User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
My heart is literally smiling. I start to see imaginary heart emojis whirling around my head and I keep giggling like mischievous teenagers or worst kind of annoying romance heroines. This book is AMAZING!
I loved the Parent Trap with non identical twins theme!
Storyline: Two sisters accidentally find each other via DNA service and decide to dig more to learn what their parents are hiding from them by participating a summer camp together.
There are 1 year and half age difference between them. From their appearances, it is obvious that they’re siblings. But characteristically they’re completely opposite of each other.
Abby, talented avid photographer who doesn’t like to share her works because her ancient but survivor camera has been given to her by her grandfather (Poppy) who recently died. After his death, her grades started to drop, she is still shaken and suffocated by her parents oppressively controlling attitudes about her school success. Now she has to go to summer school but her unique hacking skills saved her from her parents’ wrath. (She hacked their emails, deleting phone messages from school)
She is reckless risk taker and injury-prone tree climber, skater but when it comes to be brave about her own feelings, she fails. Leo is her long time crush but nearly kissing experience later she learned he wasn’t into her from their common best friend so she starts acting like nothing happened ( of course she’s getting clumsier and acting more weird around him. Those two guys are so cute,sweet pies!)
And let’s not forget the elder mysterious sister: Savannah.She likes photos, too but she prefers to be in front of camera, not the other way around. She’s a social media goddess with her sterile, clean, ultra healthy life tips, yoga poses, greenest drinks turn you into Hulk. Her family is Tony Stark kind of rich ( but you may imagine they cannot be at least %10 as charismatic as him.)
Abby accepts to go to camp but she didn’t count two important things. Leo is at the camp, too and he seems like he’s so happy to see her, confusing her mind with his pull-push mixed signals and Savannah is controlling, rigid rule follower and total narc.
At first Abby wants to leave the place because of Savannah’s irritating antics but later she forms great friendships, evolving her photography and she realizes she starts to like hanging out with her sister who is dealing with the love life problems, reluctant to come clean about her feelings.
This is sweet friendship, sisterhood, family book with lovely romantic vibes. It heals your soul and widen your smiles, brightening your mood. I read it at one of most stressful times and it help me a lot to see the rainbows after the stormy rains.
I enjoyed Tweet Cute before but this book is so much better. I even liked it more than original Parent Trap script because the families’ story about the sisters is more meaningful and emotional.
Overall: I recommend to everyone who wants to feel good and enjoy entertaining, heart warming, sweet young adult and family books.
Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books for sharing this lovely ARC with me in exchange my honest review.
Rating: really liked it
You Have a Match is exactly the type of story I have come to expect from Emma Lord. Light, heart-warming and fun, this family-focused YA Contemporary will fill you with hope.
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it's mainly to support her best friend, Leo. He's adopted and wants to know more about where he came from.
Unfortunately, while Leo doesn't discover anything of note about his bio-family, Abby sure does. She discovers the existence of a secret sister!
Not a half sister. A full blown, we have the exact same parents, sister. Abby can't believe it. How could her parents keep something this important from her?
As it turns out, her sister, Savvy, isn't much older than Abby and lives nearby. She's also an actual Instagram celeb, with the perfect hair, skin and lifestyle to match. Great.
The girls first meeting, while not a total failure, doesn't get them any closer to getting to the bottom of the mystery.
Even though she has to lie to her parents in order to do so, Abby agrees to attend a summer camp Savvy will be working at as a Junior Counselor. That way they'll have some alone time to figure everything out.
The camp is located on an island and on her ferry ride there, Abby stumbles upon her best friend, and uncomfortable love interest, Leo.
Abby knew he attended a summer camp, but she had no idea it was THIS one! As it turns out Leo will be on the staff as well this summer, and he and Savvy have actually been friends for years.
This book is absolutely adorable. From the very first chapter, I was hooked right into Lord's writing. She has such a smooth, easy-to-read style. It makes her stories completely engaging!
There is a lot of drama in this one. She does manage to bring some important topics to her books, even though, overall, the feeling is light and fluffy.
As you can tell from the synopsis, as well as what I have written above, this story explores family relationships; what makes someone family, different types of family constructs, etc.
Abby is also struggling with grief after the loss of her Poppy. I liked how Lord handled that difficult topic. Somehow, she has the ability to keep things light-hearted even while tackling these heavier life issues.
The summer camp vibes were great fun. It gave the teen characters a little more freedom to engage with one another, than they would have had in a more traditional setting.
Plus, who doesn't love summer camp!?
Overall, I had a great time reading this story. I will continue to pick it up anything Emma Lord writes. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to share my opinion.
Rating: really liked it
EL sure is making a name for herself in the world of contemporary YA. i loved her debut novel and this second book has just as much personality and heart.
i adore how realistic and genuine all of the characters are. they arent perfect, but they sure are relatable. its rewarding to see abby confront many challenges in her life and grow because of them. i love how EL has created a fun and unique story, but one that also has meaning behind it.
overall, definitely a cute read and one i think all fans of
‘tweet cute’ will thoroughly enjoy!
a big thanks to st. martins press/wednesday books for the ARC! ↠ 3.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
Do you know how hard it is to make a summer camp book boring?
And not just a summer camp book - a secret-sister family-drama friends-to-lovers finding-yourself summer camp book?
Have you considered how goddamn hard it would be to fit all of that into 300 pages and still find time to make it a snooze and a half?
Because this manages to do it and make it look easy.
This is simply a very meh situation.
I did not like the author's other book, Tweet Cute, very much, but I did not think it was BORING. In fact I thought it was funny and promising but simply annoying.
This had none of the flavor. None of the pizzazz. Nothing in this could have annoyed me, because I was too busy not caring.
A minor tragedy. But I'll get over it.
Due to the whole not-caring thing.
Bottom line: Bummer! But not really.
---------------
pre-reviewthe defining characteristics of summer aren't "meh" and "boring" and "ugh," so i take back what i said about this being the summeriest thing ever.
review to come / 2ish stars
---------------
tbr reviewhave you ever seen anything summerier?
also, can you believe summerier is not marked as a typo?
buddy read with lily and all is right with the world
---------------
reading all books with LGBTQ+ rep for pride this month!
book 1: the gravity of us
book 2: the great american whatever
book 3: wild beauty
book 4: the affair of the mysterious letter
book 5: how we fight for our lives
book 6: blue lily, lily blue
book 7: the times i knew i was gay
book 8: conventionally yours
book 9: the hollow inside
book 10: nimona
book 11: dark and deepest red
book 12: the house in the cerulean sea
book 13: the raven king
book 14: violet ghosts
book 15: as far as you'll take me
book 16: bad feminist
book 17: a song for a new day
book 18: one last stop
book 19: to break a covenant
book 20: honey girl
book 21: check, please!
book 22: the subtweet
book 23: if we were villains
book 24: everything leads to you
book 25: you have a match
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars. While this didn't quite live up to how much I adored
Tweet Cute last year, this book was still SUCH a delight. Emma Lord has such a knack for writing realistic bonds between characters (romantic OR familial), and I just adore her characters and her stories. With that being said, I did struggle a little with the way the parents existed in this one. If you weren't aware, this book is about a girl finding out that she has a biological sister that her parents put up for adoption before she was born, and something about the way that that worked out in the story felt a little weird to me and it kept me from loving this one as much as I was hoping to. With that being said, I still quite enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to reading whatever Emma Lord puts out next!!
Rating: really liked it
4 stars 
You Have a Match is Emma Lord's sophomore novel and while I didn't love it quite as much as her debut 'Tweet Cute', it was still a fantastic YA story.
Abby and her two best friends Leo and Connie all take a DNA test. Leo is adopted and wants to know more about his heritage. Abby gets quite the surprise when she finds out she has a full blooded older sister that lives near her. How is this even possible? Abby decides to keep it quiet for now and go to the summer camp her sister Savvy works at and spend more time with her. Maybe they can figure out why/how all this happened...
I felt this book was kind of like two different stories that kind of merged in a way. There is the story of Leo and Abby. Best friends. It's fairly obvious (at least to the reader) that Leo is the romantic interest early on and both have more than friendly feelings for one another.
Maybe it’s why we’ve always kind of gravitated to each other. I pull Leo off the ledges of his thought spirals. He pulls me off literal ledges. We’ve got each other’s backs.
The other part of the story is the familial aspect. Getting to know Abby's sister, Savvy, and also seeing the background story between her and her parents. I think the author did a good job balancing the two, but I also think the story maybe would have been better for me if the romance was stronger, or there was no romance at all. The relationship with Leo was like dangling a carrot in front of you... it never felt like enough. But that could just be me.
Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book. It had humor, a lot of heart, and a great family/found family storyline. I'm looking forward to reading more of Emma Lord's books in the future. It's obvious she's a talented writer!
Rating: really liked it
2.5 stars rounded down. If I had to describe this novel in one word, I think it'd be corny.This wasn't bad. In fact, some parts of the story genuinely piqued (and held) my interest—particularly the deepening bond between Abby and Savvy, the unravelling of the mystery behind their past, and Abby’s reckoning with herself.
But the writing itself came across, to me, as somewhat
juvenile and cheesy: all acronyms ("Big Embarrassing Incident" aka "BEI”), cliché nicknames ("Abby the Lying Liar”), trite romance, and weird dialogue and actions that I couldn't picture myself or any of my friends saying or doing in real life.
I also personally just am not interested in culinary stories, or YA stories about social media stars—effectively nulling my interest in either Leo or Savvy, who are two important characters in Abby's story. I was aware when I requested this ARC that social media would play a role in the story, but I didn’t realize Leo's storyline was so heavily rooted in food and cooking.
Moreover, I picked this book up in the hopes that it would provide a more nuanced take on what it means to be an Instagram influencer, instead of painting an overly romanticized image where the influencer is some benevolent dispenser of self-help wisdom. This, unfortunately, wasn't the case.Savvy's brand of Instagram wellness in particular rubbed me the wrong way, and reminded me of many thin, conventionally attractive white influencers who monetize beauty norms and (harmful) health fads for their own benefit. I know the story tried to play off Savvy as a charitable, generous, compassionate influencer, but
I'd ask you to consider how promoting juice cleanses and yoga poses contributes to the dismantling of harms perpetrated by capitalism, consumerism, and narrow beauty ideals on social media. I think the word "influencer" itself speaks volumes.
That being said, there was a scene where Abby's newfound camp friends discuss the ways they want to use their Instagram accounts, and I liked seeing the different ideas they each had—from a chronicling of one's med school journey ("Like Grey's Anatomy, but make it Gen Z") to Dungeons & Dragons cosplaying. I still wish there had been more critical nuance, but seeing these fun niches highlighted, to me, the flexibility and creativity made possible by social media.
I also appreciated the
diversity in side character rep: Leo and his sister Carla are adopted Filipino-Americans, while Mickey (a Filipina) and Savvy are queer—though I wish that there had been more discussion of the Filipino characters' culture. Not only would this have deepened readers’ understanding of Leo and other side characters, but it also would’ve helped to mitigate the sense that these characters were placed in the story only as token people of colour.
Finally, I want to end with my favourite quote in the book—a moment that sheds the saccharine cheesiness in favour of genuine poignancy:
But the understanding and pain are woven together, tighter than a knot, and together make something so immovable that it doesn’t matter what I mean and what I don’t. It’s all going to end with me yanking on something that can’t be undone.
Bottom line: Maybe I would've liked this more if I'd read this when I was younger and more tolerant of cliché storylines. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
With the popularity of ancestry DNA testing kits, some test takers have gotten unexpected results. I like how the author incorporated that into a story as the main character in this book finds out she matched with a sibling she didn't know existed. And of course learning something that big is going to have an impact on her life and seeing how the situation played out is what I loved most about the story.
Abby signs up for a DNA testing service mainly because her best friend, aka her secret crush, Leo, is doing it as well. Big shocker when the results indicate she has a sister named Savannah. This sister she never knew about goes by the name Savvy and is a semi-famous Instagrammer. So why was Savvy put up for adoption? Well, neither girl is quite ready to ask the biological parents or the adoptive parents all the details so they hatch a plan to spend time together at a summer camp to try and figure it out. And it just so happens Leo works as a chef at this same summer camp as well. What a coincidence.
I read the author's other book, Tweet Cute, and I ended up giving this book the same star rating although each book had different strengths and weaknesses. While I liked the romance in Tweet Cute, I thought this book lacked proper development when it came to her love life. I actually would have preferred if the story focused only on the relationship of the sisters and the family drama.
Normally I'm game for a summer camp setting (shoutout to The Baby-Sitters Club: Super Special #2!) but it didn't work for me in this book. There were minor characters and storylines at the camp that seemed pointless because they weren't fully fleshed out. Not to sound like a broken record but the family stuff in the story was great, but just about everything else needed some fine tuning.
Overall, I did enjoy this one even though it wasn't a perfect read. With romance not being the number one plot, I think the book best fits in the young adult fiction genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an advance digital copy! All views expressed are my honest opinion.
Rating: really liked it
I finished this few days ago and it was pretty good.
Now I have to write my review asap.
Rating: really liked it
Damn, You Have A Match by Emma Lord blew my mind. Ever since I read the first book by Emma Lord, and I loved it, I knew I had to read her other books, and i'm so glad I read this one because it was just as good as the others were. I went into this story completely blind, which I highly recommend doing because everything that happened in this story came as a surprise and I loved every minute of it. Please, do yourself a favor and pick up a book by Emma Lord, you definitely won't be disappointed with any book she writes. Every character had my heart, the story just all together was so beautiful. By any means none of these characters were perfect, they all had their own flaws, and were very relatable. Although this book did touch on heavy matters it was still so enjoyable. I was hooked from the very first page, and couldn't put it down until I found out what the outcome was going to be.
A new love.
A secret sister.
And a summer she'll never forget.
When Abby signs up for a DNA test, it's mainly to give her best friend and secret love interest, Leo a nudge. Leo knows that he's adopted, but he wants to take a DNA test to learn more about his family and heritage. After all, Abby knows who she is, a best friend to Leo and Connie, an injury prone tree climber, and an avid photographer. But what Abby doesn't know is that she has a sister. Ever since the B.E.I (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been really awkward between the two. In the sixteen years of Abby's life her parents never mentioned a sister, so when the DNA test reveals that Abby has a secret sister she is completely shocked and quite pissed that her parents never told her. Abby has stayed quiet on this matter until Savvy sent a message to Abby saying the should meet up. Abby agrees to meet up with Savvy at a park, but they don't have much time so Savvy suggests that Abby attends the camp she works at, so they can have time to figure things out.
Savannah Tully, Abby's secret sister is a shimmery haired Instagram star. It's hard to believe they're from the same planet, let alone the same parents, especially considering that Savannah is a queen o green smoothies, and is only a year and a half older than Abby. Abby has three younger brothers as well. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp and figure out why Abby's parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications that go with this meeting: Savvy is a rigid rule follower, and total narc. Leo is the camp's co-chef, putting Abby's growing feelings for him on blast. Connie has gone on a trip to Italy and couldn't make it to camp with these two best friends. And Abby's parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.
I loved the bond that Abby and Savvy formed, but when Connie made up a lie and told Abby that Leo never liked Abby kind of made me lose respect for Connie. All in all I just thought this was a beautiful story and I loved it so much!!! Please pick up a copy of this book or download it as an ebook and a cozy blanket and settle down on the couch and just read. I'm happy that I didn't cry reading this, but it still had some sad moments. But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones. Okay, also this book made me want to attend a summer camp and experience all the fun moments, and new friendships that life has to offer. This book will for a while remain in my heart, along with the characters.
Rating: really liked it
This was a pretty cute YA book. ♥️ I definitely got “The Parent Trap” vibes. The romance/angst bits were not too cheesy. 😊 Overall a great light breezy read. 😎
Rating: really liked it
Thank you so much to the publisher for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest reviewCheck out this review (and more) over on my blog!
Quick Stats:
Overall: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Plot and Themes: 5/5
Awesomeness Factor: 5/5
Review in a Nutshell: I cannot express how much I love this book.
Release Date: 1/12/2021
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Page Count: 320 pages
Premise:If you don't know, this book follows Abby, who discovers she has a long-lost biological sister after they match on a DNA testing site. What happens next is a funny and addictive read, perfect for fans of The Parent Trap!
- Plot - When I first heard the synopsis for this book, I couldn't help but laugh because it hit a little too close to home. Just a year and a half ago, I discovered I had a biological older sister that I never knew about (and there are even more similarities beyond that that I won't get into here). I was excited to see how Emma Lord would portray this trope (which has become so personal to me), and I absolutely adored her take on it.
She captures the emotions and the struggles of this so incredibly well. I love how
a lot of this book focuses on the relationship between Abby and Savvy (the two sisters), as well as their relationships with their parents. I really enjoyed watching them grow and uncover the secrets of their pasts.
- The Characters & Relationships-We also have some great side characters and a romance plot.
Each of the side characters was just as well-developed as our main cast, and I came to love them all. The romance plotline is also amazing. This book has a cute
friends-to-lovers romance at the center, and I love Leo, the love interest, more than life. He's just so sweet and adorable!! I'll be adding the phrase "Benvolio-ing" into my daily vocabulary now.
- Writing - Outside of the great cast of characters,
another standout aspect of this book is the writing. If you read Emma Lord's debut novel,
Tweet Cute, then you might be familiar with her hilarious style, but if not, what are you doing with your life? Pick up
Tweet Cute right now!! Or maybe pick up
You Have A Match first... Either way,
both of these books have Lord's trademark humor and wit that had me laughing throughout the entire book.- Conclusion -Pros- Interesting premise (but I might be biased there), funny, cute, lighthearted, great characters
Cons- ??? I have no idea. I just really love this book
Overall- 5/5 stars.
In the end, if you're looking for a funny and cute read, with plenty of heart at its core, pick up You Have A Match. You won't regret it.Follow Me Here: Blog ||Tumblr || Bookstagram || Twitter|| Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Tweet Cute was my favorite YA contemporary last year and I'm giddy with excitement now that I received an ARC for
You Have a Match!
-----------------------------------------
"The space I come back to, whether I want it to be or not, won’t be Abby-shaped anymore— or maybe I won’t be the shape of the Abby who left." I look back on the time after reading Tweet Cute when I believed I found my new favorite YA author in Emma Lord and I feel sorry for my past self because of disappointment she's about the experience.
Because You Have a Match was nowhere near as good as Emma Lord's debut.
Yes, great writing and humor were still there, but I had quite a few issues with it.
Too many events were unrealistic aka Disney-like; characters were always in the right place at the right time to overhear/witness something important; too many things were going on at the same time, it was slowing down the plot I really cared about.
And yes, I did get emotional a couple of times, but this story simply didn't deliver what I expected from it.
But, to those who are still excited about this book, here are some of my favorite quotes to keep your spirts up!
"That’s enough wishing for the day. Otherwise the ghost is going to shove me off the tree for whining and I’ll have to pick my own part of the woods to haunt."
“Okay, that was ten years ago. And I only fell, like, five feet.”
“On top of me.”
"But did you die?”
"Savvy is a trophy child. I’m more of a participation award."
"Seeing it through my eyes while seeing it through his, letting us both bleed into a world where those two things can be the same."
Rating: really liked it
This one ended up being just okay for me!
Here's the vlog where I read it: https://youtu.be/BtaOGNWB6vY
Rating: really liked it
Review also published on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...
Sweet, Light and Heartwarming.High School best friends Abby, Leo, and Connie are like the three musketeers. About to be Seniors, they do everything together. That includes signing up for a DNA service. Abby and Connie mainly do it to support Leo, who is adopted and is looking to see who else might be a part of his family tree. It’s Abby however who gets the shock of her life when reviewing the DNA results and she discovers that she has a full-blood sister!
Enter eighteen-year-old Savvy. Instagram Influencer who is sheer perfection in every way. Savvy has always known she was adopted, she just didn’t know the story behind it. The fact that Abby had an older sister however is a complete shock. Now comes the hard part for the both of them, discovering the story behind their parent’s deception.
Then, of course, there’s Leo. Abby has had a crush on him for eons. Something almost happened between them a few months ago and then well, it didn’t and since then everything has been totally awkward between them. Now however they are going to be spending the summer together at camp, along with Savvy and all of Savvy and Leo’s friends. Enter sparks, romance, and a whole lot of teen angst!
“You Have a Match” is a sweet story filled with family, sisterhood, and romance by Emma Lord. This is now the second book I’ve read by this author and while I liked this book, in my opinion, it was nowhere near as cute or funny as “Tweet Cute” - which I absolutely loved. If you like YA novels, however, this might just be the perfect match for you.
Published on Goodreads on 2.14.21.
Review to be published on Twitter.
