 50%.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and netgalley for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. I loved the idea of a reality tv show romance. It sounded like a lot of fun. However, the main character was driving me nuts. She was supposedly like 23 but acted 16. The way she talked was just so annoying. There were so many pop references throughout that drove me nuts.

I know I’m not the target audience for this book so it might just be me being too old for this YA book.

I hope others love it.

I don't think I've enjoyed a YA/New Adult romcom more than I did this one in a long time!! Survivor meets The bachelor in this reality show, forced proximity romance that sees Influencer Orley competing in a remote island competition for $1 million dollars and falling for two of the finalists. Twisty, exciting, fast-paced and AMAZING on audio narrated by my very fav, Brittany Pressley. I can't recommend this book enough! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest revivew!

Steam level: kissing only

DNF'd at 51%. This book was really goofy, but not in a good way? The endless silly dialogue and pop culture references got to be too much at points. Orie is meant to be this awkward, unique character, but I feel like it was just too much at points. The insta-love feelings were cringy not cute. I was really excited for this, but sadly it was a let down!

I loved this book! Orie has graduated college but still has no clue what she wants to do with her life. Going on "Survivor" seems like her best option so she competes on a spin-off for a million dollars. The rom-com, Survivor, Batchelor vibes make this book so enjoyable to read! I highly recommend!

This book hooked me at the premise: Survivor meets The Bachelor. I absolutely love both shows so I knew this book was for me! I am also a big fan of Christine Riccio's who has an incredible talent for creating vibrant characters and intriguing dialogue!

This story was so relatable with the main character feeling lost after graduating from college. I personally had a similar experience and Christine did an amazing job of representing this intense moment in one's life. The setting of the South Pacific was a great way to force the character to seek new joys and escape from her real life. I also love the twist of having her old high school crush as part of the cast!

Overall, this book made me think about the power of second chances and how we are never too old to get a fresh start. I absolutely loved it!

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC! So cute! Loved the romance and the setting. Also definitely really enjoyed the banter. Will read more from this author.

oh my goodness this book was such a fun and silly read! I spent so much of this book laughing out loud. It's a perfect mix of Survivor and Bachelor in Paradise and so fun to read as a reality TV lover. If you've liked Christine Riccio's past books you'll definitely love this one. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC :)

DNF AT 26%

I just couldn’t physically continue this book, I really tried. I’m sorry!! Hopefully I can give it another chance soon🥹🫶🏼

4.25/5 stars, rounded down

Thank you Wednesday Books for the advanced reading copy!

SYNOPSIS -- Orie Lennox is doing her best, but nothing is turning out the way she hoped. Between her job, her relationship and her family, things just aren't what they should be. When pushed by her sister to be more independent, Orie applies for a reality TV show a-la Survivor. She heads to a deserted island without any of the things getting in her way and finds herself thrust into an experimental romantic edition of Survivor, attached via a rope to her high school crush. Between difficulty challenges, long-term speed dating (lol), no privacy and intense alliances, there's no telling who will walk away from this show with the money, or with true love.

I really enjoyed this book! After reading EVERYONE IS WATCHING earlier this year, I've been really intrigued by the reality TV premise of books. I think it's pretty hard to execute the play by play of a reality TV show in print, and this book did a great job. I LOVE Survivor, so that aspect of this book was really important to me, and I think Christine Riccio nailed it.

The premise was super cute and the characters adorable and easy to like. The romance was fun and way less predictable than it seemed; I thought I was in it for a simple and easy story at first, and that was NOT the case. Orie's character development was fantastic -- this was unexpectedly a great coming-of-age story! Though there were a few cringe moments, they were painfully relatable and easy to laugh at. I do think that the ending could have been wrapped up a bit better... things seemed to drag off the show and though I can see where this was integral to Orie's character arc, it just felt boring at times.

This one is labeled as YA, but don't let that deter you. While some aspects were a little immature, most of this book was easier to connect to than I typically feel in YA. The romance wasn't shallow and, while there wasn't any spice, there was some great tension building that still felt meaningful. Overall, I really enjoyed this and struggled to put it down once I started!