This was a cute YA Sapphic romance that has Nav helping the new girl, Gia woo her best friend Haille. Nothing could go wrong in that scenario right?? lol. Cue Nav unexpectedly falling for Gia, who has anxiety, panic attacks and a cute therapy dog. I loved the mental health rep in this book and thought the characters were well-written and relatable. Good on audio too and perfect for fans of authors like Becky Albertalli or Leah Johnson. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital an audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Nav's Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love is an adorable YA friendship story. This is a must have for all YA collections!

Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love by Jessica Lewis is a sweet, funny, emotionally rich YA sapphic romance that completely lives up to its premise. Nav is a confident flirt who swears off love—until she starts giving romance lessons to Gia, the anxious new girl who has a crush on Nav’s best friend, Hallie. But as Gia struggles through every practice date, Nav finds herself falling… not for Hallie, but for Gia.

Nav and Gia’s chemistry is adorable and believable, full of awkward moments, gentle humor, and real emotional growth. Gia’s anxiety is handled with respect and care—never something to “fix,” but something she and Nav learn to navigate together. Their slow-burn connection is one of the most genuinely wholesome romances I’ve read in a while.

Beyond the romance, the book explores deep themes like grief, abandonment, and healing. Nav’s complicated relationship with her dad adds weight to the story, especially as they both try to move forward after her mom’s sudden departure. Therapy is treated as a helpful, normal part of healing, which was refreshing to see in a YA novel.

The supporting cast is strong—Hallie isn’t just a plot device, but a fully realized character, and Jordan, Gia’s therapy corgi, might just steal your heart.

Jessica Lewis balances heart and humor perfectly in this story. It’s unapologetically queer, deeply character-driven, and brimming with hope. If you love stories with great mental health rep, slow-burn romance, and big emotional payoffs, this one’s for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with an ARC/ALC! I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on anything Jessica Lewis writes next.

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this story and it was definitely worth the read!

In this book, Nav and Hallie have been best friends since before they were in diapers, thanks to their moms being best friends. But when Hallie gets an invite to an exclusive summer “camp” and Nav doesn’t, Nav can’t imagine surviving the summer without her bestie, and with her very domineering father instead. So when another classmate, Gia, comes to Nav asking for help, Nav sees how she can get into the camp too. Only, throughout the weeks that follow, Nav finds that her priorities have shifted.
This started out slow and did not interest me for the first half of the book. The parent figures had some weird characteristics and there were some things that I think should be flushed out with them still. Additionally, the level of Gia’s shyness/anxiety was so high, it was almost unrealistic to believe that she could open up as quickly as she did–and also that she had made it that far in life without getting professional help. Finally, the amount of drinking, partying, and suggestive drug use was really not needed to give this plot substance. Give this one to older high school students wanting a girl-girl romance.

DNF @ 71%

I’m not sure what it was that made me reluctant to keep picking this book up. I got through a decent amount of it, but I never felt like I enjoyed being in Nav’s head had any significant connection to the characters. I just…didn’t care. As most of the depth of the story is pretty easy to follow, the writing and plot fairly simple overall, I think I got through a lot more of the book than I would have otherwise. Some of my dislike, I think, may have been related to my distaste for the regular whining of Nav, despite knowing that everything behind this personality of hers had a completely reasonable origin.

Part of me wonders if I would have enjoyed the story more had we been in Gia’s head, but I suppose I’ll never know. I can definitely say that, overall, I just couldn’t connect. And this is weird for me given that a lot of the themes were ones that I’ve enjoyed in the past or feel a lot of relatability to—my goodness, when the dad apologized? What I wouldn’t give…

Anyway, I made the eventual decision to set this one aside for a book that I’d have more fun reading. There’s a very minute chance I might come back to this and try to finish it later on, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The book is fine, if a little boring, but largely just not for me.

I always find myself uncertain, when I read a book where the main character annoys me, whether my dislike of the narrator is because I don’t like the character or if the voice influenced my dislike. Either way, every time I opened up this audiobook, I found myself cringing the second I heard “Nav’s” voice.

Nav's Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love is a story about Nav, a lesbian, who offers to help a bi-sexual girl, Gia, gain enough confidence to ask out her bi-sexual best friend, Hallie. However, during the course of Nav's "romance lessons" she ends up catching feelings for Gia, which complicates everything.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the characters to be extremely likable. I loved the story between Nav and Gia, but found Nav's attitude towards Hallie and her father to be a bit frustrating. However, it didn't keep me from giving the book 4 stars. The story was still extremely compelling.

I listened to the audiobook and really loved the narrator. She did a great job!

All in all I definitely recommend Nav's Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love and look forward to reading more from Jessica Lewis.

Nav is a touch character for me to like, but she comes around to a clear understanding of herself, and the reader does as well. I enjoy a good friendship that is realistic but has the power to withstand some tension, and Nav and Hallie have that. There isn't really anything new in the story, I kinda figured the end while reading the beginning, but it's a fun read and I enjoyed myself. The narrator is great, clear, not too slow, and a nice voice.

Well, this was adorable.

Listen, you don’t need to fully identify with book characters to thoroughly enjoy their story.

I’m neither young, nor queer, nor a POC, but this tugged on all the heartstrings.

I loved the strong female friendships.

I loved the personal growth shown by all three main characters.

I especially loved the growing bond between Nav & Gia.

I cannot wait to get this out to our YA patrons.

This is a beautiful YA romance about friendship, overcoming obstacles, and finding the way back to family. I loved both the main characters and their parents. The narrator of this audiobook is perfect for this book, voicing all the characters in an authentic way. I could absolutely picture them in my mind's eye from their voices. I absolutely loved this book and will definitely recommend this to readers of YA fiction, queer fiction and romance.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!