Thank you NetGalley and Wise Ink Creative Publishing for the ARC! '89 Walls rings eerily true in 2025 and the book deservs a chance from reader's who may have missed it at release. Seth is liberal, poor, and a promising student who feels stuck in a no-win situation. Quinn is college-bound, wealthy, and from a conservative family. She's also the girl that Seth has had a crush on for years. When their two worlds finally collide during their senior year of 1989, a year of turmoil, political upheaval, and change, the two must question what they thought was true and find a way to move forward if they hope to have a future together.

As I work through older reviews on my reading list, I finally got around to this one. I no longer have access to the title, so this is my generic review for books where too much time has passed for me to recall precise details, but this is what stood out in my memory. While it was an okay read, a few aspects fell short for me. The character development felt somewhat lacking, making it harder to fully connect with the story. The pacing of the narrative was fine but didn’t quite draw me in as much as I’d hoped. Overall, it’s a decent book, but not one that left a lasting impression. That said, I’ll still add it to my library.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. A coming of age story set in 1989 that also tackles a lot of politics and is a romance in the type of Romeo and Juliet. It tried to tackle a lot in not a lot of pages, and while it was good that it ended when it did, it also left a lot undone by doing so, mostly because that is just how life is.

The historical context in which the story is embedded is really interesting and the class discussions are fun to read.

This book was alright. The story was interesting to an extent, but I could not find myself connecting to it. I also found the relationships rushed, which annoys me when done . The concept of the story was interesting, but unfortunately it fell short for me.

This is a really interesting premise, especially for teens. The idea feels current--two people on opposite sides of the political spectrum come together and there are plenty of sparks, but the fact that it's set in the late 80's will have readers realize that the more things change, the more things stay the same.

*I never got around to reading and reviewing this book. I may do so in the future*