I wasn’t sure what to expect from Exes & Foes and ended up loving it. I felt so tender hearted toward these characters. Both main characters are trying to deal with so much, though each handle it very differently, with Caleb falling in on himself while Emma becomes as prickly as possible. I look forward to reading the rest of Amanda Woody’s work.

I loved this book and the way they tried to stay away from the girl but things ended up going exactly how I wanted!

I loved the two main characters of this novel a lot. Their connection and back stories were mostly written well and they got very deep. The one thing I could not stand is how Juliet was written. Basically her dialogue was all over the place and she didn't seem like a real person at all. Especially in the beginning with all the crying and outbursts. She may be the worst written character I've ever read for the first half of the book. Not sure what happened with her.

4.25/5

Amanda Woody has done it again.

Like THEO, Woody has a way of luring you in to the story with humor and witty characters, only to hit you with an emotional rollercoaster that you can’t (and kinda don’t want to) get off from.

Exes and Foes was not only a friends-to enemies-to friends-to lovers story, but also an amazing work about friendship, found family, and knowing your self-worth. I laughed and cried with Emma, Caleb, and their whole friend group.

This was an amazing sophomore effort and I can’t wait to see what else they have in store.

Sadly this young adult novel wasnt for me. I was really loving the cover. Thats what made me want to read it. But the characters were dull and the narrators didnt help it . I sat there bored and drifting off while reading and listening to it. Just not the story for me

Exes and Foes may be the cutest book ever written. And not cute in an irritating or cringe way. Cute in a laugh out loud, clap your hands and kick your feet, sigh and say “aww!” kind of way. This book is hilarious, the inner monologues and dialogue are quirky but real and genuinely emotional. I loved the gender role reversal: Caleb is a gentle giant with OCD tendencies who shows love by cleaning and feeding people, and Emma is a short, foul mouthed fireball who will throw down verbally or physically to protect those she holds dear. While I thought that 4 years was a long time to have them be estranged given that they’re only in high school, I LIVE for the romance reasons that bring them back into each other’s orbit: Caleb defends a new girl, Juliet, from a bully, Emma steps in and knees said bully in the balls, and on the way out of the principal’s office they end up in competition for Juliet’s affection. I mean— The teen angst and drama! The layers of “who likes who” intrigue, with a hilarious twist at the end! Woody does a wonderful job weaving the chemistry and complex feelings between Caleb and Emma with their friend group dynamics, as well as the very real stressors in both of their lives. I was particularly moved by Caleb’s mom: some of the most poignant scenes show how healing it is for Emma to experience what her unconditional maternal love feels like. I recommend this book to any romance reader, not just YA. who loves a second chance romcom with forced proximity, caretaking and protectiveness, standing up to bullies, all with the support of a fun, accepting friend group!

This was a really cute story about ex besties Caleb and Emma and their rivalry to win the affections of new girl Juilet only to realize maybe she's not who they want! I really enjoyed the book and my only gripe would be they were a bit too insta-obsessy over Juliet, I wish there had been more build up there, I could not connect with why they were both so into her. Their relationship though was very cute and I was hooked from the first chapter where Emma steps into a fight between Caleb and another boy, and totally kicks the dudes butt because he was saying rude things about Caleb's mom! I was rooting for their friendship and potentially more, and was very happy with how it ended! Overall, this is a fun rom-com, with a sweet romance, and tons of queer representation!!

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one! It was a lot of fun and such a nice break from the fantasy I'd been reading. I love a story you can get lost in and this is exactly what this did!

This is a friends to enemies to lovers story about Emma and Caleb former friends who both set their eyes on the new girl, Juliet, they make a competition to see who will win her first only to find eachother instead

This is the authors second book and second book I read. Both books started a little slow and then picked up quickly for me. I found myself reading the first few chapters not being sure of how I was going feel about the characters. One thing that I love about Amanda’s writing is her ability to write very flawed characters with difficult family lives. On the surface the character may feel hard to like, but you continue to read and as you learn about where they come from and how they struggle until you eventually find them likable. She is also very good at writing enemies to lovers stories that don’t have a quick sudden resolve, which is something that can be difficult in a lot of enemies to lovers stories.

Overall I found myself falling in love with Caleb, Emma and Juliet as well as Caleb’s mom and their other friends. Caleb, however, is such a loveable character it’s impossible to not fall in love with him.

A great sophomore novel, 4 stars and I look forward to reading future stories.

I absolutely loved They Hate Other so I’ve been very excited for this book but I was also nervous because sometimes I just don’t love an authors second book as much as I did the first one but y’all this book is SO FREAKING GOOD!! Like I really really loved it!! It was sweet and funny and emotional and heartbreaking and heartwarming and so much in between! I absolutely loved both Emma & Caleb so much and was invested in both of them from the very start. I also adored Juliet so much (especially with the reveal at the end ((I 100% guessed it really early on too))) and I loved Caleb’s mom, Liz, & Alice too!

One of my favorite things about Amanda’s books is how complex they are! Both this book & theo deal with really heavy topics (really well, I might add) but they’re mixed with humor and self deprecation and so much love that they’re impossible to put down! I just really loved every single thing about this book and highly recommend it! Will definitely be making my list of favorite books for the year 🩵

Exes & Foes is a cute second-chance YA romance with a lot of heavy secondary themes. This book deals with parental abuse and neglect, bullying, homelessness, and issues around identity and coming out. I liked Caleb and Emma a ton as characters, and while they both make some questionable choices, for the most part I saw them as pretty relatable teenagers, especially given the circumstances they are put into by the people around them. There's a ton of great queer rep, with both Caleb and Emma being bi (we love a bi4bi pairing!), Caleb also being demisexual, Juliet being nonbinary and aroace (coming out as both throughout the course of the novel), and Alice being a lesbian. Their friend group is also culturally diverse, though this doesn't play too big of a role; there are Chinese, Indian, and Black families represented.

One issue I had with this ARC was that there were a TON of spelling and grammar errors that I hope are cleaned up before publication. Just off the top of my head, I remember seeing "canon" instead of "cannon", "breaks" instead of "brakes", and a bunch more.

While I really hoped that this book was going to be polyam, with Caleb Emma and Juliet ending up in a triad, I think that Woody worked through the relationships in the story in a way that made the pairing at the end make sense, and I was really rooting for Caleb and Emma. I recommend this one for queer YA readers especially!

Overall, a cute and quirky YA romance. I enjoyed the characters and all their flaws. The childhood friends-to-not-friends-to lovers concept was well done and sweet. One of the things I didn't like, though, was their "competing" for Juliet. Just didn't sit well with me, even though the characters admitted to it and apologized to Juliet. Overall, this was a fun read, but not a new favorite.

Exes & Foes by Amanda Woody is a contemporary novel that explores themes of relationships and rivalry. While the story provides some engaging moments, its overall execution and character development might not stand out to all readers. The book offers a familiar narrative but may appeal differently depending on personal tastes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC of this book.

It’s the first I’ve read by Amanda Woody, but it won’t be the last.

Definitely check triggers. This isn’t dark by any means, but it does deal with some heavy topics like abuse from a parent (mental and emotional) and homophobia. That being said, those were handled well and were part of the story and making the characters who they were.

This book had such cute moments, while also dealing with these heavy themes. The LGBTQIA+ rep was great and again, done well. It was such a great found family story with a cute second chance romance, which isn’t usually my favorite trope. Everything about this book worked so well.

My only complaints are that it started a little slow and I kind of wish some of the side character friends were fleshed out a bit more, but again, I loved it and will read more by this author.

Slow to start, but the book tackles a lot of tough things with grace and empathy. The superficial storyline of Emma and Caleb, the chaotic bisexual exes engaging in a contest to win the affection of Juliet is easily the least interesting story arc. The friendship and themes of parents, good and bad, are the real meat of the story. This book has solid character development, self-discovery, and personal growth. Lots of teens will see themselves and their lives reflected in these characters and their challenges, and can feel hopeful.

Unfortunately this was a dnf, I didn't care for the story line or the characters.
Thanks for net galley ans publishers for giving me and opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

I was a bit reluctant to dive in as I don't really like love triangles. The whole "competition" Emma and Caleb come up with to "get" Juliette just gave me the ick.

I ABHORRED Emma's mom! She is someone who should not have ever had the chance to be a parent. (That's so mean of me but seriously....)Emma is going to need therapy big time to deal with that trauma and neglect. I have never disliked a person so much! Caleb's dad wasn't the best either but at least his mom more than made up for it.

I like the queer rep throughout and Emma and Caleb (both bi) helping Juliette really define what she felt she was (aroace). I liked that (though the time apart from each other) didn't make Emma or Caleb ever not care about the other. They just needed Juliette in her sneaky way to get them back to that place in the others life again.

First of all thank you to penguin young readers and Amanda for letting me review such a great read .

i really did have so much fun with this book i have not read much YA for a while so i loved dipping my toe back in .
i thought that Amanda's writing was wonderful and refreshing to read , she kept it so well paced and i was turning the pages so fast to see what happens next .

the characters i thought were great took me back to when i was a teen but i loved the open minded way they would think in the book ,so many different personalities in the mix i loved it . and the drama was so good very much loved it with the laugh out load moments .

i think if you love young adults I would give this one ago .

i am giving the book 4 teenage dreams stars

I have to preface this by saying I already know that my YA patrons at the library will LOVE THIS BOOK. I want to recommend it to all of them right away. We will definitely be purchasing this book for circulation at my library!

I'm going to be completely honest here: the beginning of this book is ROUGH. The characters almost don't feel real, more like charicatures. The dialogue is cringey as fuck, and makes you debate if this author has ever talked to another human before, and the insta-love is WILD. It was almost painful to read, but the concept was interesting and the reviews were great so I decided to stick with it, and I'm glad I did.
I think over the time of the book Amanda Woody did a great job developing these characters. At the start they feel like charicatures but by the end they are fully fleshed out people that I got so incredibly attached to. Emma and Caleb are two very different people, yet there are A LOT of parallels to their personal journeys. I thought this author did a great job at developing those aspects, and I also love how we got flashbacks to really see how deep some of these things run. I absolutely cried like a baby at a certain point throughout this book. I thought that was all just masterfully executed, and really packed the punch it should have.
I also adore the friendships within this book. We're mainly focussed on Caleb and Emma in this book, and their friendship is precious to me. I actually really liked how rough around the edges it was. It felt very real, and I loved seeing them put the pieces back together, and heal the hurt between them throughout the novel. Juliet is also quite a big part in this one. I actually really liked their journey of realising her past friends were toxic, and finally finding a place where they fit in. I really loved that b-plot throughout this book. I also really liked the other side characters that made up the friendgroup. They were a lot of fun, and I kind of wish we got a little more from them.
The only thing I didn't really like in this book was the romance. The whole thing with Juliet felt incredibly insta-love, and forced. I really disliked that aspect to this book, and it lasted WAY longer than I expected. It annoyed me a little bit. However, I don't think it got that much better once the focuss went on Emma and Caleb instead. I don't hate them as a couple, I just think it was extremely underdeveloped. I mean, in the flashbacks it's clear they have little crushes on each other, but in the present those feelings just weren't present for me. I just think that was the part of the book where the least amount of effort was put into. Like I said, it wasn't horrribly done. It just kind of felt like an afterthought, and I think this book could have been so much more impactful if it was just a friendship story instead.