Her tight-knit crew—Beau, Caroline, and Ava—were once her everything. Now they’re strangers she can’t seem to reach—especially Beau. And the only person she talks to these days is Cody, a skater-boy she used to think was so not her type. Funny how everything changes when your world flips upside down.
And then, as if things couldn’t get weirder, Indy finds herself literally stuck in a school bathroom with Beau. After months of silence, and there’s no escape. If they want out, they’ll have to face the messy truth about what happened between them and find a way back to what they once had. Or maybe even more... (Pub Date: Jan 06 2026)
3.5 rounded up.
I should start from a disclaimer, actually. That I LOVE Kasie West. That I'm always excited for her new releases. That it'll soon be a decade since I started reading her. And that I hold my breath every time I place a request for an ARC. So I'm truly grateful for getting this opportunity, because I could hardly believe it.
That said, I think this book was slightly different. Not in a bad way, although I'm not a fan of this technique: West writes the story in two timelines, past and present. While everything was fine, and now everything has gone down the drain. Thus, together with how our two characters will get together, we also need to know what went wrong. We just know it went terribly wrong.
So we meet Indy, possible school delinquent whose phone has been confiscated. But she couldn't get the teacher to open the bag before she was gone for the weekend, so now Indy is trying to do it on her own when she gets locked in in the teacher's bathroom. If that wasn't a bad enough perspective for the weekend, her previously best friend and current nemesis also manages to get locked in with her. Now they'll have a long, long time to talk through the incidents of the last months that broke their friends apart.
I said I don't like the past/present thing, but I REALLY needed to know what it was that put Indy where she was. And that West builds beautifully. There are so many questions you need answers! But I think some of them never really got answered. It may have been on purpose because they weren't fundamental to the plot, but for a while they did seem to be, so I got obsessed with how that could impact everything. Only to never know... It was a bummer. But don't worry, the book does answer everything that needs answers. That was just me, sure those details were important and they weren't in end.
As usual, West builds a great romance. Her book boyfriends are always so nice. Some aspects of Beau weren't so perfect, but I like that they acknowledge that. I guess it's hard to build conflict if you do build the perfect character. I do think he becomes perfect once we overcome climax ha ha. In any case, such a cute romance! It got me swooning.
If you've read Kasie West before, she's done it again but with a little difference in style, so I'm sure you'll be curious to see how she did it. If you haven't, then be ready for a romantic YA featuring a fierce female lead and a nerdy romantic interest. No one should miss this book!
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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