Skip to main content

Member Reviews

I started this book as a test for my classroom. I really liked it because it gave me goosebumps and I could feel the characters.

I wouldn’t recommend it in my general classroom, but I will recommend it to my queer students.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers and Erin Baldwin for this sapphic summer camp read. My dream as a kid was to get to go to summer camp and I never got too. I had to live vicariously through my friends that got to go. So when I saw this book I was like yes please. And what a summer camp this would have been!
The story was medium paced I’d say but it was really cute and I liked following the “coming out story”. I really enjoyed seeing the camp activities as well since I never got to experience them myself. The frienemies to lovers was a nice touch as well.
I really liked both of our characters. Juliette was a great character to follow as she found herself over the course of this novel. She also found her place with friends and family. Pryia grew as well. She got the girl she had been besting over for almost her whole life and it was rough getting there lol. Both girls deserve each other for sure and I’m glad we got the sneak peek of how they are doing.
I would recommend this read. Again it was a great sapphic read that others would enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for my copy.

Was this review helpful?

This was the most perfectly cute romcom I've ever read! It follows frenemies Juliette and Priya who get stuck as roommates at summer camp and quickly began to learn that, maybe the other one isn't so bad after all! I couldn't put this story down. Through, almost the entire story, I was screaming at them to just kiss already 😅 This was perfectly written: it wasn't too long, it wasn't too short, and it didn't feel like the author wanted to see how many scrabble worthy words they could fit into one book. This is the perfect sapphic love story, smut-free. Lol

Was this review helpful?

This was a very cute read. The summer camp vibes were great and reminded me of when I used to work in a camp though mine was admittedly not as cool as Fogridge. It's kind of enemies kind of frenemies to lovers which was good but I don't think I believed in their relationship enough to want them together. I understood where Juliette was coming from with camp being her space and Priya taking it over but she was kind of a jerk? Not my favorite main character. I wish there was more about her large family and her parents.
I imagine it's difficult living with six siblings and two parents working as doctors and I didn't get enough of that home life to care for Juliette. Also I know it's a YA book but I just felt too much immaturity from both Priya and Juliette.
It's a fun and silly summer vibes books but overall I kind of just wished there was more to the story and the characters.

Was this review helpful?

As a queer woman who grew up a camp kid, this books hits in all the right ways. As much as this is a romance novel, it is more about figuring out who you are as a young adult, which is what makes it so relatable.

Juliette and Priya have different struggles in their daily lives. Juliette struggles with feeling invisible, especially among her six siblings. Priya struggles with always being in the spotlight, an only child and an influencer. Juliette has always used camp to escape those feelings in her life and Priya gets to learn how to do the same. (This is a common camp kid thing, I promise. It made it all the more authentic to me.) Along the way, they fall for each other.

Was this review helpful?

! 4.5 stars !
I need to read more YA romances because this was so stupidly, amazingly cute. I don't even know.. I don't think this book needs me to explain anything differently than it already has but whatever. It's a summer camp romance with hate (but is it really hate?...??) to love, "that one character who just pisses you off the whole time actually sees punishment and it feels just as good as you imagined", amazing camp friends, and much more that I cannot currently think of.
I will say the beginning was a bit slow for me just because there were parts that initially annoyed me and took a hot second to get past (.. Galahad, I am looking at you..), but once I got past it (did not take long), I was in love.
The characters are all (minus Galahad) amazing, especially Pat. I love him, he is iconic and amazing and deserves the very best. Priya is hilarious, I love her so much. Also love, love, love how camp became a place where she could totally shed her whole public persona and nerd out like a normal teenager about theater and "Survival" (the show) to Juliette. I do wish we got a bit more about her backstory (maybe I missed it, though) and more about how her time at camp affected her life outside of camp, but even still, I love her whole character and story. Juliette, too, is so relatable, because (while I have never been to summer camp, I can imagine) having all your camp friends separate from your IRL friends and then all of a sudden having your IRL "sworn enemy" (my words not hers) show up to your safe space? I would react the same way with the same bitterness and such (and I feel like any normal teenager would, at least to some extent, but I could be wrong..).
On a separate note though, if Galahad has no haters, I simply no longer exist because why was a fully-fledged adult hating on a moody teenager for doing basic moody teenager things? The world may never know, but at least we saw justice in the end.
Anyway, highly, highly recommend. It was so cute and had the perfect blend of back-and-forth and later cutesy romantic moments and gestures between Priya and Juliette.

Was this review helpful?

Wish You Weren't Here by Erin Baldwin is a swoony sapphic rom-com!
The romance was phenomenal. The characters are sweet. And tension and banter was spot on.
A delightful enemies to lovers romance that kept me glued to my Kindle.
This YA sapphic camp book was just amazing. I loved everything about it!

Thank You NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Was this review helpful?

This book was full of all the fuzzy camp feels I've missed, this one hit me close to home since I never got to have my last year at my summer camp I went to so I got a little teary eyed at the ending. this is a love letter to summer camp (change my mind..I bet you can't) I'm honestly fully obsessed with Juliette and Priya they're just so perfect and I was rooting for them the entire time. Lucy and Gia were the BEST side characters ever god I loved them so much and I wanna be their friends.

Overall this was a fun sapphic summer camp book and I loved it to bits and pieces, thank you penguin teen for the e-arc all opinions are my own

Was this review helpful?

I have only read one other sapphic summer romance, and I have to say, I think this is my new favorite genre. Wish you weren’t here was just so fun. I loved the camp activities and how Juliette and Priya’s relationship unraveled. Even if this book is a little fluffy, this is just what I needed. While I wished there were more things explored when it came to Priya, this book came and did what it set out to do, and it excelled at the sweet, and a little silly at times, summer romance. 4.5 stars, it was wonderful and so damn cute.

Was this review helpful?

Summer camp, enemies to lovers, hot popular girl falls for outdoorsy quiet girl. This book is so cute, definitely a must read for summer! The romance and enemies to lovers is set in the back drop of summer camp and summer games. The plot progresses perfectly and the slow burn frenemies romance plays out perfectly over the 300 pages. It would make a fantastic summer movie and I will definitely pick up more of Erin Baldwin's books

Was this review helpful?

The story was cute but I was not able to finish this story. I found myself drifting from the characters around the 70% mark. The joy I was supposed to be feeling with the revelations the main voice made did not connect with me. I did think the world building was very strong.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This YA sapphic camp book was adorable. The main trope in the book is enemies to lovers, one of my favorite! The chemistry between the characters is great and I love all the details, especially the love interest's clothing choices. It really makes it seems so real. Looking forward to this author's next book.

Was this review helpful?

This is the perfect summer read! It was easy to read, entertaining and full of feel good moments!! This book made me so nostalgic for camp and I’ve never even been!

I loved all the characters! Their motivations and reactions felt natural for a bunch of 17 year olds and didn’t feel like an adult trying hard to write teens. The camp setting was so fun and the forced proximity was great! I do wish we had more examples of Juliette being dramatic and over the top (we were told constantly throughout the book that’s how she is but we never actually see it). Overall this was such a fun read and I’ll definitely be waiting to see what the author writes next!

Was this review helpful?

I wasn't expecting this book to hit me so hard in my feels! As someone who also felt like their true self only at summer camp, I related so much to Juliette. Loved reading her journey and especially her interactions with her friends throughout the summer.

The vibes of this book were immaculate and really transported me back to my camp days, Erin Baldwin nailed the sights, sounds, and smells of camp perfectly.

Wasn't a huge fan of Priya even after her character arc and found the romance element of the story a little weak. I much preferred the coming-of-age plot and seeing Juliette's development. Also wasn't a huge fan of the resolution (or lack there of) with her counselor.

Overall a sweet summer book and a must-read for anyone who loves camp!

Was this review helpful?

Wish You Weren't Here was the perfect cozy summer read I could have picked up. I am not a fan of YA contemporary romances, but this was truly beautifully done. I loved the writing, it was funny and smart while still being an easy read. It was perfect for my reading slump, perfect for a fun heart-warming read. I am still getting used to queer couples having happy endings, queer people being safe in spaces, people talking about sexuality easily without prejudice or homophobia, and this book felt so fresh and so warm when it spoke about these topics in such a manner. The characters all felt very real, and their relationships with each other were adorable and hilarious. I felt like they were my besties, and we were all at camp together having a blast. Priya's and Juliette's relationship was so much fun to read as well, how they began as rivals, and then slowly, how they got to know each other well and deeply. Their tension and banter were exquisite, and in the end, the lessons they learned, and the development of their characters were so heartfelt and sweet, that they had me smiling from ear to ear, kicking my feet, and giggling like a maniac. I want more from these characters! More from their lives and more from Priya and Juliette, truly, for a person who doesn't like contemporary romance, this was a great read, and Erin is a new favorite author!

Was this review helpful?

Juliette, one of seven children, is never able to be true self except when she goes away to summer camp. When she’s at home, she’s one of multiple children. When she’s at school, it’s as if her world (and everyone else’s) revolves around Priya - her not-friend but member of her friend group who never forgets to invite her everywhere.

You can imagine Juliette’s surprise when she goes to her final year at summer camp and her roommate is none other than Priya! Will Juliette still have the summer camp experience she was hoping for?

This YA book is perfect for summertime and that coming of age plot where everyone is just trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be.

I am so glad I got to read Wish You Weren’t Here! I like to be surprised when going into ARC’s so I was taken aback when I realized that this was YA. However, I actually really liked it and it was a fun pallet cleanser when most of the books I’ve read like this are so romance heavy.

Was this review helpful?

This book was made for summer and brings me back to being a kid in the summertime. It takes place at a camp and there’s something so nostalgic and childlike about the setting, even if you never went and its about teenagers. I loved Juliette, she was very relatable for me and I think that’s what led me to love her. She’s someone who doesn’t show all of herself at school, but is able to be her true self at camp with her friends until her frenemy shows up (and they’re in the same cabin). I liked the relationship between Juliette and Priya which goes from frenemy to friends to lovers. I liked seeing all these changes in their relationship throughout the book and how they know each other just from being in each others lives for so long even if it wasn’t as friends.

Overall, this was a good romcom and I recommend it as a summer read!

Was this review helpful?

DNF @30% - Oh gods, every single character in this book is just so incredibly insufferable. I just can’t anymore. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the only reason I’m DNF’ing. The story is fine enough. I don’t hate the writing. It’s just characters. I can’t do it.

Was this review helpful?

A refreshing tale in the enemies to lovers genre. Although the romance is a highlight of the book, another lesson shines through in the story. For both protagonist lessons in love and life are revealed. Our first person narrator tells the story of a young woman who always seems to be misunderstood finding her footing. Excellent novel, I'll be recommending to my students.

Was this review helpful?

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

Pack your bags.. We are going back to camp! I loved this nemesis (kinda) to friendship to lovers trope. The growth and friendship between Priya and Juliette had me crying on the plane! I loved their camp experience, it made their journey fun to read. I laughed, I kicked my feet, and I enjoyed every second of Priya and Juliette.

Wish You Weren’t Here is a MUST READ!

Was this review helpful?