John Tucker Must Die vibes in a YA sapphic romance — intriguing, no?

This is a cute story about two girls who team up to get revenge on a third girl who treated them poorly. As they start scheming, they, of course, start falling for each other instead.

Charm is the star in this story. She’s so funny and adorable, and I wish the book was solely from her POV! I found Beau to be fairly unlikable. I do think the book felt long and flat in many places, which kept me from wanting keep flipping the pages. Also, why do all the characters have one syllable names including Enzo and Ezra who have feelings for each other?! I couldn’t remember who was who lol.

For educators: this book is mostly clean in terms of what the characters are doing but there are many sexual references

Two high school seniors, Charm and Beau, have both been flirted with and ghosted by the same closeted girl, Maia. When the two cross paths, they agree on a revenge plot in which Charm will pursue Maia, ask her to prom, and then dump her. The book title refers to Charm and Beau's frustration that Maia has a very public relationship with her jock boyfriend while she's carrying on with girls.

This is one of those books that was too long for me. It felt like there was too much interior thinking on both MCs' behalf, some of which felt a bit too sophisticated for characters who could have resolved this situation very easily.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was such a cute romcom about these two high school girls who are trying to exact their revenge on a girl that kisses them in private while still being with her boyfriend. They even come up with a whole contract to help one of them exact the revenge to include rules like not falling in love. It was so cute

4 stars

Aaaw. Young, queer love!

This is a charming YA romance, which is no surprise, as it is penned by two authors who are well known for their audience-specific contributions. While I've been a fan of Woodfolk's for some time, Cole has been stranded on my TBR (not intentionally; it just worked out that way). I'm thrilled (and not surprised) to note that this author was worth the wait.

Beau and Charm are 2/3s of a potential love triangle, and they are determined to work together to find out WHAT is going on with the final 1/3 and maybe terrorize her just a touch in the process. We all know this mutual effort is going to likely lead to one magical place. The first 2/3 will ultimately make a whole. Whether or not that happens - and if it does HOW - is for you to read!

These characters are charming (yes, that's intentional!), and I really enjoyed the way their relationship evolves. I also loved the relationships they had with friends and family. There's some good modeling here on that front that I suspect many targeted readers will appreciate.

I'd love to see ANY of the characters in this universe again, and even more than that, I hope to see another joint effort from these authors. This is one I'll be recommending to students and remembering fondly myself!

To be published July 1, 2025.

This was a cute, teenage read with a group of friends navigating new feelings, their own identities, relationships with family and with each other and offered a full cast of queer and non confirming characters. I was rooting for some and wishing demise for others throughout and while it felt a little predictable, it was a really enjoyable read.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

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

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Call Your Boyfriend is a story of revenge, and ultimately friendship and love. Maia has an on-again, off-again boyfriend, but is also flirting and more with Charm and Beau. Once the two girls on the side discover that they share Maia in common, they plot revenge. This was a funny and cute romance. I enjoyed seeing. both of the girls' POVs and I think it has great LGBTQ+ representation as well as multiple family dynamics. I did wish for al little more at the end so we could see Charm and Beau enjoy their happy ever after as they worked really hard for it! As a teacher, I would caution other educators to know your readers a little bit with this one. It does have quite a bit of sexual and suggestive references so if you know a student would not be comfortable with that, this is maybe not the book for them.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Children’s and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this one. All thoughts are my own.

I wanted to love this more than I did. It started strong and the characters were likeable and it was definitely not a bad book. It just fell a little flat for me. I feel like I’ve read these themes, these characters, these situations so many times but done a little better.

Beau is used to straight girls using her as an experiment and then ditching her. She's fed up with popular girl Maia doing what's been done to her many times before, so she goes to a party with the underwear Maia gave her to tell her that it's over. When she's there, she walks in on her nearly kissing another girl, Charm.

Charm has been tutoring Maia in trigonometry and has a feeling that Maia is falling for her, so she goes to the party with the intent to figure things out with her. Unfortunately, after Beau walks in on her and Maia together, Maia flees. Later, she and Beau see her kissing her on-again homophobic boyfriend, and decide to plot revenge: Beau will teach Charm her seduction techniques so that she can teach Charm how to get Maia to fall for her, and then once she's done with her boyfriend for good, Charm will break her heart. Unfortunately, their mutual rule they made as a part of their plan of not falling for each other seems to be a bit difficult to follow.

I really enjoyed this revenge-turned-rom-com. I would agree with other reviewers that it feels like a gayer Do Revenge — it even uses the phrase "do revenge" at one point in the book. If you've watched that movie all the way through and are worried about the more toxic element of the relationship between the two female leads, though, don't worry, there's no situation in this book where one of the girls drives a car into the other on purpose. There is only trashcan manslaughter. The novel is sweet in the end, and even the flaky popular girl is surprisingly sympathetic. All of the characters feel well-rounded, which is surprising for a rom-com like this with a "designated villain".

I also am tired of books that promise revenge arcs but then have the characters unrealistically become obsessed with being perfect moral paragons in the name of "character development", so it was a relief that that didn't happen in this book. Beau, Charm and Maia were all allowed to be messy and imperfect, and there was still character development, but realistic character development. I honestly would've loved to have a chapter from Maia's POV as well, but the book was still great without it.

It was really great to see families represented in this book that weren't the typical nuclear family, with Beau's sister and Charm's aunt being more maternal to the girls than their biological mothers were. The families in this book were also allowed to be messy without being tropey, which I appreciated. Beau and Charm also have ambitions beyond just revenge, which helped them feel like fuller characters. The book also had great (in my opinion) representation of what it's like to be a person of color at a mostly-White high school, since Charm is Black and Maia is mixed.

The book was definitely more sexual than a lot of other YA in terms of the amount of sexual references, which makes sense since they're in their senior year of high school. I'd categorize this as upper YA, and if you're bothered by teens talking a lot about sex, this would not be the book for you.

I'm looking forward to reading more books by these authors!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I liked the cover and the title. The book had a good beginning. I had some laughs and quotable moments. The characters were cute as their inner monologue went on about the other person. As well as relatable queer/lgbt representation. However, along the way things felt flat. To the point the story seemed to last longer than it should have.

Wishing the authors much success.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for this ARC! This story is Do Revenge but even more queer if that was possible. Although the camp was turned down the story was great. I was so compelled about what brought Charm and Beau together. Charm reminded me of how important it is to be yourself because even with Beau’s lessons she never did anything that wasn’t her. Beau reminded me that you can’t leave everything lent up but you have to let it out. Them together taught me it’s okay to fall. I love that two of them are reminders of precious and how exciting yet scary first love is. However, I am a little upset that we got an ending to their story together, but some kind of resolution of their individual stories. I guess that’s life, but sometimes I wanted a few more issues tied up with a bow. Overall, this story left me wanting more, not because it needs conclusion, but purely because I fell in love with these characters

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Publishing and authors Olivia A. Cole and Ashley Woodfolk for providing me with the eARC of “Call your boyfriend” in exchange for my honest review.
Publication date: July 1st, 2025
Reviewed on Goodreads

I wish it was possible to rate this higher than 5 stars. This very well may have been my favorite book of the year, and quite possibly my favorite book of all time.
I am officially SO desperate to own a physical copy of this, and I am so excited for its official release date so that everyone can read it.

This was such an exciting, fun, interesting and heart-felt young adult sapphic romance. I finished it in under 24 hours and I will be thinking about it…forever.

I love the character Charm, I love the character Beau, and more than anything I love them together! I was rooting for them throughout the entire story and found myself so anxious for them to both get their happy ending, especially after the pain that they both experienced at the hands of the same girl.

I would absolutely LOVE for there to be a second part to this book! It would be amazing if we could see their relationship develop and learn how they navigate life after graduation and if/how they follow their dreams.

This book has:
- Revenge trope
- slow-burn romance
- LGBTQ+ representation
- African American/biracial representation

I honestly think that this story is something a wide array of readers could enjoy!

cute and fun romance with some cool plotting. the revenge plot is awesome too. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Four Stars: Mean Girls Meets Gay Panic in the Best Way Possible 🌈

Look, if you’ve ever plotted petty revenge on your mutual crush with your fellow heartbreak victim and accidentally caught feelings along the way, congratulations—you are this book’s target audience. For the rest of us? Buckle up, it’s sapphic chaos at its finest.

Beau is a brooding, emotionally complex cinnamon roll in combat boots, and Charm is the human equivalent of a golden retriever who just realized she likes girls. When their shared crush Maia pulls a fast one (read: heteronormative betrayal via promposal), these two band together in a scheme that’s equal parts “get even” and “maybe make out?”

The plot is what you’d get if She’s All That and John Tucker Must Die had a queer Gen Z baby—with lots of banter, fake lessons in seduction, and unexpected feelings blooming between co-conspirators. Spoiler alert: the plan goes off-script. Adorably. Awkwardly. Gay-ly.

Why not five stars? Because sometimes the teen drama levels hit soap opera at a sleepover territory, and you may want to lovingly shake the characters and yell, “JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER.” But then again, that’s half the fun.

In short: Come for the revenge plot, stay for the enemies-to-girlfriends slow burn, and prepare to root for love... even if you showed up for petty vengeance.

3.25/5 stars

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC!

Call Your Boyfriend is a YA romance where two girls, Beau and Charm, team up to get revenge on Maia, who’s been playing with both of their hearts.
I adored Charm. I wish the entire book had just been about her because she was so sweet and had so much emotional turmoil that I wanted more of. There were so many emotional aspects of this book that I would’ve loved more of (family dynamics, past relationship histories, etc.) but we never saw any of it after the first quarter of the book.
And this book was… so absurd. There were funny parts, yes, but the entire starting premise was so off-putting (there’s a whole thing involving panties; it’s weird) and it never stopped from there.
The romantic manipulation felt really gross, and Beau really needed a few lessons on healthy flirting and relationships because oof. I wanted this to be an actual romance, but by the time we got there, I wanted Charm to be fifty feet away from Beau at all times.
And, for a slow burn, this was annoyingly slow. [Slight Spoiler] Beau and Charm had well and truly admitted their feelings to themselves, but didn’t get together until literally the last two(?) chapters. It was just annoying.
Also, who names two characters (who are down bad for each other) Ezra and Enzo? I cannot tell these two apart!!
Anyway, if you like supremely messy lesbians with revenge plots, give this one a go.

CW: toxic relationship; queerphobia; grief

First I want to say Thank you to Simon & Schuster’s Childrens Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book follow Beau & Charm who feel like they have been played by a popular girl “Maia” who for the sake of the public has a boyfriend. Beau who normally doesn’t fall for any of the girls she hooks up with falls for Maia, as well as Charm who is Maia’s tutor. The only thing is Maia accepts a Promposal with her on again off again boyfriend. Not realizing they were being played Beau & Charm team up to get back at Maia, & wind up falling for each other. I personally felt for all of the characters in the book. Charm was such a sweetheart, Beau just wanted someone to like her in public, and I think Maia was just struggling with her own sexuality and didn’t want to be judged by her peers. And Please let us not forget Celine(Beau's sister and voice of reason LOL!) & Ezra(Charm's best friend) Loved both of them as well!!

This was a super cute YA-Rom-Com, Friends to lovers read. I really enjoyed it and hope that you will too!

I think I could have loved this if Maia actually deserved this whole (unnecessarily harsh) revenge plot; however, this book gives early aughts teen romcom + queer representation, so I have to give it well-deserved points for that. It was impossible to suspend my distress for Maia even though I liked Charm and Beau. Some of the dialogue/inner monologue seemed realistic while other parts felt out of place at times. The characters did feel distinct from each other and pretty fleshed out. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Call Your Boyfriend opens up with Beau arriving to a party with a pair of panties in hand, hoping to return them to the girl she’s been hooking up with for months. Beau had finally gathered up the courage to have a real talk with Maia about their relationship when she stumbles across her about to kiss another girl.

Charm is excited to see where all the flirty exchanges she’s had with Maia during their tutoring sessions will lead, but when their kiss is interrupted she learns that Maia’s intentions weren’t as sweet as she assumed. Worse, only days after the party Maia accepts the very public promposal of her on-again-off-again boyfriend, leaving both Beau and Maia heartbroken.

Realizing they’ve both been played by the same girl, Beau and Charm decide to team up and give her a taste of her own medicine. The plan is for Beau to teach Charm how to flirt so that she can woo Maia, go to prom with her, and then dump her. However the more time Beau and Charm spend together for their “lessons” the more they begin to grow closer themselves.

I will forever hold a soft spot for contacts with an “if we do this, we can’t fall in love” addendum. Shooting themselves in the foot before they realize how they’ll grow closer, creating their own complex obstacle and miscommunication when there never needed to be one. It gets me every time!

There were definitely some comedic moments but overall this is truly a story about learning to welcome love. Both Beau and Charm have parental abandonment issues and feelings of insecurity when it comes to dating. Beau is constantly getting the attention of “straight” girls who want to keep her a secret, and Charm’s ex-girlfriend callously told her all the ways she fell short as a partner. As they spend time together, they begin to learn how to demand more from love and to be with the people who actually care for them.

All the characters were so well developed and multifaceted. It was nice how even Ezra and Celine got some interesting insights into their insecurities and struggles. Every character, no matter how small, really jumped off the page.

Beau being this playboy who falls to her knees for the shy clueless girl is such a delicious set up. Charm being effortlessly irresistible while thinking that she’s awkward made me giggle. She has girls falling for her left and right, and yet she thought she had no game. Beau quickly realizing that she’s created a monster by teaching Charm the art of seduction. She’s dug her own grave as she falls for Charm.

Maia is differently a very interesting figure. You feel a lot of sympathy for her because you know that she’s clearly struggling with her sexuality and being closeted. But at the same time, some of her actions are inexcusable and harmful. So you’re constantly flipping between empathy and disdain.

I had a lot of fun with this sapphic romcom and I think this will be a perfect read for many!

This was a book I wasn’t expecting to enjoy as much as I did. From the initial synopsis , I was intrigued by the concept and the cover easily caught my attention. But if you had told me I would end up falling in love with these characters and laughing out loud numerous times, I’m not sure I would have believed you. It is an amazing queer coming of age novel that deals with identity, friendship, family, and revenge. It is one that you are going to finish in one sitting and then once you finish, go right back to the beginning and start over again.

Revenge is a dish best served cold and boy do these girls want revenge. Beau who has been secretly hooking up with Maia starts to develop feelings for her. Charm who tutors Maia in trig has been on the receiving end of flirtatious touches and texts. Now jump in time to a house party where Beau and Charm are both looking for…you guessed it. Maia. Let’s just say things don’t go well and hearts were broken. So now what? Now it’s time for Maia to get a taste of her own medicine.


For the most part, I enjoyed the book, and it was a page-turner for me. In the beginning, I wasn’t a big fan of Beau, but after getting to know her character more, she grew on me. Charm was char- ah I almost got you! Charm was likable, funny, and a great best friend. There were times when I laughed out loud and there were other times when I wanted to yell out of frustration. I felt like the ending was abrupt, but overall it was a good read. Are you looking for a queer coming-of-age story that has relatable characters dealing with family drama and their own insecurities? Something with all the teen angst you could possibly want? That might have been too specific. Oh, well. Here you go! Happy Reading!


I’d like to thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for giving me an arc.

This book was so cute!!! I loved the way they meet and how they slowly begin to trust each other after figuring out what was happening to them. I liked the flow of the story and how everything unfolded. It was sweet and made me wish we saw where things go from here. I also enjoyed how all the characters added to the story and made it feel realistic and cozy. Definitely a book to check out!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc