Someone Just Like You
Meredith Schorr
Two childhood rivals are forced to work together to plan their parents’ anniversary party in “this pitch-perfect enemies-to-lovers rom-com.” ( BookPage) New Yorker Molly Blum knows everything about her lifelong nemesis, Jude Stark. With their families so close, they should have been best friends. Instead, she thinks he’s a too-charming slacker, and he thinks she’s allergic to fun. After years of one-upping each other’s pranks (chocolate-dipped cat treats are not as delicious as they appear), one high school joke went too far, and they stopped speaking completely. But now that they’re supposed to help plan a massive party for their parents—together—there’s no better time to resume their war. And it is on . Only somewhere between all the sniping and harmless hijinks, a reluctant friendship develops, along with an unexpected spark of sexual tension. It might have to do with the fact that she’s been dating Jude-lookalikes and he’s been dating Molly doppelgangers. Or the fact that neither of them is nearly as horrible as they thought. All Molly and Jude know is that they’ve mastered the art of hating each other. Falling in love, on the other hand, is a whole new battlefield.
Publication Year: 2023
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0Hilarious NYC-Based Rom-Com. This book has several different things going on at once, which can seem a bit chaotic - and seems to be meant to. The base setup, of two sets of siblings planning a joint anniversary party for both sets of parents, is chaotic enough. Then you throw in the actual romance here, of a boy and girl who almost literally grew up together and have a lifetime of bickering with each other and pranking each other behind them (which we get to see a lot of), and it becomes a recipe for... well, everything. The love is deep and heartfelt - even as neither of them realizes it. The comedy, both in the past and present, is pure gold. The drama... is both real (parents) and Hallmarkie (romance) and yet also comedic (a famous movie that has been remade at least twice, but revealing which one reveals things about the book). Overall, it hits all the genre "rules" and while it isn't for the "sweet"/ "clean" crowd, also isn't anywhere near erotica level either. In fact, as others have mentioned (both positively and negatively), the first "encounter" is rather comedic (and, I would argue, *real*).
At the end of the day, this is one of those kinds of books where your mileage really will vary. If you love zany "what the fuck" stories with a LOT of side characters and all kinds of stuff happening all around the main storyline, you're going to love this book. The more you have a problem with that kind of setup, the less you're going to enjoy this one.
Overall, I thought this was freaking hilarious and truly well done. Very much recommended.
0Molly and Jude are lifelong childhood friends turned rivals - always pranking and trying to outdo the other. Until they get tasked to work together to help plan a joint anniversary dinner for each of their parents.
I admit - I can’t decide whether I want to rate this book a 2.5 or 3. I love the enemies to lovers, childhood friends to lovers trope, but this book was a struggle for me.
The characters felt like they had absolutely zero chemistry. There was no slow burn leading up their getting together - instead it was a wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Both characters were in their late 20s but acted as though they were in their pre-teens. None of the side characters even caught my attention. With the way that the characters continually changed with how they felt towards each other, I felt like I was experiencing whiplash.
This was my first book by Meredith Schorr and I was hopeful that I would like it. I will eventually read her previous book, “As Seen on TV”, and I’m hopeful I will enjoy that one a little more.
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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