Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka Pages: 352
Published by Speak on May 22, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, contemporary, Romance
Source: Finished Copy from Publisher
A contemporary Shakespeare-inspired YA from a fantastic new author couple! What's it like to play the understudy in your own love story?
Megan Harper is the girl before. All her exes find their one true love right after dating her. It’s not a curse or anything, it’s just the way things are, and Megan refuses to waste time feeling sorry for herself. Instead, she focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theatre, and fulfilling her dream school’s acting requirement in the smallest role possible.
But her plans quickly crumble when she’s cast as none other than Juliet–yes, that Juliet–in her high school’s production. It’s a nightmare. No–a disaster. Megan’s not an actress and she’s certainly not a Juliet. Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright who agrees to help Megan catch the eye of a sexy stagehand in exchange for help writing his new script.
Between rehearsals and contending with her divided family, Megan begins to notice Owen–thoughtful, unconventional, and utterly unlike her exes, and wonders: shouldn’t a girl get to play the lead in her own love story?
Always Never Yours is a young adult contemporary romance by Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley. This novel is cute and adorable for so many reasons. There is no denying that this is a feel good read from start to finish. I love a “best friends falling in love”, love story. But I also love that Always Never Yours was written by real life high school sweethearts. In my head, they were telling their own story (To be clear, Austin and Emily have never said this was a fictionalized version of their story. I’m just imagining that it was because I want to.) Always Never Yours is an adorable romance, peppered with some drama to balance everything out. All in all, this was a satisfying novel that I really enjoyed.
The other reason, I really enjoyed Always Never Yours is because the premise of the book reminded me of the YA version of Dane Cook’s movie, Good Luck Chuck (I know, I am dating myself with this one!) In the movie, as soon as Chuck slept with a girl, they immediately met the love of their life. Megan reminds of Chuck. She is “cursed” to constantly be in the background. Megan dates lots of guys and then has the unfortunate opportunity to watch them find their “true love” right after dating her.
“I’m not the girl in the center of the stage at the end of a love story. I’m the girl before, the girl guys date right before they find their true love. Every one of my relationships ends exactly the same.”
Megan and Owen were such a joy to read about. I loved watching their wonderful friendship turn into a very satisfying slow burn romance. Nothing was rushed in Always Never Yours, everything was a natural and realistic progression, and darn it if watch Megan and Owen flirt was not the cutest thing in the whole world. It is impossible to read a scene with them in it and not smile. They are infectious. I loved the characters in Always Never Yours- Megan especially. She is unapologetic about being herself, which is delightful. Watching her at school, on stage, and at home was great because we really got to see all sides of her. I love Megan.
Bottom line: if you are looking for a cute romance,with a wonderful progression from friends to more, look no further than Always Never Yours. I can’t wait to see more from Austin and Emily. They are a fantastic author duo!
Always Never Yours by @asiegemundbroka & @wibbs_ink @PenguinTeen is a 'delightful' 'feel-good read' according to @BookBriefs. See her #Review here Click To Tweet
WEEK ONE
May 7 – Lindseyybooks – Review
May 8 – Just Commonly – Author Guest Post: Favorite Classics that inspires your writing
May 9 – BookCrushin – Creative
May 10 – Lacy Literacy – Playlist
May 11 – Books and Blends – Review
WEEK TWO
May 14 – YA Books Central – Author Guest Post: Who would they Fancast/Dreamcast if their book was turned into a movie?
May 15 – Finding Wonderland – Creative Instagram Post
May 16 – Bookish Things & More – Playlist
May 17 – The Review Room – Moodboard
May 18 – Just Reading It – Review
WEEK THREE
May 21 – The Fandom – Review
May 22 – Riddle’s Reviews – Author Guest Post: Summer Reading Essentials
May 23 – Book Briefs – Review
May 24 – Passionately Perusing – Listicle: Top 5 characters from other books that could cast as Juliet.
May 25 – Pop! Goes the Reader – 2018 debut list + Author Guest Post: pros and cons of a high school romance from the perspective of high school sweethearts
WEEK FOUR
May 28 – Belle’s Archive – Review + Playlist + Fancasting Characters
May 29 – Simply Kelina – Review + Instagram Post
May 30 – The Blonde Bookworm – Review
May 31 – Snowandbooks – Review + Author Guest Post: What do you think your character, Megan, would have to say about you?
About Austin Siegemund-Broka
Raised by a school librarian, Austin’s always had a passion for books, especially books for young people. He met and fell in love with Emily in high school and went to Harvard University for undergrad. He studied English (focusing on Shakespeare) and graduated magna cum laude in 2014. Recently, Austin worked as a journalist for The Hollywood Reporter and was a UCLA law student; however there’s nothing he he loves like writing with Emily. Emily, whose parents are screenwriters, has loved writing and story-telling since an age she hardly remembers. Since meeting Austin (she says it was middle school–accounts vary), Emily attended Princeton University for undergrad, studied psychology, and graduated magna cum laude in 2014. While at Princeton, she wrote the first novel in her self-published YA fantasy trilogy, The Last Oracle, which was featured in USA Today and was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Brooke Lorren
Sounds like a cute story. I’ve heard about it before, but didn’t know much about it. Thanks for the review.