Thank you NetGalley & Sydney Madison for the ARC.

Astor hill is a kinda sports romance but with a gossip girl twist IMO.

You definitely won't like all the characters but you will def like Ben. Olivia is stronger than me, that's for sure haha. If my man did half the stuff she had to go through I would've dumped his a$$ real quick.

If you like secrets, that's a story for you!
I'm giving this book 3,5 stars because i saw the plot twist coming from miles away, but it is a good story with good writing. I liked to growth of the characters even tho I still hate Will. Ben is chef kiss tho.

I would recommend, it's a quick and easy read.

I did not vibe with this writing. I felt like the jokes didn’t land and it was just confusing jumping from one thing to the next with no explanation. It’s just did not work for me.

Beautiful. the depth of conflict and issues in this book was written so well. At the surface it's a romance story with some heartache, once the story opens up you become attached to these characters on such a deeper level. While the FMC is dealing with the grief of losing her best friend, she also has to learn how to let go of who she was before and after the grief. There's such a pivotal moment in this book, near the end, when she's speaking with her dad and he points out that while Olivia feels as though there were immense pressures on how she should act, what expectations did she put on others around her that made them feel like they should keep secrets or act a certain way. It was just a whole 360. Made this book tangible to daily pressures as a woman or just a human. When this book is published it will take booktok by storm. Such a great read & a story you want to keep coming back to. I hope there are more coming and can't way to read them!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sydney Madison for this arc! This book reminded me so much of an early 2000s teen drama and I mean that in the best way possible! If there’s one thing I love it is messy, misunderstood characters and this book delivered that! Was this book a hot mess? Absolutely, and I loved that about it! But it wasn’t all mess and I genuinely enjoyed the connection between Olivia and Ben, as well as side characters like Grant and Sloane. There were a couple tropes in here I don’t typically enjoy, but overall I enjoyed the book and can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Astor Hill is a new adult romance set against the backdrop of elite college life, marketed for fans of Magnolia Parks, Gossip Girl, and One Tree Hill. While it delivers on complicated relationships, romance, betrayal, and a magnetic bad boy, it ultimately falls short of capturing the emotional depth I hoped for.
Olivia, the protagonist, is compelling at first but frustrating in her choices. She remains in toxic relationships, valuing them as integral to her identity. Despite recognizing that her best friend treats her poorly and her boyfriend is emotionally immature, Olivia continues to cherish and pursue them. Things take a controversial turn when she develops feelings for her boyfriend’s brother, Ben, but the execution fails to make this love triangle feel meaningful or make the protagonists worth rooting for.
Ben, however, is a standout character—thoughtful, self-aware, and actively working on himself through therapy, which reflects in his actions. His dynamic with Olivia is electric, and the book does a good job exploring grief and its impact on relationships.
Overall, Astor Hill has its moments of intrigue and passion but doesn’t quite live up to its potential. 3 out of 5 stars – a solid but unremarkable addition to the genre.

Okay if you are a fan of gossip girl, One Tree Hill, and Magnolia Parks then this is for you. From the start I would so hooked, I mean colleger romance and mysterious new man on campus sign me up. Olivia is a character that is constantly overshadowed by her friend lily and seems to be okay with that until something tragic happens and fast forward a few years and that tragic events not only still haunts her, but also the people around her. She sees happy enough with her boyfriend, Will, but then the true love interest enters the scene and does it get good!!!!! like the chemistry between Ben and Olivia was on fire from the minute they were in the same room as each other. I loved to see Olivia starting to grow more of a back bone and standing up for herself to her absolutely horrible boyfriend. Seeing her grow in herself with Ben was so sweet and to see that he genuine cared for her and her believing that she he did was truly deserved. The banter, the romance, the slow burn was just so good. Like literally a single sitting read. Was truly a joy to read. Thank you Net galley and PS Published for this e-arc.

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to review this book. The story started off really strong. I loved Olivia and absolutely hated Will, which I believe was the author’s intention. However, I feel like I’m not the ideal audience for this book, as the "dating my ex’s brother" trope isn’t really my favorite. That said, the writing was great, and I especially enjoyed the multiple points of view!

If you enjoyed Magnolia Parks then Astor Hill will definitely intrigue you. I enjoyed the book but I didn't necessarily enjoy Olivia (the fmc). She rubbed me wrong pretty quickly but I did warm up to her throughout the book, but I still don't understand why everyone was obsessed with her. I did enjoy reading Ben's chapters though and I enjoyed him as a character but his possessive side started to annoy me.

I wish there was more about Lily's and Olivia's relationship, I didn't feel that loss as much as I think I should have. I was more upset about Will and Ben's relationship with their family than Lily.

This book has toxic relationships and deals with loss. It is the ex-boyfriend's older brother trope. I don't necessarily enjoy when there is insta love between one of the characters so that took me a while to move past. I was relieved that Will and Olivia were able to move and I am interested in reading more about the side characters, I think the next book in the series was set up nicely.

Overall I did enjoy this book and I am giving it 3.5 stars. If I liked Olivia a bit more as a person than I would have rated it higher. Thank you Netgalley and PS Publishing for providing an ARC for an honest review.

This book was great! The romance was done perfectly and I really appreciated the depth this book had and the grief represented in this book!

4.25⭐️

Astor Hills is promoted for fans of Magnolia Parks and Gossip Girl! And even though I haven’t read Magnolia Parks (yet) it does truly give similar vibes as Gossip Girl, which I really enjoyed!!🩷🎀

✨ i had good time while reading this book
✨ it was really fast-paced
✨ i really liked Ben and how he treated Olivia

🍁 boyfriend’s brother
🍁 grief of a best friend
🍁 he falls first
🍁 secrets and lots of college drama
🍁 toxic relationship
🍁 sports romance

❄️Thank you NetGalley and PS Published for the advanced reader copy. This review is entirely my own opinion.❄️

I was really struggling about what to rate this book - I was going between 4🌟 and 5🌟 but eventually decided on 4🌟; I'll explain why I chose this.

I personally loved this plot, it was so incredibly well written and I had a great time reading it. My main issue was that it felt like it was dragging on at certain points, but then there were other times where it felt too fast.

I loved the main characters, especially our main girl Olivia. I loved how she developed throughout the story and realised she deserved so much better than her ex-boyfriend. I also enjoyed Ben's character, our male main character - he seemed really caring and I loved how he developed his hind with the other characters in this book.

This book speaks about grief and learning to overcome the loss of a best friend, I wish it went into more detail about what happened to the best friend but I did like learning about her.

I'm really excited to read more of the author's works in the future & I'm looking forward to the next book already!! Grant is one of my favourite characters and I want to learn more about the female main character that'll be in the next book (can't say considering it'll be a spoiler.)

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book - I will be reading this author's work in the future and I am so grateful I had to opportunity to read this as an ARC. Thank you again to the author and publisher, also Netgalley for providing it.

Such a cute read, but can be a headache. I’m not a big fan of second act break ups, let alone a third. I felt like this book was really trying to fit in a lot when it didn’t need to. I wished it stuck to one main trope instead of a bunch of tiny ones.

This was intriguing! I'll admit it took me a minute to get into it, but it was pretty good once I got into it! The chemistry between the characters was decent, even if it was a little insta-lovey. While I know the cheating trope can be iffy for a lot of people, I think it actually worked well here. I would say go into this looking for the general vibe and setting of Gossip Girl, but not expecting the same level of scandal and drama.

For some reason, this was a little confusing in the beginning, like you were just kind of expected to know things that hadn't been explained to you yet. It all was explained by the end, and if I were to re-read this, it would probably make a lot more sense, but there were more than a couple times that I was a bit confused.

I also felt like the character development was a bit lopsided. Olivia is a very complicated character, and that was executed fairly seamlessly, but Ben could've used a little more development. Until the last few chapters, I felt like I had a far better grasp on his brother and his parents as characters (which, to be fair, Olivia is dating the brother first, so maybe that was kind of the point). However, it's clear that Ben's mental health plays a huge part in his part of the story, yet it doesn't really get talked about extensively until the end. Going back to Olivia, I appreciated how her struggle with grief was depicted! I think grief can be a hard topic considering how different it is for everyone, but as a fellow emotion suppresser myself, I felt very seen by Olivia. There were many times I wanted to shake her and tell her to stop defending people that treated her horribly, but I realized my friends have had to do the same thing to me, so unfortunately I get her.

Congratulations to Sydney Madison on their debut novel, I can't wait to see where this book goes when it's released and where the Astor Hill series takes us next! (this is me begging for Grant's book...... please I am obsessed with him!!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Sydney Madison for this ARC!! (Review will be posted on Instagram closer to the release date!)

A novel that promises much but delivers only partially. Olivia and Ben's story moves through an interesting terrain between collegiate drama and psychological exploration, without fully reaching its potential.
The strengths lie in the representation of trauma and complex relational dynamics. Ben, in particular, emerges as a multifaceted character, with a mental health representation that feels authentic and touching. His personal story provides some of the book's most profound moments.
Unfortunately, Olivia feels less convincing. Her growth path appears fragmented, and some of her choices seem more driven by plot necessity than true personal evolution. The dynamics with Will and then with Ben suffer from a certain superficiality that weakens the emotional impact.
The writing has interesting sparks, with some lines that truly touch the depths, but it suffers from irregularity. The narrative rhythm oscillates between moments of intense participation and flatter ones, making the reading occasionally discontinuous.
The settings and "university elite" dynamics recall Gossip Girl, but with a more serious attention to emotional themes. An experiment that only partially succeeds.

Thank you NetGalley and PS Published for giving me this arc to review.

A brand new rich kid series to rival Magnolia Parks!

Olivia is starting freshman year with her best friend Lily, ready to take Astor Hill in her stride and get everything she wants. But when one night of tragedy strikes, the trajectory of Olivia's college experience changes forever. Two years later, Olivia is queen bee at Astor Hill and is in a long term relationship with Will Chapman, the captain of the basketball team. Yet sparks fly when mysterious Ben Cabot returns after a two year hiatus, and Olivia can't help but be affected by his presence. The only problem being... Ben is Will's brother.

Right from the start I was hooked with Astor Hill, and if I weren't so busy I'd have finished it in one sitting. I really connected to Olivia and Ben's story, as well as other characters such as Grant. The plot was entertaining and gripping, and dealt with grief exceptionally well in my opinion. I also tabbed many quotes as the writing was often filled with wisdom. I cannot wait to continue the series.

I’ve given this 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5, because I could barely put it down after I picked it up! It is a college romance sort of along the vibe of gossip girl, with the lives of some of the ultra wealthy. There is a lovely triangle with two brothers, a trope which I hadn’t read much of previously but found to be brilliant!

The book was a quick, easy read although it did cover some complex themes such as elements of domestic abuse (verbal), control, anxiety and grief. Considering how heavy some of these topics are I think the authors did a really good job of covering these.

There were some spelling mistakes and grammar points along the way throughout the book which probably need to be picked up, but overall the writing style was good.

It was told from two characters interchanging perspectives, which is a favourite of mine as I love that you get to see into more than one characters mind. I think it makes you form a stronger bond with both of them.


The start of the book is all I would say was a little slow/confusing. I found it took me a while to get into the book and pick up on who all the characters were. Once I had, probably about 15% of the way into the book, I loved it but getting to that point did just take a minute.

Overall, a really good read I would recommend! Thank you for the opportunity!

4.3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I adored this book! It was a little slow for me to get into, I’d say the first 1/4 of the book. But once it picked up it was so good! The mystery of Lily and what happened Olivia’s freshman year was the background of the plot but came into the light in an interesting way. I had an idea of what the mystery was but I still found myself itching to read it. Olivia is a captivating and complex character, I want more of her in Ben in the future!

Astor Hill by Sydney Madison is a poignant exploration of grief, trauma, and self-discovery set against the backdrop of a freshman college experience. Olivia, the main character, grapples with the devastating loss of a close friend while navigating the challenges of young adulthood. The weight of her grief is compounded when she enters a toxic relationship with Will, a troubled character she meets on the very night of her friend's death.

The story dives into Olivia's emotional journey, highlighting the complexities of coping with loss while being entangled in an unhealthy relationship. Will’s mistreatment of Olivia is heartbreaking and frustrating, evoking sympathy for her as she struggles to find her footing. However, hope enters the narrative through Ben, Will's brother and the charismatic basketball captain. Ben and Olivia share an undeniable connection, and their budding relationship becomes a beacon of light in Olivia's tumultuous life.

Sydney Madison skillfully portrays the intense emotions of grief and the process of healing, particularly as experienced by young adults. Olivia’s transformation—from being trapped in a toxic relationship to discovering her worth and embracing love—resonates deeply. The contrast between Will and Ben underscores themes of self-respect, resilience, and the importance of healthy relationships.

The novel's navigation of grief stands out, offering a raw and authentic portrayal of a young woman finding her way after profound loss. The romance between Ben and Olivia is both heartwarming and redemptive, providing a satisfying arc to Olivia's story. Fans of emotionally driven narratives and character growth will find much to appreciate in Astor Hill.

If there is one thing that is going to suck me in its rich people problems.

The first half of this book I wasn’t too sure about. All of the characters (maybe except Grant) were so unlikeable. Olivia is made out to be a head strong character but she lets her boyfriend that she seemingly spends no time with walk all over her.

As the story progressed and you got more backstory on her toxic relationship with her best friend you can see why she deep down has some insecurity issues that might make her make bad relationship choices. While I wouldn’t say any of the characters became more likable you can see them trying.

The second half of the book was much more enjoyable for me. The story got kind of twisty and uncovers a lot of the mystery between how these characters are all connected. This part definitely gave me gossip girl vibes and had me in the edge of my seat a few parts.

I think if I liked the characters a little more I would have cared more about the romance and given this a higher rating. I was really here for the drama and twists.

💚 basketball player x journalist 💚
💚 (ex) boyfriend’s older brother 💚
💚 deals with grief 💚
💚 lots of drama 💚
💚 medium-paced 💚
💚 one tree hill vibes 💚
💚 college romance 💚

first of all, a big thank you to the authors and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book! I really did enjoy it. It had the drama of one tree hill for sure, and I am a one tree hill fan, but I will say, that this book was heavier than I thought it was going to be going in. It deals with grief a lot, and for obvious reasons, that’s a hard thing to tackle.
Ben is a great MMC and I adored him. I wouldn’t say he could do NO wrong, but he could definitely do very little. I thought he was a more lovable character than Olivia. Still liked her, but she just had these walls up for so long (for good reason but still) that it was hard to connect with her I feel like. And it just made me upset how long she stayed with Will.
I do recommend this book, especially if you like sports romances that go just a little deeper! I felt a lot while reading this book, that’s for sure 🏀💚