This was so, so good! Evie is an incredibly relatable awkward, flawed heroine, and Salem is the perfect grumpy emo annoyance-to-friends-to-lover. I absolutely loved everything about their entire dynamic, especially how it was truly the SLOWEST of slow burns -- I adore that. Additionally I loved how realistic the relationships were between Evie and her family and sisters, and how Adler shows how just because something is flawed doesn't mean it's not worth having. Love, love, love!

Come As You Are is my first book bu Dahlia,Adler. Loved Evie and Salem and the boarding schoolsetting. This book was funny and sweet and the perfect comfort reads. Will definitely read more from this author.

I really did not care for this book. I was expecting a cute young adult rom com about a girl who ended up in a boy’s dorm at boarding school, but other than this being set at a high school, the content really was not young adult appropriate in many ways. I wouldn’t at all want my teenager reading this and I felt that this super over sexualized young teenagers and encouraged and condoned many inappropriate behaviors and habits. I had a hard time getting through the whole thing. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Dahlia Adler does YA so well. This was easily bingeable and just a lovely story.

Evie was so relatable - I think she may be a love her or hate her type of character and I loved her. And I adored Salem - a little bad boy is always good in a love interest.

The supporting characters were also fantastic. This will not be my last Dahlia Adler.

Read: April 24th, - May 6th
Format: E-Book
Rating: 4 stars

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I actually started this book uncertain. I just took a bit to really get invested, but once I did, I DID. Salem just worked for me, and Salem + Evie? 👌🏼 Their banter felt like it was specialized just for me, and I ADORED every second of it. It also just felt like a very authentic slow burn, having them become genuine friends that developed into something deeper.

This also has one of my favorite tropes of "I could do the thing I asked you to teach me to do but I wanted to spend more time with you because I'm in love with you". Very specific type of trope, but one I absolutely adore thanks to Golden Lily by Richelle Mead 👌🏼

It was also a nice coming of age story in general, with Evie blossoming into her own person outside of her sister's shadow, while also accepting that there was nothing wrong with who she was.

Overall, a book I went into expecting to just be pretty okay, but I ended up enjoying a ton 😁

5 stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
She teaches him how to be good and He teaches her how to act bad. Salem and Evie are the portrayals of snuggling in warm and cozy nook.

it’s a super cute, realistic, YA love story.

Come As You Are follows Evie or Riley, as she finds herself stuck in the ALL boys dorm after a mishap involving her birth name Riley. She becomes the talk of the whole campus which is not exactly the fresh start Evie was looking for after her breakup. Now to make matters worse, she has to STAY in the boys dorm because there is not other open dorms. She recruits her neighbor Salem to help fight it a way to make it through the year without this new reputation. The plan should work perfectly except Evie realizes she doesn't really know who she is or what she wants after all. This was an interesting
read, and I appreciated the depth of Evie's character.

This was such a fun YA romance. I really enjoyed this story.

Everett is wanting to leave behind a school and old friends and attend a boarding school and start over. However, her name doesn’t help her start off in a pre place well. When she is confused for a boy and placed in the boys dorm she feels like bad luck just follows her everywhere. Things begin to turn around for her when she decides she wants to be/act the complete opposite of how she normally is and makes a deal with one of her dorm mates to teach her how to be trouble. Salem is going to teach her how to be the cool girl.

The writing is so fun in this story. I haven’t read one of Dahlia Alders books before and I am glad I have been introduced to her stories. The characters are well written and have great personalities. This was such a quick fun YA romance. I really enjoyed it.

DNF at 20%

This pains me because I've previously really enjoyed Adler's books, but this one was just not it for me. I like the writing, but I don't care about Evie at all, and she seems really judgey about Salem and Sabrina because they look "emo". The maturity level of how her character acts versus how old she actually was didn't really match up.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Man, I'm so bummed this book is over!! I just finished it, unknowingly, because I was ready for so much more of Evie & Salem.

Not everyone like teen stories, but they are usually so charming, and this book was as well.

I loved the dynamic of "The Rumson girl" and the rest of the school. Go, Evie!!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my gosh. I absolutely devoured this book. I already a huge fan of YA, so I was super excited to pick this up. Salem may be in the top 10 book boyfriend category. I loved him. Evie was precious, and I was cheering her on the entire time. This is such a good book!

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and of course Dahlia Adler for the ARC!

I don't even know where to start. This had literally everything I love in a book. Relatable characters, fun side plots, and THE ANGST. The Angst had me screaming into my pillow at 1 o'clock in the morning.

Evie was literally me first year of college (minus the boys dorm) just trying to discover herself and work through major trust issues from previous bad relationships. She wants to live a bit on the wild side but find herself falling for the one person she never thought she would. And OH MY GOSH do I not blame her at all. Salem is your stereotypical goth but with such a loveable side that we don't often see in these type of MMCs. He just absolutely melted my heart and I loved everything about him. The banter between Evie and Salem was top notch. And the way he cares for her even just as a friend UGH my heart.

There were so many moments that I legit screamed, kicked my feet, or was giggling like a High Schooler and I absolutely adored it all. It truly felt like I was transported back to my dorm days and all the emotions and drama that comes with that.

The side characters were an absolute blast and they all had their unique traits and quirks that made it easy to remember them and tell them apart. I genuinely would follow these characters to do grocery shopping and have fun 😂

My one issue is that the maturity level and some content felt more like college and not High School. I really think the story didn't need to be set in High School and could've benefited a bit aging the characters up a bit in a college dorm setting. I also do wish the conflict between Evie and her sister was wrapped up a bit more because I really wanted to see Evie punch her lmao (her sister is the WORST).


Overall, this was such a pleasant surprise and I will definitely be checking out Dahlia Adler's other works and will pray she gives these characters a sequel. I would genuinely love to see them in college or give Sabrina and Isabel a book 👀

thank you to wednesday books and netgalley for the arc! dahlia adler is one of my top ya authors so when this hit my kindle i was giggling and kicking my feet!

i ate this up! i mean who doesn’t love good girl x bad boy. especially with a ya book about self discovery— i was sold!

if you read adler’s books for the queer rep i still recommend reading this. even tho the “main” couple was cishet, the side characters were top tier. we love a found family.

did i sort of wish i went to boarding school after reading this? definitely. do i think i would’ve done well in boarding school? absolutely not. but that’s why we love to read about them. this did give me This May End Badly vibes by Sam Markum.

Cool for the Summer is always gonna be my favorite dahlia book, but this one was fun 🙌🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

DNF at 25%. The initial premise is kinda funny, but I’m just not gelling with the characters, and I’m not the target audience anyway, so I’m putting it down.

Sadly, this was a DNF. I love Dahlia Adler, but I struggled to get invested in the story and characters.

This was such a cute coming of age young adult story. I loved reading about Salem and Evie. The accidental putting Evie in the boys dormitory starts her new school adventure in a way she didn’t want to start, but then she meets Salem and they come up with a plan to make him a “good boy” and make her a “bad girl”, I cried a couple of times, and I hated where it ended, I hope the story continues. I need to know what happens with Sabrina, Salem’s twin sister.

Sickeningly sweet and adorable, I was giggling and it was just so cute.

If you like the old school 90s teen romcoms where the "bad boy" and the "good girl" make a deal to help one another then you'll love this.

Evie (Everett) is running away from her home/school life and transfers to boarding school - she's hoping for a new start but obviously life has other plans and she begins on the wrong foot with basically everyone...except Salem.

I ADORE Salem. I just love him. He is everything. He pretends like he doesn't care but really he's just masking that he cares entirely too much. It's just so sweet.

Sabrina is the epitome of the 90s romcom edgy friend, she's great for Evie though and she conveniently is Salem's twin sister so that's fun. I did like how the author portrayed Isabel - she very easily could have fallen into the "cool girl" stereotype but it was refreshing to see it play out differently.

I really wish we got more Evie/Salem moments but I did enjoy the book overall, I wouldn't say no to a sequel to be honest. I feel like there was a lot left that could be explored more and I would love it.

Also, as someone who grew up with a predominantly "boy" name (thank you Taylor Swift for making it not so anymore lmao) I relate so hard to Evie's struggle with people assuming she's a boy when they see her name. Although I guess to be fair, Everett is pretty solidly boy and not generally considered androgynous lol.

Rep: side LGBTQ characters, minor ace mention

Come As You Are by Dahlia Adler is a YA Romance book set in a boarding school. It is a fun and easy read. There are lot of portions where you can't stop smiling. I liked the book but did not love it. I was looking forward to read this book, but somewhere along I felt disappointed as it was not what I was expecting. Also I found the ending a bit unfinished.

This book might appeal to people who are looking for a quick, easy read and those who love YA Romance.

Rating: 3.5

When I read the synopsis I was intrigued and excited to get reading. But as the story and characters began I just wasn't feeling it. I kept on hoping for connection or feeling something besides boredom. But I just didn't feel it. The book seemed juvenile to me and I'm probably in the wrong headspace to want to escape into a boarding school romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

I have enjoyed all of Dahlia Adler's previous YA rom-coms, and this was no exception. It is a very quick read, it's funny, and the main characters all have fun little quirks. Evie and Salem's relationship was entertaining and endearing--definite Rory and Jess vibes. I enjoyed that the story was more than just a romance--it is also a coming of age story in many ways and I think teen readers will like reading about how people their age handle issues when the parents are present (since they are all at a boarding school).