This book started off a bit slow for me, but once the story picked up, I was hooked! It totally gave off that One Tree Hill vibe—full of drama, romance, and complicated relationships that keep you turning the pages.

I loved that he falls first (seriously, who doesn’t love a guy who’s all in?), and the love triangle added just the right amount of tension. The dynamic with the brother’s girlfriend brought an extra layer of emotional conflict that made everything even more addictive.

Once things got going, I couldn’t put it down. If you love messy, emotional romance with a touch of college drama, Aston Hill is worth the read!

#astorhill #NetGalley.

want you now; I want you tomorrow; I want you always, anyway that you are.”

I am so happy to say that I finally finished an ARC! I have tried five or six previously and never managed to get past a third of the book! When @sydneymadisonbooks sent me a message and asked me to read their sports romance ARC, I was on the fence, I felt a bit like maybe ARC reading just isn't for me. Maybe it still isn't... BUT THIS ONE WAS 😍

This book is a little potion full of ingredients I just adored! A pinch of One Tree Hill, a slice of Tommen, a cup and a half of drama and a barrel of love, lust and emotions makes for a very tumultuous and interesting story!

I absolutely loved Olivia. So many females of all ages would be able to relate to her. Her inability to see herself as strong, likeable or beautiful compared with her best friend is heartbreaking but so relateable. As women, we often compare ourselves to others in a multitude of different ways but Olivia's story shows us that comparison really is the thief of joy.

Will and Ben are brothers who collide in a testosterone fuelled battle of wills. Throughout the story, the difficulties that boys/men face when communicating their emotions to others is made clear and the representation of male mental health issues is so carefully and considerately penned.

If you're looking for a sports romance with some depth, love, heartache and intriguing characters, save the release date for this!

I really did love the book. I went into it expecting a shallow, spicy, unrealistic college sports romance that was a quick gap filler. Instead, I got a complicated love-triangle, secrets, deep emotions and a sensitive and beautiful story of grief, loss and recovery through likeable and real characters.

Thankyou so much for asking me to read this, I'm so glad you did!

I so badly wanted to love this - was a tittle I was super looking forward to but it just fell so flat. The overall flow of the book was just so dull and did not keep me engaged.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was expecting it to be more of a healing story based on the characters backgrounds, but it felt very insta love and toxic from the beginning. I usually love the love triangle trope, but in this it just made me uncomfortable. There wasn’t much depth and everything felt very surface level. I love the cover but sadly that’s really the only thing I loved about this.

I am a sucker for stories about layered characters and complex love stories, and this book had all of that!

The story begins with Olivia at a frat party with her childhood best friend Lily at her new college, Astor Hill.

She is determined to make a name for herself and stop living in Lily’s shadow. But when Lily unexpectedly dies the night after the party, Olivia’s world gets turned upside down.

She finds relief from her grief in her new boyfriend, Will. The story then fast forwards to two years into the future where we see her relationship with Will is very toxic. He’s a walking red flag. There’s also a suspicious return of a tall, handsome basketball player Ben…who happens to be Will’s brother and Liv can’t deny her attraction to him.

At surface, this description might not sound like a lot, but let me tell you these characters are LAYERED. There’s deception, grief, mental health issues, friendship/family trauma and so much more happening in this story.

The journalism minor in me ate up Olivia working for her college’s paper and the basketball rivalry between the brothers kept things interesting!

Note: An (ex) boyfriend’s brother story might not be for everyone, but I thought it was executed very well. No love triangle/back and forth drama. I appreciated how the authors explore the messiness of love. It felt raw and human!

This book def reminded me of Magnolia Parks and Gossip Girl, but mix in basketball and a New England setting.

I am intrigued by all the characters and can’t wait to get everyone’s stories as the series continues!

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

i’ll admit—it took me a while to get to this one because the early reviews were rough, and unfortunately… they were right. i really hate being harsh, especially to debut authors, but this just didn’t work for me.

it took me forever to get through. the characters felt flat and lacked any real nuance, and there was some cheating thrown in that felt entirely unnecessary. and look—if you’re going to include a cheating arc in fiction, at least sell me on it. give me the guilt, the drama, the spiral. but nope.

i requested this because the cover is stunning and the one tree hill comparison totally hooked me. but sadly, this one missed the mark. sorry, just no. I am not opposed to checking out next works from the author though!

This was such a cute/ cozy read, I felt that it really alligned with the autumn aesthetic and was such a cute romance book! Olivia and Ben seemed like a great match.

I was so excited to dig into this book because of its comparison to Magnolia Parks, which is a favorite series of mine. The setting had potential, and there were hints of emotional depth that I wanted to see explored further. Unfortunately, the story didn’t fully come together for me. The plot felt disjointed at times, and some character motivations were hard to follow or underdeveloped. I found myself wanting more consistency in the pacing and more clarity in the storytelling. While I can see the potential and think some readers might enjoy the style, it ultimately left me feeling detached from the story.

3.75 ⭐️

I really enjoyed Astor Hill by Sydney Madison. The story is engaging and the characters felt well-developed and relatable. I also appreciated the atmospheric setting. While some parts could have been explored a bit more deeply, overall, it kept me hooked from start to finish.

4/5*
I was super excited to get into their debut novel.
~When the line between love and loss blurs, the only certainty is that nothing will ever be the same. ~
X Boyfriend older brother (EX) / Brothers girlfriend
X slow burn like really slow
X mental health rep
X he falls first
X Sports Romance(basketball) /College romance
I saw the blurb & cover for this debut book, and right then and there decided I had to read it. This book was not what I was expecting it was going to be which I usually have the book kind of figured out pretty fast.
I did love this book, all the twists and turns, gossipy bits, mental health rep, and it shows how messy life can be. Some of the characters made me want to scream & throw my phone lol. Others made me want to wrap them up in a blanket and hug them. This book covered a complex amount of themes grief/loss, anxiety mental health, toxic relationship, verbal abuse, controlling. But overall I felt that the characters came to life, lots of drama, and a FMC going from being insecure in a not so great relationship to realizing her worth and growing made me love this even more.
**Olivias lifelong best friend, Lily, suddenly passes away after their first college party at Astor Hill. This leaves Olivia isolated and reeling from grief,who then happens to start dating Will Chapman, (that is definitely one toxic relationship waiting to go boom) But then Ben.. Wills older brother comes back into town. And let's just say sparks fly between Ben & Olivia.
I do feel like that this definitely needs to be re-edited in places for some mistakes, the writing was a bit disjointed and choppy in places.
Thank you to Netgalley & Sydney Madison for this ARC!

Astor Hill is an atmospheric and beautifully written debut that completely swept me away. I loved the slow-burn romance, and the deep emotional undercurrents woven through the mystery. The haunting setting of the estate was so vivid it felt like its own character, and the way grief, queerness, and longing were handled was both tender and powerful. It was equal parts eerie and heartfelt, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it long after I finished.

I really wanted to love this one. The cover with the autumn vibes and setting were so cozy and promising! But I just had a hard time getting into the story. The characters didn’t fully hook me, and the pacing felt a little slow.

Okay so this book was good - I liked the characters and I liked the setting.

It was fairly easy to flow through so I would definitely recommend for a quick palette cleanser.

However, the reason I picked this book up was due to its Magnolia Parks comparison and I have to say it fell a little too flat for that to be the case. The characters felt a little underdeveloped, like they lacked the needed depth to make the complexities of the story worth it.

This was a fast-paced and engaging read! While I wouldn’t say it’s a book I’ll remember for years, it was definitely an enjoyable story. If you’re a fan of messy romances and Gossip Girl, I think you’d really enjoy this one.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book got off to a slow start, but then I ended up enjoying it. It was a fun book!

this had a lot of potential with its engaging setting and sweet romance, but the pacing was off and I didn’t fully connect with the characters. Still, an enjoyable light read for fans of simpler love stories.

When I saw that this book was perfect for people who liked Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, I knew I had to read it. But in the end, the book didn't catch my attention and wasn't for me.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I thought the idea of the story was really good with two people coming together while separately dealing with the grief of losing the person they shared, but I don't think it was executed that well.

I didn't really like any of the characters, except Grant, who isn't even a main character in this book! We learn early on that Lily has died suddenly at 18 and from there the story of Olivia (Lily's best friend), Will (Lily's ex-boyfriend) and Ben (Will's older brother) begins and none of them are nice people but at least Ben spent 2yrs away to try and sort himself out with therapy.

We also learn really early on that Lily is not a nice person, she puts Olivia down at every opportunity and makes her feel inferior most of the time. As she's dead, she can't really defend her actions but it does come out later that Olivia idealised Lily a lot and that wouldn't have been easy for Lily to deal with and at the same time, Olivia probably wasn't the greatest friend to Lily either. I think overall their friendship was pretty toxic.

When Lily died, Olivia took it pretty hard and the only person who could help her was Will. But Will was dealing with losing Lily as well, he loved her even though that wasn't returned and Lily had broken his heart not long before she died so he was never able to get any closure. I think this is what pushed him to get together with Olivia, someone who shares his grief (even though Olivia has no idea they dated) and something to focus on that wasn't his own pain.

But Will was a really shitty boyfriend, constantly cheating on Olivia, treating her badly with the way he spoke to her and acted towards her. Their relationship was also toxic and never should have carried on as long as it did but they both used it as an excuse not to think about Lily.

Then Ben comes back into their lives and while he has been working on himself, his toxic relationship with his brother reignites and he sets out to take everything from him - the basketball captaincy, his friends and his girlfriend.

Basically this whole story is about toxic relationships and I'm not convinced that Olivia and Ben's relationship is this fated, meant to be kind of love story. I think the way they got together immediately after Olivia broke up with Will, but not before they got close to each other, was a really bad way to start a relationship. Then there's the fact that Ben lied to Olivia just like everyone else was doing and seemed more consumed by his own feelings that actually helping Olivia overcome her own emotional baggage.

Some bits were really sweet but this is most definitely a Shakespearian tragedy with somewhat of a happy ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and PS Published for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

DNF @ 25%

I was really trying to push through, but I couldn't look past certain things anymore. I was so excited to read a college basketball romance, I feel like it's hard to find those. The blatant misogyny from the main character directed at Gen was extremely off-putting. The comments Olivia would make both internally and aloud were rude. I understand that Gen was throwing herself at Will, but that doesn't excuse Olivia's behavior. Also, Will is just a straight up asshole. That is supposed to be a plot point because obviously Olivia breaks up with him to get with his brother, but damn was Will mean. No man should ever treat a woman like that and then call her dramatic for getting upset. The fact that Olivia just let it keep happening was sad to see. The last thing that bothered me is the fact that this is boyfriend's older brother. I was a bit hesitant going into this regarding that, but wasn't going to let that stop me. However, Olivia is fully daydreaming about Ben while hanging out with Will and that made me uncomfortable. I don't think Olivia would cheat on Will, but I have an underlying suspicion that Will was cheating on her. Either way, I don't enjoy the cheating trope.

Despite my issues with this novel, I may read the sequel, because I do love Grant's character and I feel like there is more to him that we don't see in Astor Hill.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sydney Madison for the e-ARC of this!

✨ Publication date: February 7, 2025✨

Astor Hill is the first book in a new adult college book series by Sydney Madison.

Olivia and her best friend Lily attend one of their first college parties. After they leave and head back to their dorm, something isn’t quite right with Lily and she ends up passing away.

In a fog of grief, Olivia finds comfort in the arms of Will, the college basketball star. They spend 2 years in a somewhat tumultuous relationship not ready to call it quits but not fully invested.

Will’s brother Ben comes back to school after a two year hiatus and mental health break. He remembers Olivia from the party the night Lily died. He felt a connection with her then and is drawn to her now.

Will and Olivia finally call it quits which opens the door for Ben but there are slot of secrets between the three of them, including how the brothers really know Lily.

This was steamy and very angsty. I liked the writing but wasn’t particularly fond of any of the characters. Olivia was self centred and a true popular girl personified. Will was an utter jerk and while Ben was the best of them, he still had his character challenges.

This was a 3 star read for me! I would read the next book to see how the author continues to develop her writing and characters.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #sydneymadison #astorhill