Official Synopsis:

Jessica Cunsolo’s She’s with Me is a kaleidoscope of modern day teen romance, revenge thriller, and over-the-top excitement. It’s Mean Girls meets Gone Girl meets The Client, as the story twists and turns around its fierce female lead, leading to a heart-racing cliffhanger . . .

Telling the truth is sometimes harder than keeping a secret…

Standing out as the new girl is hard enough, but add in Amelia Collins’s dangerous past, and her life depends on sneaking through senior year unnoticed. But when she crashes into the school’s most infamous heartthrob, Aiden Parker, on her first day, she’s suddenly on everyone’s radar, and as Amelia becomes immersed in a new group of friends, keeping a low profile won’t be an option—even if it’s a necessity.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review:

Have you ever felt like crying while reading a book, not because it’s sad, but because you love it THAT much? That’s how I felt reading “She’s With Me.” A perfect blend of teen romance and revenge thriller, this novel will captivate you and leave you desperate for the next installment. If you buy one book this year, make it this one.

I first discovered this series a few years back while Jessica was still posting the second book on Wattpad, and fell in love with it. Needless to say, when I found out it was officially being published in English for the first time, I was psyched. (I totally freaked out when I found out it was optioned by Sony to be developed for a TV show!) Not only do I love the plot of the book, I also adore Jessica’s writing style. It’s easy to get submerged in the book, and forget that you’re reading.

Amelia is such an awesome, witty character. She has the best comebacks when faced with her rude and headstrong classmates. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’m not going to say too much about her. But just know that you’ll love her from the moment you start the book. She’s a relatable character (in terms of personality…once you read the book, you’ll know why you don’t want to find some aspects of her life relatable…) and is overall a great protagonist.

Aiden is one of my favorite love interests of all time. (He’s on the same tier as Will and Jace from Shadowhunters, and Jase from ‘My Life Next Door ‘– that good.) Not only do I love his dynamic with Amelia, I also love how fiercely loyal, protective, and just good he is to his friends and little brothers. 10/10.

Two of the (many) antagonists, Kaitlyn and Ryan, are awful people and I dislike them. Jessica writes them well, which is why I hate them so much. Okay, moving on.

As I said, I’ve read all of the series before, so the reveals weren’t shocking to me. What did surprise me was how Aiden acted during his and Amelia’s first meeting. It’s definitely not a meet-cute. Since the majority of my recollection is from the second and third books in the trilogy, I was used to the way Aiden acts in those books (as well as the majority of the first book — just not at the beginning). However, all of the other characters that quickly become Amelia’s best friends are lovely humans. Even though we don’t see a whole lot of their relationship, from what we do see, Julian and Annalisa are totally adorable and I love everything about them. Mason, Noah, Chase, and Charlie are all wonderful additions to the book. Not only are they extremely dynamic and well-written characters, they’re also amazing friends to Amelia. Their entire friend group dynamic makes me want to jump inside the book with them.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, which is slightly offset by the fact that the end of the book includes the first two chapters of the second book in the series, ‘Stay With Me,’ which be released on September 1st.

I really hope the TV show goes through! This is the part of the review where I would campaign for why the book would make an amazing TV show, but it looks like Sony is already paying attention. So consider this entire post a letter of recommendation.

I’ve been reading a ton of new adult lately and that’s the majority of the ARCs I’ve been getting, but ‘She’s With Me’ reminded me of how much I adore young adult books. If you’re looking for a book to get you out of a book slump, or just a great book in general, this one is perfect. Although romance is definitely a big part of the book, that’s not all it’s about, so don’t let that scare you off if you don’t typically read that genre. Trust me — a LOT goes on. This book has it all. Romance? Check. Secret identities? Check. Murder? Check. Think all of those things sound nothing like the synopsis? Guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out.