"The Rival" by Emma Lord is a charming and witty romantic comedy that perfectly captures the essence of youthful rivalry and unexpected romance.

Emma Lord has done it again!!

This book was cozy and real and something that a lot readers need. Leaving home is never easy especially when you have such great support systems. BUT finding out who you really are and afraid your family won’t accept you (Sadie) makes for especially uneasy times. BUT a throw in not wanting to disappoint your family (Seb). So much happening and throw in trying to bring to light a system failing?!

Sadie and Seb are the perfect duo (even if they disagree) for this adventure. I cannot wait to get this on HS shelves for kids to read before their new adventures so maybe they will see it’s normal to be happy, free, confused and lonely and not just at 22 ;)

Love this book. Read it. At any age. 🤍

OMG and plan to ready to have like literally every snack craving possible. Especially pancakes.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Emma Lord writes perfect college coming-of-age stories. I think a book like this would have meant a lot to me as a freshman in college.

Sadie and Seb are lifelong rivals—growing up together as next door neighbors with parents who are best friends will do that to you. Sadie finally vanquished Seb to get the only spot at their intended college, only for him to show up on the first day. As they figure out how to be more themselves in this new environment, they also have to reevaluate their relationship and figure out how to at least coexist. At the same time, all their dreams for college might be crashing down around them because of administrative greed and mismanagement—classic university story.

This book felt like the joy of being a freshman in college, walking on campus late at night with your friends, laughing harder than you knew was possible.

4.5 stars rounded up! Any Emma Lord book is an immediate must-read for me—like, I'd read her grocery list at this point (and honestly, given how she writes about food, I'm sure even that would be entertaining), and THE RIVAL was no different. Sadie has finally beat her lifelong academic rival (and next-door neighbor), the irritatingly smart and charming Seb, at his own game: she just scored the single coveted spot at her dream college. Or so she thinks...since Seb unexpectedly gets admitted off the waitlist. Now they're back in competition mode all over again, and Sadie is determined to earn a place on the staff of the school's famous zine—the only spot remaining for a freshman. But when they notice some concerning flaws in the school's system, Sadie and Seb are forced to band together rather than compete against each other. Will they finally realize that they're stronger together than they are as rivals...and that they just might have met their match in each other?

I love a good rivals-to-lovers, opposites-attract romcom, and this book definitely delivered on that front! Sadie and Seb's dynamic was so much fun to read about—their banter and chemistry was top-tier from start to finish. Both were also just such likable, relatable characters! Beyond the romance, I also enjoyed how Lord does such a great job of developing the characters as individuals, and really fleshing out their relationships with their family members and friends as well. I particularly liked seeing how Sadie's relationship with her sisters and just her family in general evolved throughout the story. Her conflict with always feeling like she had to fulfill a certain role within her family unit, and never feeling fully comfortable to be her true self or open up about her dreams of becoming a writer, was really well-done. And as someone who loves to write and also wrote for my college magazine, the storyline with Newsbag was also super engaging to read about, and added a unique layer to the story! I think the college aspect of the story in general was great, and Lord really touches on so many different parts of that experience, especially in terms of being a freshman like Sadie and Seb. What happens when the college experience wasn't entirely what you thought it would be, how isolating it can be to feel behind your peers from things like academics to dating/relationships, etc., these are things that will resonate with so many readers, and I appreciated how Lord incorporated topics like those, too! Finally, if you've read some of Emma Lord's other books, you already know to expect some fun pop culture references, and tons of delicious snacks (especially desserts!), both of which you'll find in THE RIVAL. Seriously, I don't think I've craved pancakes quite as much as I did while reading this book—by the end of the story, you'll want to take a trip to Pancake It or Leave It, too.

There were a couple of things I wanted more of from the book, but they didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story! I kind of wished we got to see more of the academic side of college than we did (like, more scenes of the characters going to classes, for example), although I understand why so much of the book focused on the extracurriculars like Newsbag. I also wanted a little bit more of the romance between Sadie and Seb—it was a pretty slow burn, which made sense for their characters, but I would have loved to see a couple more moments between them after they got together! Still, if you're in search of a sweet, fun YA romcom that also has lots of depth and character development, I would definitely recommend THE RIVAL. I can't wait to see what Emma Lord writes next! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

Emma Lord does it again!

If you aren't familiar with this author, Lord is known for her YA romance novels filled with witty banter. This one is no exception, as it focuses on Sadie and Seb, who grew up together as academic rivals. Sadie thinks she finally breaks free competing with Seb when she goes off to college. She is unfortunately shocked to discover that he was accepted off her school's waitlist and decides to matriculate at the same university. Their academic rivalry further escalates when they both decide to compete for the same writer spot on their university's magazine.

Despite this being a YA book, it is also a good choice for anyone who appreciates the enemies-to-lovers trope within a clean romance. While I do get a bit tired of this author's obsession with sugar, which she seems to infuse into all her books, I still found this to be a sweet, lighthearted, and fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for e-book and audiobook ARCs in exchange for my honest feedback.

Everyone loves a “‘will they, won’t they, dear god, just kiss already’ show” and Emma Lord is one of the best at writing them. I enjoyed the banter between Seb and Sadie. Their entangled history made reading between the jabs fun and their moments seem more electric than a regular enemies to lovers book.

My qualm about the book was how naive Sadie was. While reading this, there were so many obvious actions that anyone could have spotted a mile away, that it took away from the fun away from the story. Also there were so many side characters that it made it hard to keep track of everyone and the role they played in the story.

Overall this book was a good read, but I might not have been the audience for this one. As much as I was drawn in with the plot and tropes, I had a disconnect with the story. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC

I got to about 70% and skimmed the rest of the book. This was very meh. So much college and newspapers and magazines and writing and like 0% romance. The slow burn was so slow I can’t even consider it a slow burn. She kept putting off telling Seb how she felt and it drove me crazy!!! And the stuff with her family was like…. Just come on. You’re supposed to be in college now! Not my favorite but very creative. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Emma Lord does YAr right! This was sweet, engaging and all around a perfect little read. I found the characters to be well developed and charming.

Sadie and Seb were best friends, turned rivals. These two had parents that were best friends and grew up together. They are always competing and trying to one up one another. Sadie is now starting her freshman year of college, without Seb, but suddenly, he shows up. He got off the waitlist and now they're both competing for the school paper's one spot.

I enjoy Emma Lord's writing but Sadie drove me a little batty. I thing getting Seb's POV throughout the book would have made it significantly better. As the book went on, she became more tolerable and I did like the ending.

The Rival was, for this Emma Lord fan, a bit of a disappointment right from the start. Even from the very title, which promises rivals to lovers, and manages to fall short even on this basic premise - Seb and Sadie are competitive friends, with Seb barely even participating in the pretense of disliking one another, a pretense that goes away promptly anyway. Like most other plot elements in this YA romcom, the rivalry feels contrived, inauthentic, and incredibly formulaic. It's a paint-by-numbers romance, with characters and story beats ticking off a checklist but lacking in heart and humor.

Sadie's baggage with her family is particularly weird to me - she's afraid of telling them that she's funny? What does that even mean? Why? How? What? And also, huh? If she was scared to admit she wants to pursue comedy writing in a family that expects her to go into a more secure and lucrative field, that'd be understandable, but that cliche is given to Seb. Nope, Sadie's scared to admit that she's...funny. She's afraid to have quips. She's afraid to be someone who banters. I remain unclear on why that's supposed to be some dramatic emotional turmoil for her.

The competition for the campus magazine spot, the central plot driver for Sadie and Seb's current rivalry, is likewise silly and contrived; the college life that contextualizes it is absurdly quirky and outdated (if it was ever in-date....). This is supposed to be a prestigious university that's hard to get into? When do these students ever go to class in between their Quirk Clubs and Cutesy Societies and campus-wide dodgeball events that are somehow, incomprehensibly, supposed to make some kind of point protesting campus financial allocations?

Christina almost has an interesting storyline, when she's not too busy being the token non-white BFF, but gets short shrift since she spends the whole book being Sadie's cliche support system. Indeed, everyone and everything in the book is too busy supporting Sadie, and while I'm aware it sounds absurd to complain that a book's main characters are too, you know, main-character-y, the "center of every scene we walk into" energy Seb and Sadie have made me full-body cringe in 90% of their scenes that involved other people.

The predictable conflict in their romantic journey is as contrived and easily dismissed as every other step of that journey was before, and resolved with such absurd simplicity that it really makes you wonder why and how these two spent a decade or so pretending to hate each other, or whatever that frenemyship was supposed to be. Everyone seems so dedicated to making statements about how other characters are that feel entirely belied by what we've actually seen of those characters within the pages of this book. It isn't character growth, it's just poor character writing.

I had lots of tiny, trivial issues with the book as well, most of which felt way too petty to bother bringing up in a review, but the fact that I kept stubbing my metaphorical toes on them and mentally grumbling about each and every one feels like a strong indicator to me that I simply wasn't having a good time with this book. It felt like a watered-down version of Emma Lord's earlier books, a photocopy copied so many times it's lost the sharpness and clarity of the first rendition. In short, I was disappointed, to say the least.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

3.5/5 Stars!

Quick Summary: Seb and Sadie are high school rivals and find themselves competing for a writing spot in the same magazine in college.

This book was a great coming-of-age story for adjusting to college, being away from home, figuring out who you are, and advocating for your future. I enjoyed those aspects of this book a lot and I think it had a lot of good messages. I also enjoyed reading about how they were able to unify the college together to advocate for mental health services and being able to allocate school finances towards things that benefit the school body. Overall, these aspects made the book enjoyable.

Some things about the book that I didn't like was Sadie. I don't think I was able to connect with her due to her attitude during some situations. I feel like she was flat and unempathetic if it didn't feed into her goals. I also feel like the romance was a little underdeveloped and rushed at the same time. I wanted a little bit more openness and vulnerability with the romance. I also, found myself zoning out through some of the book and I think that might have been due to some parts being flat and not seeming like they were contributing to the story.

Overall, I did enjoy this story and I think it was well done. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy coming-of-age stories, adjusting to college, slow burn and friends to lovers/Enemies to lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Emma Lord for providing an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

The Rival is a cutesy young adult book about Seb and Sadie competing against each other throughout their lives. I could not sustain interest with the book. Both main characters were very annoying and immature. It sounded like a couple grade schoolers than college students.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I've liked Emma Lord's mature YA books for a little while now. She has a way of infusing her characters with charm and realness as well as their ambitions. It gives me some hope for Gen Z.

While this book doesn't quite top last year's for me, I liked Sadie and Seb. I had read a few books with the frenemy competition trope. So I was a little wary at first. Sadie and Seb's parents are best friends, and her siblings love Seb like a brother. It's Sadie's first time away from her family at college at a fictional university called Maple Ride. Sadie feels like her family is a lot, and she's been relegated to the fixer as the middle sibling. Her friendship with Seb got off the rails after a prank went wrong when they were 8. Sadie is pretty tired of competing with Seb for everything, so when he turns up at her university after getting off the wait list, she's not pleased. Her best friend Christina from another high school is her roommate and cross-country scholarship student.

Sadie's goal is to become a Newsbug staff writer, the official zine of the college. She wants to go into comedy and writing. Soon, they are competing for the same spot, and there's threats of funding being pulled by the administration. Sadie and Seb, along with new friends, have some creative ways to fight the administration without it being illegal. Good chaos, they call it. I loved the Pancake place, too. Everyone seemed to pick up on the tension and chemistry between them. It was only a matter of time.

The issue I had was maybe there wasn't enough of one to keep me super interested. This may be my age showing, but a coming of age story in college that didn't 100% resonate with me, with some very real world things happening in the past year on college campuses. I'm glad for the escape but not entirely convinced that it was a reflection on current events. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to 16-20 year olds.
Book is out 1/21/25. 3.6☆ rounded up to 4 ☆.

Another super fun YA romantic comedy for Emma Lord. Born days apart, growing up next door, with parents who are best friends, Sadie and Seb were expected to be best friends. No one seemed to notice that this friendship turned into a deep seeded rivalry through the years. Trying to one up each other at every opportunity. Sadie is glad to finally have some space from Seb when she gets into her dream college and he is wait listed. Until he shows up days before classes begin, off the wait list. As they both find themselves as they experience life on their own for the first time, they start to realize that the rivalry may move beyond just friends.

A cute rivals to lovers story.
The characters are engaging and fun to get to know.
If you are in the mood to read a coming of age YA romance, this would be the perfect read for you.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an egalley and audio galley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I've become a fan of Lord's work. She writes sweet, clean teen romance that is relatable with characters who are developed well and real. I was happy to be approved to read this most recent title from her.
Jesse Vilinsky, the narrator, is known to me. She has narrated quite a few Lynn Painter books. Her tone, inflection, and reactions to the part she speaks is spot on as long as they are teen parts. She has an easy cadence, as well. I cannot see that I would enjoy her for more mature narrations but she fits well as a voice for teens with some angst. I was fortunate to also get the kindle version of this book so I read along for the full immersion and it was surprisingly fun.
Sadie has always battled against her rival Sebastian. Their families have been friends since they were born, neighbors all their lives, and they have spent many vacations with each other. But it's always been a sticky type of relationship. Where they love the same things and compete to get them. Sadie is finally free as she starts her freshman year of college at Blue Ridge State and Seb is stuck at another school. But suddenly, Seb is on campus as his waitlisted spot has opened up. Now Sadie must once again worry he will be after the same coveted spot she is on the school new rag. But a twist of events where the funding for their paper is being pulled has Sadie and Seb researching the reasons together and forming an alliance. This only confuses their relationship even more as they are still competing for the same spot on the paper.
Sadie and Seb are really well done developmentally. I liked that Lord didn't leave out their flaws. It made them so much more real. You definitely get the sense they are freshmen in college who are trying to find their way. And it's obvious that they are more than just the friendly rivals Sadie makes them out to be. The book is told strictly from Sadie's POV. I kind of wish we would have had Seb's POV but I do understand the book is about Sadie's growth and her coming to terms with her feelings and with what she wants to do with her life as well as showing her breaking free of her family to try and become more independent. She's always been the rock that held her sisters and parents together and without her there, things fall apart a bit.. I really felt her struggle to try and keep Seb at a distance but at the same time be drawn to him and be confused by it all. It's hard to see your enemy as your lover. Though she does confess to having these same types of confusing feelings back in high school.
Lord writes great side characters who are diverse and fun. I enjoyed watching Sadie and Seb make friends as they managed their first year of college. It would be great to get some of the side character's stories in the future.
I will say, I expected a bit more academics for this book seeing as they are freshmen in college. There is a lot of emphasis put on the time they spend doing things for the paper and I found that a bit unrealistic. I needed to feel the pressure of classes, tests, papers, and all the other things that come along with learning to navigate academia as an 18 year old.
This book was a great glance into university politics, becoming independent, and breaking away from family woes. If you're a fan of Lynn Painter's young adult works, you'll enjoy Lord's. If you're looking for a wholesome teen romance, this is a great choice!

This is another gem from Emma Lord and I'm so happy I was able to snag an ARC! Sadie and Sebastian have been neighbors and academic rivals since birth. Once she gets to college, Sadie is excited to get a fresh start away from her intense family and discover who she really is... and win the ultra rare writing position on the campus zine Newsbag. But Sebastian got off the wait list for the same school and is competing for the same position. Their rivalry continues and they push each other to be better while also discovering a new side of their relationship. This book was everything adorable and made me want to eat so many pancakes. The "will they or won't they vibe" was more "when will they?" Which was totally fine by me. I also liked that the rivalry was with a childhood friend instead of just some person newer to Sadie's life. The depth of emotional history with the characters made the story that much stronger.

Well I did an immersion read as I was thankful to get both the eARC and the ALC from Macmillan Audio and Wednesday Books through NetGalley so I could read it early and give my opinion and write a review.

Unfortunately, listening to the audiobook was a wrong choice as the narrator was a bit much to listen to. The voices she chose to use for the various characters. Thankfully speeding it up helped drown out the voices a bit which needed to do it get closer to my reading speed.

In addition to that this book was not the usually quirky that I’m used to by Emma Lord. The story was cheesy and read much younger than typical even for YA. The dialogue was unrealistic, especially for their age.

To be honest I would have DNF’d had it not been an ARC/ALC. while younger teens may find it enjoyable but….

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again
In

YA romance fans will enjoy this new book by Emma Lord.
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Sadie and Seb have been rivals their whole lives. When Sadie finally, finally gets away to college, a college that Seb was waitlisted for, she can go after her journalism dreams. On her first day on campus she runs into no other than Seb. He’s been accepted to her dream college and is also fighting for the same position on the school newspaper.
✏️college romance
✏️rivals to enemies
✏️fun side characters
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Thank you netgalley and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read this book!

Emma Lord's book always have this calming cozy vibe for me. The rival was no different. I enjoy always enjoy this YA romances especially when I feel a reading slump coming on. This adorable enemies to lovers was so cute while feeling real and emotional.