Name: Romi janne's review of You Have a Match by Emma Lord
Item: You Have a Match
Rating: 4
Author: Romi janne

Emma Lord

"When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it's mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie...although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front. But she didn't know she's a younger sister. When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it's hard to believe they're from the same planet, never mind the same parents -- especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby's parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: 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. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything. 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"--

You Have a Match

A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she'll never forget. From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord's You Have a Match, a hilarious and heartfelt novel of romance, sisterhood, and friendship... When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie...although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front. But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister. When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: 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. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything. 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.

A Novel

joy-lynn

Romi janne

Bria

I liked this way more than Tweet Cute. This just seemed a little more believable. I love the characters and their energies, and I love how Savannah and Abby acted like sisters before they truly felt comfortable as sisters. I’m glad the parents are close again, and I’m glad the sisters have a great support system. Cute book!

amelia <3

Cortni Bell

Super cute! It reminded me of Parent Trap with a modern day spin on it!

Michaela Hudson

I am so sorry but I just think this book is so boring. “My life is basically a CW drama right now, is all.” That's the MC's words, and also exactly how I would describe this book. Exaggerated familial drama with many ridiculous details that make no sense. I get this is supposed to be a quick feel-good summer read but I don't think there's anything particularly unique in this book that could stand out from the others. It's just, really mediocre

Julia McKenzie

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Once you look past the writing, the concept is great. It’s a very past paced (to the point where there’s no set up or context the plot is thrown at you in the first chapter) read. I enjoyed it for a ya novel and see why it was a nominee for the end of year reads (which is the reason why I read it).

Kimmy Hobden

Victoria

After some careful thought, I decided that this is more 1.5 stars than 2.

–– Full review and thoughts with spoilers on my blog.
The plot was promising but the execution was bad. I thought that at least the characters could redeem the book but they were just as bad as the plot, if not worse. I don't understand because I loved Emma Lord's other books and her characters were always adorably funny and cute. But here, we just have characters that are obnoxious, selfish, and just downright hateful.

Can't and won't recommended this to anyone. The .5 stars is because at least, the author featured Filipino foods that aren't the usual adobo, pancit, and lumpia. For that, I am thankful. But nope, no redeeming factor here. Disliked this book with passion.

And oh... Leo, the friend who's adopted, is actually a Filipino whose birth parents were still in the Philippines. And if you don't know, I'm from the Philippines so I'm keeping a close eye on all the Filipino details on this book. And nope, not it. The author or her assistant or whoever else should have done more research. The Filipino superstitious beliefs mentioned here were not at all accurate. That whole thing just took away from the experience.

----

I have thoughts, tons of them…. Review soon.

Midori Kobayashi

2/5stars


If you learn to capture a feeling, it’ll always be louder than words.

you know how they say the timing of you reading a book plays a major role in how you're gonna take it? I think it was one of those moments for me with this one. I was very much into the premise [DNA testing leads you to a secret sister, you knew nothing about, family reconnection, etc]. It sounded amazing. And I thought I'd be able to enjoy having a good family experience (at least fictionally lol) BUT NO?? I did not like it at all? Most of the time I was left wondering if the family really like this? Instead of having "oh this is so cute, what an amazing family" moments I mostly had "wtf man, can't relate tf is even happening" type of bitter moments. 

And towards the end, I was just left wondering if something remotely close to this can even happen in real life. I was just mad and angry and couldn't relate to half the uwu family moments lol. Maybe if I would have read it some other time I'd have enjoyed it more (bumped it up to 3 or 3.5 stars) but no, not today. 

This was well,, an experience I suppose. 


  Book Trigger Warnings: mentions of pneumonia, broken wrist, grief, rape, suicide, child abuse, domestic violence, serial kidnapping and murder

Ashley Wendt

Such a fun read! The best part of this story is absolutely the relationship building between Abby and Savvy. I think it’s the first time that I’ve read a book in the “romance” genre where I could’ve cared less about the romance. While the romance part was cute it was definitely more of a side story.

LOVED IT! It’s such an easy but fun read not to cheesy and expecting just the right mix the love story was good just good kinda parent trap in instagram and love story summer vibes deff recommend 

Valerie Yvonne Elizabeth Hes 

Steph L 

More of a review coming soon. I loved this book so much and it was fantastic!!!!

Debbi

Emily Harris

** spoiler alert **
           Very easy to read YA novel, cute and cheesy but interesting enough to finish. I'm nearly 30 so I'm sure if I was the intended audience I would have loved it, but it's definitely corny at this age. All the coincidences were a little tooooo coincidental. Leo having been besties with both Abby AND her secret sister Savvy for all these years, then both sets of parents showing up at the EXACT same time at camp.. okay sure. The 'will they won't they' between Leo and Abby started to get a bit ridiculous as well, they had at least 5-6 nearly kissing moments in this short book. When they finally went for it I didn't even care anymore.

The backstory mystery was still interesting enough to keep me reading though, finding out that both girls have a magpie necklace was cute too- and then realizing that Abby's Poppy was the mastermind behind their moms giving it to them. That brought a sense of closure for Abby which was nice, she was able to feel like her Poppy was there looking out for her even though he was gone. 

The whole time I kept thinking that this would make a great Netflix movie, very "Too All The Boys I Loved Before" sort of vibe.

Maegan Kennedy

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I have to admit, this wasn’t my favourite of Emma Lord’s novels. I much preferred Tweet Cute.

This books was very family oriented and dealt with heavy subjects but I felt disconnected from the main characters. I’m not a huge fan of the “long lost sibling” trope so I think that’s why this wasn’t my cup of tea. I would of liked to see more of Savvy’s life rather than just getting Abby’s life. It might’ve added to the story more. I also wasn’t a fan of the romance between Leo and Abby. It almost felt forced because they started out as friends they have to become a couple. This trope is a hit or miss and I this was a miss. There was no chemistry between the characters. They were all just sort of present in the story. They didn’t serve any purpose to the story in my eyes. 

It wasn’t a horrible book, it just wasn’t my thing.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A REESE'S BOOK CLUB WINTER YA PICK A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she'll never forget. From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord's You Have a Match, a hilarious and heartfelt novel of romance, sisterhood, and friendship... When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie...although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front. But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister. When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: 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. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything. 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. “A YA contemporary set at summer camp? Count us in.” —BuzzFeed “Heartfelt and engaging, You Have a Match is a masterclass on love in all its forms.” —Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper “A bright summer tale of connection and self-discovery.” —Booklist “A cute, feel-good coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus

Flavia Louise

This felt like a bit of a throwback to The Parent Trap and I really liked it

Kaley Catron

Okay listen, it was cute. I enjoyed it. But I didn’t love it. It started off EXTREMELY slow and then it was like BAM everything is happening which is fine and I’m totally satisfied with how the story played out I just didn’t love it like I wanted too.

Lauren Attaway

After a slow-to me-start, it became the perfect love-friend-family story.

Sofie

“When you find out your parents have harbored a secret older sibling from you for all the sixteen years you’ve inhabited the Earth, the last thing you should probably do is suck in a mouthful of air and yell, “Mom!”
But I walk through the front door and do exactly that.”


If I'd read this back in high school, this would be an easy 5 stars.

Guys. It's so dang cute. It's exactly what I'd expect from a summer-camp-parent-trap esque book. Adorable best-friends-secret-crushes romance, secret sister drama, summer camp shenanigans... 

(though I always wonder if the authors who set a story at a summer camp have every actually been to a summer camp, because I went to sleepover camp every summer from 8-16, and even worked at that very same camp as a counsellor, and let me tell you, much of what I read about in all these books would  not fly . Campers off on there own? No, there's a buddy system/ Precarious falls with no way out where campers and staff could get lost? No freaking way. Plus, at least where I went to camp, there was a buddy number system we had several times a day, so there is no way someone could go missing for a whole evening  and overnight  like Savvy does. But I will give Lord the benefit of the doubt, because I do only have my one sleepover camp I ever went to, so I guess others could have very well had more dangerous free rein? I mean, I don't buy it, but I can suspend my disbelief.)

Hella cute. Leo? Lovely. Abby? I mean, she did some things, had some miscommunications the made me roll my eyes, but then I remember that she is 16, and I doubt I was much better at that age. Savvy? Handled finding out about a secret sister in stride.

We got queer teenage love, which wasn't the main focus or even the main love story, but was so nice to see, especially in a YA novel.

Overall, a great, easy read. The kind that made my heart flip. The kind that makes me nostalgic for those summer camp days.

noah!

4.5 stars !!! 
love love love this rtc maybe

Ahaana Bhargava

Caitlyn DeRouin

read the full review here: https://teatimelit.com/2020/12/09/arc...

Earlier this year I read Emma Lord’s debut novel Tweet Cute and was absolutely obsessed with it! I’ve definitely been recommending it to pretty much everyone I know. After finishing Tweet Cute, I told myself that I needed to get my hands on an ARC of her next book and a huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for making it possible and bringing me some MUCH NEEDED joy and excitement nine months into a global pandemic! 

Emma Lord has this amazing ability to write books that you literally do not want to put down. Once starting one of her books you just want to keep reading and fully submerge yourself into the story and characters that she’s created. That’s how I felt with Tweet Cute, and You Have a Match is no exception. Her stories are so fun and joyful with characters that are so likable and relatable, while also having lots of depth emotionally, something that I sometimes think is missing in YA literature.

I loved these characters so so so much. I felt really connected to both Abby and Savvy; I saw different sides of myself in them which I think is so cool because they’re really two sides of the same coin. I felt represented in Leo and Mickey through their heritage (huge thank you to Emma Lord for having Filipino love interests, we LOVE to see it) and their love of food/cooking – I mean I’m more of a baker, but still. I also just loved all of the little mentions of Filipino culture, it just made my heart so incredibly happy and I would like a book all about Leo and Mickey’s friendship and cooking adventures. I loved Finn. I thought he was a great character and was a really good friend to Abby when she needed someone to talk to and just kind of let loose. Connie having biannual Legally Blonde watches was the biggest mood and she really was a good friend even if she made some misguided choices. I thought that all of the characters were really well written and fleshed out.

mary

cossette

friends to lovers excellence truly rtc !!!!!

Romi janne &
You Have a Match by Emma Lord

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You Have a Match by Emma Lord