Forgetting Sarah Marshall meets Crazy Stupid Love in a YA second chance romance from fan-favorite author couple #Wibbroka!
Seventeen-year-old volleyball star Kaylee Jordan lives a life of player rankings, constant training, and a carefully curated social media full of followers watching to see if she'll go pro out of high school like her famous mom. Her one refuge, and the thing she looks forward to every summer? The vacation her family spends in Malibu with the Freeman-Yus. This year, there's only one problem: Kaylee and their son, Dean, dated for the past three months, and Kaylee just unceremoniously dumped him. Hoping to spare them the worst summer ever, Kaylee comes to Dean with her unconventional solution: she's going to walk him through her rules for getting over an ex. When Dean grudgingly cooperates, Kaylee's got her work cut out for her. But helping Dean follow her own rules starts becoming difficult when the pressures of Kaylee's family legacy and perfect life start to feel less like a plan and more like a prison…and amid warm California nights and stolen laughs, Kaylee feels herself falling for Dean for the same reasons and some new ones. With their trip coming to an end, Kaylee has to make the complicated choice between doing what's expected and taking a (second) chance on love.
Title : Never Vacation With Your Ex
Author : Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Format : eARC
Page Count : 336
Genre : YA romance
Publisher : Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date : April 4, 2023
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★
Hollis' 2 star review
I have a bad feeling I'm in a slow-moving breakup with this author duo. The magic is fizzling out, if not outright gone, and clearly I need to follow the path of this protagonist's story and drop it like it's hot.
Because, yeah, I could not muster up any sympathy for Kaylee. There was no ambivalence, even, or moments where I felt for her, she just made me frustrated. And the whole guide to getting over a break-up/ex routine she played off on Dean, her ex, just rubbed me the wrong way the whole time. But I can't even say that I felt more for Dean or sympathized with him, either, because he frustrated me, too. And so did the parents. Honestly, the only characters that escaped my irritation were the younger sisters. I wish you hundreds of family game night wins to ensure endless Mamma Mia! rewatches, girls. You deserve it.
So, yeah, I won't be recommending this. And I wish I had gone with my gut when I initially hesitated over requesting this, knowing the last few reads by this author (not just YA, but I'm lumping their adult debut in this corner, too) did not go well. But it was almost habit to get excited over a new Wibbroka and therefore the thought of not wanting it in my hands seemed foreign. But.. we (I) shall be moving on from this. We (I) will do better apart. We are, maybe, no longer meant to be. Insert a Taylor Swift lyrics here.
Or, at least, I won't be on the pre-release hype squad. I'll probably still pick them up on the down-low. What can I say, I have endless chances in me for those I once loved. For now, at least.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
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