The Romance Rivalry is about Korean American book influencers/college freshmen Irene Park and Aiden Jeon. Irene Park lives and breathes romance via pages but has no love or dating experience to speak of in her real life, so she decides to fall in love using her knowledge of romance tropes. However, book review rival and coincidental real life classmate Aiden challenges her in who can find true love via tropes first. Between this competition, transitioning into college life, and figuring out her own personal goals, Irene finds that she’s struggling to find balance and answers for and about herself, none of which her knowledge of romance tropes can help her with.

I adored this book. This is truly a love letter to and celebration of romance readers— for those of us who find home and safety and joy in the guaranteed happily ever after. The way every trope rolled out was *chef’s kiss* delicious, and I ate up every last one of them.

I relate to Irene in a lot of ways. I am also a person who’s lived most of her love story vicariously through the pages of romance books, and it makes all the sense in the world to me to read Irene trying to figure out how to fall in love via the language of romance tropes in which she so fully immerses herself. I relate to her internal doubt that comes with the lack of experience of finding and being in love in real life— I straight up wrote in my notes, “is this fucking play about me?” I absolutely loved reading Irene use romance tropes as the building blocks to her understanding of love beyond books and then really experience and learn that love is more than just those tropes. Her journey of falling in love and figuring out herself in the aggressively hard transitional time that is freshman year of college felt like a piece of home settling into my chest.

And Aiden. Aiden is so sweet. I love a good “he falls first,” and he is /it./ His banter, his support, his readiness to call Irene out when she needs it. Aiden is great. No other notes.

Another thing I love is the different experiences and expectations that these two Korean-American children of immigrants have given themselves as well as the ones they believe that their parents put on them. When it comes to the high expectations they put on themselves, I aggressively relate to these two teens because as children of immigrants, I understand the need to take advantage of any and all opportunities in order to have what society, and especially parents, deem a successful life. Conversely, Irene and Aiden’s parents are polar opposites when it comes to what careers they expect their children to go into; while they may be on the extreme sides of giving/withholding support, I loved reading how supportive Irene’s parents were for her, even after finding out that she’s still figuring out what she wants from life. While my parents are somewhere in the middle of Aiden and Irene’s parents in terms of their Asian immigrant expectations on my American-born self, it still felt like some sort of wish fulfillment and catharsis to be reading a young Asian American woman being so fully supported, loved, and anchored by her family, especially in light of her feeling like she’s drowning and failing at life and being a human.

Additionally, I loved reading Irene find family in her friends, especially her roommate Jeanette. Irene and Jeannette’s easy friendship and love and support for each other was so wholesome, and the group that they formed and the home that they found in each other and their new circle of friends was heartwarming.

My only gripe about this book is that the “only one bed” trope is listed and “just one bed.” When?? has the mass populace?? consistently referred to this elite-tier trope as “just one bed”??? Perhaps, I’m the one in the wrong, but I am so sure that it’s mass-agreed upon as “only one bed” over “just one bed.”

With every book that Susan Lee writes, she lays another brick in the foundation of my library of comfort authors. Thank you, Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperCollins, for the ARC!

Decided to DNF this book as it just wasn’t for me. I read the first 30% then went to the end to see what happened.

This story is about Irene, a romance book reviewer, who is starting college and determined to find love. However, her reviewer nemesis, Aiden, is also attending the same school and they’re paired on a project together.

This is my favorite of Susan's books I've read so far! I always feel like her previous books were missing ~something~ and whatever that was, this book found it!

I loved the characters and the chemistry in this book was undeniable and SO fun to read! Definitely picking up Susan's next book!

Side note: does anyone else cringe at bookstagrammers/booktokers in books? like is this play about us lmao

Very cute and fun trope filled read
College Romance
Rival to Lovers (Two Book Reviewers)
YN
He falls first
Fake dating

90’s Romcom vibes! Laugh out loud, cozy, and some cringe moments. Aiden fell for Irene and her love of Romance books. MCs compete to find love using romance tropes. What I loved is how the struggle to adapt to college/adult life was shown.

Found family trope fell a little flat for me.

In "Romance Rivals" by Susan Lee we follow teenage book reviewer, Irene Park, go to college with the plan of making her own happily ever after. She hopes that by achieving this she will enlarge her platform enough that a new Korean dating app will partner with her. The problem becomes that her online rival, the handsome Aiden Jeon, also goes to her school and just so happens to develop the same plan. What could possibly go wrong. There is no way that they might achieve that happily ever after...together...right?

This was a solid read and kept me entertained and engaged the entire time. I even enjoyed the side characters. Especially Irene's roommate, their journey to best friends was so cute.

This book is perfect for someone who wants to watch a teen start college but also have plans for more as they find love at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for giving me this arc of The Romance Rivalry.

Unfortunately, this was one I ended up DNFing and it’s not because it’s a bad book or anything, but it was just hard for me to really connect with. This is something I totally would’ve loved in my younger years from like 14-18! I think this is the perfect novel for that age group and it’s something I’d definitely recommend to the younger individuals in my life.

I will say the tropes were a bit overwhelming for me and all of the popular trends or phrases was a bit much but I understand that’s the point and it’s definitely for the younger crowd. The writing was easy to follow, the storyline was nice and cute, just couldn’t get myself to finish it.

3.75/5 ⭐️

The Romance Rivalry is a cute story of two Korean-American book influencers who end up at the same college. Irene has over a million followers and has worked very hard for her online success. Aiden is a newcomer to social media influencing, but because he is a guy reviewing romance books, his novelty has skyrocketed his success. Both have been approached by a brand for a possible sponsorship and to increase their odds and to engage their followers, they agree to a "date the tropes" contest, the winner being the one who falls in love. The book is super engaging and a fun quick read. I recommend it for high school grades as it contains strong language and mature situations.

I received an advance reader copy for free. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting—it was just that good! The Romance Rivalry is the ultimate love letter to romance readers, with a fun, fresh take on tropes and a heartwarming story that had me hooked from beginning to end.

This book made me laugh, cry, and swoon in equal measure. Susan Lee has created a story that’s not just about falling in love with someone else, but also about finding confidence and love within yourself. I adored every minute of it and can’t recommend it enough!

<b>3 stars ☆.</b>
⤿ <i>arc review ⊹ ࣪ ˖ </i>

<blockquote><i>: ̗̀➛ “most people in my life don’t get my passion for reading, and they definitely don’t respect my right to do it wherever and whenever i want.”</i></blockquote>

this book was so cute but i also unfortunately had so many issues with it. it’s such a cutesy and cheesy rom com book to read to get you out of a funk

<b>writing.</b> the writing actually wasn’t too bad, i wasn’t expecting anything crazy good anyways. my problem was the gen z references, respectfully, <b>never again!</b> <i>”and the entirety of taylor swift’s dating history and its correlation to her music catalog.”</i> ooh how about no! this quote felt like reading a tiktok comment, this is such a stereotypical thing to say.

<b>plot.</b> the plot was cliché but cute “oh no i got paired up with my enemy!” we all know where this is going. i still enjoyed it a lot though, one complaint the pacing was a little off sometimes way too slow and sometimes it went so fast??

<b>the romance.</b> THE POTENTIAL. THE POTENTIALLLL. i’m actually so mad because irene and aiden are such cuties together but this was way to insta lovey for me. one second they were paired up and the next they were nearly kissing in an elevator like huh?? and the random “spicy” scene was so odd and cringe <i>”his hardness meeting my wetness”</i> how about no! this book was supposed to be ya and sex was so explicitly talked about, huge disappointment. other than that i actually loved them together i just wish we’d taken the time to build their relationship correctly.

<blockquote><i>“i love you, irene. i won’t use flowery prose to describe it so you won’t think I’m just trying to say the right things. i’ll just be honest and clear. i love you. i have from the very beginning, and i will till our Happily Ever After.”</i></blockquote>

ok i must admit i was giggling and kicking my feet what about it

ೃ⁀➷ <i>thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.</i>

The Romance Rivalry is an ode to romance readers of all styles! Irene Park is a romance afficionado and book review with one caveat: she's never been in love, herself. With a brand deal on the line and the ever enticing allure of a fresh start in college, she sets out to find love in the way she knows how, book tropes! When she discovers her online archnemesis is not only at her school but in her same classes, things get a little complicated to say the least. Readers will love how immediately relatable Irene's character is and and root for her journey every step of the way!

between the insta-love, corny tropes, choppy writing, and non-memorable characters, this book was not it for me. I was really into the idea of the girl who loves romance books and is an "expert" reviewing love, but the actual execution of the book fell flat for me.

this is probably more personal to me, but I'm a bit sick of how forward tropes are pushed on us in bookish community now. the book's plot was also incredibly obvious to the point that everything was a bit too predictable for me. I think I would've liked this a little bit better if there was actual tension between the MCs instead of the MMC instantly being into the FMC.

overall, not for me!

Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for this ARC! This was very cute but something was missing for me. I loved the idea of two romance book lovers using tropes but I didn’t really feel connected to them. I also find it a bit unbelievable that this all transpired before Thanksgiving break in the first semester of college. I understood Irene’s struggles with dating but then when they did get it together, she wasn’t super shocked. Unfortunately my relationship to this book is the “it’s not you, it’s me” trope. I think maybe college romance just isn’t for me. I loved the cover though and hope to read more from the author!

DNF @ 22%

I love a good romance novel that’s self-aware enough to lightly, and in good fun, tease what the genre is all about, and I was hoping that’s what this book would be–kind of like The Calculation of You and Me. Instead, The Romance Rivalry felt uncomfortably meta, using slang BookTok terms and dividing each section into different tropes that the main character uses to find her first boyfriend IRL, which only leads to every interaction she has with a guy to feel stilted and awkward. When Irene goes into every conversation hoping that this guy will be The One, it makes it hard to feel any sort of chemistry or natural spark.

This was going to be one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

I thought this was such a cute YA book. I feel like I could relate because I also post book reviews online for fun. I did feel like the romance felt a bit rushed. But other than that I really liked this. This is a book about loving books so of course I love it.

Thank you, Susan Lee, Harper Collins Children's Books, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This comes out on May 13.

The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee

Cue witty banter, a relatable FMC who struggles with not being seen and then actually being seen in Irene, a swoony love interest who says all the right things in Aiden and so many tropes. I felt like this book was written for the romance girls not only with the overall plot, but also the convenient ploy of the MCs meeting. However, it made for a delightful book, with witty epigraphs, lovely friendships, and self-discovery. There was a scene in it that tethered on the line between YA and NA. Overall, it was a fun, chaotic, humorous, and cheesy read just like a rom-com.

The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee is an absolute delight! Irene and Aiden are rival book reviewers who clash online, but when they end up as college project partners (because fate is so funny), their dynamic starts to shift. Add in a fake-dating scheme, some classic romance tropes, and the chaos of freshman year, and you’ve got a story that’s both fun and heartfelt. Irene can be a little dramatic at times, but the found family vibes, sharp banter, and slow-burn romance more than make up for it. If you love rivals-to-lovers with a bookish twist, this one’s a must-read!

Full review on blog: https://brewsbooksandbffs.blog/

The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee is an absolute delight! Irene and Aiden are rival book reviewers who clash online, but when they end up as college project partners (because fate is so funny), their dynamic starts to shift. Add in a fake-dating scheme, some classic romance tropes, and the chaos of freshman year, and you’ve got a story that’s both fun and heartfelt. Irene can be a little dramatic at times, but the found family vibes, sharp banter, and slow-burn romance more than make up for it. If you love rivals-to-lovers with a bookish twist, this one’s a must-read!

Full review on blog: https://brewsbooksandbffs.blog/

This book was the most adorable book I’ve read this year. It’s such a feel-good romance that quite literally touches all of our most revered and favorite tropes.

The author does a great job in showing what it’s like to be a romance fan in today’s world: a review for everything. By the end of the book, we realize how perfectly the two MCs fit together, as they get each other in ways that no one else does.

I will say I wish we got to see more of Aiden’s family and their relationships with each other. It also felt like Irene’s familial “issues” almost got resolved a little too quickly.

Overall, I love this book. I love Susan Lee. And I thank the author and NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As romance novel reviewer Irene Park would say – this one was not for me. I’m usually good at suspending my belief but I tipped into the hole of too many things were unbelievable for me. Irene is the type of character that I can’t understand why any boy would fall for her. Especially a nice understanding one, instead of one that would prey on her lack of self-esteem. I still read the whole thing so it does some good stuff. I do love a good trope and the secondary friend characters were great.


Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for this DRC.
#TheRomanceRivalry #NetGalley

This was so fun and cute ❤️ I love Aiden to bits, and I saw a lot of myself in Irene - a good reminder to be easier on myself. I love how each chapter opened with a different trope as the theme!

As soon as the "game" started, I was hooked. I loved the group banter and the banter between Irene and Aiden. Irene's character was so real to me, I really felt for her struggle with her anxiety. It was very fun to be reading a romance book about two book reviewers - inception level!