ARC Review: You Have A Match by Emma Lord

Before I start, I would like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can add it to your Goodreads here!

From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord’s You Have a Match, a YA novel of family, friendship, romance and sisterhood…

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 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.

Title: You Have a Match
Author: Emma Lord
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Representation: Filipino love interest, lesbian main character, Asian side characters, bisexual side character & minor character
Trigger Warnings: Grief, anxiety, injury (mild), death of a family member, adoption/transracial adoption, parental conflict
Final Rating:  4.5 stars!!

What I liked

The strong friendships. I feel like reading about strong friendships are always so much fun, and they just serve as a reminder to be thankful for my own. The relationships in You Have A Match were to die for, and they just felt so authentic and genuine, something I feel isn’t present in so many YA novels!! I also loved how even though there was such an adorable romance, it didn’t take up the whole plot! It stayed at the side during the whole novel, while the sibling relationships, and strong friendships mostly stayed as the main focus.

All the amazing tropes. There were SO. MANY. of my favourite tropes in this book!! There was found family (quite literally in this case) and HUGE parent trap vibes!! There were also sibling relationships, strong friendships and friends-to-lovers which I adored!! There was also SO 👏🏼 MUCH 👏🏼 BANTER 👏🏼 I know that so many other readers also love banter, and this book was full of it!! Some other things that were present in this book include pranks, as well as tons of family drama and sisterly love!! Read my post about tropes here.

The characters. All the characters were well developed, and all of them had distinct personalities and traits. I also felt that each of them felt authentic, and I think I mentioned this before, but all the relationships were so so genuine and didn’t make me cringe while reading through the book!! I feel like so many YA books aren’t able to portray teenagers realistically, and there’s always a lot of stereotyping, leading a ton of teen readers to cringe while reading the books. Each of the characters were cinnamon rolls extremely lovable and I found myself rooting for each and every one of them, and not just Abby, the main character.

What wasn’t my cup of tea

The unrealistic events. I feel like a lot of events in You Have A Match were really unrealistic, and a bit too coincidental. What I mean by this is that a lot of these events would probably not have been able to happen in real life, and felt straight out of a Disney movie. Like Marie also said in her review, a lot of events felt a bit over the top and exaggerated, and that was completely unnecessary!!

Overall!

I’ve given ‘You Have A Match’ a rating of 4.5 stars (as you can see above), because it’s a fun, light, fluffy, contemporary read full of diverse characters, and a super fun plot!! (we need more books like these)!! It was easy to go through, and the pacing was just right!! Honestly, I would go ahead and recommend this to anyone because I’ve seen very few negative reviews for it, and I know it was a delight to read!! However, these are just my opinions, and everyone is entitled to their own, so you may, or may not like it as much!! I do hope you get a chance to pick it up when it’s released!!

Others reviews I enjoyed reading:

• Caitlyn @ Tea Time Lit had similar thoughts as mine!
• Breanna @ Paws & Paperbacks wrote a review with her quick thoughts on the book
• Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books wrote a really detailed review on what she thought about ‘You Have A Match’

Have you read You Have A Match yet? Are you excited to get yourself a copy when it’s released?? What are other YA contemporary books with the trope ‘found family’, or good sibling relationships that you enjoyed?