Thanks to the publisher for this review copy, This one just wasn't the right fit for my mood reading at this time.

Really wanted to love this one but I ended up dnfing it almost halfway through. I liked that it felt a little like a John Hughes film but couldn't get passed how both characters avoided talking about their past. Every time they started talking about it they dodged it by going on some wild goose chase for something or getting sucked into some weird situation. It felt like I was going in circles and it just wasn't progressing like I wanted it to.

This was such a cute and unique second chance romance. I also loved that these characters were in their late thirties still figuring it out. I think some books make it seem like once you hit 30 you should know exactly what you want in life, and that’s just not the reality. This book showed it’s never too late to get what you want. This book also shows a lot of growth in our main character as she navigates a weird spot to be in during her life. I adored the flashbacks in this and the adventure these two go on together in the present on their high school reunion day.

I’m not sure why but I LOVE a reunion – in movies, in books, anytime! This one is about friends coming back together at their 20 year reunion. It flashes back between high school in the early 2000’s and present day. I loved all the references from my past 2000’s self – chat rooms, AIM, burned CDs…what a time to be alive! While I would say this is a second chance, friends to not friends(?) to lovers romance, I also think this story had a lot of coming of age type vibes, even though the characters were 38 in present day. It was interesting to see both characters growing up in first generation Asian American families, with very different upbringings. I think this had Danny possibly growing up a little too fast and not being able to enjoy childhood fully, and Rachel growing up a little naïve and sheltered, creating misunderstandings between the two of them. After going above and beyond for her job, Rachel gets laid off, and she feels lost and embarrassed since she was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by her high school class. What was all that work for? Was it worth it? This one had romance, friendships, family drama, and finding yourself, even if it's not until 38!

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC!

This book had a great premise and the FMC was delightful in principle. I just could not find my rhythm with this read. I felt like there were so many great topics (folly of youth, racial stereotypes, societal expectations) that were touched on but never fully flushed out. I think the bare bones of the story was excellent but I kept finding myself wanting more on each topic the author hit.

I will probably still read another book from this author because it is clear that Tieu knows how to build a good story, but I wish she would have focused more on one theme as opposed to lightly touching on many.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager & NetGalley for this e-arc.


These adventures were enjoyable, in my opinion. This was a brief, entertaining book that explored some significant topics of self-reflection regarding your sense of self, personal development, and learning from your past. I thoroughly appreciated Rachel's search of self-discovery. The fact that they are given a second chance is great. It was really fun and cute. I enjoyed the characters and how their friendship developed.

A sweet romance with lots of nostalgia and second chances. Rachel was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in high school and now returns to her reunion unemployed and ashamed. At the reunion, sparks fly when she connects with her high school crush, Danny. It was a fun plot and I enjoyed the second-chance aspect, as well as the journey of reconciling your past self with your present.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Immediately nostalgic—this book opens with AIM and had me flashing back to a/s/l days when I was around Rachel’s age. A Dragon Ball and Dashboard Confessional reference? I was all in. Told from one POV, it switches between the present and snapshots of the past, mostly unfolding over one night with a few chapters post-reunion.

Rachel Dang was the girl most likely to succeed in high school. At the start of the book, she loses her job, and while she tries to keep it together, she ends up feeling pretty lost and unsure of what comes next—understandably so. When her best friend from high school invites her to their 20-year reunion, things go sideways fast. A night full of awkward and unfortunate moments brings them face-to-face with unresolved history. They try to reconnect after years of silence, but even with their deep bond as teens, it felt rushed. Watching them struggle to break old patterns was frustrating at times. That said, the epilogue delivered a satisfying wrap-up.

Danny seems grounded, even if imperfect, and I appreciated his values. Rachel had her moments—both as a teen and adult—where she could be frustrating, but I really enjoyed the scenes with her family, which added warmth and heart.

As a millennial Asian, I saw myself in so many references, which made me hopeful. And while I didn’t fully connect with the story overall, there were still parts I enjoyed. This book also reminded me that I’m also 20 years out of high school. Maybe it’s time to plan a reunion of my own… minus the fundraising chaos. Grateful to NetGalley for the read!

Ok , I liked the premises of the book. Definitely enjoyed the self discovery journey the Rachel goes thru. The frenemies to lovers was very well done. And I love that they get to have a second chance . It was super enjoyable and cute.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a cute, very millennial rom com. I liked the characters and the way their relationship developed. The high school parts were fun and felt realistic. It's a solid pick if you want to read something light and easy.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This is my favorite read from Julie Tieu yet!

Rachel Dang has always been highly ambitious, achievement oriented, and passionate about building a successful (stable) career. When she finds herself unfortunately laid off she starts to wonder what to make of her life without work. What better place to start exploring opportunities than at her 20 year high school reunion?
Returning to her high school guaranteed encountering pieces of her formal self and facing one of the most important people in her past: Danny Phan. Rachel has to come to terms with the fact that she isn’t the same Rachel everyone expected her to be, and maybe she was wrong about who everyone else was, too. Even more importantly, will her and Danny be able to sort through their history and come out as friends? Lovers? Or continue as strangers?

I thought these adventures were very fun. This was a quick, enjoyable read that dug into some important areas of introspection about who you are, how you evolve, and growing from past experiences. I liked that we got to watch Danny and Rachel have accountability, express their hurts, and grow beyond them!!! I think that’s a very realistic part of any relationship - we can’t expect that people will never make mistakes or miscommunicate, rather we should expect that we will certainly need to learn how to grow and hear our loved ones’ experiences.

Rachel returns to her high school for the twentieth-year reunion. Back then she was passionate, she studied hard for her future and didn’t have much time for anything else. Until she met a boy online, who turned out to be the boy she tutored.

Danny has never been too open with her, and Rachel’s attitude to prevail over everything led to many misunderstandings in their senior year.

Now twenty years later, could they go back to being friends, clear the air and maybe explore what they were about to, as teenagers?

This book kept me hooked, read it in a day, I always kept wanting to know more about what had happened in 2003 and kept wanting to find out how the reunion developed.

I liked seeing how Danny had changed in twenty years, and how Rachel, still insecure and maybe a bit immature like she was back at 18, fought against every little fence she had create in her entire life.

Thank you, Julie Tieu, and NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

High school best friends turned enemies, Rachel Dang and Danny Phan, reunite as adults at their 20-year high school reunion in Julie Tieu’s The Girl Most Likely To and a night of mishaps and misadventures around her hometown and encounters with colorful characters from their youth are sparked by a simple errand. Unlike in high school, Rachel is uncertain, dissatisfied, and lost in her life and career, while Danny is grounded and successful in his. Danny and Rachel discover their shared feelings and connection still run deep, along with a fiery, adult attraction now burning between them, too. Is this night just a fun trip down memory lane or a second chance at happily ever after?

I love Tieu’s lively and descriptive down-to-earth narrative style flowing with colorful and natural-sounding dialogue, snarky banter, pop culture references, and her skill with humor and characterization, that draw you into the novel from the opening scene and make it a page-turner. Before I knew it, the novel had flown by. I love her quirky, relatable, likable, nerdy, complex, and goofy characters and their animated, funny, sexy, sweet, emotional, steamy, and intimate interactions.

Soon after being laid off, Rachel receives Danny’s invite to the reunion and attends, hoping to see him again. They haven’t spoken in years and never resolved things after a fight. Because Danny was smart, but didn’t focus on his school work, he and Rachel were partnered so he could hopefully learn or take on her work ethic. However, they didn’t become friends until they met each other online under pseudonyms and began chatting on AIM. Late night chats, where they learned different sides of one another and became close friends with the possibility of more.

Rachel focused all her energy and time in high school on studying and excelling to get into a top college to have a brilliant career that’ll lead to a successful life. Losing her job throws Rachel into self doubt about her future and whether she had wasted her time and in high school, college, and work—life—trying so hard to be the best. After all, she had been voted “Most Likely To Succeed” in high school. She catered to her boss’s every need and whim, working non-stop without vacations, and ended up laid off without advancing in her career. Returning to her hometown and being with Danny again gives her perspective on their friendship, the past, her dreams, and her future. It also gives them the opportunity to talk to each other and deal with the miscommunication issues that tore them apart before and decide whether they want to fight for a future together.

Sweet, sexy, funny, nostalgic, angsty, steamy, and melancholy, The Girl Most Likely To is a fast-paced read perfect for friends-to-lovers, high school reunions, second chance romance, night around town with mishaps/misadventure, coming home, two-sided triangle romance and frenemies-to-lovers romance fans.

Avon provided an advanced review copy via Netgalley for review.

This was a pretty standard romance book. It didn't have a lot of spice, so I enjoyed that. The plot felt like it was going all over the place, first the big thing was Awards night, then it was the kiss between them, but the kiss actually wasn't that big of a deal in the past, so I don't know why it was a huge piece of their "history", because they actually almost slept together. The whole thing felt underdeveloped. I don't think events or the past were set up properly, and lowkey, I was lost the whole time.

I liked the idea of the book, and it had its good moments. I liked the vibes, but there was just so much potential that felt wasted to me. I think it would have been better if it was a dual POV book with Danny cause a lot of the issues between them felt one-sided.

I loved the elements from the early 2000s as it went back and forth to 2023. The slow burn was so good, and I typically don't like it. Thanks, netgalley, for this arc.

really liked the premise and the asian-american characters, but didn't really like the flashback at the beginning very much

C'mon now. It's the 21st century.

Shouldn't the cover of a book proudly represent Asian American features? Granted, hers is slightly better than his.

Set in LA their story is told in a story of (disjointed) flashbacks and the present day.
Despite the career bump in the road for her and the unfortunate sibling he had to endure, good muster little empathy for these characters.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#TheGirlMostLikelyTo #NetGalley

This one took me a while! First, let me say I LOVED the characters. The banter between Rach and Danny, the chaos of Nat.. the typical parents, all the characters were fantastic.

I thought the story line was a little slow and uneventful, but it was an easy read and I liked the romance aspects. I didn’t love the flashbacks/old messages..they were cute, but didn’t do much for me.

Definitely preferred the second half of the story and the chaos that Rach and Danny got into. So happy with how it ended!

Thank you to the author and netgalley for ad advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Rachel Deng has just been laid off from her high profile job at a streaming network and is at loose ends with her life. So why not go to her class reunion, where she’s being honored for achievements in her career. But no one knows she’s been laid off. Enter Danny Phan, Rachel’s kind of sort of boyfriend from high school. Their relationship ended on a bad note and they haven’t communicated since high school. This book is a Second Chance romance and also primarily takes place in one night. It also alternates between 2003 in the present time, between Rachel and Danny in high school and now.

This book was all right. Low on spice. Sometimes I felt it between Rachel & Danny, and sometimes I felt a disconnect. I thought the writing was good and it wasn’t cheesy thankfully. I liked the different settings on class reunion night.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

As a former salutatorian, “Most Likely To Succeed”-recipient, and overall recovering perfectionist who is currently thinking of a change in career after 10 years in the same industry, this book could not have come at a more perfect time for me personally!!

Here is what I loved about the book:
1. First of all, I loved the pace and overall vibes of the book. The book read quickly because of all the humor and was sprinkled with the best pop culture references I could ask for! I’m a sucker for pop culture references from around my era (ahem, let’s not think about my age with that…), and this book was chalked full of them!

2. I love the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope, which is kinda what this one was! They were high school online friends turned IRL friends turned enemies turned lovers after 20 years and it was perfect! I think a lot of us who are around the 20 years out of high school age group (ahem, still not thinking about the age thing), probably think back to some of the silly things that meant the world to us in high school, the fights that ended friendships and where those friendships would have been now if they hadn’t ended, and many other things in the same vein.

3. I loved how relatable Rachel was from her overachiever ways to her temper. All things Rachel = all things Britt, good and bad (*nervous laughter*). I especially loved watching her character growth through the book from caring what literally everyone thought to caring only what she and those closest to her thought. It happened so naturally throughout the flow of the book that it didn’t feel forced or like the author was wrapping up everything with a nice bow in the last paragraph.

4. I loved Danny. Despite him being terrible at communication literally his entire life, he was definitely there for the people in his life when they needed him and he had a very solid heart. I loved that after he let their friendship go 20 years ago, he was dead set on not making the same mistake twice, which also lead to him giving Rachel all the space she needed as long as she didn’t forget about him and disappear again. I loved his goofy sarcasm and his overall love for Rachel, especially when she couldn’t love herself.

5. I love a good rom-com adventure book, and this definitely had that feel! With Rachel and Danny going on a series of missions and mishaps throughout the city on the night of their high school reunion, it allowed them to reconnect and readers were along for the fun adventure!

6. I loved the flashback IMs between them in the chapters. It showed how their friendship grew so we could be placed in the present while still getting the background along the way. I thought this strategy made the book so fascinating and presented all the information in a nice format rather than handing us an info dump at the beginning. Very well done!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Julie Tieu for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

4.5 stars!