Name: Freshmen
ISBN: 9781524701819

Tom Ellen

Lucy Ivison

Relates, in two voices, the experiences of Luke and Phoebe, who attended the same high school and are now experiencing the joys and angst of life as college freshmen in York, England.

Freshmen

elizabeth church

** spoiler alert **
           This felt like I was reading Sally Rooney's Normal People even though I have never read that book: the whole university thing, the awkward relationship thing between the two MC's, and then the book not being a romance (even though people always think it is) and it really being about two people experiencing university life in different ways. Tell me that is not Normal People by Sally Rooney, tell me!! I was consistently going back and forth from wanting Phoebe and Luke to get together to wanting Phoebe to drop him cause she deserved better. And I think that was the coolest part about the book. About how even the reader doesn't really know how the plot is going to play out because the plot is messy, just like how real life is messy. However, I still believed that Phoebe and Luke would get together in the end and the fact that the didn't both makes me hate yet also love the book a lot more. AND THE CHARACTERS!! The characters in this book felt so real and I loved them all. Connor, Frankie, Negin, Luke, Phoebe, Josh... I would murder anyone who so much as lays a finger on these characters. The friendships that were established in D dorm made me SO HAPPY. I was smiling, laughing, and crying along with the characters and I think that is one of the reason's I loved this book so much. And although this book kinda had an open ending, which I usually hate, I found myself creating the next parts of the plot in my head just because I wanted the characters to be happy (Phoebe ended up with Josh, Luke ended up with another girl he met on campus and they are really cute, Becky ended up with Conner, Negin ended up with ITG, and Will ended up in jail). The only think that brought the rating down to 4 stars was the really, really messy falling action. Like that plot was a freaking maze and I couldn't understand what was happening at all. From the beginning of Phoebe's birthday party to the end where the fire alarm goes off and Will comes out of the dorm: that whole thing was so confusing I still don't understand it. Oh and I named two baby turtles in Jamaica after Phoebe and Luke... so there's that.

chloe diana

Leah Romero

A laugh-out-loud, realistic portrayal of a freshman year in college for fans of Emergency Contact, Broad City, and The Bold Type. Getting in is just the beginning. Phoebe can't wait to get to college. On her own, discovering new things, no curfew . . . she'll be free. And she'll be totally different: cooler, prettier, smarter . . . the perfect potential girlfriend. Convenient: the only person from her high school also going to York is her longtime crush, Luke. Luke didn't set out to redefine himself, but as soon as he arrives on campus, he finds himself dumping his long-term long-distance girlfriend. And the changes don't stop there. In fact, being on a soccer team is the only thing that stays the same. Just when things start looking up (and Phoebe and Luke start hooking up), drama looms on the horizon. Rumors swirl about the Wall of Shame, a secret text chain run by Luke's soccer team, filled with compromising photos of girls. As the women on campus determine to expose the team and shut down the account, Luke and Phoebe find themselves grappling with confusing feelings and wondering how they'll ever make it through freshman year. "Ellen and Ivison absolutely nail teen dialogue, taking readers on a laugh-out-loud-funny journey through the ups and sometimes horrifying downs of freshman year. Flirty, bawdy, sloppy, and buckets of fun." --Booklist "Marked by a refreshing absence of mean girl drama, well-rounded and caring boy characters, fluid writing, expert pacing, and genuine humor...full of heart." --Kirkus Reviews "Captures the central experiences of starting college...[an] entertaining novel." --Publishers Weekly "A realistic yet sharply humorous portrayal of two people trying to find themselves and their way forward." --VOYA

Freshmen

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