Review: You Have a Match by Emma Lord

From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord's You Have a Match, a YA novel of family, friendship, romance and sisterhood…

YOU HAVE A MATCH by EMMA LORD

Series: Standalone

Publication date: January 12, 2021

Published by: Wednesday Books

Genre: YA 

 

SYNOPSIS

When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.

But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.

When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents—especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.

The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby's growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.

But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.

Praise for You Have a Match:

"Heartfelt and engaging, You Have a Match is a masterclass on love in all its forms." —Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper

"A bright summer tale of connection and self-discovery." - Booklist

"I absolutely adored this book!” —Annie Carl, The Neverending Bookshop, Edmonds, WA, ABA Winter Pick

Purchase your copy now!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emma Lord is the author of TWEET CUTE and upcoming YOU HAVE A MATCH, and a digital media editor living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, a whole lot of love, and copious amounts of grilled cheese.

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Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram


REVIEW

You Have a Match by Emma Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


You Have a Match is the follow-up to Emma Lord's hit debut book, Tweet Cute and I can happily say that it did not disappoint! I would describe it as as mash up of three different genres:
women's fiction, young adult, and rom-com. You're probably thinking women's fiction is a weird category, but it really does make sense. This story is about two sisters who find each other and the emotional upheaval that follows. Replace these teens with women in their 30s or 40s and you have a WF that focuses heavily on family relationships through delicate self-examination. There's not only the sisters' relationship to forge, but both sets of parents' friendship to reconcile. While it could never actually be women's fiction, it does have that feel to it. Of course we got the wonderful, sparkling humor that you would expect from Emma Lord which kept the tone of the story nicely balanced.

While reading this, I couldn't help but make parallels to the movie The Parent Trap. I skimmed some early reviews, and I found that I wasn't the only one who noticed the connection. This was one of my favorite movies growing up and I think the way the author put her own modern twist on it felt really refreshing. While the two sisters got to know one another at summer camp is a common element, in Lord's version they found each other through a DNA test. Instead of two sisters trying to rekindle their separated parents' romance, they were attempting to mend the broken friendship of their mothers and fathers. This gave it a fresh feel while still bringing back some of the nostalgia of the movie.

There are two main focus points of the book: Abby's effort to build a relationship with her newfound sister, and discovering why Savannah was given up for adoption and kept secret. Of course, we also saw Abby grow in maturity through the whole process and discover how to communicate better with her loved ones. One of her faults is being a peace keeper rather than a peace maker. She avoids conflict and confrontation even when keeping quiet is harmful to her well being. When her grades slip after her grandfather's death, she holds her turmoil in and doesn't tell her parents that the strict schedule of tutoring is doing more harm than good.

    I am sometimes so overwhelmed by 

all the scrutiny on my grades that if anything, 

it makes the situation worse. 

Or how I have no idea how I’m supposed to 

fit into the world after high school, 

if there’s even a proper place for me to fit at all.

This theme of feeling lost and unsure about the move into a new stage of life is a genuine one that teens face at her age. It's also very common for teens to have a hard time communicating in a healthy way which Abby is guilty of. She holds her tongue with her two best friends after the BEI (big embarrassing incident), avoiding talking about her uncomfortable feelings rather than airing it all out. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy and need to learn how to have hard conversations in order to bring positive things in our life.

Savannah is Abby's opposite in many ways. They have a clash of wills when they meet at camp to start to get to know one another. Abby is impulsive, Savannah is a rule follower. They put up walls and grow resentment towards one another causing a lot of friction. There are some funny parts between the two of them playing pranks back and forth that made me laugh. In a way, even that was helping to form a sisterly bond, because let's face it, those with siblings know sometimes things get combative. At the end of the day though, we learn to love our family and friends despite our differences. It was really sweet to see these two grow closer and lean on each other through such a difficult point in their life.

    A few days ago I had no idea Savvy existed. 

Now I feel like she’s been slowly 

leaking into my life for years, 

lurking in places I never thought to look— 

apparently even in places I already did.

Personally, the romance aspect wasn't as strong as I was hoping for, but that's not to say that it detracted from the value of the story. It's just important to note that you shouldn't expect that to be in the forefront. Overall, I really enjoyed this one! There was a big mess of tangled emotions to straighten out which I think was realistically done. I appreciated the depth put into each main character and the humor infusing even some of the tough moments. I'm a big fan of this author already and look forward to reading more from her in the future.

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