I enjoyed this story with all the characters that were within this book. This main character was Sadie.

Sadie is off to college. She wants to be a writer. All her life, she been competing against her next-door neighbor. She is hoping that he doesn't follow her to the same college.

This was a fun story to read. It had me giggling a lot throughout it. It had action, adventure, and drama throughout.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.

I ADORED THIS BOOK! This was what I expected from an Emma Lord new adult romance: cute and quirky, with a little cussing and some big time flirting.

What I loved about it:
1. I loved the childhood enemies to lovers, always-having-to-one-up-each-other-so-they-brought-out-the-best-in-one-another relationship Sadie and Seb had! It was so fun to watch their jabs at each other, as well as the different relationships they played amongst different groups of people (ie they acted a certain way in front of parents, in front of teachers, etc). They had this inherent system of just knowing which characters they were going to play together at any given time, not really realizing that this was because they knew the core of each other in such a deep and meaningful way.

2. I loved the campus activities! Lugging a microwave from your dorm room for a campus organizations food war, alphabet parties where you dress as something and eat food/drinks that all start with the same letter, and mysterious jelly beans you should never, ever trust were just some of the antics we saw throughout the book. These activities added to the overall college atmosphere of the book. It had me wishing I went to school with them!

3. I loved the premise of saving the campus newspaper and dealing with administrative funding issues, especially with my history at a college run radio station where we definitely had one of the least amounts of funding and were always the ones cut. It really hit close to home, and I always root for an underdog so this was perfect.

4. Finally, I loved the overarching theme that no one is ready for life after high school and that everyone is still finding themselves. Hell, it took well past college for me to find myself, so I’m glad to see this message represented.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Emma Lord for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

4.25 stars!

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are mine.

This is such a perfect read for fans of academia romance and enemies to lovers. The books overachiever and ambitious Sadie who starts college with the joy of having left her nemesis behind only for him to get off the waitlist. Witty ,banter filled ,lovable characters and fast paced.

Oh to be in college and have a beloved pancake restaurant! I love Emma Lord and The Rival is now a contender for my top favorites of hers.

Emma Lord has once again delivered a sweet young adult romance with fun characters and a great found family feel. I enjoyed the main characters, especially the banter between them. Their romance was believable, and I rooted for them the whole time, but I think the side characters steal the show.

Betty was such a great character. Every page she was on was perfection. The pancake breakfast scenes were my favorite of the book. Not only is Betty hilarious, but there is a lot of romantic development between the leads during these scenes.

The college setting was well-written and brought the story to life. The Alphabet parties and the dorm food competitions kept me thoroughly entertained. The themes of loneliness on campus were relatable for the target audience and those of us who have felt lonely in new settings. I was very invested in the campus corruption subplot.

Perfect for fans of clean romances, sweet college couples, found family, and LGBTQIA+ representation.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Wednesday Books and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own. Jesse Vilinsky’s narration was fantastic.

I’m a big fan of Emma Lord’s YA romance. This was not my favorite of her books, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sadie thinks she’s made it by getting into the college of her choice and by beating out her high school rival, Sebastian, until he shows up on campus. He’s also going out for the same student organization/publication. Their competition continues as they compete for the one open spot.

I loved their rivalry. They’ve known each other their whole lives so their banter and barbs back and forth were hilarious. I also them working on their articles and seeing this part of journalism. I also really loved how they leaned on each other their first semester away from home. Their rivalry/friendship slowly becomes more. I loved seeing this and how they leaned into each other.

I’m always happy for more books from Emma Lord.

Sadie and Seb have known each other since birth and although they used to be best friends, a prank gone bad led to the breakdown of their friendship. Ever since they have spent the majority of their adolescence subtly attempting to sabotage each other academically.

Sadie is finally at her dream school and ready for a fresh start, but to her shock Seb is also admitted after initially being wait-listed. Sadie is not happy, especially since she will be competing against him for a spot on their college’s famous zine.

Despite their famous rivalry Sadie and Seb join forces in the midst of their competition when they realize there are bigger issues at hand. While working together Sadie and Seb are reminded that they truly know each other better than anyone else, and the feelings they have worked hard to suppress begin to resurface.

The Rival was a sweet and surprisingly emotional story about childhood friends turned rivals turned more and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I didn’t dislike this book, but it was missing that distinctive Emma Lord Charm.

It was easy to read because Lord writes chemistry well, but all the tropes felt tired and done to death. I’ve seen rivals to lovers done much better (actually by Lord herself) and this book just felt a little unnecessary. It didn’t feel like it really commited to anyone’s growth and the conflict was anticlimactic and odd.

Not my favorite Emma Lord. It makes me wonder if she’s lost her enjoyment for writing YA and that this might signal a full transition into adult romcoms.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

📚: The Rival by Emma Lord
⭐️: 2.5/5 (rounding up on #goodreads)

A YA rivals-to-romance college campus story with Sadie. After competing against her former best friend, Seb, throughout elementary, middle, and high school, she’s thrilled to land at her dream college to forge her own path. And then she, literally, runs into Seb while crossing the street.

I typically enjoy YA reads - and Emma Lord’s books - but this one just didn’t hit the mark for me. The characters felt juvenile, the plot felt superficial. Honestly, the pancakes were my favorite part to read about. (IYKYK.)

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Rival is out on January 21st.

Another Emma Lord YA novel that will make you laugh, tear up and incredibly hungry! I really enjoyed The Rival! The frenemies to lovers was done so well and from the first page, you’ll be rooting for Sadie and Seb to just kiss already! I really loved the Newsbag crew and also seeing all the other fun student organizations like the Foodie Club and the Jelly Bean group. The humor in this book was fantastic and it definitely reminded me of how zany and sometimes overwhelming college life can be, especially for freshmen! I also liked the look at family dynamics and expectations for both Sadie and Seb. I highly recommend this one for fans of Lord’s other YA novels and also those who enjoy silly antics, crazy food pairings and a very cute love story! I also recommend you read this while eating a giant stack of pancakes. You’ll thank me later!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

My biggest issue was that there really wasn't a rivalry between these two. The childhood friends to lovers aspect didn't feel satisfying and their relationship needed to be developed earlier, with more showing than telling in order to be effective. Unfortunately this is one of those cases where it felt like the tropes came first and the story came second.

The Rival by Emma Lord is a sweet YA novel that I enjoyed.

Sadie has landed at her dream college and she is in her first semester. She's excited for this new path and she is looking forward to the fact that the person she has always had an academic competition with, Sebastian, is no longer a factor. Or is he?

Sebastian hadn't originally gotten in, but he's gotten off the waiting list and he's now been admitted to the same college as Sadie. Now that Seb is there, it turns out that both he and Sadie want the same position at the school newspaper. They are about to compete with one another for the position, but will they also be fighting feelings too after spending so much time in close quarters?

I did enjoy this story, but there were times I felt like it was very drawn out and could have moved a little quicker. As I said above, this was a sweet story and it was enjoyable.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

A rivals to romance story in which two college students, who have been competing against each other for their entire lives, end up competing for a highly sought-after writing spot for the school paper.

It was cute and sweet with kissing only in terms of spice level. For pretty much the whole story you wanted to shout, "just kiss already!" because the two main characters were connected right from the start.

This read very quickly and was a fun little romcom. Thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via netgalley.

This was such a cute book. I really like Seb and Sadie both as characters and as a couple, and the whole way their relationship evolves from academic rivals to lovers. The pop culture references and modern slang throughout the book kinda took me out of it a little bit, but not in a way that it was so terrible (side note - felt very dystopian to read a book mention tiktok on the last actual day of tiktok in the US).

The Newbag/newspaper part of this story was also super interesting and unique and I enjoyed what it added to everything. The way the first 60ish% played out was really predictable, but the way it ended was not what I expected and definitely kept me interested.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy!

I thought this novel was very cute, but somewhat left something to be desired. I thoroughly enjoyed the pranks and hijinks our characters got up too, but felt like the many side characters were underdeveloped. I would've loved more focus on Seb and Sadie's families in a deeper way (especially Sebs), the rest of the Newsbag gang, and Christina! I also was somewhat confused at certain plot points, such as Seb needing to lave the university if he didn't make Newsbag? I wasn't sure if I missed something but some parts of the book just felt confusing to me.

The Rival by Emma Lord
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
329 pages
Publishing January 21st, 2024

Sadie & Seb have been long time academic rivals. Sadie has finally beat Seb- she got the coveted only spot into her dream college & Seb didn’t get in-or so she thinks. As they now both go to the same college, Sadie finds herself competing with Seb for a spot on the school’s writing group. When required to band to together, Seb & Sadie realize they might not dislike each other as much as they thought.

I haven’t read many academic rival books but I loved this one! Emma Lord knows how to write cute, hilarious banter between main characters. I had the opportunity to read an ARC of her book The Breakup Pact last year & I adored it. If you’re looking for a cute, fast paced rivals to lovers book, check this out!

Read if you like:
✨Hilarious banter
✨Rivals to lovers
✨Slow burn

Thank you @dilemmalord @wednesdaybooks & @netgalley for this eARC!

#emmalord #romance #wednesdaybooks #macmillianbooks #rivalstolovers #slowburn #banter

This was such an enjoyable read. I couldn't pin it down at first, but now that I'm done reading I really loved the lady who owned the pancake restaurant. Her humor was on point through the whole story. I also liked the main characters, but pancake lady for the W!

Rivals to friends to ‘lovers’.

I really enjoy Emma Lord’s writing, but this one felt a bit too much like one of her previous books.

I did love the expansion of characters in this book, having multiple queer characters, including a main character! This book did really resonate with the real world and a lot of politics are interfering with quality reporting and misinformation.

I really wanted to like this. Academic friends to rivals to lovers sounds great! However I was so bored while reading this and I could not get into the story. Thank you so much for providing the ARC but unfortunately I did DNF.

I was so excited to read this book. Unfortunately that didn’t last. For this to be a YA book, there was a lot of harsh language throughout. I also wished it would have been listed as LGBTQ+ because if I would have known this, I wouldn’t have requested it. The story idea was cute, and I like a good friend to enemies trope, but this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books for my advanced readers copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.