This book was so cute!

I adored this book so much! At first, I was a bit weary of Juliette's character in the beginning, but I am so glad I saw it through. This book was such a quick and easy read allowing me to finish it in under 12 hours. I loved the setting and how the characters' personalities were fleshed out and developed. I would recommend this if you're looking for a quick. cute, summer read! 3.5 stars!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Penguin Group for a free ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

✨4.5 rounded up to 5✨
this book was everything i needed right now. it made me laugh and tear up and everything in between! truly felt every emotion while reading this one and enjoyed it SO much i want to go to a summer camp now

Have you ever hated someone just because they're hotter, nicer, and more talented than you are? 🙋‍♀️ Did you also have a pathetic gay crush on this same person? 🙋‍♀️

This book reminded me a little of You Don't Have a Shot. High school summer camp (except more regular camp than soccer in this book), antagonism between the leading ladies that's rooted in insecurity and attraction, a moral about learning how to ask for help and open yourself up. And a happy, feel-good ending! I'm buying this as soon as it releases and will use it as a dose of serotonin. This made me sad that I never did any summer camps.

"But why does Juliette initially dislike Priya--" Because Priya is a rich, annoyingly hot influencer who everyone's obsessed with. Makes sense to me. Next question.

"Juliette isn't always very nice--" She's a jealous, very insecure sixteen year old. Believable. Moving on.

One thing that Juliette does is angst over how everyone says she's too intense, and that's why she's not very likable compared to someone like Priya. We never really see her act this way, though, or have other characters react negatively to her. She seemed like a popular person to me with a lot of friends. I'd have liked more instances of her feeling left out in her own family too, as one of the middle children who isn't a prodigy, but that might have made the book heavier and not as much fun.

Because it is fun! It's cute! It's funny! It made me happy! Read it!

Super fun Sapphic story about two girls who coexist getting closer at summer camp.

Juliette has a tolerance for perfect Priya at school, because Juliette has summer camp where she can be all of her true self. It's her last year of camp, and she can't wait! Except, Priya is somehow her roommate, and Juliette doesn't know how to handle this invasion of her space.

This is a sweet, lighthearted story that was filled with fun characters. I loved the various elements of the camp, and Priya's obsession with Survivor is cute. There's even a theater element, which is fun. Can't wait to see more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Out of the dozens of YA sapphic romances I’ve read, there were only three that I consistently returned to whenever I was in need of some comfort. There were so many moments throughout reading this that I knew this would be another added to that selective list.

Firstly, this is such a FUN read! I was never a camp kid but this made me want to be with all of the cool activities and found family. The reader can tell that the author knows her way around a summer camp because I felt like I was there.

Not only was the setting great, the side characters felt like such distinctive personalities, and I loved the banter between the core group of characters. I found myself actually laughing along with their banter and inside jokes.

I loved how Priya and Juliette’s relationship progressed! At times I was smiling like an idiot bc of how cute they are.

There is nothing I would change about this book! You bet your ass I am going to buy a copy as soon as it comes out and re-read it for years to come.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you Penguin Teen for the chance to read this one early! I had fun! I am excited to revist when the audiobook is out.

This was such a pure but banter filled delight that I was definitely not expecting. I have not read nearly enough queer young adult sapphic novels and this has just been such a great reintroduction to YA that I have needed and is a great addition to queer YA stories.

4/5 stars

i LOVEEEE a summer centered book, especially a summer camp centered book!! it feels like sunshine, when done right, and I think erin baldwin did this right!!

the story centers juliette barrera-wright in her last year at fogridge sleepaway camp, a place that has been her home and safe haven for many many years. her last year doesn’t go exactly as planned because of one miss priya pendley, but is still a life-changing summer!

i thought this story was so sunshine-filled and i loved watching juliette and priya get closer and seeing juliette realize that she did not, in fact, hate priya, but was actually quite obsessed with her (and that priya was too). juliette’s journey into realizing things don’t always go as planned but can still be good was done really well. i do wish the story could’ve delved more into what was briefly mentioned about her and her life with her siblings and parents, but i can understand that it might’ve been a little much for the book.

i also LOVED that juliette and her love interest were not white!!! I am quite tired of the character of colorxwhite love interest trope.

overall, i definitely recommend this book as a small dose of summer for whenever you’re missing being a kid with a summer very full of possibilities <3

I love the relationship between Juliette and her friends<3
I really connected with Juliette.
And i loved the epilogue.
There isn't much to say. It was a quick and easy reading. Lovely and funny. I totally recommend it.

Thank you to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read this book. I wanted this book to be so much more but in the end it fell flat.

I do not like YA romance. I feel like they are super cheesy and I can't relate to them. This book felt super young and I did not really care about the characters.

Wish You Weren't Here is like nostalgia in a book. Summer camp vibes and saying goodbye to events that mark our childhood... Having a special place where you are seen and realizing your role in that space is changing... I cried. A lovely coming of age and sapphic romance.

This was such an enjoyable read, especially given its genre of teen romance. I particularly appreciated the depiction of LGBTQ+ romance during the teenage years – it's just something I wish I had when I was younger. The author's writing style was truly captivating.

However, my only issue is that the romance felt rushed and underdeveloped. While it's clear that Priya had strong feelings for Juliette from the go, I needed a more gradual exploration of their relationship. It seemed to escalate quickly without exploring the nuances of their relationship.

Despite this, I'm so grateful for Priya's character, AN ICON.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the ARC copy of Wish You Weren't Here in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very cute YA book. I loved Priya's character. I also loved all the Survivor references. A fun read that I would recommend.

Wish You Weren’t Here by Erin Baldwin

Frenemies by silent agreement, Juliette and Priya find themselves spending their summer trapped together in the same cabin at Juliette’s annual retreat to summer camp.

The beginning of this book is somewhat encouraging. I always find the enemies-to-lovers trope somewhat suspect. It always feels overdramatic and overblown, and often the MCs have to resort to being petty and immature to keep the rivalry, or the antagonism towards each other is over too soon. But here, it’s made pretty clear that Priya and Juliette just don’t get along and they’ve silently agreed to just be civil with each other. It’s a very reasonable response to not liking someone. MCs are a little judgemental, but in the way you expect 17yo’s to be. All in all, the “enemies” part of this is the most realistic part of this book.

Everything else about this book pushed at and eventually broke my suspension of disbelief. The LI Priya has a level of fame in this small town where people are falling over themselves to get invites to Priya’s birthday parties. Juliette is super judgy about Priya’s wealth but Juliette’s parents are workaholic doctors, so it’s not like Juliette’s family doesn’t have money. Juliette falls and sprains her ankle at summer camp but instead of going to the camp nurse, they call an ambulance for her, and she gets an MRI. I just … can’t buy into it.

On top of that, I could buy this as a “freniemes-to-platonic friends” book but I don’t feel any romantic chemistry between Juliette and Priya. I honestly thought for the 40% of this book that I actually read (spoiler - I didn’t finish this) that this was just a platonic friendship story. When I decided to not finish this, I skipped to the end just to see if maybe that’s what it was. But no, this is supposed to be a romance. And maybe the chemistry comes in the 60% I didn’t read, fair. But idk, I just don’t feel it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sapphic YA frenemies to lovers romance set at camp with a prickly heroine! I enjoyed this quite a lot. Wish You Weren't Here is a frothy summer camp romance between a misunderstood, hard-headed heroine who feels like camp is the only place she can be herself, and the Instagram-famous girl she cordially despises who shows up unannounced as her roommate for the summer. This is for girls who were told they were too much, too intense, not nice enough. Girls who just wanted to be seen and loved for who they are. It's a slow-burn and is almost entirely set at camp with all the requisite camp activities. A great book for heading into the summer! I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I’m not usually a YA reader, but I’m so glad I made an exception for this sapphic summer camp story!

This is such a perfect summer book. It has all the quintessential camp necessities - color wars, bunkmates, evil counselors, drama performances, and so much more!

The characters in this story were interesting, the plot was engaging, and this was such a fun read.

I can’t believe this is a debut book, and I’m excited to see what the author has in store in the future!

wow wow wow WOW!

Erin just wrote THE camp book of all camp books, I swear!

I was THERE, a camper at Fogridge. So beautifully written, descriptive in the best way. If you asked me if this camp exists somewhere in the world, i’d Color Wars and Senior Twilight exist my answer would be a resounding YES!

I also loved the quick chapters!

UGH LOVE!

This is the perfect YA summer romp. It's cute, it's cozy, it's predictable sure but that's part of the fun about it! This is for the kids who had their gay awakening watching The Parent Trap (you know the scene) and it's such a sweet story that has a cute romance, themes of self-discovery, and is most importantly, a love letter to summer camps. I never really got to go to summer camps or sleepaway camps as a kid due to financial restraints, but I imagine this is what it would have been like if it I did, and I enjoyed getting to experience it and enjoyed the romance that came with it.

I clocked the Trixie Mattel product placement in the scene where Priya helps Juliette with putting on makeup. This story had everything I like queer people, camp experiences, and the last year in the last summer of your 18th year. It’s a shame that I felt the side characters were in the background too much and weren’t as fleshed out as possible so I got them confused or forgot about them. Conflict was kind of weak, but it doesn’t really matter to me because I liked the quick pace of the story. Thank you to the author and net galley for another good e-arc.