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Published 2024 by Penguin Random House

Soundtrack: Girl, so confusing feat. Lorde – Charli xcx, Lorde

Thank you, #netgalley and #penguinbooks, for this free advanced copy 

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was THE night; There was nothing like swapping stories of college. Like Murphy Konowitz, I was excited to see my best friend and have a night out together. However, unlike Murphy, I enjoyed meeting my friend’s new friends and significant others and did not start a fight on my favorite night.

After running into each other in the bathroom, Ellie Meyers and Murphy reconnect and plan a fake dating scheme. The quick timing threw me off, limiting my ability to buy the chemistry between these two. 

Grischow did an excellent job capturing the feelings and jealousy of seeing your friends figure out their lives and college plans while you remain stuck. While I struggled to connect with Murphy,  I appreciated her positive depiction of community college and the implications that you don’t necessarily need a degree to be successful. 

My second struggle is the classification of this book. Is this YA? Is this new adult? The one spicy scene was mostly faded to black (and spoiler at 94%), so it felt unnecessary at that point. I think anyone in college would appreciate the complexity of managing high school nostalgia and being open to something new. The characters felt immature, but I think it worked if you reminded yourself they were 21, which confirms my belief I am not their intended audience.

I did enjoy Murphy’s salt-of-the-earth friendship with Kat. There was genuine love among friends here, and I found it touching that they were able to support each other even in the midst of a disagreement. I enjoyed seeing the friendship through multiple other characters’ eyes and felt it was a clever way to indicate how precious female friendship can be! 

Overall, I felt okay about reading this. It would be a great read if I were younger, and I would encourage college-aged readers to give it a try!