This is my official petition for a sequel/shitty tv show/shitty movie or novella because this was one of my favorite books this year (and maybe ever). I want to inject the dialogue between the main couple into my veins for serotonin. I kinda wish they were older but this book would’ve been perfect for me when I was in high school as well.

Come As You Are is a sweet YA romance about how we are capable of change and others are too. I really loved the beginning and the FMC and MMC's voices as they bantered. I fell in love from the first few pages as Evie ends up mis-assigned to a male dorm and has to argue her way into the administration correcting their mistakes. Evie is struggling with who she is after finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her with her sister and her best friend knew and didn't tell her. Evie isn't sure who to be anymore, but she knows she wants change. So, she convinces Salem--a fellow classmate and dorm mate-- that they can help each other out: she can help him rehab his image and he can help her be "bad"--more assertive, more free, more wild. One of my favorite aspects of the book was how we learn there's more to most characters than meets the eye at first and Evie's struggle with her sister and her sister's drug addiction. I really loved the book's inclusion of that and that everything didn't resolve all nice and neat, but instead felt a lot more true to life. The characters definitely went through some things and had to lean on each other to find their way. I fell for these characters as they fell for each other. If you like romance, fake dating, academia/school-based stories/romances, coming of age, or self-discovery, grab this one today! Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Dahlia Adler, but it definitely will not be my last. In fact, I've already started reading my way through her backlist. This book was fantastic. It was one of my favorites of the year. It was so funny. The banter was perfection. But there was also a decent amount of depth to the book. I loved it so much!

This is a romance that knows exactly what it’s doing. Come As You Are is tender, funny, and unafraid to explore the messy middle ground between who we are and who we want to be. It’s also one of the most grounded, emotionally intelligent love stories I’ve read in a while.

The chemistry sparks early, but what makes it sing is the way the characters grow—together and apart. Adler doesn’t rush the payoff, which makes it all the more satisfying. There’s banter, sure, but there’s also real vulnerability, especially around career insecurity, family expectations, and figuring out your place when everything feels transitional.

I especially appreciated how queerness was woven into the narrative without being the sole focus. It’s a love story that celebrates bisexuality, autonomy, and agency without needing to explain or defend any of it. More of that, please.

A few pacing hiccups in the middle slowed things down slightly, but the emotional arc stayed strong and true through the end.

This is for readers who want a romance that’s full of charm but still has bite. Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston, Rachel Lynn Solomon, and Christina Lauren—with more queerness and emotional depth.

Romance isn't usually a genre I pick out at the library or bookstore, but this book's author caught my eye. Dahlia Adler has edited multiple anthologies, one of which vividly reimagines Edgar Allan Poe's stories from a diverse selection of authors. Come As You Are was a fun romance that leaned into tropes like friends to lovers and grumpy sunshine. I think the book would have been more effective and believable if it had been set at a university instead of a boarding school. Evie and her friends talk openly about casual sex and recreational drug use, making them sound more like college students than high school sophomores. The complete lack of adults and supervision would make more sense in a college setting as well. I loved the LGBTQIA+ representation in this book and the critique of gender norms, although I wish this had been explored further. This was a sweet story and a quick read, so I'd be interested in checking out Adler's other work.

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, Wednesday for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

This was a cute and fun ya. It was a lot deeper than I expected it to be. I loved the characters, their banter, their development., etc. I really enjoyed it.

Very cute. Loved the personal growth and the romance. The good girl trying to be bad thing was fun: Salem was a great love interest

I’m a huge fan of Dahlia Adler, but Come As You Are missed the mark for me. There were quite a few conflicts and several characters from the beginning of the book were completely irrelevant by the end of the novel. The witty quips are great in Come As You Are, and I did enjoy the characters.

Come As You Are is a warm hug of a rom-com wrapped in flannel, eyeliner, and emotional healing. With her signature mix of humor, heart, and razor-sharp insight, Dahlia Adler gives us a story that’s as much about self-acceptance as it is about slow-burn love—and it’s absolutely irresistible.

Evie Riley arrives at Camden Academy hoping for a clean slate, but what she gets is a boys’ dorm assignment and a campus full of rumors before she’s even unpacked her suitcase. Enter Salem Grayson: academic overachiever, black nail polish enthusiast, and the grumpiest emo boy to ever glower in eyeliner. Naturally, he’s her only hope.

Their "bad girl/good boy" pact is the perfect setup for banter that crackles, chemistry that simmers, and the kind of slow emotional unraveling that hits right in the teen angst. As Evie struggles to redefine herself on her own terms—and Salem awkwardly stumbles toward emotional vulnerability—you’ll be cheering for them both to drop the act and get real with each other.

This book nails the messy magic of being sixteen: the heartbreak, the self-doubt, the stubborn hope that maybe—just maybe—you don’t have to change to be worthy of love. It’s full of awkward hallway encounters, secret late-night heart-to-hearts, and a romance that blooms in the most unexpected places.

Perfect for fans of Better Than the Movies, Begin Again, and anyone who’s ever tried to reinvent themselves only to realize they were already enough.

Snappy, sweet, and full of soul, Come As You Are is the YA romance you’ll want to dog-ear, underline, and carry with you.

So much happens in this book that takes place over just one school semester, but I wanted more! The characters were great and I was so rooting for our MC at every step.

I'm not going to lie to you, Come As You Are is, at times, a mess and probably an objective 3 star read, BUT, I loved it. It's cliche and it's over the top, but for whatever reason, in this moment in time, it was exactly what I was looking for.

Again, I have to note to any potential readers, the plot is insanely cliche. Evie, our main character, goes to boarding school and accidently gets put in the boy's dorm. She then instantly becomes best friends with the "bad boy" who tolerates no one but her. She teaches him how to be a model citizen in exchange for him teaching her how to be bad. She also has curly hair that can't be tamed that only he appreciates for it's natural beauty. She's great a poker and swindles boys out of their money. She befriends the most popular girls in school. She has an evil family and ex-boyfriend ... It's all very fanfic-y. But still, I had fun.

In terms of some of the strong points, the romance itself is super sweet and well-paced. I really enjoyed the friends-to-lovers aspect of it. I also liked Evie's character development. The way she experienced insecurity, self-sabotage and catastrophizing felt very real and relatable. Even though some aspects of this book felt more adult than YA, Evie always felt like a real teenager. And although this book felt unlike the author's others in many ways, the banter, a signature of Dahlia Adler's that I love, felt the same. I found Evie very charming and all the dialogue between her and Salem was very engaging.

That being said, on the topic of banter, I found the pacing weird in terms of how quickly Evie made friends and got comfortable with them. Most of Evie's dialogue is that "I'm a thorn in your side but you love me" type banter, to which the other characters begrudgingly respond "yah, I do". This made sense further into the novel when characters had formed relationships, but when Evie was grilling people page one and they decided to be her new best friend, it felt a little rushed. Another problem I had with this story is that I felt like quite a few plot threads didn't get resolved, such as how Evie never talked to Heather, or how Isabel never spoke out against Jenna's cruelty. Additionally, this book discusses cheating a lot, but strangely enough, the thesis regarding cheating seems to be "if it's not happening to me, it's not my problem," which is really damn bizarre. That's so passive? And finally, the characters in this book act way older than they are. Not only does this book discuss cheating, but there's a lot of talk of sex and drugs. I know that teenagers do these things, but they're not normally depicted so casually in YA books. I feel like this plot kind of only works if you imagine the characters are in college, or if you're looking for a book with NA content but a YA feel.

So yah, even though the author has said that she's been workshopping this story for a long time, I think there was a lot left in that needed to be polished. But to reiterate, personally, that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. The core of the book, both the romance and Evie's character development, is strong, and honestly even the cliche's have their own charm. I would recommend this book to romance fans, I'd just say to know what you're signing up for. This book is fun if you set the right expectations and let yourself have fun with it.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Love the cover of this one, which is the main reason I wanted to read it. The colors are amazing.
We follow Evie as she navigates her first semester at boarding school. Which she wanted to go to after some drama at home.
I really enjoyed this book and it was a quick read as well.

If you're an ARC reader, chances are, you've been hit with life so hard at some point that you've fallen off your reading schedule. Now that I'm playing catch up, I am SO upset that it took me over a month to pick up this gem. I enjoyed this story so much and am very grateful to the publisher for the eARC.

As a millennial, I will admit that I haven't been into YA as much lately...but this was a story I read in two sittings--and that is VERY quick for this super slow reader. I loved the writing, the banter, and the overall premise of the story, which helped me devour this so quickly.

My favorite parts:
🏰 the boarding school setting
🩶 the Graysons
❌ Evie's take no sh!t mindset
🍏 him teaching her (just as much as she's teaching him)
❤️‍🔥 the way he falls first
🩶 did I mention Salem MF Grayson?
🍬 the sweetest friendship between our FMC + MMC

I really felt for Evie and deeply understood her trust issues, especially when it came to the way her own family & closest friends betrayed her in the past. I also appreciated her character growth and eventual recognition of her part in said betrayals. I wanted so much more for Evie and wish there were an epilogue to show us glimpses of her in her newfound happiness--but for now, my imagination will have to do. I envision our favorite black cat x golden retriever living HEA :')

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this beautiful story. My sincere apologies for the delayed review, which was honestly my loss.

I was mildly disappointed by the ending of this book. While I probably have aged out of the YA romance genre, I still enjoy reading it occasionally to bring some nostalgia back in my life. “Come As You Are” was a great start. With the classic Wattpad story line of toxic siblings, boarding school, and a FMC in the wrong dorm this was supposed to hit the spot. I thought actual premise was cute and interesting, but by the end it seemed like a sprint instead of the race we were supposed to be in (a marathon). The ending felt cut short. I think there needed to be more reconciliation with the sister (or no reconciliation). I felt like it would have been better to finish the story closer to the end of the school year so Salem and Everette’s relationship and friendship could flourish some more.

In this opposites attract romance for fans of Begin Again and Better Than the Movies, a fresh start doesn't have to mean changing yourself.

I love a boarding school story. This was a new take from Dahlia Adler and I think the years of development she mentioned in the acknowledgements showed.

This book was fun. And if I was in high school would make me jealous that I wasn’t attending boarding school. I always appreciate a good story about finding yourself. And I love how young adult romances just make me feel. I love the adventure and the group of characters. It’s very whimsical as they tackle hard things. This is the first dahlia book I’ve read and while I was disappointed it was not a queer couple, I’m excited to go back and visit the remainder of her books.

As a certified banter lover, this hit the sweet spot for me – to the point where I read it entirely in one sitting. The characters were fun and charming and for the most part they were also incredibly unique, which I appreciate a lot. I must say, however, that the main character felt a bit childish at some points, though that is believable in a highschool romance and considering her inner turmoil and beyond that I don’t have any complaints. Overall a very fun and bingeable read!

Another awesome book from Dahlia Adler! I loved “Going Bicoastal” and this was even better. Salem and Evie are adorable in the same way and I loved the slow-burn of friends to lovers. It was a great plot line to have pure joy come from a terrible experience, and I loved how it all came about. The secondary characters were also great and not confusing at all, despite there being so many. Great story, great characters, can’t wait for the sequel!

There will be a sequel, right?

Loving Come As You Are just as much as Home Field Advantage, Dahlia Adler proves she writes stories that wriggle into my heart!

Yes, this is a romance, but it's honestly so much bigger than that! It's about friendship, personal growth, and realizing your own self worth - and it's so flipping relatable! Evie was so undeniably cool, already trying to forge her own path in life. Salem's parents did something so right raising him and his twin sister Sabrina! Fantastic side characters round out this cast, and I'm all for them being the youth of tomorrow!

What else?
-this book had such a fun premise and I loved the name mix up that led to some interesting dorm circumstances!
-I appreciate that title nod to Nirvana
-I was smitten over this shameless plug: "a romance between a football player and a cheerleader!"

Once again, the highest compliment: this is one I'd want my daughter to read!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for the complimentary copies to read and review.