I Hope This Doesn’t Find You
By: Ann Liang
Offical Synopsis:
Snarky and romantic, I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.
Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.
All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..."
Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out.
Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...
My Review:
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is the perfect YA romance book! It is no secret that Ann Liang is amazing at writing meaningful plots and characters. I was able to connect with Sadie in her pursuit of academic validation. The book shows her struggle for straight A’s and beating Julius, her rival. Sadie is definitely a mirrorball and this is me trying girl! She discusses how she feels she is not enough, in all aspects of life. The book reminds me a lot of To All of the Boys, except she wrote angry emails instead of love letters. She has tons of pent-up emotions but tries to maintain the “good girl” persona, so instead she types out digital letters of annoyance. Her stubbornness and strong-willed personality made me love her character. I loved to see her growth and development as she realized she couldn’t keep relying on other people's happiness for her own. She’s a relatable and amazing character!
Meanwhile, Julius is cold on the outside but warm on the inside! He is so adorable when he is around her. He is so sweet and a perfect gentleman. When they got soaked he let her borrow his jacket. When she couldn’t do the track race he did it for her and won her a medal. All of his witty comments and his snarky behavior riled her up making it a great dynamic. The tension is insane, you are not ready. The academic rivals-to-lovers trope is obvious in their banter and their obsession with each other. They couldn’t stop thinking about each other, and the way her emails talked about his hands and his eyes!! I couldn’t stop smiling!!! They have all of my love and are definitely made for each other! My only complaint is I wish the author went more in-depth with Julius. She lightly touched on his relationship with his brother and family, but I wish there was more. Overall this was an amazing book!
Rating: 5/5
Reading Format: Hardback Book