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

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

Thank you to NetGalley and PS publishing for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.

The author definitely had Gossip Girl and Magnolia Parks in mind when creating her story. With elements from each of those loved story lines I figured this book would have my attention. It fell flat for me with there not being much depth. I didn’t feel close to any of the characters until the ocean scene with Will and Olivia. That part did give me a tear or two.

This book is full of angst, family trauma, mental health, and “forbidden” romance due to her being his brother’s girl. There is a secret kept from the FMC that she’ll have to try to piece together throughout the book while navigating her grief of losing her best friend Lily.

While the idea of getting to know Ben through an article piece was brought up it gets left out of the book. I think there was an initial scene bringing it up and then it’s forgotten about. As if she didn’t really try to write the article at all. I felt that was a bit messy.

Overall I just needed more. It’s hard to write a toxic relationship that you hate to love the way Jessa Hastings does.

while i was excited for this book, it turned out to not be my cup of tea. it was well written and the cover is gorgeous, but i felt really disconnected from the main characters.

the mental health representation was really well done but the toxicity between the characters just wasn’t doing it for me. i wished we got a bit more character development from them as well as some groveling especially with the third act.

i wished i liked this one more but i’m not writing this author off! there’s so much potential and i can’t wait to see what more they do!

A fun mix of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill vibes, this story brought back some nostalgic favorites from my early years. However, I found the writing to be a bit choppy, which made it hard for me to fully connect with the story.

The love triangle and the cheating trope between the two brothers felt a little over the top at times, it was just a bit much for my taste. Still, there were moments I enjoyed, and I wish those had been the central focus rather than the drama that took center stage.

Olivia’s character really stood out to me, she had that Blair Waldorf vibe, smart and a little bit of a worrywart. She's dating Will, a very lost boy who makes questionable decisions. Then, in true Gossip Girl style, Ben, the older brother, makes his dramatic return, bringing with him a whirlwind of secrets and drama, much like Serena’s reappearance on Gossip Girl.

While I really wanted to love this, the writing just didn’t fully click for me. That said, there were still some great side storylines that touched on life, loss, and growth, which added depth to the story.

OMGGGG !! THANK YOU TO SYDNEY & MADISON for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

For starters, I loved the Dual POV because I needed to know what Ben was thinking at all times.

Summary: When love and loss collide, one thing becomes clear: everything will be forever altered. Olivia sees Astor Hill as her next great opportunity, a place where she'll design the perfect college experience. Her plans include winning the heart of Will Chapman, the star shooting guard, becoming the editor of the prestigious school newspaper, and experiencing campus life with her best friend, Lily, by her side. But a single, devastating night destroys the future she had carefully envisioned. Two years later, the scars of the past still haunt her, casting a dark shadow over her present. As Olivia begins to question the perks of being the perfect campus darling, a disruptive force arrives, threatening to unravel the delicate life she’s built. Ben Cabot, the elusive basketball star with a notorious reputation and a dangerously charming smile, returns to Astor Hill after a long absence. His presence sparks a forbidden attraction in Olivia, challenging everything she thought she wanted. Caught between the safety of her known world and the tempting unknown, Olivia must face her deepest desires and make a life-altering decision.

My Thoughts: I ate this book up, I love the fact that Will was so pressed about Ben being back and I love that Olivia was in charge of finding out why Ben was back in the first place. Will screamed stay away from my girl, while he was making Olivia look crazy. I love that this was eating Will up because does he even know his brother for real? Does he even like Olivia for real?

Olivia having her big girl panties on and letting Ben know that Will ain't stopping her show is amazing!

Interesting plot and characters. If you’re a fan on One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl this book is definitely for you.

While written nicely, the characters and story made me realize the reason why I stopped watching Gossip Girl after its second or third season.

I didn’t like the main female character, maybe because I can’t believe there are people that shallow and I had that vibe since the first chapter. The main male character was alright, gave me a bit of a later series Nathan from OTH vibe.

Overall, this wasn’t a book I would have normally chosen for myself but I’m glad I have it a shot. The characters definitely have a lot of growing /maturing to do.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this enook in exchange for a honest review.

Astor Hill is a drama-filled debut with very messy love triangles, grief, secrets and lies. I found the characters to be very unlikeable, but, for me at least, that seemed to be the point. Most of them are pretentious, snobby, and downright toxic. Grant, and Ben some of the time, are my only exceptions. Although there were some heavy themes throughout the book, it was a good palate cleanser read for me because I was able to disengage from real life for a while and focus only on some fictional drama. It definitely felt a bit like watching a few episodes of gossip girl.

In the end, the characters go through some healing moments and start to redeem themselves. No surprise, my favorite moments of the book were these heartfelt, healing moments for the characters. The beach/ocean scene, Ben supporting Will, the discussions of grief/anxiety/depression, etc. Loved these moments!

Will be interesting to hear Grant’s and Gen’s story. Grant is by far the best and deserves everything good.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous the cover is! Absolutely love it.

A huge thank you to author duo Sydney Madison & NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!