A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she’ll never forget.From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord’s You Have a Match, a hilarious and heartfelt novel of romance, sisterhood, and friendship…When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows … friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.
But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.
When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.
The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.
But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.
“A YA contemporary set at summer camp? Count us in.” —BuzzFeed
“Heartfelt and engaging, You Have a Match is a masterclass on love in all its forms.” —Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper
“A bright summer tale of connection and self-discovery.” —Booklist
“A cute, feel-good coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus
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You Have A Match is a wonderful coming of age story. As summer approaches, Abby is still grieving the death of her grandfather, who was her rock. She is also under pressure from her parents to improve her grades and fears being rejected by her best friend/secret crush. Abby discovers she has an older sister that her parents kept a secret through a DNA ancestry service. Her sister, Savvy, lives nearby and is a social media influencer. The two sisters hatch a plan to spend the summer together; hijinx and family drama ensues.
Reminiscent of The Parent Trap, I loved the family aspect and summer camp fun! You can’t help but laugh at the various predicaments that Abby gets into. As a typical teenager, miscommunications and assumptions rule her life. Big or small, everything is “make or break” to her! Learning many life lessons throughout her camp experience, Abby emerges with a strong sense of herself and finds her place in the world. She figures out that life is all about trying hard things because the biggest rewards come from doing difficult things.
Unlike Tweet Cute, the romance takes a back seat to the family drama. I would have liked for the romance aspect to have played a more prominent role in the story. Abby and Leo are an adorable, ship-worthy couple, but I needed a little bit more of them in the story.
I enjoyed the sisterly bonding too. I liked how Abby and Savvy’s relationship developed organically with stops and starts. They didn’t become friends or sisters overnight. In the end, they emerged with a strong relationship.
You Have A Match is a fun read. While this is a YA book, I recommend it to readers of all ages. Everyone can relate to the topics in this book and enjoy its humor.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy to read and enjoy. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.
I completely adored You Have a Match. 16 year old me can relate so hard to Abby. The pressures of school, friends, wanting to be your own but also wanting to be accepted, the fears of rejection, and feeling like a disappointment to your parents, although I did grow up in the ’90s without the pressure of most social media, which is a completely different monster. On the flip side, I could relate equally to Abby’s parents and all of the struggles of raising kids, both good and bad.
Despite all of the feelings in this book (and it was a bit of a rollercoaster), there’s also a lot of humor and a lot of heart. I laughed, had warm fuzzy feelings, rooted so hard for Abby and Leo, and Savvy and Mickey. It made me miss summer camp and feel a little nostalgic for old friends and places. It felt so much like a warm hug during what’s been a stressful time.
As a mom, I’m always scanning reviews for what’s in the book beyond the story, because let’s be honest, some books marketed as teen or YA have content that I feel is a little too “old” for my 11 & 14-year-olds (just let me have my delusions). That being said, You Have a Match is clean, there’s no sex or allusions to it. There are a few f-bombs and various other profanities sprinkled through, but really, who hasn’t wanted to tell someone to f*ck off.
This is an amazing follow up to Tweet Cute (which I equally adored). I highly recommend this for any age, almost everyone will find something they relate to or something to make them laugh. I will definitely keep my eye out for Emma Lord and all of her future releases.
This was a very sweet YA novel. There is romance, but it takes a backseat to the other plot points for most of the story. Truthfully, I would have liked for the romance aspect to have been explored more, but I understand why it wasn’t the main focus. I was very intrigued by the premise that a DNA test could lead to unexpected places and people. In You Have a Match, these results reveal long buried secrets and upend both Abby and Savannah’s lives. I appreciated how the story showcased the importance of families (both by choice and blood) and also friendships. I liked that the sisterhood developed at its own pace and didn’t just magically come together for Abby and Savannah. There is some typical YA drama (miscommunications and assumptions galore) that made the pacing feel a little slow and repetitive, but overall this was an entertaining and heartfelt novel.
Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 3.5 stars
I enjoyed the narration by Eva Kaminsky and I thought she did a wonderful job voicing all of the characters uniquely. I didn’t have a problem differentiating between characters and her performance was fresh and also conveyed a lot of emotion.
*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*
This YA story was one I really enjoyed! All of the complexities of the relationships entwined with one another, gave several vantage points for the plot to stem from. I loved all of the main characters and their personalities. Emma Lord has a very easy to read writing style that made the book a pretty quick to finish.
*I received this book to read and review from Netgalley and Wednesday Books.
I read Tweet Cute earlier this year and thought it was, for lack of a better word, so cute! Of course, I had to pick up Emma’s next book, and when I read the summary, I knew that I would love it.
Abby Day is overwhelmed. Her grandfather, her rock, has passed away and her grades are tanking. The more pressure she feels, the worse she is doing. In the meantime, she’s in love with one of her best friends and the other has left the country. After she finds out she has an older sister, Savvy, she has never met, she hacks into her parents emails and voicemails, deletes everything indicating she needs summer school, and meets Savvy at summer camp to figure out what happened.
Abby and Savvy’s journey through the past and into the future is handled perfectly. Abby’s sense of self and her place in the world feels satisfying. I adored the antics and the struggles that a teen feels, like everything is make or break no matter how big or small.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
A young girl gets her DNA tested only to learn that she has an older sister. The drama that unfolds makes this a very believable story current to our day.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Abby signs up to get a DNA test to help nudge her best friend and secret crush Leo to find out more about her birth parents. What she doesn’t expect is to find a secret Instagram-famous older sister. When they plot to spend the summer together at camp to discover more about their parents (a la Parent Trap), things don’t go exactly according to plan–including Abby being in forced proximity with Leo, who turns out to be the camp chef!
I don’t read a lot of YA, but the cover and blurb really drew me to this one. I ended up enjoying it exponentially and binged it in one evening. I’ve heard some people say it’s a slow start, but I disagree–we jump right into the DNA test and Abby finding out she has a sister (this is in the blurb, so not a spoiler). I like the romance aspect, because who doesn’t love a little romance, but I think this story is much more about Abby and Savvy’s relationship as sisters than Abby and Leo. Makes me wish the cover featured the two sisters, rather than a boy and a girl. There was definitely a point where I was 3/4 of the way through and thought the book was over but then realized I still had an hour left, so the plot could have been a little more concise, but I do think this way it had more twists and turns. I think this is a great read for teens or adults and has a little bit of everything–family drama, sisterly bonds, romance, Instagram fame, and summer camp fun!
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
5 stars – 8/10
This was real cute and fun contemporary, with some expected heaviness. When you find out you have a secret sister older and decide to meet up with her, while lying to both your parents, and oh yeah, your best friend who you have a giant unrequited crush on is there, things can get a little emotional. I so felt for Abby whenever she talked about her Poppy, because my grandma and I were really close. The resolution was pretty easy, in my opinion, but it was a fun read nonetheless. Some The Parent Trap vibes, plus some teenage relationship drama, this is definitely one I can see rereading in the summer to get another dose of camping vibes.
3/5 stars!
When the heroine gets her results from a DNA test, she learns that she has an older sister. Trying to get away from the awkwardness in every meeting with her male best friend after a certain embarrassing event and the pressures from school and at home, she goes to summer camp to connect with her recently-discovered older sibling. But when she arrives there, her older sister is giving her the cold shoulder, her male best friend is also there as part of the kitchen staff, and camp rules inhibiting her. Add the mystery of why her older sibling was adopted and the heroine has a summer to remember.
This was a nice book with elements of family, friendship, and self-discovery. I did find the heroine annoying at the first half of the story but got better at the latter end of it. I liked the deepening sibling relationship and some characters were individually strong to stand up in the single-person viewpoint of the book. However, I needed more details for a smoother transition in some parts and a better resolution to the adoption situation. Overall, this nice story is definitely an Emma Lord book.
**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.**
If I could choose a book to represent the joys of friendship, this book would be it. The main character, Abby, had wonderful friends that made for a hilarious and entertaining read. If you enjoyed Emma Lord’s first book, Tweet Cute, you won’t be disappointed by this new one.
You Have a Match was the kind of book where “just one more chapter” turns into “two hours later.” Characters like Finn and Lord’s talent of writing hilarious metaphors/similes/comparisons made it impossible to put down! Plus, who doesn’t love a good plot containing secret sisters and love triangles?
This is the perfect book for those looking for fun friendships, adorable couples to ship, and the feeling of summer.
I requested this ARC of You Have a Match completely because I liked the cover, and was initially disappointed that this was a YA. That disappointment faded within a few pages, I was hooked pretty quickly. The story is fresh and polished, I stayed up late to read One More Chapter, and actually teared up at one point (don’t worry, no dogs die). I would loooove to have a sequel to see what happens to our main characters, I feel so invested in their lives at this point.
This was my first book by Emma Lord but I will absolutely be seeking out more books by her.
Given the cover I thought the romance part would be more in the book. It ended up with a lot of near misses. The parts that did have the romance were great. The story part of Abby’s DNA search and resulting changes in her life was good but took up way too much of the book. The secondary characters had so much to offer and I felt they were left behind with the romance also.
Emma Lord’s You Have a Match is a sweet, funny, coming-of-age story with a unique plot and diverse characters.
When Abby Day agrees to do a DNA test, it’s mainly to support her best friend (and secret crush) Leo in his quest to find out more about his birth parents. The last thing she expects is to discover that she has an older sister named Savannah. They meet up, and Savannah persuades Abby to come to summer camp, so they can get to the bottom of why Abby’s parents placed Savannah for adoption. An unexpected curveball? Leo’s going to be at camp too. The bottom line? It’s going to be a summer that none of them forget.
You Have a Match is such a delightful, witty read. Lord’s sophomore novel proves that she’s a force to be reckoned with in the YA world. The way that Lord interweaves multiple stories and experiences into her work is heartfelt and authentic. Abby is a wonderfully flawed protagonist whose character growth is immensely satisfying to read. The love stories (yes, that plural is intentional) unfold in a way that is as wonderful as they are unexpected. And the exploration of familial and fraternal bonds is done masterfully. On it’s face, it’s a fun read, but it is so richly layered, you’ll be thinking about it long after you finish.
This is, by far, one of my favorite YA reads of the year. Add it to your TBR pile immediately, and thank me later!
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.