A cute college age YA that feels like a celebration of romance readers everywhere.

Lighthearted and easy to fly through, the story feels a bit twee at times and doesn't quite hit all the marks for me, but it is bound to delight a plethora of readers.

This was a perfect YA romance! I enjoyed the trope contest and thought Aidan and Irene were fantastic main characters. I consumed this book. So delightful but it also has a lot of heart.

huge thank you to netgalley and harper-collins for the arc!

you know when musicians make songs that they know will do well on tiktok? whether it’s because of a catchy chorus or a danceable beat? oftentimes, the music will lack soul and artistry because it’s designed purely to do well on the charts?

reading this book felt similar to listening to a tiktok curated song except it was like someone wrote a novel just for a niche audience of booktok brainrot enjoyers.

looking at the plot (and that gorgeous cover hello!!!) i thought this book would be just what i needed. i mean, rivals-to-lovers in a college setting is soooo good. but well! unfortunately this book wasn’t for me at all.

the book fell flat for me and i couldn’t really bring myself to care about the characters beyond the surface level since most of them felt poorly developed. i get and can relate to some of irene’s struggles with inferiority and i’m glad she overcame them, but she was a bit insufferable at times. as for aiden, the love interest, it felt like he had zero flaws. he was so one dimensional and the only thing that gave him flair was his family background. i understand that you’re a man that reads romance novels but oh my goddd that doesn’t mean you have to be written so perfect like CMON!! be more realistic!!!

other than the characters, the overall plot just wasn’t for me. i think that there’s a very specific intended audience for this book, and unfortunately i do not fall into that. like i mentioned earlier, the whole booktok trope thing was shoved violently down my throat every other paragraph and felt very overdone/corny to me. like oh my god if i had to read the term “HEA” one more time, i was going to LOSE it. the way the characters talked also felt very “millennial trying to relate to gen z” but in all fairness, that’s a personal issue i have with a lot of authors. additionally, at some points it felt like the author was trying to market readers as an oppressed group which there’s definitely nuance to! since romance and female led genres are typically the ones that get the most hate. however, that topic requires much more in-depth discussion than just “readers = nerds.”

it wasn’t all bad though!! looking past my issues with the flat characters, i did enjoy the relationship between irene and aiden and the two side characters. irene and aiden were sooo adorable together and it was cute seeing their development!! after the (very) slow start, i started to enjoy the two of them together. the few reoccurring jokes in the book were also pretty funny to read! the epigraphs were also a super nice touch and probably my favorite part of the novel.

ignoring all my complaints (and the unexpected omegaverse segment), i think my overall experience with the book was mainly a result of me not being the intended audience as i previously mentioned. if you’re unlike me and love booktok and cheesy tropes and romance, then i think this book would be the PERFECT thing for you and i’d recommend!! however, if you’re more like me and like a little more depth with your romance (or just get easily cringed out by bookish references LOL), then maybe skip it.

This book was INCREDIBLE!!!! Perfect YA read, in my opinion. It was so well done and soooo enjoyable!

This book was so intentionally thought out and executed.
The incorporation of romance book tropes was just so amazing and I really loved it!

This book will also be relatable to a lot of people, I think we all struggle with some of the stuff the FMC does, at some point in our lives.

Anyone starting college would enjoy this! Or anyone embarking on something new and scary will definitely relate.

I will definitely read more by this author! This book was just sooo good!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperCollins and Susan Lee for giving me an advance reader’s copy of this book!

😻Book: The Romance Rivalry

🎉Rate: 5 Stars!

💗Praise: This was so good!! Definitely romance addict worthy! Irene and Aiden are Elizabeth and Darcy with a touch of sweetness that made me giddy while reading! Irene believes in finding true love her freshman year of college by using her favorite book tropes! What a brilliant idea! What better way to find true love than to go to the center of your heart and look at your favorite books! She is a mass romance reviewer online and her nemesis Aiden had my heart from the first page!

☕ These two make a bargain whoever can find true love by trope first!!! (Okay I'm so jealous I would like to do that! LOL) it's as if these two are literally living in their own book! Overtime they grow closer and you can feel the sweet tension and layered chemistry come to fruitation! Fake dating and college romcom! This book should be a Netflix film!

📚Extra: we definitely need more books like this! I will be buying every book the author from now on!

🙏Bravo!!

Who knew there were so many romance tropes? I loved how the chapters coordinated with a trope, and how Irene found her way to Aiden. I wanted more of them together and more of Charles and Jeannette and just more of everything! It all meshed so well, and the character arcs were perfect.

I'm definitely in my teen era, and I'm not leaving it anytime soon. There is just so much that can happen in their lives! And I love that they both reviewed books online.

I felt so much of my own life in the characters. The way the felt so much pressure and the way Irene would feel unimportant in her family hit hard for me.

Couldn't put it down, devoured this!

I gobbled this college romance between two Korean American young adults up so fast!! Rival romance reviewers Irene and Aiden are paired up on an English assignment and compete to find real love using different romance tropes. Fun, flirty and full of great mental health rep/struggles as Irene has to learn to believe in herself and overcome negative thinking. Plus it has to be said that Aiden is the absolute swooniest guy and let's be honest - any guy who isn't afraid to admit he loves reading romance is a win for me! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. This is easily my new fav from Susan Lee!!

THE ROMANCE RIVALRY came out this week! this book features our mc, Irene, in her first year at college while juggling what is essentially a full time job as a booktuber. just her luck, her biggest rival, Aiden, happens to enroll at the same college as her, bringing the rivalry off-screen.

i found Aiden and Irene to be such endearing characters and this book is intentionally written as tropey but Susan is a skilled writer and it doesn’t feel forced or cookie cutter-y. not spoiling, but i love when we get to see a little bit of the mmc’s pov and he’s just a total loverboy the whole time. like it’s so cute. I found certain aspects of the book to be a little cringe and too on the nose, even though I know it was intentional, it wasn't well executed.

4.25 stars

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Susan Lee, you know the way to my romantic comedy loving heart 🫶🏻 this was so cute!! I love how this book was a nod to the romance community. Irene and Aiden were so cute from the very beginning!! Irene is suspicious of Aiden, and it’s clear that Aiden likes Irene immediately. As two romance reviewers, I love how clear and obvious they call out tropes. You can ~obviously~ feel that they are meant to be, even their friends Jeannette and Charles are just waiting for our MCs to confess their feelings, LOL.

I loved their friend group, and I loved how supportive they all were of each other. The group chat text messages were so fun! It added another level of their friendship.

I really enjoy the way Lee writes her FMCs. They are messy and complicated, and I love how they are able to come to conclusions—especially Irene. When her and Aiden could’ve really hurt each other, she simply realizes she needs a bit of time and space, and they give each other that.

I can’t wait for SL’s next book!!

CW: mild sexual content, injury/injury detail, parental abandonment

Book Review of The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee

Cover Story: Stolen Touches
BFF Charm: Natalie Imbruglia
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Tournament of Tropes
Bonus Factor: College Struggles
Factor: Book Reviewers
Relationship Status: Not Even Fake Dating

Cover Story: Stolen Touches
This cover depicts the book’s two main protagonists well; Aiden and Irene are just as cute as they’re described to be. But it sort of gives away the ending? These two definitely don’t look like rivals here.

The Deal:
Irene Park is a successful romance book reviewer with a dedicated following of more than a million people. She has brand deals and sponsorships and has made herself a household name in the lives of romance readers. But she still feels like the quintessential middle child, especially when she compares herself to her older sister—a skincare model—and her younger brother—a golf prodigy.

When the opportunity arises to become the face of a Korean dating app, Irene’s imposter syndrome kicks in hard. How can she be the face of romance if she’s never actually experienced it? So she makes a vow to find a boyfriend during her freshman year in college, using the things she knows best: romance novel tropes. The only problem? Her nemesis and fellow romance reviewer Aiden Jeon is attending the same school. And he wants in on the competition.

BFF Charm: Natalie Imbruglia
I felt uncomfortably connected to Irene at times while reading The Romance Rivalry, and not only because I, too, am an online book reviewer. (I need to know her strategy, though, ’cause FYA is not quite to the million follower mark—yet.) She’s the child of parents who expect her to be extraordinary and suffers from both imposter syndrome and a severely misguided self-view. She’s smart and clever, and knows the ins and outs of romance books better than anyone. She doesn’t let anyone tell her that what she reads is dumb, either.

That said, she has a seriously misguided view of IRL romance, whether from reading too much fiction or just being inexperienced. She thinks she’ll find love by going through dates like I go through a bag of Swedish Fish (i.e., very quickly). When she doesn’t immediately feel an attraction to or interest in a date, she moves onto the next guy. Eventually, it seems like she’s only in the competition to check boxes, and it’s a pretty crappy way to treat people, even if many of the dudes are duds. And can you imagine finding out once you’re in a relationship because your partner thought you checked a box? I’m not sure most folks would find that a good thing.

Swoonworthy Scale: 4
I expected a higher Swoonworthy ranking going into this book, but the methodical and kinda mean way Irene goes about finding love put a serious damper on my enjoyment of any swoon. Add to that the super telegraphed motivations of Aiden, and I was left feeling as flat as one of Irene’s dates when she never talks to them again. Plus: He fell first is one of my least favorite tropes when the other person is frustratingly oblivious to what’s going on. I’ll Roger Murtaugh those plots right quick.

Talky Talk: Tournament of Tropes
Lee obviously has experience with romance, and romance tropes, because the explanations of all of them throughout the book were spot on—and in some cases even educational. She also knows her audience; her writing was witty and filled with reference like this one:

He throws his head back and laughs and I try not to notice the vein that runs down his long neck as he does so. Why does a mere human have so many veins, and why am I staring? I blame years of reading Twilight fic.

Bonus Factor: College Struggle
The Romance Rivalry clearly depicts a person who’s finding college to be way more complicated than they thought it would be. It’s nice to see a book that shows that’s it’s not just easy, breezy, college degree. It can be a seriously rude awakening—I’m thinking of you, C/D in Computer Science—for even the “most prepared” of people, and it’s great that books can warn teens of that before they dive in.

Factor: Book Reviewer
Although Irene has reached levels of fame most reviewers will never see, it was fun to read about someone in the same “field.” Made me real jealous (even while I thought about all the other things I have going on and the very little free time I currently have …), but it was fun nonetheless. We here at FYA HQ definitely get the burning passion to talk about books.

Relationship Status: Not Even Fake Dating
I’m glad you found your HEA, Book, but we are definitely not fated mates. If there were only one bed, I’d rather sleep in the bathtub. My grumpy feelings have not faded in the light of your sunshine. This age-gap romance was not meant to be. (Harsh, yes, but I had to stick with the theme.)

I ADORED THIS BOOK the idea to write each chapter using romance tropes?? A love letter to romance readers?! Say less, I'm here for it! <3
I really enjoyed Susan's writing and this story as a whole; Irene was so relatable as a first-time college student--that pressure?? No joke, I felt that! The struggle was real that first semester; if only I had a swoon-worthy rival who secretly-yet-not-so-secretly pined for me and who just so happens to read all of the same ROMANCE books that I do, right after I do, in order to have something to talk about with me-- HOW DARE YOU SUSAN, WRITING SUCH A PERFECT FICTIONAL MAN, I AM CRUSHED but you've also won me over as a reader for life <3

this unforunately fell flat for me! I loved the premise and idea but it felt like bookstagram brain rot, the book constantly references book tropes which was fun at first but quickly got maddening when even during fights or arguments tropes were being thrown out to latch on to. I love a good trope but it felt like this story commpletely solely relied on them, and makes it clear to reader as well.

rather than being a cute romance between readers to me it felt like a trope-off to see how many tropes could be mentioned or get fit into the book.

I also didn't see much of a conclusion to the integral plot point of skcupid and the brand deal, and the fmc was constantly being hyprocritical which was getting increasingly annoying.

overall, it was a good idea and premise but unfortunately read as a bit too cringy.

This one was just too young for me. That is a me problem. It was cute but I just didn't like the writing style and how young the main character was. I DNF I think what I read had potential but I just sadly didn't want to continue reading it.

This was SO cute. As my first Susan Lee book, I’m now officially hooked.

One of the things I love about romance novels is that you almost always know how they’re going to end, and yet the journey to get there can still go so many ways. There’s a difference between a book being predictable and boring vs knowing an HEA is coming your way.

I loved that the author also so clearly spelled out the tropes for us on the page, but at no point did I feel completely prepared for what was to come…Aiden’s last trope??? That epilogue??? Swoon.

The only reason I’m not giving this 5 stars is because I felt like things were resolved a bit too quickly in the miscommunication/third act breakup (even though I normally get stressed when it takes TOO long for the breakup to be resolved lol). But I loved that Aiden knew what he wanted and when she finally got to read his book…UGH.

I was lucky enough to meet Susan Lee IRL on the day Romance Rivalry was released, and getting to hear her talk about her connection to this story and characters was so special.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest review!

SUSAN LEE!!! HOW DARE YOU WRITE GOOD BOOKS!! I love this book so stinking much that I wish I could read this for the first time again!!

This book is SO ADORABLE! A book reviewer who's never been in love competes with her rival in a falling-in-love-by-trope competition, K-drama style. Each chapter is a popular romance trope that the two rivals face in their real and reading lives. The banter is witty, the college setting is perfect for an older YA and as a bookstagrammer I could relate to their lives as influencers (minus the big brand deals of course). Highly recommend this one to YA romance readers. You won’t be disappointed.

I really wanted to like this one but I wasn’t that big a fan. it starts off well enough but as time went on it was obvious that it was all just a misunderstanding. The dates were cute but after a while I really wasn’t into Irene and I had a hard time believing she wasn’t able to get a handle on her classes. Sure, college can be overwhelming but her responses to simple questions made the book unbelievable. I didn’t understand how she wasn’t aware of her grades. The story just sorta fell flat for me but others may enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

I have tried a few times to get into this and while I think this book has potential, I think it may not be for me. I am about 30-40% done with it and there is just something that feels a bit empty. Maybe I need more world building which feels weird to say for a contemporary book but I didn't get enough of things that grounded me in. I am going to DNF this book unfortunately, the FMC reads a bit too young and juvenile in her thinking and it feels like this crisis should be more of a high school problem vs starting college problem. I feel like the trope dating is SUCH a good idea but needs to be more adult for me to make the tropes work.

I did love the MMC and i loved the art for the cover. I fully recognize this book just may not be for me. I may try to get an audio copy from the library. Sometimes the voice actors can give more depth than the page. If I do try a re-read, I will update my review and post a public one on my socials.

I think this book straddles the line between YA and something more mature so perfectly - much like a freshman year of college feels similar in life. It’s such a transition point, and even though I wanted to shake Irene by the shoulders at some points, I really enjoyed watching her discover who she is and might one day be. It felt like such a realistic portrayal of the uncertainty of being on your own for the first time. And Aiden was utterly charming - Irene tries her hardest to resist him, but come on. He has dimples and he reads romance. She’s doomed from the start.

This is also such a love letter to romance readers. People who love tropes and see them in their everyday lives. People who really just need the comfort of a HEA more often than note. And I thought it was a refreshing change that Irene isn’t interested in writing herself - she just wants to review books and hype up authors.

The supporting characters are also so fun. A professor letting them do a lit project on a romance novel feels like the most far fetched part of this - but maybe times have changed since I was a lit major who favored books outside the canon. We can only hope

Thank you to Harpercollins for a chance to read an arc this book! 🖤

5⭐️ brb crying over two tiktokers in love |
tropes: rivals to lovers, fake dating, asian mcs | audio

Overall Thoughts 💭:
This book was a love letter to all things romance and also a heartfelt lesson i. finding yourself. I loved Irene so much! I related to her a lot. I loved seeing her journey dealing with people pleasing and anxiety. As someone who struggles a lot with negative self-talk and anxiety it can be tough to feel enough and worthy and it felt cathartic to see Irene face these challenges and deal with them. I loved Irene and Aiden together. Their chemistry was everything and I loved seeing Irene slowly let Aiden in. I also loved Aiden's character. He is so caring and kind while also being charming and sarcastic. I liked seeing him challenge some of Irene's perceptions and how that helped her grow. I also liked how understanding he was of her and how he fought for her. This book also was such an ode to romance readers in the best way. I loved the discussion of tropes and the subversion of them. Seeing a main character that lives and breathes romance struggle to feel worthy of her own happily ever after was really interesting and relatable. I will definitely have to read more from Susan Lee because this was incredible.