This was really cute and enjoyable! I loved the "enemies" to friends to lovers angle in the story. And I enjoyed seeing this fun cast of characters team up to save the movie theater.

I loved this book! I loved the friends-turned-enemies to lovers. It felt modern & youthful but not enough that in will feel dated in five years. It’s the perfect read for a summer afternoon!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

Every single time I read this title I sing the Hannah Montana song in my head, and if that's not good marketing I don't know what is. If We Were a Movie is a YA sapphic romance between former childhood friends turned rivals. The single POV follows Rochelle, who's more focused on getting into Wharton and following in her parent's footsteps than having the "typical" high school experience. She's desperate to find a job to boost her college application, but no one seems to be hiring; until, she gets a random call from Horizon Cinemas. Things are finally starting to go her way. Then, boom, her supervisor is Amira (the last person she'd ever want to work with). Now that they have to spend all this time together, it's impossible for Rochelle to push her true feelings down.

This is a sweet, low stakes romance. Everything works out in the end for Horizon and Rochelle. There's also a bit of a mystery (a very, very small bit). I had fun. I'm intrigued to see where Zakiya N. Jamal goes from here. I'd love to get a bit more emotional depth in the future. Overall, a good read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for early access to this title in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Such a sweet, wholesome book that I throughly enjoyed so
much! Rochelle’s growth as a character was well done in my opinion as you see her focus shift from solely working towards her academic goals to letting her friends (ones she’s had since she was young to new!) be a bigger part of her life and recognizing that her upcoming career and college isn’t entirely what life is about. I would have to say that seeing Rochelle develop these new friendships as well as growing her relationship with Amira was my favorite aspect of this story; it was so nice to see her happiness grow throughout this book!

As a huge fan of Leah Johnson and coming-of-age stories, this book was a delightful and sweet story to read! It had everything that I love about YA: fun banter, a lovable ensemble cast of characters, and a cute enemies-to friends-to lovers romance.

This is such cute teen book I loved the found family, the chemistry and how black it is. Most importantly I love how it highlights black history and the their contributions to theater. If you liked Forever on Netflix I think you would wat up this book. Most importantly I love how everyone was written our main FMC Rochelle felt like a teenager who has big dreams and determine to get into her dream college. There were times I wish I finals jump in the book and hug her and tell her it’s was going to be ok.

This was such a sweet and lovely story about two rivals to lovers. I really enjoyed the setting of a Black owned theater where a bunch of different teens work together during the summer. I had this experience as a kid, and this brought back so many memories. The author is definitely a millennial because there were so many phrases and things written by a millennial. But the experience of working in a small movies theater was totally on point for this millennial.

This was a really cute YA book. I was super invested from the beginning. The authors writing really kept my attention. The plot was good but kinda predictable and towards the end, it did became slow. I loved Rochelle and her mom’s relationship. The romance and just the overall book was very realistic which I loved.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC

If We Were a Movie follows Rochelle who gets a job at a black-owned movie theater to help her college application stand out. However, she realizes her academic rival and nemesis works there as well. As they work together, their relationship starts to change.

I wanted to read this book because the movie theater setting seemed fun and I was interested in the mystery aspect. The setting was one of my favorite parts. This book made me want to visit my local movie theater this summer. However, there wasn’t a lot to the mystery aspect and it was a little obvious.

One thing I really liked was the friend group. I liked the way the friend group interacted with each other. It was fun to see how they worked together and got to know each other. I also really liked each character.

One thing I wish there was more of was a development between Rochelle and Amira. I was excited to see their romance develop throughout the story but their relationship did not feel developed enough. I wanted to see more of how their relationship changed. The change from hating each other to liking each other felt sudden.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone looking for a fun teen summer romance with a cool friend group.

If We Were a Movie was a cute read!

I thought it was a great set-up and enjoyed both the romance and the mystery throughout the book. Zakiya N. Jamal did a great job when writing the interactions between all the characters—it really felt like it was a direct transcript from a group of high schoolers at time.

That being said, I didn't think the romance was quite as strong as it could have been? In the build up, in the actual getting together, it felt about 75% there. It just needed a little extra push, a little extra oomph. I also did find the mystery a bit predictable, but it was fun enough that I was able to excuse it.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read!

Mira and Rochelle were absolutely adorable characters, and this is the kind of book I wish I’d had as a teen. The story is full of meaningful representation—the girls are both queer POC, and the setting centers around a Black-owned movie theater that's deeply rooted in their community. As they team up to try and save the theater, they grow closer, realizing they have more in common than they expected.

I need more stories like this. This is a book that I wish I had during high school. I related to Rochelle’s drive to get top grades in school and that she worked at a Black-owned movie theater. The mystery part of it was cute too. This was a fun read and I bet young adults will enjoy it.

I loved this. It was so sweet and heartwarming and I was rooting for Rochelle the whole time. Jamal also does an incredible job of fleshing out all of the secondary characters and their relationships to one another in a way I've rarely seen before. The group friendship dynamics were incredibly charming and fun.

Rochelle “The Shell” Coleman is laser focused on only three things: becoming valedictorian, getting into Wharton, and, of course, taking down her annoyingly charismatic nemesis and only academic competition, Amira Rodriguez. However, despite her stellar grades, Rochelle’s college application is missing that extra special something: a job.

When Rochelle gets an opportunity to work at Horizon Cinemas, the beloved Black-owned movie theater, she begrudgingly jumps at the chance to boost her chances of getting into her dream school. There’s only one problem: Amira works there . . . and is also her boss.

Rochelle feels that being around Amira is its own kind of horror movie, but as the two begin working closely together, Rochelle starts to see Amira in a new light, one that may have her beginning to actually . . . like her?

But Horizon’s in trouble, and when mysterious things begin happening that make Horizon’s chances of staying open slim, it’s up to the employees to solve the mystery before it’s too late. But will love also find its way into the spotlight?

This was such a fun read, I've never read anything like it!! Not only was it my first WLW romance, but the mystery was an awesome addition as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this arc. All opinions are my own. I really enjoyed this YA romance. It had a fun cast of characters and a fun setting in a historical black movie theater. Throw in a little bit of mystery and some great tension between these former friends turned rivals. I will definitely be reading more from the Zakiya N. Jamal in the future.

I really wanted to like this more. It's definitely me and not the book. More and more, I'm realizing that contemporary romance is just not my thing. I have trouble with adult contemporary, let alone YA. "If We Were A Movie" was cute. Although, the plot was kind of generic and uninteresting, and Rochelle annoyed me a little. With that being said, this book could be great for its intended age demographic. I need to stick to YA fantasy. It's much more palatable to me.

I couldn’t get through this book—the writing felt juvenile, and it just didn’t hold my interest. I understand and appreciate that the main character is a person of color, and that her identity and sense of otherness are central to the story. That’s important and valid. But referring to white people as “palm-colored” felt jarring and, honestly, offensive. And I say this as a person of color myself. While it's true that many white people don't recognize their privilege, that doesn't justify reducing them to that kind of label—it feels like it crosses a line and undermines the message.

As for the romance between Rochelle and Amira, it moved way too fast. I was hoping for more build-up and emotional development. But because the story is told entirely from Rochelle’s point of view, it ends up feeling flat and predictable. I wanted more depth—more tension, more moments that made me feel invested. Instead, it just kind of meandered and went exactly where I expected.

This was cute. I really enjoyed the plot surrounding the historic Black movie theater and I liked the characters. The romance itself didn’t quite hit as well as the rest of the book for me though.

I really liked this book but this felt younger than what YA usually feels like. I liked Amirah much more than Rochelle and I feel like this book would've benefited from Dual POV's! Rochelle was so immature even though she continued to say that she was mature. The big reveal at the theater was so lack luster as well. I do like how I couldn't necessarily guess because it was so many things happening at once. But, once it was revealed it was just boring.

This was an enjoyable read and I especially loved how everyone was respectful when it came to Glory pronouns. Now even though this was a quick read it definitely sucks you into the story to see the relationship play out with Amira and Rochelle. Then the friendships that were made by the coworkers 🥰. I loved it and the community surrounding this book.