Book Review: Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

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Title: Always Never Yours

Author: Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Sub-genre: Contemporary

Trope(s): Friends to lovers

As I mentioned in my March TBR post, I have a weird connection to this book. A couple of years ago when I was volunteering at the LA Times Festival of Books, I was standing behind Morgan Matson while she was doing her signings and overheard a conversation between her and a young couple. The couple told her they recently signed a publishing deal for their Romeo and Juliet retelling, which immediately piqued my curiosity since I was writing a retelling of R and J at the time myself. I never thought much about it after that, but when I came across this book a couple months ago, the memory sparked and I picked it up.

One thing to clear up, this is not an R and J retelling. The story centers around a production of R and J and there are lots of Shakespeare references, but definitely not a retelling. The book revolves around Megan, who is the girl guys date before they settle down with “the one” (as much as anyone settles down in high school). She is known as the class flirt and doesn’t take much seriously, other than her devotion to drama (girl, same). Megan is a student director (again, same), but in order to be accepted into her dream theater program, she has to act in at least one production. So she auditions to be Lady Montague in her school’s production of R and J, but is stunned when she is cast as Juliet. Opposite her ex, who now happens to be dating her best friend. Things with the show are rocky, and Megan’s home life is even rockier, but she finds solace in her new friend Owen. Owen has a long distance girlfriend, and at first, Megan doesn’t see him as a prospect, so she opens up to him in a way she isn’t able to with any of the other guys in her life. And lo and behold, the two start to fall for each other. Drama (pun intended) ensues, but luckily, it all works out and there’s an HEA.

I loved so much about this book. Megan is basically me (though I wasn’t as big of a flirt), and I loved seeing myself in her character. I also loved all the Shakespeare references (obviously) and the many truths of being a theater kid in high school. I also really liked the way Megan’s character was drawn. She could come off as unlikeable, given the way she tends to treat relationships as disposable, but being able to see her inner struggles really made me empathize with her. In addition to all that good stuff, I thought the way the teen sex was handled was perfect. It was there, it was realistic, it was responsible, but it didn’t go overboard. I really can’t wait to read Emily and Austin’s other books, and I’m interested to see what they come up with for their first adult romance (which was just announced). If you need a sweet love story these days, this one would be perfect!

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars