This is the YA book of my dreams!!! Jackie does an amazing job at writing realistic and believable teenagers. I saw my teenage self in Jamie, and I adored her growth throughout the book. I can’t wait to see what Jackie does next!

2.5 stars

This started out really promising. I found the setup of the fake-dating situation in this book to be so entertaining, and the development of the romance and personal growth to be really sweet. It was almost like a YA version of Funny Story by Emily Henry (my favorite of Emily Henry's books): a girl who has been in an long-term, nearly enmeshed relationship gets suddenly broken up with and begins fake-dating someone else to make them jealous. But through this new relationship, the MC begins to learn more about herself, find a greater sense of community, and finally understand what she wants/needs in a relationship. About halfway through, though, that charm began to wean, especially as flaws in the storytelling and messaging became more apparent. There is only so much petty, repetitive teen drama and cringy TikTok lipsync dance videos I can take, without having a strong narrative and thematic foundation to back it up.

A unique aspect of this book was its cultural commentary, which took up less time than the overall love triangle, but ended up being the part of the story I had the most thoughts about. One of the reasons that I read this book to begin with was because of the author's note on wanting to write a story with positive representation for Arab men, given that the representation of Arab men in media has always been one of terrorism and violence. And through her depictions of Axel, the love interest, and Eli, Jamie's uncle, the author succeeded in that goal. Both were portrayed as such caring and gentle souls, which was so heartwarming to see. I especially loved how Axel played a big part in helping Jamie reconnect with parts of her Arab culture that she had never had access to before, like going to an Arab wedding and getting to dance Dabke for the first time.

Given I was so on board with what this story was trying to accomplish, it was so surprising to me when I didn't enjoy the way certain discussions around cultural issues and stereotypes were handled. (And just for reference, this is coming from an Arab woman lol). There was often a lack of nuance in these conversations, and at worst, a minimization of real issues in the community. For example, when Jamie is curious about the hiring of a belly dancer for his cousin's wedding, Axel immediately interjects that belly dancing is not misogynistic and is actually an art form. Which is not necessarily untrue, but the comment was 1) random and 2) frames the discussion around belly dancing as one of sexism as opposed to Orientalism. Belly dancing is certainly a part of Arab culture and an activity I participate in myself, but it's also true that depictions of belly dancing and its commodification have been influenced by and been a tool of Orientalism. Another example is when Jamie asks Axel if his parents have more lenient rules for him in comparison to his sisters because he's a boy, and he responds no, that it's actually because he's the youngest child. Which, again, could be true, but also was pronounced with such certainty without regard for his biased perspective as the boy receiving preferential treatment. Like, I'd like to hear his sisters' perspectives on that lol. These situations also inadvertently positioned a male voice as authority on feminism, which was a strange decision.

It just felt like the book, albeit with good intentions, sometimes took a "Not All Men" approach with dismantling these stereotypes. A key struggle often encountered by intersectional feminists is acknowledging that there are problems within communities without feeding into stereotypes. Misogyny is 100% an issue in the Arab community, but it's just not something unique and or inherent to Arab men. Misogyny is ubiquitous across nearly all cultures, and so to single out certain groups as perpetrators is driven by racism and Orientalism, which is what fuels these stereotypes.

Moreover, an aspect of this book I found interesting was the complicated relationship Jamie had with her mom. Raised by strict, conservative parents, Jamie's mother holds a lot of resentment for the parts of their culture that were weaponized against her growing up, specifically, the sexism and coddling of Arab boys. This resulted in her running off with a white boy and going no-contact with her parents at a young age, and now she projects this perspective onto Axel. This only serves to fuel Jamie's already growing resentment against her mother, whom she blames for denying Jamie the opportunity of a relationship with her grandparents and also her father, who left them three years prior. I appreciated the overall arc of this relationship, of Jamie developing more empathy for her mother's experiences, and her mother learning to unpack her own biases, however, I think the discussion around Jamie's dad was not conveyed to its fullest potential. It was incredibly frustrating to see how mean Jamie was to her mom and how much she blamed her for her dad leaving (when her dad was the one who abandoned the family!) It felt so juvenile, even for a seventeen-year-old. And going back to the idea of dismantling stereotypes, I was waiting for some acknowledgment of the fact that Jamie's mom wanted to a pursue a white boy because she assumed Arab boys would not be good partners, only for her white husband to not be a good partner. It would have added so much to her mother's unpacking of her biases, but it never came up.

Overall, I thought this had a strong start and was an improvement from the author's debut. It had some very touching moments and I appreciated the overall trajectory of the story and character arcs, but I wished there was more nuance in getting there.

I absolutely adored this book!!!
I was already a fan of Jackie's first book, and I loved this one just as much if not more. In this story we have a protagonist who fake-dates "bad boy" Axel to get back at her ex who cheated on her/dumped her. I looooved their chemistry, all their dates, exploring Toronto, all of it! And as someone who has tummy-related issues due to my anxiety, wow I loved seeing that represented on the page. What a fantastic story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tundra Books for this eARC.

Rating: 3.5/5

You Started It follows Jamie Taher-Foster preparing for her senior year of high school. She has planned out goals for herself and her relationship with Ben Cameron. But when Ben comes home from his summer camp job, he ends their relationship without much explanation. Only for Jamie to see him with someone new the next day. Enter Axel Dahini, the new and younger guy, who just moved into their neighborhood. Jamie and Axel begin to fake date in an attempt to make Ben jealous, but when a real connection begins to form between the two, Jamie must figure out her feelings, who she feels most herself with, and what that looks like for all the plans she has set for herself.

Jackie Khalilieh portrays teenagers in such a real and dynamic way. Jackie loves to plan out how things in her life should play out, and we learn a lot about why she is this way through the course of the book, but she is also messy and sometimes mean. And it’s hard to judge her for it because of her familial dynamics. Does it mean she is always justified in being mean? No, but she is fully aware of this by the end of the book.

While I enjoyed the romantic aspects of this, this is a true coming of age story, and seeing the growth in their communication skills as a family was so satisfying to see.

Diese YA-„Fake-Dating“-Romanze setzt auf Herz, Humor und emotionale Ehrlichkeit in Toronto. Jamie, eine junge Frau mit Angststörung und IBS, tritt in eine erfrischend authentische Beziehung mit Axel, einem TikTok-Tänzer, ein. Gemeinsam wachsen sie über sich hinaus – und lernen, dass nicht alles im Leben kontrollierbar ist. Die Darstellung von mentaler Gesundheit, kultureller Identität und familiären Beziehungen ist nuanciert und berührend umgesetzt. Die Chemie zwischen den Figuren fühlt sich real an, ohne auf billige Tropes zu setzen. Eine kraftvolle, inklusive Geschichte, die sowohl unterhält als auch zum Nachdenken anregt

jackie always leaves me in awe! she's a writer i will always trust to write ya novels!

i adored these characters and i loved that the mmc was younger than the fmc. the mental health rep and diverse family backgrounds all make this book even more impactful.

read prior to release but super behind on my reviews *cries*

This was such a great high-school romance book! I really enjoyed all of the characters, even with all of their flaws. I feel that Jackie Kahlilieh did a wonderful job writing emotionally complex characters in a believable way. I was rooting for the characters. I laughed, I cried, and I would recommend this book to a friend.

"You Started It" is very ANGSTY. I quite enjoyed it for the most part. Axel & Jamie were really cute. Jamie and her mother's relationship was pretty horrible. Look, I don't even talk to my family and I even was like "Dannnnng." during their arguments. Khalileh touched on a lot of important topics in this book without making it too overbearing. I don't really like too much social media in my books but this is YA. That is what the kids are wrapped up in these days so I get it. My favorite part about "You Started It" was that it really is YA. It is very clean for the age group.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

After being a big fan of Something More last year, I knew I had to read You Started It, another YA Contemporary romance standalone. This brings us a protagonist in Jamie trying to figure out her place in the world after retreating in safety for so long, and opposed to Jessie, has a very different relationship with goal lists. With interesting characters and great pacing, this story kept me intrigued from start to end.

For the past three years, Jamie has dated Ben, acting as a safety net to her father’s sudden absence, building goals in order to experience new things. But after a summer apart, Ben has decided to end it with Jamie, flushing her plans in the toilet. Now her new goal for fall of her senior year of high school is to get Ben back at any cost. Then she meets Axel, and then the fake dating scheme comes in, and then things get more complicated than Jamie ever expected.

I adored Jamie throughout this book, as she’s trying to explore who she is without Ben and more about her family and Palestinian heritage that her mother shuns as “too traditional for the modern day”. It’s not just about the romance, it’s a coming of age journey for Jamie and she is having to figure out how to go through life without planning everything out and deconstruct aspects of her life. There were so many times I wanted to give her a hug for all that she has to go through. As a side note, Jamie has to navigate her anxiety and Irritable Bowel Syndrome throughout the story, and does play a role in the plot. While Jamie isn’t explicitly autistic, she displays so many of the traits and the author mentioned that she’s likely undiagnosed. All of this made her journey that much more interesting and more relatable, at least to me.

I also love Axel. It’s very rare to see an Arab love interest who’s such a cinnamon roll in western media due to the stereotype of the fundamentalist Arab (who may or may not be a terrorist) being the default. He’s so expressive and fun, especially through his dances, and is exactly the breath of fresh air that Jamie needed, that I needed, and honestly, what a lot of Young Adult needs.

The rest of the cast was fleshed out as well, especially Jamie and Axel’s family. The reveals were well done and served as a natural progression for Jamie’s story. I enjoyed Jamie’s uncle and by the end, I appreciated the rest of her family. I also did like Ben and Olivia… eventually.

While there are a few slow sections, it didn’t hurt my experience that much. The prose was easy to read, having both the impactful emotions of Jamie feel raw and visceral and it also made Toronto feel alive, especially the Wonderland theme park, which was a major scene in the story. I also felt Jackie Khalilieh’s heart and passion about her own life and experiences throughout, which made the lessons, themes, and character growth that much stronger. I doubt I’ll forget Jamie and Axel anytime soon.

Highly recommended for those looking for a contemporary romance with a unique neurodiverse protagonist taking risks, fake dating, bucket lists, and a cinnamon roll love interest.

3.5

This was a cute YA! While some of the relationship conflicts and games leaned towards the younger end of YA, I did like the more mature parts of this focusing on Jamie's relationship with her Arab identity, her anxiety, and with her father.

Would recommend!

Sometimes the perfect thing for me to reset is a good YA romance. And boy, was this a good one.

There were so many things in this one that clicked for me!

The fake dating. Check. The pressured/perfect/flawed/type-A FMC. Check. Oh my gosh, the flashy, playful boy I never saw coming? Check, check, check!

Jamie sets out with a plan, never taking into account how she feels about it. When feelings do come into play, she sort of pushes them aside. I love the moment that she finally has to confront them, and how she handles that. It does have a progressional build, she takes some steps instead of being hit all at once by it, and I really loved that growth for her.

Characters getting to find their culture is this specific micro trope of mine that I cannot get enough of, and the way it's handled in this book, I absolutely love. Jamie's mother's family immigrated from Palestine, and she felt suffocated and trapped by her strict parents, and she blamed that mostly on culture. She cut off all ties to Jamie's grandparents and traditions, and Jamie feels the loss to that side of herself. When Jamie goes from dating Ben to Axel, an Arab boy, Jamie's mother is less than pleased. That's the last thing she want for her. But Axel and his family are nothing like what Jamie's mother recalls, and Axel is more than happy to welcome into his home, where they embrace their Jordan traditions.

This book was so good, I couldn't put it down, and of course stayed up all night to finish it!

Had the pleasure of meeting Jackie at a festival and getting to speak to her about You Started It! This read is so wholesome, and perfect for the end-of-summer season! I loved Jamie and Axel, this book felt like a movie!

Okay, I’ll be bluntly honest—this book was CORNY. Like full-on secondhand embarrassment. But against my will, I was still completely hooked.

Oh, Jamie. She’s such a little miss know it all, and NOT in a charming way. In a way too quirky way. Her constantly rambling out random facts grated on my nerves so much. Like, was that really necessary? She’d be having a completely normal conversation with people and then out of nowhere be like, “did you know…” and proceed to spew out stupid facts. I wanted to love her; I REALLY did, but she made it hard. That said, she wasn’t entirely insufferable—she had her moments, particularly in the end when she showed some actual growth. Still though, her attitude toward her mom upset me a lot. I get the moody teenager thing, but there’s a huge difference between being angsty and outright disrespectful. Her mom was genuinely trying her best as a single parent; I wish Jamie cut her some slack.

Were there cringey moments? Oh, absolutely. But honestly, what did I expect from a YA romance centered around a freaking TikTok dancer? Really, it was to be expected. The Gen Z-ness of it all was awful. The music choices were questionable, and there were so many scenes that made me want to scream. And don’t even get me started on the “romantic gesture” at the end—I was dead.

There was good stuff, though! Watching the slow-burn romance between Axel and Jamie was adorable. Their adventurous dates were genuinely fun to read, and the chemistry felt so sweet and authentic.

Olivia, though? She was the real star of the show in my opinion. She wasn’t some villain or boyfriend stealing monster like originally portrayed—she was just a girl, and by the end she ironically became my favorite character. Super down to earth and way more mature than all of the rest of the characters. I hope to get her book in the future!

Despite all of that, I enjoyed this read more than I expected. There’s a good aspect of self-discovery throughout the story for every character. I didn’t end up loving Jamie like I hoped, but I appreciated her enough. The romance, the messiness of family, and the moments of serious emotional depth came together so nicely, making this utterly charming!

So… yeah, this book was cringe, chaotic, and occasionally had me wanting to rip my hair out, but it was weirdly funny, sweet, and heartfelt. You YA romance fans will eat this up!

3.4 ★

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

3.25 ⭐️
I enjoyed this one, it was a cute YA fake dating romance! I loved how the Axel fell head over heels for Jamie and how they both helped each other learn more about themselves. One thing that did take me out a bit was some of the slang used and references like TikTok, I personally don’t love that in any book. But it was a quick read and if you enjoy YA romances I’d say give it a try!

I loved this book! Such a cute YA romance. It made me squeal, seeing Axel fall for Jamie so quickly. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and I love seeing two people who think they wouldn’t fall for someone, fall for someone that is perfect for them. I also appreciated the relationship between Ben and Jamie and how that developed and changed over the course of the story!

Opposites attract fake dating was a good set up for this book it was fun watching Jaime let lose. I did feel like it needed more but all in all it was enjoyable

Beginning of the book I had a hard time with the main characters (both of them) but they grew on me even their flaws. They’re just teenagers doing stupid shit which is nice. I related to Jamie anxiety wise

This was adorable. I loved it right away and the banter and situations reminded me a bit of a Lynn Painter YA novel. I loved the culture conversations between the two characters and how it allowed me to experience their perspectives. The romance was so adorable and I loved the pacing of the fake dating turned to real feelings. It slowed down a bit for me in the last half. I thought the third act break up lasted a little too long, but on the flip side the main character was also growing and figuring out her family and ex-boyfriend situations. I was just ready for more of the couple again!

An adorable fake dating YA romance with mental health and neurodivergent representation. The author even included conversations around the impact anxiety can have on your gut which I feel is not talked about enough. I loved the MCs and how their differences helped them learn more about each other. The FMC explores her identity as a Palestinian young adult and what that means to her. There was so much complexity on that topic which I appreciated. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a fun bucket list friends to lovers moment 🥰

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this eARC.

What a charming, chaotic little gem. Jackie Khalilieh gives us a YA rom-com that’s equal parts messy heartbreak and unexpected healing — and I mean that in the best possible way.
Jamie Taher-Foster is a hot mess of lists, anxiety, and unfiltered inner monologues, and watching her unravel in real time after her long-term boyfriend breaks up with her was like watching your best friend spiral… but also stubbornly try to organize her spiral with a spreadsheet. Her grief is loud, cringe-y, raw, and so deeply relatable — especially if you’ve ever tried to fix your life by re-controlling the narrative with a to-do list.
Enter Axel Dahini, the cinnamon roll TikTok dancer Jamie fake-dates in a wildly impulsive attempt to get her ex’s attention. Their dynamic? Pure opposites-attract gold. He’s all vibes and curly hair; she’s wound tight like a coiled slinky. But their chemistry sneaks up on you, and watching their relationship evolve — awkwardly, then sweetly — is one of the most satisfying emotional arcs in the book.
Khalilieh does a lovely job of weaving Arab representation into the story without making it the whole story. It's there — gently grounding Jamie and Axel in something shared — but it’s not the plot. It's just life, and that balance is refreshing.
I especially loved the emotional maturity that quietly builds under the surface of this rom-com. Jamie isn’t a polished heroine — she’s obsessive, messy, and sometimes a little mean — but she’s trying, and by the end, she’s grown in ways that feel earned. The message? Love doesn’t have to look the way you planned. Some people are meant to be lessons, not forever.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Especially if you like your YA rom-coms with complicated feelings, perfectly imperfect characters, and just enough chaos to keep you grinning. It didn’t hit every emotional beat perfectly for me, but it gave me a cast I cared about and a story I was glad to spend time in. That's a win.