Review of The Rival by Emma Lord
My Review of the Rival by Emma Lord discusses that I am a big fan of Emma Lord’s books. I also love Academic Rivals to Lovers Books, a category this book falls into. I have a post on Emma Lord’s book universe, too. Let’s discuss The Rival!
The Rival by Emma Lord: Jen’s Quick Take
- A YA contemporary romance set in college
- An Enemies to Lovers book, of the subtype Academic Rivals (one of my favorites!)
- It’s NOT set in New York (though there is a brief mention at the end) and NOT set at Blue Ridge State University or
- The Rival incorporates campus issues but also has a fun, wacky spirit that reminded me a bit of some Y2K/2010s YA prank wars books
- To be published on January 21, 2025 by Wednesday Books
Review of The Rival by Emma Lord
On the spectrum of Emma Lord books from serious to silly, this falls way onto the sillier side. College life in The Rival was so much fun that I was ready to find a time machine and head back to my college days.
Sadie feels overlooked in her family and always felt in danger of being overshadowed by her academic rival, Seb. So she’s thrilled to be on the campus of Maple Ride University and ready to compete for a spot on Newsboy, the schools famous ‘zine.
But of course Seb shows up, fresh off the wait list and competing with her yet again. Can these two join forces for good AND fight their attraction to each other?
My Thoughts on The Rival
What is more fun to read than a good Academic Rivals to Lovers YA Book? Nothing!
Some of my recent favorites have included A Study in Drowning, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, and Today Tonight Tomorrow.
The Rival had a sweet and wacky spirit and was heavily food-centered. But it also managed to slip in a few issues, like finding your independence from your family in college and the struggles and pressures of student athletes on financial aid.
Check out my post on Emma Lord’s other books here!
It really was fun. I went to engineering school. I did not have that much fun but at least I can read about it. LOL
I didn’t know that about you!!!
I enjoyed Tweet Cute but really struggled with You Have A Match. I think I still need to read Begin Again asl well. I love it when books are centered around food, but they make me so hungry!
I agree – You Have a Match was my least favorite of her books by far! But I did really like Begin Again!