Nev's Reviews > We Got the Beat

A sapphic YA friends to enemies to friends to lovers romance? Don’t mind if I do! This was a super enjoyable read. I loved getting to know Jordan, her passion for journalism, her nerdy interests, and her best friends Audrey and Isaac. At the beginning of the book Jordan is devastated to learn that instead of getting an editor’s position on the school newspaper, she’s been given the girls volleyball beat. Where she’ll have to interview her former friend turned nemesis, Mackenzie.

It was interesting learning about Jordan and Mackenzie’s friendship in the past, seeing where it fell apart, and then seeing them come back together again. Something else that was cool about the story was how Jordan is already an out and proud lesbian, and she’s a fat character who isn’t ashamed of her body. There are moments where she wonders if other people look down on her or don’t accept her because of her sexuality or her size, but she doesn’t personally feel that way about herself.

I do think that at times the book got a tiny bit repetitive with how many times Jordan would be having the same internal monologue about what happened with Mackenzie in the past and if she can truly trust her now. Also, the ending felt really rushed for my taste. I prefer to have a little bit of time to settle into the character’s lives and relationships in the resolution of the story rather than it just ending abruptly.

But overall I thought this was a very fun read! It has cute and swoony moments, high school drama, romantic gestures, complex friendships, and queer joy. Definitely check it out if it sounds interesting. Also, I recommend listening to The Go-Go’s “We Got The Beat” either when the characters do in the book or just whenever!

Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.