Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

It’s 1999, and two young women forced together by circumstance hatch a plan that changes their lives more than they could have anticipated. When Elizabeth “Bird” Nardino comes home from a summer writing workshop ready to begin her senior year and eager to share newly discovered secrets with her best friend, Kayla, she realizes she isn’t the only one who’s changed. Kayla now has a new boyfriend, Dade, who has inspired her to adopt a new look—and unhealthy dieting habits. Kayla has also isolated herself from their friend group and is unable to focus on anyone or anything but Dade. The Kayla that Bird knew seems gone, at least when Dade is around. When Bird meets Dade’s best friend, Jessa Papadopoulos, and learns that she feels the same way about Kayla’s role in Dade’s life, she doesn’t hesitate to propose a plan: They should work together to break the couple up. Despite their stark personality differences, Bird and Jessa soon find themselves drawn together for reasons beyond their connections to Kayla and Dade, discovering that beneath the surface, they have more in common than expected. This novel blends early millennial references—record stores, Y2K anxiety, Dexatrim, Columbine, and roller rinks—with a thoughtful, if often uncomfortable, reflection on how society once approached mental health and sexual identity, exposing outdated norms and attitudes that often turned ugly and dangerous. Main characters are cued white. A real, sometimes uneasy, reflection on love and identity. (authors’ note)(Fiction. 14-18) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 10 Up—A dark yet hopeful historical novel set in 1999 that explores love, friendship, and mental health. It's told in alternating perspectives between Bird and Jessa, both seniors in high school, who think the only thing they have in common is wanting to break up their two best friends. Both are dealing with challenges and can't lose their friends. Bird is searching for her missing father, hurting over her best friend's eating disorder, and trying to understand her newly realized bisexuality. Jessa, of Greek heritage, is a lesbian who is bullied at school and is navigating her sister's bipolar disorder. This is all against the backdrop of 1999, when fear surrounding the Columbine tragedy and the recent AIDS epidemic lived alongside homophobia and mental health stigma. Smith and Gellar have created a nuanced, authentic, and raw exploration of topics like consent, slut-shaming, mental health, substance abuse, and homophobia. This novel balances these dark themes with hope for change in the new millennium. The historic setting still feels timely and has relatable mirrors to some of today's culture and challenges. Readers may find it difficult at times to distinguish between the two perspectives. VERDICT For fans of Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie, an overall relatable and universal coming-of-age story.—Taylor Skorski

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

In 1999, two white-cued high school seniors work to disrupt their best friends’ relationship in this simultaneously uplifting and unflinching romance, which empathetically depicts instances of disordered eating and suicidal ideation. When aspiring poet Bird returns from a summer writing workshop—during which she tentatively embraced her bisexuality—she’s shocked to learn that her best friend Kayla experienced dramatic weight loss and is now dating gamer Dade. Meanwhile, music-obsessed lesbian Jessa feels that her bestie Dade has abandoned her since entering the relationship. Convinced that the romance is bad news for all involved, Jessa and Bird team up to sabotage their friends’ love lives. At the same time, the girls fall for each other, taking comfort in their bond as they contend with personal challenges: Bird struggles navigating fraught relationships with her family, including her homophobic stepsister, while Jessa fears for her bipolar older sister’s safety, citing her sibling’s violent outbursts and threats of self-harm. Married authors Gellar, making her debut, and Smith (The Way I Am Now) expertly juxtapose wistful 1990s trappings against period-specific societal attitudes surrounding queer identity, mental illness, and topical issues including the Columbine High School massacre and the AIDS epidemic. The protagonists’ sympathetic characterizations and sizzling chemistry act as a balm for the topics addressed. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Jessa and Bird are two teens struggling with their families, their sexuality, and the impending Y2K apocalypse. With a story set in 1999, spousal team Smith and Gellar have crafted a bold and refreshing queer romance set against the backdrop of two tumultuous periods: high school and the new millennium. When Bird and Jessa’s best friends Kayla and Dade start dating, the protagonists begrudgingly join forces to break them up. But as they develop feelings for each other, they must decide if they’re ready to date publicly in an unaccepting school. Told from alternating perspectives, the romance’s deft plotting and distinctive prose make it easy to follow and hard to put down. It tackles an array of subjects both small and serious, from crushes and college applications to mental health and eating disorders. The period setting informs the plot while juxtaposing the teen drama against major concerns of the time, such as Columbine and the AIDS crisis. Smith and Gellar’s mix of tones makes this a perfect romance for teens on the precipice of adulthood.