I really enjoyed the way that the author portrayed this trope. Great pacing, and a wonderful book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy!

4.5 stars, rounded up. Another fun read from Emma Lord! Pick up this RomCom if you enjoy:
🥞 College romance
🥞 Finding yourself
🥞 Friendly competition
🥞 Pancakes 🩷

Pancakes aside, this is a fun, sweet read. I loved the characters of Sadie and Seb - rivals for years, these two now find themselves competing for one spot on the college zine. Through their competition, Sadie unpacks their rivalry and also begins to discover who she truly is when she’s flying solo away from her family.

This is a story about discovering who you are, finding your path, and not losing what’s important along the way. It’s about finding new connections and discovering relationships that have been there all along. The college setting is perfect for Sadie on her journey of self-discovery.

This one is told entirely from Sadie’s point of view, flashbacks give us insights into the Sadie/Seb rivalry. I adored Sadie’s family; the characters and their relationships added so much to the story. If you’re looking for a sweet, slow-burn, will they/won’t they romance, don’t miss this one!

Sadie longs to escape the loud and overbearing family and head off to Maple Ridge college where she can just be her true self and not the person she has crafted to be around her family to keep the peace. She dreams of joining the school newspaper and making a name for herself. Her life is interrupted when she finds out her high school frenemy nemesis, Seb, got off the waitlist and is now attending Maple Ridge as well. To make matters worse, he is also gunning for the staff writer position at the school newspaper and there is only one spot available.

These two fall into old habits and what we get is a fun and cute rivals book that is endearing without being cruel. Sadie and Seb have grown up together, their parents are BFF, and they fight and bicker more like old friends than enemies. The banter between the two was top notch. You can feel that attraction between them and even though this is a college romance, these characters are very mature and self-aware.

When they stumble upon an administrative secret, these two decide to work together and that's when we get to see some tension and an explosion of feelings.

Overall a clean YA romance that was quick, did not drag and delivered at the end.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this book’s digital advanced review copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book through a digital ARC from NetGalley
Author: Emma Lord
Genre: Romance
Troupe: Enemies to lovers

Another sparky enemies-to-lovers romance from Lord! She writes banter and loathing (which of course is always concealing deep attraction) so well, and this was just as delightful as ever.

**4.5-stars rounded up**

I'm not apologizing anymore. I'm done. Let it be known, I love Emma Lord, her stories, her characters, her wit and the themes she chooses to explore in her books. I've never walked away disappointed. They're silly, cutesy and so dang full of heart and humor. I'm a fan. A big, big, huge, unapologetic fan.

In this story we follow Sadie, who is excited to shake off the constraints of her small town and family, as she starts her first year at Maple Ridge College. She's most excited to focus on her writing, as she competes for a spot at the college's famous zine. What she wasn't expecting was to have to compete against her lifelong academic rival, Sebastian, for the spot.

Sadie and Seb's parents are best friends, and thus they've been shoved into each other's orbits their whole lives. Unfortunately, it seems they are always trying to out-do one another, so the relationship has been contentious. Traditionally, Maple Ridge has selected one student from their high school to attend, so Sadie thought she was golden. Apparently, Seb worked his way off the wait list though, probably just to be the bane of Sadie's existence.

Of course, he also wants to write for the zine, even though unlike Sadie, his long-term plan isn't to be a writer. At least, not if his Dad has anything to say about it. Even though she wants to continue to look at Seb with nothing but contempt, in this new setting, with more on the line and less support, he becomes a bit of a comfort as she transitions to college life. Before they know it, they seem to be working together in a way they never have before, and also starting to feel things they've never felt before.

This was so cute. It's such an Emma Lord story. She has such a style and formula, and darn it, it works. I find myself becoming completely invested in her characters, no matter what they are going through. I feel like nobody writes inner-turmoil, or self-doubt, quite like Emma Lord. She makes everything relatable and understandable. It's hard not to root for her main characters.

I love academic rival situations anyway, so this was sort of set-up to be a win for me. There's something so sexy about two individuals battling it out with their big brains. I also love Lord's side characters. There's never anyone who feels superfluous. Every player has a point, a reason for being there, and a well-developed personality to boot.

In this, both Sadie and Seb have some issues they're working through in regards to their families. I thought those aspects were very well done. There are def some complex feelings to work through as you move out of the family home for the first time, and that was examined in detail here.

I would recommend the audiobook if you have access to it. The narration was so great as a voice for Sadie's perspective. I had such a good time listening to it. There were moments that I was laughing out loud, and others were I was nodding in understanding. Just a really well rounded YA Contemporary. If you've loved Emma Lord before, or want to try her work for the first time, you should really check this one out!

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. Keep 'em coming, Emma Lord!

Finally got around to picking this one up because things in the world are DARK and I needed some classic, cute YA. Emma Lord has written so many charming rom-coms for younger (or young at heart!) people and this is definitely one I’ll be recommending to mom friends with aspiring bookish humans.

Another solid YA romance from Emma Lord. This one didn't hit me as hard as The Getaway List did, but I still enjoyed it. I was more interested in Sadie's personal journey than the romance - that could just be because I prefer dual POV in my adult romances though.

The Rival is a wonderful coming of age romance between two friends who have known each other since early childhood. Best friends from the start, something happens early on which in some ways changes their dynamic, but not their love for each other, although they don't see that back then. What it does do is make them rivals in everything. Even bond they feel towards each other. The story is beautifully "Emma Lord" told as only she knows how. Most important, the positive messages enforced as these two friends must learn so much that they never knew about each other and themselves in order to move ahead in each other's lives.

The story, filled with family expectations, versus their own beliefs and wants, changing friendships, but more importantly, learning on how to become an adult and accepting the fact they aren't in high school anymore.

Sadie has just started college. She and her best friend are rooming together in a dorm, and she knows this is the beginning of her new life! She's free to do what she chooses for the first time, and she does...by cutting her very long hair very short! Her first grown-up decision made by herself. She also feels free to explore other areas of her life as her best friend Seb decided to go to another school. The first time they have been apart since they were in diapers...well, practically. As rivals in everything Sadie wants to blossom on her own. Until she sees Seb walking towards her! This is a dream. It can't be happening.

Now Sadie and Seb will once again have to breath the same air and yes, like it or not again compete with each other by no choice but their own. And the first competition will be for the only slot on the highly regarded school newspaper and sot after privilege. Sadie is already beginning to get depressed. But she decides she will fight to the bitter end to get what she knows she deserves.

As they both write their stories for the newspaper, a crisis arises on campus. Sadie begins to shine with some very avant-garde ideas which impress many on campus, including Seb. As they work together to fight the good fight, Sadie and Seb begin to realize it's nice to work together, rather than trying beat the other.

But unfortunately, life is never that easy. They both have family issues which need to be sorted out and as they grow closer, they also need to sort out what happened all those years ago to make them what they became towards each other.

The Rival is a charming rom/com with many poignant messages about how to let go of insecurities, finally come into your own, decide what you really want to do in life and of course, realize sometimes best friends don't have to always compete. They can actually just be in love.

Thank you #NetGalley #WednesdayBooks #EmmaLord #TheRival for the advanced copy.

Emma Lord’s writing is the best transportation to reliving teenage nostalgia I’ve ever found. This book was honest, refreshing and felt so realistic! I absolutely adored Sadie & Seb’s story.

Thank you so much to Emma Lord & her team for the ARC - a perfect beach read for this spring and summer!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC!

Things I liked:
1. The magazine subplot. The premise of the book is that the two characters are high school rivals who are competing for the singular open spot on their college’s magazine club. This club will provide them with so many opportunities for jobs and other things in the future, so it is extremely exclusive. As someone who has worked on a yearbook staff several times, I love to read about journalism.
2. The club/athlete protest subplot. I loved how they staged so many fun protests to gain more funding for the school clubs and less secrecy revolving around the funding given to the athletes. This worked perfectly because the MC’s roommate is an athlete, so we got to see both sides of the struggle. This is a very real thing on some college campuses, and I appreciate that it was a plot point without making the book feel too serious.
3. The pancakes!!! This tradition of weekly pancakes was super fun! I’ll have to try rainbow sprinkle pancakes one day because it sounds delicious!
4. The MC’s journey. She always felt like she had to be the peacemaker because her family was so loud and crazy, and over the course of the book, she learned how she can be fun and loud and crazy without feeling self conscious.

Things I didn’t like:
1. The romance. For a romance book, not liking the literal romance probably isn’t the best thing. It was sort of a mix between forced proximity and rivals to lovers, but also childhood friends to lovers? They’re ALWAYS together because their families are best friends, they go to the same college, and they are applying for the same club position. It was so obvious they would fall in love. I just think their bickering got annoying at some point.
2. I wish the side characters were more fleshed out. The MC’s roommate had tons of characterization, but I would have loved to see more of some of the others. There were so many characters but not enough time spent on each one.

Overall I had a fun time reading this, but I would probably recommend one of Emma Lord’s other books over this one.

A little bit disappointed with this one. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s not awful or anything but it definitely lacked the spark that Emma’s books always seemed to ignite with me.

Still, not mad that I read it, it was just another cute, quick read for an afternoon.

Enemies to lovers, childhood friends to rivals, this one hooked me right away. The story line was good 😊 the coming of age and everything tied together very well.

The Rival is a fun frenemies to lovers, YA novel that Emma Lord is known for. Sadie and Seb have been forced in each other orbit since birth. They were friends, who along the way turned into rivals always trying to one up each other. They are now at the same college, competing for yet another thing … a writer in the college paper.

Overall this was fun and cute. I felt it was more about coming into your own when you leave for college. About how you feel homesick but also like you can breathe for the first time. I feel like Lord captured navigating this in-between feeling well. I will say at times I was so annoyed by Sadie I just wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her. But as she started to become herself, she also seemed to grow on me.

Not my favorite Emma Lord novel, but still enjoyed it.

This was a really cute, easy read. I enjoyed the banter between the characters. At parts I was a little bored, but overall this was a cute enemies to lover book.

Emma Lord is an automatic buy for me, so I was thrilled to receive this book for review (even though I had already preordered a copy). If you're a fan of hers, this book will not disappoint. I love that Sadie's journey is in finding her loud, messy self after years of being the controlled one in her family. And Seb's challenge is to find is own wishes and vulnerabilities rather than going along with what his parents want for him. Together, they are electric. This is another fun, funny, romantic book from Emma Lord, and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Fun rom-com of two students that have known each other forever. They finally think they are getting away from each other by going to different schools, when both get accepted to the same place. Now they must compete for the coveted spot on the campus newspaper where everything goes wrong. They realize their hate for each other is really deeper than they realize when they work together to solve a crisis with the newspaper. Competition that works together and becomes closer as their friendship develops throughout the novel.

This was so cute! The Rival follows Seb and Sadie, childhood neighbors and friends who spend all of middle and high school trying to one up each other until Sadie finally wins--she gets into her dream school and gets the chance to work at Newsbag--a comedy writing zine. Her dream comes crashing down on her way to the first meeting however, when she runs into Seb and learns he was accepted off the waitlist. As the two fight for the only staff writer position for Newsbag, they bond over shared homesickness, adjusting to college and familial expectations, and realize that they didn't have much to be fighting over after all.

I really loved this, this was a very sweet coming of age story and I love academic rivals and stories set in the comedy world. I really appreciated the perspectives on sex education and feeling ready for different firsts (Sadie has not yet had her first kiss at the start of the book).

Overall, I'd give this 4/5! I don't usually read YA romance, but I liked Emma Lord's other books and this was no different. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was... flat?

I'm not sure why Sadie's central conflict was her being able to tell her family that she was funny?

Thank you to Net Gallley for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing.

3.5 stars
I always really enjoyed Emma Lord's books and this one wasn't any different. It wasn't necessary my favorite but it still had all the things I love about the author's books. The plot was fun, and I enjoyed the characters a lot.

I may have had a couple issues with the content in The Rival, but Emma Lord is such an amazing writer, I didn't care. I really liked the characters, and I enjoyed reading about the college freshman experience. The rivalry at the center of the story was complicated and believable, and I rooted for the couple to get together the entire time, and really felt for them when obstacles stood in their way. Just an all-around excellent reading experience.