First off, I love the cover. 🎨✨ It’s pretty, and honestly, it gave me higher expectations than what I actually got. 🤷‍♀️📖

Grant is definitely my favorite character. 💖🥹 He’s affectionate, kind, and honestly, the only one I fully liked. 😂👏 Every time he was on the page, It was like, FINALLY, some peace. ☁️☕

In the beginning, it’s not really explained why Olivia hates Gen, and I was just sitting there, confused for like half the book. 😵‍💫❓ I kept waiting… and waiting… but it just wasn’t elaborated on early enough. ⏳🫠

The amount of eye-rolling in the book? 🎶 Is a broken record. 🙄🔄 The interactions sometimes felt awkward. 😬💬 But weirdly enough, while I was reading, I didn’t think the story was THAT bad. 🤔📚 I went into it expecting the worst because I saw the 1-star reviews before, but it was... okay. 🤷‍♀️ Not terrible. Just okay. 😌

One thing I did enjoy was reading about Will and Olivia’s relationship. 💔💭 Even though their relationship wasn’t good, it was interesting to see how they felt about each other, and I liked seeing them in a process of change. 🔄❤️‍🩹 But Will’s explanation for why he did what he did? Yeah, I don’t feel settled with it at all. 😒❌ I wish we got more insight into his character because it felt like there was something missing. 🕵️‍♀️💭

Thanks Netgalley and the author for the ARC! 💥😝💡

I had fun reading this one. It was a rollercoaster that’s for sure. There were some ups and downs with the way this was written, very simplistic but managed to keep me interested.

The characters were what drove this story forward and what kept me reading but only to a certain point. Then i got invested in the story and that was what made me stay to the end. I started to lose interest I think halfway thru but the book took a turn a couple chapters later and i was sucked back in.

The greif and complexity within each character was written really well. It had me crying at 2am for like an hour 😭❤️‍🩹

I was eating up the drama and meltdowns lol. Got sooo frustrated with some characters but also loved it.

The fmc has certain tendencies which I thought weren’t fully fleshed out or addressed properly.

The mmc was good and I liked him but he just was a bit bland to me I’m sorry.

I can see where the comparisons are coming from between this and MPU and it’s there but only *very* slightly.

ೃ⁀➷ Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC! ♥︎

This story was so cute! I really adore the he falls first trope and a man that yearns!!!! Ben was the perfect book boyfriend and the banter was my favourite part of reading this novel
Thank you for allowing me to read this book

This story was so cute! I really adore the he falls first trope and a man that yearns!!!! ben was the perfect book boyfriend and the banter was my favorite part of reading this novel.

At first the third person pov caught me off guard and i dont usually love that in a book but it worked so well here!! olivia and ben were destined for each other and it felt like an organic love story as well, no insta love which made it so much better.

I would definitely recommend this book to sport lovers (basketball is so fun) and i mean who doesn't loveeee a found family trope?!

While this book was an enjoyable read in general, I found it really hard to build a connection with the characters. The only person I liked was Ben, Will was obviously a walking red flag and honestly, Olivia seemed very unlikable and immature to me. It took me a while to get into the story and while I enjoyed the second half of the book way more than the first, it still seemed kind of superficial for the topics it dealt with, especially towards the end. This book has plenty of drama and toxicity (definitely more than I would have thought) so if that’s your thing, this book might be for you.

This book had potential, but it got lost in toxic dynamics, underdeveloped characters, and a predictable plot. While the themes of love, loss, and self-discovery were present, they were overshadowed by frustrating relationships and messy storytelling. The love triangle felt more like a walking red flag than an emotional struggle, and Olivia’s character made it hard to stay invested.

DNF.

I’m sorry, I just can’t finish this. The lack of real depth is really getting to me, as well as the characters, and the writing on top of all that is super amateur; it was all too cheesy for me.

No hate to the author ever! This just wasn’t the right read for ME.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾.

I liked the book, but I wouldn't compare it to Gossip Girl/One Tree Hill. Book felt a little too long/dragging and sometimes repetitive.

You can't help but feel terrible for Olivia after she loses her best friend Lily. But as time goes on, we learn more about Lily and the type of person she really was. Maybe Olivia was blind to it all due to it being her best friend but she begins to see that she was basically always in Lily's shadow. She meets Will and they get together but their relationship is not a good one. When Ben comes into the picture, Olivia starts to see that she deserves better and although Ben is Will's brother, they can't help but fall into something of their own. Ben and Will are estranged and have a hostile relationship but tragedy brings people together and they finally work things out.

I think it probably comes down to me not being the right audience for this book. Which is unfortunate because some of the comparisons like Gossip Girl and Magnolia Parks are favourites of mine. I found I had a hard time connecting to the characters and the characters weren’t really likeable? I never felt invested in them. It’s hard to write flawed characters and make them still likeable in the way Jessa Hastings does in Magnolia Parks, so I think the comparison was just huge shoes to fill.

But ultimately the biggest issue for me was it felt more YA than New Adult. The school, characters and drama were giving high school vibes for me. For younger readers than I, who love over the top angst and drama, I have no doubt this book will have it’s audience.

I'm gonna go out of my way and say this will be a book that will be talked about a lot in the romance book community, in a positive way! I ate this up.

There was a lot of toxicity but that is to be excpeted by characters attending a prestigious college and I honestly loved every second of it. If you like magnolia parks you will most likely like this as well

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this one. I couldn’t connect with the characters and felt that they were distant and unengaging. I didn’t feel any chemistry between any of the couples. And I also felt that it was marketed wrong, as this was said to be like Gilmore girls, gossip girl, and magnolia parks. However I do not think that it was similar to either shows or book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sydney Madison, and PS Publishing for this book!

Unfortunately, I don’t think I was the right audience for this one. As someone who loved One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl, I expected to enjoy it, but while reading, I realized I may have outgrown that style of drama. The FMC frustrated me—she was unlikeable, annoying, and didn’t feel like a good person. The MMCs, who were brothers, fell into the classic “one good, one bad” trope, and their love triangle with the FMC felt so messy that I struggled to invest in any of them.

That said, I’m glad I gave this a shot, if only to satisfy my curiosity.

I loved this book soooo much! It was such a great read that showed love, loss, the roller coaster of life, and so much more. I didn't have many expectations or thoughts going into the book which made this so much better! Honestly what hooked me was the illustration of the artwork! It's so beautiful. But I absolutely love this book and wish I could read it all over again. Thank you for the ARC!

I liked this romance. The main characters came across as slightly younger than I’d expect. The drama reminded me of 90210.

Astor Hill is an emotional rollercoaster filled with angst, secrets, and a slow-burn romance. Olivia’s grief is raw, her relationship with Will is toxic, and Ben? Absolute perfection. His patience and kindness make him the real star of the story.

While the writing is a bit choppy, the drama, fashion, and elite setting give it Gossip Girl vibes, and the mental health rep adds depth. I just wish there were more heartfelt moments with Lily. Overall, it’s an addictive read, and I can’t wait for Gen & Grant’s story!

Tropes:
✔ Slow burn
✔ He falls first
✔ Mental health rep
✔ Boyfriend’s brother

I have never read such a needlessly long book. It is bold to make comparisons to beloved cult classics in any scenario, but in this case it further emphasized how flat the story fell. With all of these pages, the characters should have felt fully fleshed out and dimensional, but I truly could not bring myself to care what happened to them.

I unfortunately could not get into this book. I did try several times but I think the story just couldn't grasp or hold my attention.
I don't feel confident giving it a true rating as it was 100% my fault for not being able to get into the story. The writing is great and the concept is usually something that I would love. I'm hoping to give it a better shot down the line and for that I have kept it on my kindle. Once I am back in the mood for this type of story, I will leave a better review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

I picked up this book because the blurb promised Magnolia Parks, Gossip Girl, and One Tree Hill vibes—aka, everything I love. Magnolia Parks is my jam, and honestly, the cover alone had me sold. But once I started reading, I didn’t get the vibes I was hoping for. Instead, it felt more like Gilmore Girls, which wasn’t quite what I expected.

That said, this isn’t your typical light sports romance about college students. There’s plenty of angst, intrigue, and secrets woven throughout the story. Olivia is grappling with loss, and just when things couldn’t get more complicated, she falls for her boyfriend’s brother, Ben—who, by the way, was a highlight for me. His struggles with anxiety were portrayed well, and mental health rep is one of my favorite tropes. Ben definitely stole the show.

Olivia’s relationship with Will, though, was frustratingly toxic, and I found myself wishing she’d walked away sooner. I also wanted more depth in her friendship with Lily—it felt a bit surface-level, and I never fully connected to their bond.

Despite my mixed feelings, this is a strong debut novel. It actually does deliver on the Gossip Girl vibes in its own way, so if you love messy drama and complicated relationships, this might be your thing. And yes, I’ll be waiting for the sequel about Grant and Gen—I need to know what happens next!

What an incredible book. I went into it completely blind, and it did not let me down.

I thought this was going to be a cute little romance book, but it was so much more than that. It talks about real life issues such as griefs, and that was my biggest surprised regarding it. The way the author wrote about it and how she made the characters going thought it was familiar to me. I highly appreciated how it was written and I think I needed that.

The writing style is addictive, once I started reading it, I could not put it down. Sydney Madison is making you wanting to know more - always more. It felt like I had a tiny tv inside my head.

This book has a dual pov, Ben and Olivia. I don't always think that dual pov's are needed in romance books, but reading both of their inner thoughts regarding different matters was really nice. I loved every single line.

They are both dealing with issues and reading how they are coming to terms with them, accepting them, living them was incredible.

The romance was very soft and sweet, it felt like a breath of fresh air. I could feel their love for each other through the pages and feel the tension, the want, the need to just be in the other's presence.

4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Sydney Madison for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

First of all, the cover is SOOO CUTE so based on this, I expected a cute little college romcom but boy was I wrong. This book has just the right amount of everything; love, drama and emotion. I was not a fan of Will at the beginning but as the story keeps developing, you see why he is the way he is because you learn about his trauma and his history. The slow burn between the two characters was great and had me rooting for them at the end LOL



Tropes:
- Basketball Romance
- Slow Burn
- Mental Health Representation
- Gilmore Girls + Gossip Girl Vibes