Not only was this funny and cute and adorable, but it also felt so real. Sadie and Seb and Christina and everyone were real people who are truly in college (with lives generated from a rom-com robot, and I say that with love) and you cannot convince me otherwise.

It took a second to start, but once I got into the story, I was hooked. Something about Sadie's struggles to be and to find herself outside of the Perfect, Responsible One she felt she had to be at home truly hit hard. And as she slowly started to learn that she didn't need to be the Responsible One, that her family was okay and wouldn't crumble without that, I absolutely fell in love with the story. Not only was it so sweet how her parents showed how proud they were even with Chaos Sadie, but I loved that she had more of an issue with her siblings, too, and they weren't just forgotten side characters to build up her backstory.

That's the thing about these characters that get me the most, I think. Sure, there are side characters who don't have much to contribute and that's okay, because not every person you meet along the way in real life will have an enormous impact or dump their backstories on you. But the people who mattered to Sadie, even without her consciously knowing it, were shown with a ton of character. Her sisters both had some kind of issue that needed to be resolved, and it was great. It truly felt like I was peering into the head of someone who left home for the first time and is now experiencing college, because all of your relationships and motivations and general personality sort of have their moments when you hit this part of your life, because it's such a strange and new experience, and it felt so real because I was seeing all of that hit Sadie all at once.

thank you to Netgalley and Emma Lord for the arc!

4.25 stars

This was a super fun rivals to lovers, college romance. Sadie and Seb had a really fun dynamic and I loved their banter. You could definitely tell that they were more friends than enemies even if they were reluctant to admit it (especially Sadie)
I also liked how this book addressed some very relatable college issues, like how schools prioritize funding for sports over other things, homesickness, burnout, and figuring out what you want to do in life. All the characters felt very realistic and relatable which made the book a lot of fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Main Characters:
-- Sadie Brighton – college freshman at her dream school Maple Ride, majoring in communications and set on earning the one open writer spot on the school zine Newsbag, wants to write comedy for a living and sees Newsbag as a way to get her foot in the door, grew up next door to Seb, their parents are best friends, middle sister of three and feels like it’s her responsibility diffuse any family drama
-- Sebastian (Seb) Adams – college freshman originally waitlisted at Maple Ride, majoring in engineering to appease his father but loves writing and theater, competing against Sadie for the open writer spot on Newsbag, runs a popular Instagram account called Adams’ Apples
-- Christina – Sadie’s best friend and roommate at Maple Ride, on a scholarship for cross country, created a poster titled “Christina and Sadie Make Maple Ride Their Bitch” with a bucket list of things they want to do
-- Joey – sophomore at Maple Ride, writes for Newsbag, on the school baseball team, has a bit of a crush on Sadie
-- Amara and Rowan – co-editors of Newsbag, working to get additional funding for the zine from the administration, Sadie has been reading their articles since she was a freshman in high school

Sadie Brighton has spent her entire life competing with Seb Adams. They grew up next door to one another with parents who are best friends. In grade school, they pulled pranks on one another, until one of Seb’s pranks went a little too far. After that, their pranks became more like sabotage, and they constantly tried to best one another. By the time they graduated high school, their families joked that they hated each other because of their not-so-friendly rivalry. But their families do everything together—including pancake breakfast every Sunday morning. Even Sadie’s younger sister adores the “perfect” Sebastian.

When Sadie earns a coveted spot at Maple Ride, her dream school, and Seb gets waitlisted, she feels like she finally doesn’t have to compete with him anymore…until he gets off the waitlist. Seb’s major in engineering doesn’t keep him from wanting to write for Newsbag because his real passions are journalism and theater. He eventually confides in Sadie that his father wants him to attend Blue Ridge State University and expects him to apply to transfer mid-year. Earning the spot at Newsbag would help him convince his father to let him stay at Maple Ride.

The rivalry Sadie was so excited to escape is suddenly back on.

I always know that an Emma Lord release will put a smile on my face, and The Rival fits right in with the rest. Lord excels at creating stand-out characters. Sadie got on my nerves a bit because she seems unwilling to let bygones be bygones. I would think over the years of family gatherings she could see Seb as more friend than foe. But Seb makes for great balance. As much as they compete with one another, you can feel how much Seb wants to get back to a real friendship. And eventually Sadie comes around.

And one of Lord’s strongest qualities as a writer? Dialog. Written in the first person from Sadie’s point of view, the book demonstrates exactly why Sadie will make a great comedy writer.
-- The thing is I am largely a good person. I dutifully babysit Christina’s pet rat Blorbo every summer she goes on her annual family trip, despite clear evidence of him needing an exorcism. I eat all of my mom’s alarmingly crunchy mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving with a smile on my face, I even managed to remain cordial with our next-door neighbor Pat when she said she “wasn’t that big a fan of Harry Styles.” All of which is to say, I cannot think of one thing I have done in the eighteen years of my Seb-addled existence to deserve this fate.
-- She shrugs. “Just trying to decide if it’s worth it for me to keep paying for all these streaming services when I’m about to have the world’s most ridiculous ‘will they, won’t they, dear god, just kiss already’ show playing out right in front of my eyes.”
-- I lean in and grab him by his shirt sleeve. “If you say one more word, Seb, I swear on all that is holy, I will bury you. I will pretend to look for you. I’ll shed pretty tears at your funeral and die in bed eighty years from now peacefully and without regret.”

This story deals with expectations we put on ourselves and others, relying on family even when we think we can’t, friendship with a little bit of romance, and learning to be your true self. And all of it seems to be wrapped up in weekly Sunday pancake breakfasts with the perfect syrup to sprinkles ratio.

You have to read the book if you want to understand that last reference. And you definitely should read this book. 🤭 As usual, Emma Lord’s new release is a must-read.

Emma Lord delivers once again! I simply adore her books. Sadie and Seb are two great characters who feel so real- they have real world problems, similar crises of identity that I think every college freshman encounters. Parts were laugh-out-loud funny (Betty the pancake lady, who was HANDS DOWN my favorite character) and it was fun to root for the various characters throughout the book. I don't want to give too much of the plot and the shenanigans away, but I will say this is definitely worth reading.
I will definitely be recommending this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

This would be such a great book for a high school library. Emma Lord writes such lovely YA and this is no exception.

The Rival
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Honestly, Emma Lord is one of the very few authors that I trust to do a YA romcom that doesn’t have too immature of characters. This falls right in with that!

Seb and Sadie have been rivals for forever when they end up at the same college, vying for the same newspaper writer position. While they compete, the school’s clubs are on the brink of shutting down due to lack of funding. They and their cowriters must work together to stop the administration.

I enjoyed this a lot! Surprisingly a lot more plot to it than I expected going in. I would have loved dual POV, but Sadie was a good voice throughout.

Wow I loved this book so much! Emma lord you just get better and better! Thank you for the opportunity to read this book! I’ll have a more detailed review closer to the release date!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Emma Lord is my favorite YA author and this book did not disappoint. Sadie thinks she is finally free of her high school academic rival until he shows up at the same college as her. This was such a cute and fun read.

Sadie is ready to move on to college with a clean slate, leaving her family and rival Seb behind. She wants to make a new start for herself without her family's influence since she was the one that held the family together, pleasing everyone. Now she can be selfish and enjoy life at college on her own... until her once best friend and now rival Seb shows up, competing for the same position on the college newspaper as her. As the 2 of them compete, she realizes that they have more in common than she realizes and relishes in the comfort Seb provides. A really cute rivals-to-lovers story.

I would definitely have enjoyed this book more if I understood the motivations for saving the 'clubs' on campus better. I never took part in living on campus or joining any extracurricular activities at college, so it was hard to relate. It was a fun, feel good story, albeit very predictable.

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy of this book.

Emma Lord has created another adorable enemies-to-lovers and opposites-attract love story set in college. It was cute but didn't love it as much as her other ones - I found myself skimming some of the pages.

3.5 stars
It was a fun and cute book. I really liked the friendship between Sadie and Seb even if they were supposed to be rivals and hate each other. They had a lot of chemistry and they worked well together. The book was a mix of funny moments and deeper moments about the characters' struggles. While the funny moments were a bit too quirky for my taste, I appreciated the deep discussions between Seb and Sadie about finding oneself and more. Sadie and Seb were both well fleshed out and relatable. While I liked the first half of the book, the second half lost me a bit. While they make a cute couple, their friends/rivals dynamic they had in the first half was just more fun to read about than their romantic relationship for me.

Emma Lord's books are so fun! Her characters are always fresh, compelling, and all too real. I've enjoyed her YA books, and this foray into Emerging Adult was an excellent addition to her canon.

Lord's characters leap off the page. Sadie is fun and smart, masking her humorous side for a quest she doesn't really need to be undertaking. Her worries are relatable, and her banter with Seb lifts her off the page. On the flip side, Seb is sweet, funny, and driven, a really interesting foil for Sadie. They have so much in common, and even as they compete for a spot at the school paper, they also grow and change as people. I like that both characters had areas of growth, and I really loved the distinct voices.
The setting was great; the college feels real, with real college-student concerns, on-campus politics, and inter-organization relationships.

Excellent book, super fun read!

The Rival by Emma Lord is such a fun and relatable read! If you enjoy witty banter, complex friendships, and a bit of romance, this one’s for you. The story follows Tori, a high school senior who’s caught up in a fierce rivalry with her former best friend, resulting in plenty of drama and awkward moments.

What I loved most was how Emma Lord captured the ups and downs of teenage relationships—both romantic and platonic. The characters felt real, and their growth over the course of the book was really satisfying. Plus, there’s a lot of humor mixed in to keep things light, even when the stakes feel high. This is definitely a book I’d recommend to my library patrons looking for an entertaining, heartfelt read with plenty of twists and turns. Perfect for fans of coming-of-age stories and high school drama!

This book was another great one by Emma Lord. One thing that I love about all of her books is that the side characters are just as loveable as the main characters. Just wait until you meet Betty. Sadie's family was also extremely relatable and entertaining. I loved the relationship between Sadie and Seb. Another great YA novel!

Another cute rom com by Emma Lord! She has become a favorite romance writer of mine. If you are looking for sweet stories with adorable romance plots you need to read Emma Lord!

"It can't be easy, pretending to be something you're not all these years with the people you love most."

A super cute, rivals to lovers romcom that was just what I needed.

What I liked:

Sadie and Seb were so dang cute. They had great rapport, chemistry, and banter.

I loved the academic rivalry aspect. Sadie & Seb competed in just about everything and I ate all of it up.

Betty is quite possibly my favorite character in this book. The way I need some of her pancakes right now.

What didn’t work for me:

Nothing major

This was really cute! Emma Lord writes adorable romances and this was no exception. Really enjoyed the characters and the love story :)

Emma Lord can do no wrong in my book. I loved this so much. I really think she rivals Meg Cabot in teenage emotion, but with the heart of Sarah Dessen.

She just keeps hitting it out of the ballpark for me.

I absolutely loved this book! Emma Lord has such a knack for creating characters that feel like real people, and Sadie and Seb were no exception. Their academic rivalry was the perfect setup for a fun, tension-filled romance, and I couldn’t get enough of their banter. By the middle of the book, I was practically shouting for them to get together already!

Sadie’s voice was so refreshing—funny, relatable, and full of heart. I also loved the way her chaotic family added warmth and humor to the story. And Seb was such a great male lead with his charm and quick wit. The chemistry between them practically jumped off the page, and their journey from rivals to something more felt so natural.

The academic setting and their competition for the school’s zine gave the story an interesting twist, and the subplot about the flaws in the school system added some nice depth. Sure, the romance followed a predictable arc, but that didn’t take away from how much fun it was to read.

This was such an easy, enjoyable book, and I couldn’t put it down. Emma Lord always writes such heartwarming, layered stories, and this one might be one of my favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you St. Martins Press, and NetGalley for the ARC! I have always loved this authors writing story however this one was a struggle for me. I’m not fully sure why though. I did love the banter, and the childhood friends turned rivals turned lovers! The quirks and sass of this novel were great. I just don’t know that I truly clicked with the characters and that could be partially due to my age or even wanting them to have been less of rivals and more of lovers. I know this novel will be loved by so many though! It’s a great new adult romance!