Isa, Everett, Grace and James have a long complicated history together. Before heading off to college Grace is set on getting the group back together. She comes up with an elaborate scheme to get her friends out of school for a daytrip to Philadelphia. Just like the old days. All she has to do is convince Isa to help kidnap Everett and avoid her brother or at least that’s what she thought. Their relationships are more complicated than expected, can their hearts withstand the wreckage?

This is such a sweet read!! I was a bit unsure whether the short timeline (a day) would work but it did. Since the characters already share an extensive history theres plenty to work with. What brought down my rating slightly is the secrecy surrounding their romantic feelings, just speak up already!? However they handled the fallout with a lot of maturity.

All four mcs have chapters from their own pov which works really well. My personal favorite is probably Everett, his father used to bring them on these trips and recently passed from brain cancer (TW). Other than that it’s a light read centered around friendship and young love.

If you’re in the mood for a YA romance with not one but two adorable love stories you have to pick this one up!

Read this if you like
🧡YA
✨Forbidden attraction
🫶🏼Childhood friends
📖Multiple pov
♾️HEA

The reason I love K.L. Wathers’ books so much is because I feel like I’m in the places she writes about. She has a unique ability to make me feel like I’m walking right next to the characters as the story progresses, and I eat it up every time. This was such an adorable story and I loved it

When you read a book most times you want to be transported into a new world…. But sometimes it’s fun to stay right where you are and recognize your local High School and City. Also who doesn’t love a surprise shenanigan with the Phillie Phanatic????
This book had all the feels for me, I can’t express enough about YA authors who take the time to write about teen feelings in a way that helps those going through tough situations understand that others are going through it or even just help them understand their own emotions. This author does an incredible job of that and while hilarious and fun still hits all the serious notes of growing up.

This was a short and sweet read! While it does have talks of difficult issues such as grief and mental illness, it still manages to always feel very fluffy. I appreciated the emphasis on all types of relationships: romantic, platonic, and familial. Overall, I’m happy I read this book because I did enjoy it, but it didn’t really leave too much of a lasting impression.

Thank you so much to the publisher & NetGalley for allowing me to read this early in exchange for a free review. I’ve read a previous book by this author and thought it was super cute & sweet. This one gave me the same feelings! Highly recommend!

thank you NetGalley and Random House for sending me this ARC for review! all opinions are my own:)

3.5⭐️! four high school seniors and long time best friends go on an adventure when one of them decides to skip school and explore Philly. there are secret crushes and struggles they don’t yet know about…which could make or break their carefree day!💫
-i had a fun time! this book is 4 POVs and very character driven which i enjoyed. it was entertaining reading all their perspectives and i really liked all the characters!! 👏🏼 they each had great personalities and were complex in what they were dealing with. the mental health, grief struggles, and romance were well done. everett has my heart 😭
-my main problem and why i docked a star was the miscommunication. i know they are teenagers but every character was hiding something and it felt dragged out. i kept thinking they would finally just talk it out but every time they would start talking, they would get interrupted, which got annoying. even the parents were bad communicators?! 😓 i also thought the ending was rushed and abrupt. we didn’t get the closure we needed! this took off half a star from my rating.
-regardless of these things that bugged me though, if you liked her other books i am sure you will also enjoy this one!! the characters really shine and overall i had fun. i would recommend:)
-⚠️ language rating of 3/5 (decent amount of f words) and spice rating of 1/5 (it is closed door just like her book TSOBR)

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book!

REVIEW:

4/5 stars
I've read the author's other book, "The Summer of Broken Rules", and I did not love it due to the immaturity and the shallowness of the characters. I genuinely hoped this would be BETTER.

What I liked:
- Multiple POVs, more than 2! This was pretty interesting
- the PLOT (Ferris Bueller's Day off DUUUUUPE)

What I did not like:
- the characters were pretty generic and Grace was annoying at times
- the author tried referencing so much gen-z slang it HUUUURT (it's giving "hi im not a normal mom, im a COOOOOL mom")

<b><i>"Grace, Everett, and me’ I thought as we headed up an azalea lined wood trail. ‘We are once again three’"</i></b>


⭑⭑⭑⭑.5’s

⤷ Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I really appreciate it. Everything below is my own, unbiased opinions.

⤷ I really liked The Summer of Broken Rules when I read it, but I liked this even more. Back when they were kids, Grace, her brother James, and their friends Everett and Isa were inseparable. Their families were friends, so they basically did everything together. However, as they grow up, things change, and their friendships become distant. Grace, in a last effort to try and fix friendships, gets Everett and Isa to ditch school for a day of fun in Philadelphia. This story was funny, unpredictable, yet also deep at times, making it the perfect summer read.


⤷<u> The writing style: </u>
Overall, I liked the writing style because the style itself was much like TSOBR, but the actual premise of the story was totally different. My one issue with the writing style though was the amount of pop culture references in the book. I personally don’t have a problem with some, but this felt like way too many.

⤷<u> The atmosphere/worldbuilding: </u>
While We’re Young takes place in Philadelphia, and though I’ve never been there, I believe it still made for a great setting.

⤷<u> The Characters: </u>
❥<i> Grace: </i> Grace was definitely my favorite character, and sorta the “main character” even though the book was multi POV. She was fun, witty, smart, and determined, willing to do almost anything to help restore her friends’ friendships.
❥<i> James: </i> It took me a while to warm up to James, but once I did, I LOVED him. His narrative was always so funny, and i was so happy when he finally joined up with the group.
❥<i> Everett: </i> Everett was such a sad but sweet character. He was so burdened, but so selfless for going along with Grace’s plans, even if it meant reliving some of his tough past.
❥<i> Isa: </i> To be honest, Isa irked me for most of the story, which is weird, because I normally find myself gravitating toward the academic genius character. It just irritated me that she seemed to be the only one who wouldn’t forgive the other’s secrets, even though she had her own that were (at least in my opinion) worse.

⤷<u> The Romance: </u>
Both of the main romances in this were so cute. At the end of the book, I couldn’t decide which couple I loved more!


⤷<u> Overall: </u>
This was such a great book. It had such an overall fun vibe, but with lots of deeper messages sprinkled in. It was also one of those super relatable reads for me with the whole “last hurrah before graduating high school” themes, because I just graduated. If you’re a senior in high school, I DEFINITELY recommend this.



⤷<u> This book contains: </u>
✔️Childhood friend group
✔️Multi POV- First Person
✔️Childhood friends to loves
✔️Best friend’s brother trope
✔️Last Hurrah journey
✔️Loss of a Loved one



<b><i>"’You have my heart, Grace’, He inhaled, then his voice quavered as he spoke. ‘It’s broken, but it’s yours.’"</i></b>

I've been a big fan of Walther's other work and was thrilled to see a story set in Philadelphia! I loved this story and will be purchasing a copy for my personal library!

While we’re young is a fun updated retelling of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It was cute, fun, and a really great YA read.

I really enjoyed the multi POV of the different characters in the book. The author did a really good job of creating the connection between the characters without too much back story to overwhelm the reader. I loved the authenticity of the high school age experience of skipping school with the fun twists, similar to how Ferris Bueller was. I really do recommend this book for anyone around the high school age and older.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

The Summer of Broken Rules is my favorite K. L. Walther book so I was really excited to get to read the ARC for While We’re Young (thank you!!). This was a very character-driven book so if that’s your thing, I think you’ll really enjoy this! I liked the more subtle nods to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (the names Grace and Adler) and that the story took place in Philadelphia. I struggled a little with the four POVs, and I would have loved more resolution with two of the plot points (I don’t want to say what they were and spoil anything - maybe I’ll update this review after the book has been out for awhile). Overall, this was a cute book, but I didn’t love it like I loved The Summer of Broken Rules. I think Summer is a standout amongst Walther’s four books. It was more story-driven and I think it benefited from the main characters not having a shared history. With this book (plus maybe meant to be and midnight), I felt like I was observing a lot of inside jokes that I wasn’t in on because there’s sooo much shared history with the characters that the reader isn’t present for. I’d love to see more of what she did in Summer (fresh, new relationships, story-driven, very strong sense of place) in a future book!

While We're Young is an amazing throwback to Ferris Bueller's Day Off combined with a fun unique take! I couldn't put this book down. It was so enjoyable to read. I loved the updates over classic "Ferris Bueller" and all in all would recommend this to anyone!

Such an amazing coming of age novel, i loved the connection to all the characters and enjoyed them getting to know themselves on such an adventure. Cannot wait to purchase for my KL Walther collection and recommend to literally everyone possible!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of While We're Young. As someone who grew up watching Ferris, all of the callbacks to the movie were a treat to spot, but the story was also updated in a way that I think teens looking for a fun romp will enjoy.

I loved each of the characters. Sometimes a book with multiple perspectives will have one perspective that I tend to skim in order to get to the others that I find more intriguing, but that wasn't the case with While We're Young. Each character had a distinct voice that made it easy for me to remember who was who, and I also appreciated the even depth of character across all of them.

Overall, I think there are some instances where readers (particularly adult readers of YA) have to set aside their doubt or attachment to how things really work in order to immerse themselves in the story, but I don't think that disqualifies a work from being good. In fact, if a book is meant to transport us out of our reality into a world we wish could exist, I think While We're Young hits the mark.

Quick, fun read, perfect for late summer/fall. This is my second book by this author, first being Summer of Broken Rules. This book follows a group of friends who skip a day of school and travel around Philly. Since I’m from PA and currently live in Pittsburgh, this was a fun book to get to read about places that I’m familiar with.

Grace, perfect Madam student body president, has decided to skip school in hopes of reuniting two of her friends. And what better plan than a day trip into Philly!

I LOVED Summer of Broken Rules & What Happened After Midnight. So when I saw Walther's newest book was a Philly style Ferris Bueller -- I couldn't wait to read it.

The characters are all so like-able in their own ways. Grace, is so endearing that her friends agree to this insanity just to appease her. Isa is so focused on her goals that she has such a hard time relaxing. Everett is still mourning the recent loss of his father. And James, the trouble maker sibling who is just jealous he wasn't in on the plan.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As someone who has lived in Philly my whole life, I'm always skeptical of author's attempting to do it justice. But Walther did. I could see exactly where they were in various parts of the story, could see the (not so brotherly) Philly behaviors, and relate to some of the sports grudges.

There were also a ton of Ferris Bueller references that just made the story that much more fun.

This book was really fun. I’ve always loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and this books had so many fun nods to the movie. This book did seem a bit juvenile at times but I didn’t mind it too much. This book is definitely YA.
I liked getting to know the 4 main characters through their POV chapters. Grace did seem to be a too perfect, a Mary Sue type character but since she is the Ferris type character of this story that is to be expected. I also thought her and Everett’s relationship progressed a little fast at the end for a YA novel. I probably enjoyed James’ chapters the most and loved his and Isa’s relationship and friendship.
The book did seem to end a bit abruptly and left me wanting more.

⋆⁺₊⋆𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰! ♡︎

𝟑.𝟐𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 ☆☆☆

⋆⁺₊⋆”you’re my true home, ev. you and isa and james. no matter where we move, you’re not going anywhere”

⋆⁺₊⋆𝐩 𝐥 𝐨 𝐭: highschool senior grace barbour decides to plan an impulsive day off from school with her two best friends, isa and everett, without telling her brother james. the thing is that isa and everett aren’t friends anymore ever since their breakup freshman year. they both don’t know that this day is grace’s attempt to reconcile their friendship before they all go off their separate ways to college. (basically this is a 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 retelling)

⋆⁺₊⋆𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝: ok so as some of you know, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 is one of my all time favorite books so i was ecstatic when i got approved for this arc! (thanks again netgalley) i really liked this book overall as well! it was a really fast paced read with four different perspectives which kept it interesting, as well as the whole premise of the book. i LOVE ferris bueller, and i’m about to be a senior in high school so i feel like i am the perfect target audience for this book. i quickly fell in love with the characters, especially everett haha ♡︎ i feel like it’s uncommon to have a book with so many perspectives where they all feel different and 𝐤.𝐥. 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 did an amazing job with that! grace and isa are our classic best friends/basically sisters duo and i love their friendship! also james and everett omg i love them both but i can’t say much without spoiling! new book bfs? another thing the author is really good at that she did in both this book and the summer of broken rules is that even tho it’s a lighthearted happy book, she adds in a deeper side to the characters,
with the backstory of everett’s dad and how this skip day connected to him. i love that.

⋆⁺₊⋆𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: okokok so just a couple of small things. there were some parts where i got SUPER lost bc there would be flashbacks but at first i couldn’t tell they were flashbacks and then they were so long that i forgot they were flashbacks and then got all mixed up and turned around. for that, i’m
deducting a star. this second thing i can’t say cus it would spoil but basically something was super rushed and it felt weird.

⋆⁺₊⋆𝐨 𝐯 𝐞 𝐫 𝐚 𝐥 𝐥: i enjoyed this book, it just didn’t give me the 5 star feeling. i am 110% recommending this! i will definitely be buying a copy when it releases!

⋆⁺₊⋆𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟒𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

2.5 ⭐️ I am so thankful for KL Walther and Net Galley for this ARC in return for my honest review so I will do just that. I would have not finished this book if not for the purpose of giving the entire book from start to finish an honest try. But I did not connect with any of the characters and while the book was a decent length with four different POVs, I felt like it was base level. I also did not love how the book ended in the final pages as it just felt abrupt. Hoping that fans of The Summer of Broken Rules enjoys this book (I wasn’t a fan of that one either, so sorry KLW)!

Amazing book . Love the character development and the way it was wrote . Love the plot line. Amazing