Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction/Romance
Blurb (on back of book): The Hating Game meets Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by way of Morgan Matson in this unforgettable romantic comedy about two rival overachievers whose relationship completely transforms over the course of twenty-four hours.
Today, she hates him.
It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.
Tonight, she puts up with him.
When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.
As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.
Tomorrow … maybe she’s already fallen for him.
MY OPINION: *****
I absolutely loved this book. This is definitely one of my favorite books of the summer, which is surprising because it's a young adult high-school romance. I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I finished it in a day and instantly wanted to read it again. I love it so much that I can't even explain my love for it.
Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely love academic rivals to lovers books. I haven't read a lot of them, mainly because I can't find any good ones, but this one was everything I was searching for. It was so perfect and adorable and cute and angsty and full of tension and love and heartbreak and swoonworthy moments. Can you tell I loved it?
Rowan Roth and Neil McNair are academic rivals. They've been fighting constantly throughout high school over test scores, student council elections, class competitions, and now, valedictorian. Now, it's the last weeks of senior year and they are about to graduate and it's finally time for them to figure out which of them is truly the "best" of them all.
Rowan's entire goal is to beat Neil McNair. It's all she can think about and it's all she has thought about for the past four years. But when he wins valedictorian (not a spoiler), Rowan takes a step back and begins to reevaluate her life and all the time she's wasted. However, there's one last chance for her to truly win: Howl, a class-wide assassins/scavenger hunt type of game across Seattle for one last hurrah.
However, with this being a romance novel and all, Rowan and Neil end up pairing up with each other after finding out that a large group of seniors who have been stewing in jealousy for all of high school have teamed up against them.
But of course, they start to learn more about each other (an impressive amount for one night, to be quite honest), and Rowan begins to realize that maybe she could have had a very different relationship with McNair over the past four years. Maybe he really could have been her dream high school boyfriend from when she was an innocent, naive, fourteen year old girl with a list of "to-dos" for high school, none of which she ended up fulfilling.
Guys. This book. I don't know what it was laced with but it had me hooked. Each page was so enthralling.
I loved learning about Rowan's struggles with her love for romance novels and the stereotypes associated with it. This is something I often feel like I sort of deal with when I tell people about the books I love to read. I always feel the need to pair it with my other part of my reading heart (classic novels) to make it seem less... I don't know, stupid. I always feel like there's a stigma around romance novels, which of COURSE there is. When can women ever love something without being hated on for it? Romance novels are a large industry but since they're mostly geared towards women, there's a horrible stigma automatically placed on it that is portrayed perfectly in this book. I can understand feeling judged and not accepted by people for loving what you love and even though Rowan felt a tad overdramatic at times, I loved reading about her struggles with this issue many women (and obviously other people) go through.
I loved the YEARBOOKS. When I tell you I almost shed a tear reading Neil's yearbook note to Rowan. I knew it was coming and yet it sent so many butterflies through my stomach. It was so perfect and beautiful and adorable and cheesy and I loved it.
We also learn a lot about exploring identity and feeling excluded or isolated from others when representing a small minority of the population. Both Neil and Rowan are Jewish and make up a very small population within their school. Rowan has never felt truly accepted and has dealt with a lot of anti-Semitism in her life. I loved seeing Neil and Rowan bond over their shared aspects of identity. Being seen can really mean a lot.
The relationships in this book, both romantic and platonic, were perfectly portrayed. There were so many complex relationships, as seen in Neil's relationship with his father compared to the rest of his family, and Rowan's tumultuous relationships with her friends and moving on as they head to different colleges.
A lot of people say this book is predictable. They aren't wrong. But I loved it. I ate it up. I knew exactly what was coming, I knew exactly when the third-act miscommunication/misunderstanding crisis was coming, I knew exactly who was in love with who and for how long. BUT I LOVED IT. The way it was written managed to impact me personally on a different level. As someone who just graduated from high school, this book really hit different. There's a lot of regrets I have about the way I spent my high school years and yet I look back on it "fondly" for the most part, in a similar way as Rowan.
I would have loved to read this book from Neil's perspective because I just know that boy was going through it the entire time. Rowan was truly hateful at times and yes, she was confused and oblivious and all that, but I felt so bad for Neil. Man was really put through the wringer at times.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet, tender, innocent portrayal of love and a fun take on the last days of high school. Yes, it is YA, but it is perfect.
Main Character: Rowan
Sidekick(s): Neil, family, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, obliviousness, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was very real to life.
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