This book swept. me. away. I devoured it over the course of one evening/morning and oh, my. My teenage heart would have simply gone feral for this read. I loved Natalia and related to her so deeply. This is a swoony, best friends to lovers romance with gorgeous prose. I absolutely loved it!

A highly anticipated read that delivered on all the angsty YA romance fronts. There was banter, there were mistakes and miscommunications and teens just trying their dang best to survive the chaotic throes of finding their voice. There was also a lot of added depth involving the dynamics of their friend groups and families. The narrative was inclusive and raw and REAL. Ethan and Natalia’s chemistry was *chef’s kiss* and the added stakes of the missing letters on a senior trip propelled the plot and conflict. Plus the writing and voice itself was powerful. Poignant and at times poetic, at times deadpan no-BS teen and humor. Both POV’s were immersive and distinct and blended so well to heighten both the characters’ internal landscapes and their intersecting moments. I can’t wait to reread this work a second time post release day and highlight all my favorite lines.

I Wish You Would is a YA contemporary romance that explores the complexities of romance developing from a lifelong friendship and the different conflicts that can arise from it.

I thought the writing was strong and very well done. The beginning chapters are gripping. I was hooked right away. The story itself was very compelling to read, and the quick pacing helped my eyes glide over the pages. The author also did well at showing instead of telling. Vivid descriptions of all the characters made them pop off the page, and each one felt unique. There is good diversity representation in this book, including different LBGTQ characters.

I loved the narrative. It's told through first-person dual POV, and I loved seeing the story through each of the main love interests's perspectives. Our FMC Natalia was a very relatable character. I connected with her on several things. Lastly, the author included one of my favorite things in a romance novel, an epilogue. I thought it fit the story perfectly.

There are a few things I wish the author did differently. Even though this is a contemporary novel, I wish the author would've spent a little more time describing the beach setting and the world in general. Most of the book was spent at the beach. Someone should've been sun burnt by the end.

Also while I did find the romance plot to be very compelling, the constant angst did get tiring near the end. For me, the 'will they, won't they' pull part of the plot dragged on too long. I also found the use of the F-word very excessive for a YA book.

Content: references to teen drinking, excessive strong language, kissing and one off screen sex scene

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was my favorite read of the year so far! Eva has an incredible talent for emotional depth and intriguing chemistry between her characters. I devoured this read and can't wait to read it again!

I wanted to like this book. I love the concept of writing down anonymous wishes or hopes and then letting them go into the universe. The main characters Natalie and Ethan in this book are very realistic, yet the amount of miscommunication that they have throughout the entire book, got to be so repetitive that I kept getting taken out of the story. I don’t think this type of teen romance is quite my cup of tea. While it is more realistic than a typical romance story, for two people who are best friends I would hope they could communicate better. Overall, this book is okay. It didn’t wow me or make me really excited for the overall romance.
Thank you so much to Macmillan Children Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co., and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

I WISH YOU WOULD by Eva Des Lauriers

👫 Friends to Lovers
🏫 Senior Year Rites & Rituals
🧠 Mental Health Rep
🎵 TSwift Nods
💔 Teenage Angst

I am absolutely smitten with this book. The writing sparkled and I found myself rooting for two completely loveable, but seriously clueless teens who just could not get themselves together. (Gosh, I love YA.) It was sweet, swoony, and planted a smile firmly on my face. The high school nostalgia was strong with this one.

Was the miscommunication a lot? Oh, it was, and I did not care. Somehow the author managed to make everything seem perfectly plausible even though it would have driven me mad in an adult novel. I'm able to dismiss the trope easily with teens, but if you aren't, you may love this one a little less. (Maybe. I still think you should give it a try.)

Minimal cursing. Closed door, implied sexual situations. I'd be fine with 8th grade and up.

This is a debut novel which is truly so impressive. I now have this author on my auto-read list because I think she'll be doing big things. So. Damn. Good. Read it now.

3.5 stars!

I just finished reading my second arch ever! Not going to lie did I see a Taylor Swift title and request it immediately? YES!

If you are a fan of the summer turned pretty series. I highly recommend this book. It was the perfect young adult summertime read. This book deals with so many messy true teenage emotions which is exactly what a young adult book is suppose to deal with.

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a sweet, nostalgic, teenaged exploration of growing up and dealing with difficult things. As a person of color who often feels pressured to take a certain path in life, Natalia’s resolution with her parents felt unrealistic *to me* but I absolutely adored it anyways. It was hopeful and positive, which healed my soul a little. I’m also not often a fan of the miscommunication trope but watching Natalia and Ethan fight for each other and never let go made me fall in love with their story. It wasn’t spread out over a long time and it was fast paced and made me appreciate how dramatic and lovely young adult life is. I finished high school pretty recently but I often feel caught up in “adulthood” and this was the perfect reminder to stop and be a little childish and enjoy a sunrise with a loved one.

This checks all the boxes for me. ✅Stubborn AF friends-to-lovers. ✅Forced proximity in a cozy beach setting. ✅And angst. Lots and lots of delicious angst. Eva Des Lauriers’ debut YA novel I Wish You Would is as addicting as the Taylor Swift song it’s named after. It follows best friends Natalia and Ethan, who are so in love but oh-so terrified to rock the friendship boat. After a disastrous prom night and a summer of ghosting each other, they reunite for their Senior Sunrise school trip. Giving them 24 hours to fix things.

Other than the points I listed, what drew me in was the concept of Senior Sunrise. The students gather to camp out and fulfill the tradition of writing anonymous wishes along the lines of “If I were braver, I would…” Naturally, Natalia and Ethan write about each other, completely vulnerable in their letters. Immediately regretting this, Natalia attempts to retrieve her confession and is horrified when the wind scatters the letters all over the beach. As she and Ethan work together to find seven letters, the tension skyrockets. We get to read these letters as they’re found, and it’s interesting trying to piece together who they belong to. It’s also nerve-racking, because Natalia and Ethan’s letters could be out there too.

The short timeline gave me the sense that they had to get their feelings out at this trip or it would be too late. There’s a heavy amount of miscommunication, which would usually be annoying, but the emotion was so raw and well written that I was okay with it. Loving it, even. Natalia and Ethan felt like real people with real history — the kind of friends who get under each other’s skin, in every definition of the phrase. It made their arguments just as enjoyable (well, almost) as the tender moments. They’re a precious, perfectly shippable couple, and I already miss them. I finished this book deliriously happy, as I would after my own beach day.

This was just what I imagined it would be. An emotional journey and a story my teenage heart wished it had, but is finding healing still today. I loved the character arc of Natalia and Ethan, as they grew strong enough to fight for what they wanted.

A beautiful YA romance about two friends wanting to be more while dealing with family drama. Highly recommend for fans of 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before,' friends to lovers romances, and real life situations in books.

I think the author did a great job writing about the final year of high school, with all its blood, sweat, and tears. Literally.

The story felt like it could've happened just as it was written. Parts were dramatic but teens are dramatic so ...

I know not everyone likes reading YA books, but I'm not one of those people. I find them refreshing in their honesty.

I think this would make a fantastic movie and I really hope it becomes one!!!

I would recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read this because of the Taylor Swift song. But this was not for me. I am not a big fan of YA romance they tend to feel super immature for me. If I was younger I think I would have really enjoyed this one.

The premise of this book sounded so good to me but I picked it up hoping for something that I never really got. I'm a sucker for a friends to lover's story, but I didn't really feel the friendship between Ethan and Natalia. I personally hate the miscommunication trope and that is all that the relationship between Nat and Ethan boiled down too. Not for me.

I also felt like this book was trying to do way to many things in under 300 pages. So many conflicts you see in YA novels were all shoved inside this one. Inappropriate teacher relationships, ratial issues, sexuality differences, pervy dads, divorce, college fears, unrequited love between long time friends, mean girls in high school, etc. Similary, I'm getting very tired of so much LGBT characterization being added into every single YA book. It's overdone and in this instance I felt it added no value. I just want to read a good story! It was just way too much. And I don't think any of the topics were handled well or with particular care.

This was fun, but I'll go ahead and say that if you don't like miscommunication, this probably isn't the book for you. From the very first chapter--and everything that evolves from it--the book revolves around Natalia and Ethan having feelings for each other but keeping them hidden, and then eventually more secrets are kept and it all just kinda snowballs. I don't like miscommunication, and I think that's why this was just a "meh" read for me. It was quick, diverse, well-written, and took place over 24 hours so the pacing was good, but I just couldn't get over the constant "i love her but i cant tell her shes my best friend" "i love him but he deserves better" GAH just confess already!! Anyway, I liked it overall, just not that the entire book was them keeping secrets and getting their feelings hurt because they kept secrets.

I loved this book, it was such a cute read full of teen angst. It is perfect for those people that are stuck in limbo when trying to figure out the friend zone and getting out of it. I loved the slow burn and all the drama that came from little misunderstandings.

I loved all the characters in this story. They were different, real, and relatable. The male MC is not your typical “macho” guy with stereotypical flaws, instead he’s real and fallible as is the female mc. All the characters are, none of them are perfect and that’s the point for all of them and I loved that. The diversity of the cast was also a huge plus to me, I felt like Eva did it so well, thank you for that representation.

This is a fast paced and well written character development story. If you like drama shows, teen angst, and miscommunication tropes, this is absolutely the book for you. If, like me, you genuinely dislike the miscommunication trope, this book may not be for you. It’s not bad by any means but the story may not hit the spot for you. The silver lining if you still want to give it a shot? It’s not drawn out over the course of days, weeks, months, years, etc. it takes place over the course of 24 hours with some flashbacks for storytelling sake. So it doesn’t have you rolling your eyes at characters or wanting to throttle them through the book because they won’t just get over themselves.

I can’t wait to read more of the authors stories in the future.

Love love LOVE the idea of this book! I adore senior year nostalgia reads, so I Wish You Would was right up my alley. I loved the single day timeline - it felt realistic and not overly filled. I loved the class bonding and fun activities. Senior Sunrise and Grad Night sound so fun!! I wish my school had done things like that.

I adored all of the side characters. Rainn and Sienna are such good friends - I was SO glad at the end when Natalia and Ethan really appreciated their friendship. And Prashant — everything he did surprised me and cracked me up. Love that dude. And Mason! The growth! (He didn’t grow a ton as a character, but other people’s perceptions and assumptions about him did, and it was so sweet.)

I didn’t ~ love ~ Natalia or Ethan. The whole time I just wanted each of them to grow a pair and shop whining and just tell each other how they feel! The slow burn went a little too long for me… I got a bit tired of the drama and miscommunication. And good grief they both could benefit from some therapy.

Overall this was fun! It sucked me in and I read it over two days. I really felt like part of Liberty Prep’s senior class!

This would be perfect for fans of KL Walther and Morgan Matson. 😊

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for allowing access to the e-Arc.

4.25 stars

Wow! This definitely gave me similar feels To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I really enjoyed this love story. I felt like it was realistic and raw. There were hard topics discussed in a more digestible way. It expresses all the burdens that some teens go through. I appreciated that rawness.

I highly recommend it!

✰✰✰✰
This was exactly what I was craving! It's a nice, contemporary romance that I was able to finish in one sitting. There was a lot of drama, a cute romance, and good pacing. I loved the characters (+ the friendship scenes between Natalia and Ethan were very sweet) even if they did make decisions that annoyed me (lots of miscommunication + drama as I mentioned before!). It was also fun to read the letters and try to match them to the characters.
Overall, it was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.