"You Started It" was such a fun experience. Jamie is relatable with everyday obstacles like anxiety, IBS, and identity, while Axel has his struggles. The teens complement each other. I recommend this book to teens and older fans of romance with some humor.

This was such a cute YA romance. I fell in love with our main characters and their relationship. The drama was definitely a little over the top at times but that’s why I love YA I absolutely ate it up. Overall I loved this one and will definitely be reading fromKhalilieh again!

This book was cute and fun and dealt with some pretty serious topics like mental health, culture, and family dynamics. I liked how there was a lot of growth amongst the characters and overall it was a nice little palette cleanser. The only thing that bothered me was the FMC. I just didn’t really like her personality all that much but that was my only gripe with the book.

2.75⭐️

i went into this expecting it to just a cute, fun little ya romance but DANG these characters are messyyyyyy!!!

i will say, the plot lines definitely kept me interested in the story and i needed to know what was going to happen next, but i did feel like there was a LOT of immaturity showcased by pretty much every single character ( including the adults ) this doesn’t really knock the book though because this is a young adult book, this type of behavior really should be expected imo

as a short summary: our main character jamie is broken up with and hatches a plan to fake date the new boy in town to make her ex jealous and get him back. you can imagine just how well this plan goes.. there’s a million different hiccups and feelings get involved on allll sides and like i previously stated, this just got really messy. so much drama. i do think the couple in the end was cute, but idk about their longevity after this story ends LOL

when i pick up a ya romance i want it to be so super swoon-worthy and fluffy, and this just wasn’t quite that for me. i DO think that this book would be perfect for a younger reader, it’s just not really my vibe anymore.

that being said, there were some pretty mature topics brought up in this one ( teen pregnancy, alcoholism, racial identity to name a few ) i don’t think we go SUPER in depth on any of these issues, but they exist and you should probably be aware of that — especially if you are a younger reader. i do think that the way everything worked out in the end was nice, it just didn’t dazzle me ✨

A sweet, funny YA romance that explores identity, anxiety, and love with heart, humor, and authentic Arab-Canadian voice.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a good YA contemporary, but I really enjoyed this one.

I picked You Started It in the middle of an exhaustion-induced reading slump, and I absolutely devoured it.

Jackie Khalilieh’s sophomore novel has your standard tropes, but she uses them in an unconventional way. You have all the stereotypical characters: the control-freak planner of a protagonist, the cheating ex-boyfriend, the popular, girly-girl rival, and the laid-back, complete-opposite-of-the-main-character fake boyfriend (who’s definitely not her type)—we even get an absentee father, a controlling mother, and a gay Uncle—but they’re all given nuance and depth. They aren’t there merely to serve a plot point or to help fill roles in the story; they’re each characters with their own motivations and flaws, and they feel so much more flushed out then a lot of their counterparts.

It isn’t even like Khalilieh develops them a lot on the page, but she’s so detailed in the way that she crafts them that they come to life in a way that makes them completely believable and incredibly human. Jamie and Axel are both conventionally attractive (like above-average in the looks department,) but they’re such well-rounded characters it makes sense that Jamie is--even by her own admission--a bit of a loner, and Axel, with his infectious charisma, is swarmed by admirers. They aren’t one-dimensional, cookie cutter characters. They don’t always act as expected, and the story doesn’t always go as you think. Whether it’s small things–like not giving Jamie and Axel a height difference (I think this is the first time I’ve read a romance where the couple is the same height) or having a bit of a messy resolution to the big climax, You Started It isn’t necessarily as predictable as you might imagine. It has everything you love about a rom-com but done in a fresh and unique way.

It’s a story that’s somehow both fun and believable, which is a surprising thing to say about a story about fake dating a TikTok star after accidentally running over his bike with your car, but Khalilieh is really good at nailing the human aspect of the story and making her characters’ motivations and experiences feel incredibly realistic. Plus, we finally get a male lead who smells like actual, everyday scents (i.e. maple syrup and fresh laundry) instead of cologne ad or a Bath & Body Works candle!

Even though the premise is a ploy Jamie concocts to win her ex- back, she has to grapple with her anger over being betrayed, and I really appreciate the fact that she wasn’t just blindly chasing after him the whole time. Instead, she struggles with wanting to get back together even as she acknowledges and tries to work through the hurt he’s caused.

I also love the way Jamie’s relationship with her family is portrayed. The mother-daughter relationship is basically Gilmore Girls if Rory and Lorelei had an estranged relationship instead of a healthy, if a bit codependent, one. Khalilieh describes it as “A Palestinian mother who struggles with her identity, and her mixed-raced daughter who also has questions about where she belongs,” and as someone who finds stories exploring identity fascinating, I really enjoyed this aspect of the story.

Jamie’s uncle might have been one of the most surprisingly endearing side-characters. He’s quirky and supportive, and while there isn’t anything in particular that makes him stand out, there’s something genuine about his character that makes him feel like a distinct individual instead of a cardboard cut-out of a side character. Even Jamie’s feelings about her estranged dad aren’t so straight-forward, and I like the fact that she has to deal with the hurt of being left behind while also missing him.

“I wrote this novel with an Arab teenaged boy love interest because…Western media often portrays a one-dimensional, stereotypical, and false (and tired) take on Arab men.”

In her acknowledgements, Khalilieh talks about how writing this book felt like her opportunity to change the narrative surrounding Arab men in the West, which I can totally appreciate but there were times when I felt like she was trying too hard to prove that “not all Arabs” that it started to feel a little forced (and I’m not talking about the throwaway #freepalastine line). I get wanting to provide diverse representation, and I even get that authors can have a deeper message/viewpoint they’re trying to convey in or through their stories. Khalilieh just does such a good job at crafting her story as a whole, that I have full confidence she could’ve pulled it off without having to shoehorn in it.

You Started It started off so strongly I thought it’d be a 4.5 or 5 star read, but then I hit the third act break-up and things started to unravel a bit. I’m not necessarily mad that there was a third-act break-up, but leading up to it, the story is so well-written even a small deviation in the quality is glaring obvious. Writing is sometimes referred to as a craft, and Jackie Khalelieh’s writing is a great example of why. The story is told with incredible pacing and precision, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve read a book where the storytelling was this tight. The first two acts are smooth like butter, and while I still think Khalilieh’s writing is strong as a whole, things definitely start to unravel a bit around the third act. The story just isn’t as cohesive, and the scenes don’t quite fit together as seamlessly as they do in the rest of the book. I just feel like we start to lose the plot a bit, and the reasons behind the break-up and conflict aren’t particularly compelling.

I’m not going to lie; I’m also a little upset about the third act break-up because the romance is so sweet and great up until that point. Again, I’m not mad about the break-up itself, but it just feels like the romance falls apart when the break-up occurs because it feels like the story gets away from Khalilieh a little bit.

Axel is a walking green flag with great hair. He’s confident in a healthy way, surprisingly emotionally intelligent, and brings out the best in Jamie. It doesn’t hurt that he’s charming, but he reads like the kind of boy you’d want to bring home to your parents (at least when he remembers to wear a shirt.) Even though there were a few moments when I was like he is definitely getting the short end of the stick (like when he and Jamie talk about their agreement isn’t the whole point of her driving him around to compensate for the fact, she’s only paying him a partial amount? Why is he paying for gas??), I love seeing them interact. They have the best banter, and Axel has the art of making a girl’s ex- jealous down to a T.

Unfortunately, things fall flat once we get to the third-act break-up because the character motivations start to feel a little inconsistent, and the thread of the overall narrative starts to unravel. It’s especially disappointing because the break-up doubles as an excuse for Khalilieh to develop Jamie’s arc and give her a little moment of self-discovery, but I feel like that it isn’t as impactful because the whole see-saw of will-they-won’t-they detracts from what’s supposed to be a really empowering moment.

Romance aside, in terms of the story as a whole, I appreciate Khalileh’s desire to write a “more mature” story than her debut and address some heavier themes like “an absent parent, a main character with diagnosed anxiety…a Palestinian mother who struggles with her identity, and her mixed-raced daughter who also has questions about where she belongs.” While I wish some of these things were addressed a little more, I think, overall, they were handled well and incorporated into the story smoothly. I think it added another level of depth to the story and contributed to its sense of realism without detracting from the fun, romantic aspects of it.

They say first impressions matter, and I have a great one of Jackie Khalilieh thanks to You Started It. This might be the first time I’ve read any of her books, but it certainly won’t be my last.

Seventeen-year-old Jamie Taher-Foster has big plans for senior year. She’s made a list of things and places in Toronto she and her boyfriend of three years, Ben Cameron, need to check off before graduating. And the biggest plan of all: a very special night for the two of them at the upcoming Winter Formal. But then Ben arrives back home after a summer away with an unthinkable announcement: he wants to break up.

And when Jamie discovers him with Olivia Chen the next day, she is determined to get him back. Even if that means fake dating the younger, curly-haired, TikTok dancer Axel Dahini, whose bicycle she accidentally ran over.

Though she and Axel have nothing in common aside from their shared Arab heritage — she’s a messy, type A with anxiety; he’s carefree but meticulous — their forced time together brings them to better understand one another. And for Jamie, it just might mean learning that not all experiences or people need to be crossed off a list.

I expected a bit more the book was well written and the way it showed the anxiety issues of the FMC was also good but the problem is that some scenes felt too much and the C got too irritating once in a while.

4.5 stars – A love letter to messy teens, fake dating, and Arab boys<3

You Started It is everything I hoped for and almost everything I needed. Jackie Khalilieh continues to prove she’s one of the most heartfelt voices in YA right now—with sharp humor, raw emotion, and characters who feel achingly real.

Jamie Taher-Foster is your classic Type A disaster: anxious, tightly wound, and determined to stick to her perfectly color-coded senior year plan… until Ben (her boyfriend of three years) casually nukes it with a breakup and a new girlfriend. Cue the spiraling. Cue the fake dating. Cue Axel Dahini.

Axel is sunshine in human form: younger, TikTok famous, endlessly patient, and not the rebound Jamie planned—but definitely the one she needed. Their slow-burn bond (built on fake dates, real moments, and Arab wedding chaos) is sweet, chaotic, and deeply healing.

💘 Fake dating done RIGHT
🎭 A nuanced look at anxiety, heartbreak, and identity
📍 Toronto as a vibrant, lived-in backdrop
🩵 An Arab MMC who isn’t reduced to a stereotype (finally!)

Jackie Khalilieh writes flawed girls so well, and Jamie is no exception. She’s impulsive, dramatic, sometimes selfish—and also fiercely loyal, emotionally complex, and learning. Her growth felt natural, and watching Axel guide her through grief and self-doubt without ever trying to "fix" her? Chef’s kiss.

Also, Amo Eli deserves his own book. Just saying.

My only (tiny) gripe was the third-act breakup—not because it was unearned, but because I’m simply a hater of them. That said, it led to some real character development, and the resolution? Totally worth the emotional bruises.

If you’re a fan of Better Than the Movies, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, or just want a feel-good rom-com with actual heart and cultural nuance—You Started It is for you. Jackie, I’m already ready for whatever’s next.

3.5 stars, rounded to 4

17 year old high school student Jamie is just about to start her senior year. She has it all mapped out. But everything is derailed when her long term boyfriend Ben returns from a summer job as a camp counselor and ends things with her. Reeling, she runs her car into anew student Axel’s bicycle and so begins a new plan - fake dating Axel in order to get Ben back. But Axel isn’t anything like she expected and shows her that sometimes having no plan and embracing the moment can be the best path forward.

At first, I really disliked Jamie. She was so stubborn and short-sighted and only cared about what she wanted, demonstrating no empathy for anyone around her. But she truly grew over the course of the novel. I loved seeing her start to heal her relationships with her mother and father (and seeing them grow as well). Axel was probably the most mature character in the book, and I adored him along with Jamie’s Uncle Eli.

I also loved the honest depictions of anxiety and the toll it takes both physically and mentally. Jamie has learned a lot of ways to manage her anxiety. Her family and (few) friends are so supportive, with the possible exception of Ben who seems to just encourage her at first to live a small life in order to not trigger anything.

All in all, this was a really cute YA romance.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

This story follows 17 yo Jackie, a biracial Palestinian Canadian going into her final year of high school. Just before the school year begins, her boyfriend of three years breaks up with her and Jackie is determined to win him back. What follows is a fake dating situation with Axel, a 16 year old TikTok famous dancer who seems like her total opposite. Despite their differences, they connect over their shared Arab heritage.

This was surprisingly entertaining, even though I’m not the target audience. The story offers a great mix of humor, teenage awkwardness, and heartfelt moments that brought me right back to my teenage years. The author does a great job exploring themes like identity, neurodivergence, first love, and the complexities of family life. While the ending felt a bit rushed, it’s still a sweet and charming read.

I’d recommend this book for high schoolers or early college readers. It’s very YA appropriate in both content and language. My absolute favorite part is that male main character's personality reminded me so much of Kenji from the Shatter Me series.

This was my first Jackie Khalilieh read and boy was it adorable. The relationship between Jamie and Axel was adorable, I loved how out of the way they went for each other for the things they loved.

I also really loved how the book had a Canadian setting. Yes, I know the author is Canadian but sometimes authors feel the need to pick an American city or make a generic one, just to sell the book. You Started It doesn’t do that. It also made the book more special being able to actually visualize the settings.

“It’s kind of difficult being fake around someone who brings out the truth in you.”

Awwwww but this book! It's like putting on a blanket on a cold day. This is how good reading it felt for me.

The story deals with major TW (cheating, parental abandonment, alcoholism, grief, anxiety disorder and panic attacks), but also with major self help subjects, like going outside of your comfort zone, being scared is okay. The best advices this book is giving to every reader: let yourself be surprised. Experiences bring anecdotes. Allow yourself to live your life like how you're meant to live it. Don't restreint yourself by your fears. Mistakes are more than okay; they're NORMAL.

I loved Axel's golden retriever energy, and how clueless Jamie was towards her emotions. It was cute and adorable and I just want to hug them SO MUCH.

You'll love this one is you enjoy:
-fake dating
-he fell first and HARD
-owning your fears
-teenage pregnancy (mother, recounting)

Many thanks to the publisher for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to Tundra Books and NetGalley for my ARC! This review contains my personal thoughts and opinions.

After falling in love with Jackie Khalilieh’s Something More last year, I couldn’t wait to dive into You Started It — and it absolutely delivered. This book was everything I hoped for and more. Following Jamie, the witty and lovable main character, through the ups and downs of her teenage love life felt like stepping into a perfect romantic comedy. From swoon-worthy scenes to hilarious banter and heartfelt life lessons, this story kept me smiling from beginning to end.

I loved the representation of Arab culture that was woven into the story. It was so fun visualizing the wedding scene and heartwarming reading about the evolution of the family dynamics. If you're a fan of YA books, the fake dating trope, or second-chance romance stories, this is a must-read. Khalilieh has such a fun, genuine voice, and You Started It is another shining example of her talent. I already can’t wait to see what she writes next!

Rating: 4.5/5

***Thank you to Netgalley and Tundra Book Group for an advanced copy of You Started it by Jackie Khalilieh! All thoughts are my own!***

Seventeen-year-old Jamie Taher-Foster has big plans for Senior Year. She's made a list of things and places in Toronto she and her boyfriend of three years, Ben Cameron, need to check off before graduating. And the biggest plan of all: a very special night for the two of them at the upcoming Winter Formal. But then Ben arrives back home after a summer away with an unthinkable announcement: he wants to break up.

And when Jamie discovers him with Olivia Chen the next day, she is determined to get him back. Even if that means fake dating the younger, curly-haired, TikTok dancer, Axel Dahini, whose bicycle she accidentally ran over.

Though she and Axel have nothing in common aside from their shared Arab heritage—she’s a messy, type A with anxiety, he’s carefree but meticulous—their forced time together brings them to better understand one another. And for Jamie, it just might mean learning that not all experiences or people need to be crossed off a list.

I enjoyed Jamie learning more about her Arab culture, but I think I was personally a little too old for this book. The drama back and forth with Jamie, Ben, Olivia, and Axel was a bit too mu h for me. It just kept repeating itself through the entirety of the book. A few times I had to put the book down it was irritating me so much. As much as I love a bucket list premise, I could not get behind the amount of high school drama this book had. Plus the issues Jamie had with her mother, I was glad they were resolved, but Jamie seemed to fly off the handle too many times.

You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh is out now!

3.75 🌟

In "You Started It" Jamie gets dumped by her long term boyfriend, Ben, right before their senior year. In order to win him back, she starts fake dating the new boy in town, Axel. While they go through her detailed plans to get Ben back, Axel and Jamie grow closer despite being literal opposites. But you know what they say, opposites attract!

This was a cute YA, angsty, rom-com that had great anxiety rep that expresses itself in physical symptoms. It was messy and frustrating, just like being a teenager!

Thank you NetGalley and Tundra Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Tundra Books, for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was so messy in the best way! I think that if this was a teen drama show, I would absolutely be tuned in. It had just the right amount of messiness and heart that kept me reading, even if I wasn’t always a fan of Jamie’s choices. If anything, that’s what made it feel more real. Jamie was trying her best and didn’t always make the best decisions, and Axel messed up too, although his heart was in the right place. But teenagers are going to mess up. So, I’m glad that they were able to be messy and learn and grow as characters.

The anxiety rep was great (and so real). It was great to see how Axel made her feel safe to talk about her symptoms! In general, I love how their relationship developed. He helped her break away from her plans and get out of her comfort zone after so long of needing everything to be planned. I understand the comfort in having control over things, especially with what she’s been through. But sometimes, the unexpected things end up being the best things. After all, who would’ve thought she’d end up falling for the guy who’s bike she ran over (a very interesting meet-cute!) and she’d forget about the original plan (getting Ben back)? Well, Jamie definitely wouldn’t have.

I also really enjoyed the family aspect of the book. Everything being very complicated made it feel real. Jamie and her mom struggle to understand each other, but you can see how their relationship develops over time. It was also interesting learning more about her dad, who has been absent from her life for the past few years. Also, I love Amo Eli, her uncle, who was always there for her!

Jamie wasn’t very in touch with her Arab heritage, so I love that Axel helped her learn more about it! The wedding they went to was so fun. I also know that the author wanted to go against the stereotypes that there are about Arab men, and you can see how she did that with Axel and Amo Eli. They’re both caring, kind characters, and I love how much they support Jamie.

They both had such a great time going along with their plan that it eventually didn't feel like a plan anymore. While I didn’t really like how the third-act breakup went, I did like the way they made up!

Overall, I enjoyed Jackie Khalilieh’s sophomore novel and look forward to reading more of her work! 4.25 stars!

You Started It was a fantastic read. I've been in a bit of a slump for a few months, and this treasure was the perfect thing to break me out of it. Within ten pages, I was all in on our protagonist, Jamie. There is an authenticity to her that made her instantly relatable, and I found that feeling only grew over the course of the book. Khalilieh does a masterful job of balancing the silliness of adolescence with the angst, and Jamie's inner monologue had me clutching my chest, remembering the pain of experiencing love and heartbreak for the first time as a teenager. I laughed out loud, and groaned along with Jamie in her embarrassing and uncomfortable moments. There is perhaps nothing more relatable than an Upset Tummy Girlie.

I also really appreciated the nuanced representation of trying to connect with/reconcile cultural identity, as a marginalized person; Jamie is Palestinian Canadian, and because of family circumstances, feels disconnected from her heritage. The Arab characters are multi-faceted, and different from eachother, which makes for a rich collection of characters that make the story feel grounded. I really loved Jamie's parents and uncle, specifically. It was such a fascinating dynamic.

Axel is extremely loveable and charming, and feels like a very real boy, making him easy to root for. The tension of the "fake-dating" scenario, with its newness, compared to the comfortable, worn-in connection that Jamie shares with former sweetheart Ben, made for a very compelling set of stakes. Jamie feels everything very intensely, taking the reader along for the ride from page one.

While not explicitly represented in the text, Jamie made me feel very seen, as an autistic person. Her struggles, while not exactly the same as my own, felt very familiar. Between her anxiety, and her feelings of isolation in social settings, I felt an instant connection to her. I may be biased, but the setting of Toronto also made this book feel more personal.

A wonderful read that left me feeling giddy and blushing. Great for fans of Jenny Han's To All The Boys I've Loved Before and Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series!

I got the best surprise when I realized this book is set in Toronto, and that part of the action takes place at Wonderland, as well as other fun spots around Toronto. This was a fun and nostalgic romp, and it made my heart happy!

Khalileh set out to show Arab culture against stereotypes, and she nailed it! I really enjoyed the meet cute between high school students Jamie & Axel and their subsequent plan to make Jamie's ex jealous. This book shares a positive message for teens to embrace their true selves, with Jamie as an example as she overcomes her fears and anxiety.

I would definitely recommend it for tweens and young teens and especially those who may suffer similar bouts of anxiety like Jamie.

Fake-dating is one of the best romance tropes, and You Started It is hardcore proof of that. There’s just something about the lines between what’s real and what’s fake getting blurrier that I absolutely adore. And watching this unfold between Jamie and Axel was so much fun.
There are so many things I loved about this book, so I’m going to make like Jamie and create a list:

- The anxiety representation. It was well written and well handled, in my opinion, and Jamie’s overthinking and desire to control her environment are so relatable. Personally, I loved how this manifested in the form of her chaotic room, where it was the one place she could let her real self show. (And Axel respecting this side of her and making the effort to understand it was so <3)
- The stark differences in how Jamie acts when she’s around her ex, Ben, versus her new “boyfriend,” Axel: For Jamie, Ben is her safety net, the guy she’s been with since the start of high school. He’s the so-called perfect guy for her: goal-oriented, attractive, smart. Yet he was stifling Jamie as a person. She wasn’t acting like herself, but like the person he wanted her to be. Whereas with Axel, she can be unabashedly herself. Axel’s confidence in himself helps Jamie break out of her shell. He’s not confined by rules and lists, and let’s be honest, would she ever have hopped a fence at a concert with Ben? Not a chance. And I love how, by connecting with Axel and his family, she was able to connect with her Arab heritage, and embrace this part of herself that her mom wasn’t ready to embrace
- Jamie’s absent father: This was another relatable aspect of the book for me, as someone with an absent dad. Once I read the start of Chapter 1, I knew this book was going to ~see me~ and ~hurt me~ and it did, but in the best way possible
- Jamie’s Amo Eli: I loved him from the first time we meet him on page 2! He’s so funny, and is a lovely springboard for Jamie, especially when tensions are high with her mom. And I have to say, I agree with all of his negative assessments of Ben after he breaks up with Jamie

Overall, I loved this book so much (as you can tell), and absolutely everyone needs to read it.
And sorry to Betty White the bike, but I’m glad Jamie crashed into it because Axel is perfect for her, and Ben simply can’t compete <3

Thank you so much to @coloredpagesbt @tundrabooks and @jackiekhalileh for the ARC copy and the chance to be part of the #YouStartedItTour 🩵 #coloredpagesbooktours

(Jackie Khalilieh, if you’re reading this, I love you <3 My best friend recommended Something More to me last year, and I’m so glad she did. I will read everything you write, including but not limited to your grocery lists.)