Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Come As You Are was my first Dahlia Adler novel and you cannot imagine how excited I was to find out she has a pretty deep back catalogue. This book had all the things I didn’t even know I wanted in a YA romcom, and I immediately wanted to start back to the beginning and read it all over again.

I really like the main cast of characters. Evie is so relatable, and Salem and Sabrina’s dynamic is very endearing. Are they way to witty to be realistic teenagers? Yeah, probably, but I’ll suspend my disbelief if it means I get to actually laugh out loud at the dialogue. Give me a follow up book of Isabelle and Sabrina!!

This also might have been my first audiobook with Mia Hutchinson-Shaw as narrator. I really enjoyed her reading of it and will likely keep my eyes peeled for her work going forward.

Romcoms can often feel formulaic, full of contrived situations. They can sometimes feel like it’s dragging- especially if there’s a subplot I don’t care about. In Come As You Are, however, I was excited to read every scene, regardless of which characters were present. The plot was fun, unique, and entertaining, with excellent pacing, which is likely why I finished the book in one day.

Overall, Come As You Are is a refreshing addition to the genre, and I will definitely be buying a copy (maybe two!) for the library.

I don't read as many Young Adult books as I used to, but I definitely have to read when Dahlia Adler writes one. Her books are always good and get ;me hooked that I get though them so quickly. I love the characters are usually LGBTQ+ or allies. I love reading about teens dealing with everything that seems so big at the time, but they usually get through easily with the help of friends.

The audiobook narrator was amazing. The production quality was killer. The banter and dialogue in the book was top notch. The premise was so cool. The age really threw me. This felt more appropriate for a college setting.

3.5 stars

Dahlia Adler has a knack for writing about characters at pivotal stages of their lives and romantic awakenings, and those features come through in this most recent effort.

Evie heads to Camden Academy to escape a tough personal situation involving her sister and now ex-boyfriend, and the main issue when she arrives is that she has been placed in the men's dorm (and is the only woman in that scenario). There are some funny moments of embarrassment and some intriguing opportunities that come her way in this space, not the least of which comes in the form of a guy named Salem. Readers with any exposure to life will know immediately that the relationship between these two will start one way and end in an expected other.

Something I have really enjoyed about Adler's characters in the past is how attached I've grown to them, and that is a mark of their thoughtful development. Evie and Salem, though they go through some harrowing trials, were a bit tough to connect with for me. I still enjoyed the writing and general plotting, but I wanted a bit more personality out of these two and their connection.

Overall, this was a fun listen, and I'm already looking forward to what Adler offers next.