I Hope This Doesn't Find You

I Hope This Doesn't Find You #1

by Ann Liang

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...

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Enemies To Lovers, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2024

About the author

Ann Liang is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the critically acclaimed YA novels This Time It’s Real, If You Could See the Sun, and I Hope This Doesn't Find You. Her books have sold into over twenty foreign territories. Born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. She now lives in Melbourne, where she can be found making overambitious to do lists and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.

Reviews

[lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is for the people-pleasers. for the ones who find themselves seeking validation from the people around them all the time. for those who constantly try to change themselves to fit the mold, because they think then they’ll finally, finally be appreciated ⸺ and that never happens. for the mirrorball and this is me trying girlies. you’ll all find something in sadie wen that you see in yourself. the constant striving for perfection, the yearning for a steady home, the never taking help from anyone because “i can do this by myself!! i don’t need help!!” but really it’s just your own need to protect yourself from opening up speaking. your need to shield yourself from any amount of vulnerability.

i used to imagine what it would be like to be someone who had somebody else. i would imagine tenderness. the concept of infinite. of endless patience. imagine them chasing after me even when i run. cradling my sorrows in the palm of their hands. imagine them caring, trying to understand. and now there’s you.

it’s basically marketed as to all the boys i’ve loved before meets hate emails instead of love letters and it!! is!! so!! addictive!! i couldn’t put this down for even a moment. i’ve said this once and i’ll say it again ⸺ ann liang’s books are a source of comfort to me. her words are a balm to my soul. they make me giggle and fall for the characters so hard while also seeing different sides of them. was it similar to her other books? yes, in certain ways. but each of the characters have their own uniqueness to them that makes them stand out to me and i just love it. academic rivals to lovers always hits different for me, especially if they were actually rivals who loathed the sight of each other. and i loved how the thin line between love and hate was shown here. sadie’s gradual acceptance and liking of julius was done so naturally i could feel the development and i loved it.

sadie wen. my need for academic validation was seen in her character and i. just. love. her. the way she constantly drove herself to the brink of madness because she had to best everyone and come on top in everything ⸺ my idol. she was unyieldingly and unflinchingly stubborn which was why i loved her. she made her decisions impulsively because of her need to be perfect at all times, to “fix” everything wrong in her life, but who can’t relate with that. we all need some degree of control in our lives and we all have our inner sadie wen leading those impulses. i loved her growth and her seeing how unhealthy it was to depend on other people’s feelings for her to be happy. it was super realistic that she got upset when someone got mad around/at her cause that’s how i’d feel as well.

julius gong. so cold on the outside, so warm inside. so full of hate and love at the same time. filled with so much passion and brimming with adoration for sadie. i loved how he blushed so prettily only for sadie when he got flustered by her 🥹 SO CUTE. he was absolutely swoon-worthy and such a perfect gentleman sometimes i couldn’t do anything but smile helplessly at his antics. the way he shared his coat with her when she got drenched. the way he got her a goddamn medal to make her happy. the many times he cheered her up and riled her up with his witty comments. i love him 💖💗🩷💘💞💝💓

you distract me when my brain is being cruel. you sharpen my edges when the world tries to wear them down.

sadiejulius. oh my god the tension. y’all are not ready. it sizzled in the pages. the banter between them?? i grinned uncountable times. my eyes could not be torn from this book like i legit binged it cause it had me obsessed. they were so i can see you, disaster and new year’s day coded. AND THE WAY THEY WERE OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER. like they couldn’t tear their eyes off each other 🥺 young love at its finest. the way they slowly opened up after seeing a different side to each other? enchanting. i was screaming crying throwing up at several scenes. THE SPORTS FESTIVAL?? HELLO? THE CONFESSION AT THE END HAD ME CLUTCHING MY HEART. the way julius teased sadie about her praise kink i was cryingggg. the way they were so made for each other too, because of how both of them were brought up. they have all my love. these two are so dear to me. 😭🤍

i’m not so familiar with vices—i like to think i have none, but if anything were to count, you would be my only one. it must be an addiction, or an obsession. i have never known anybody as completely as i know you, and yet i still want to sit next to you, draw close to you, closer. i want you to tell me every story, want to listen to you speak until the night sinks in the sky and the stars fade out. i want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost. you’re so beautiful it enrages me.

the ending??? has my whole and entire heart omg her writing a letter to him again 🤭 it had me smiling and laughing so hard like fuck i love these two dorks. sadie finally fully opened up to julius and became vulnerable around him i’m tearing up i’m so proud of my baby 🥹💗

my only complaints: i wanted more depth to julius and for his character to be explored more. it was so relatable for everyone to have sky-high expectations of him but him not knowing where he fit in. i honestly just wanted to give him a big hug and say c’mere ❤️‍🩹 the effort felt pretty surface-level probably because ann wanted to keep this book light-hearted and cute more than emotional. i almost felt like julius was made just for sadie’s love ⸺ with not much depth to him as a character. which is fine because sometimes i need romances like that, but i needed to point that out. some side characters also felt one-dimensional because of how short this was and it felt rather predictable.

regardless, this was the perfect fluffy read for christmas eve and i’m so happy i got the chance to read it. 🤭 it had me giggling and kicking my feet up at midnight and staying up ‘til late to finish it. i can’t wait for y’all to read this and fangirl over sadiejulius too <3

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

—

sadiejulius are so dear to me i could write poems about how precious they are. the academic rivals to lovers deliciousness really hit ! 😋 but the review slump is hitting hard rn 😭 so rtc before new year’s day hopefully <3 (yes that song is so sadiejulius after the party iykyk)

—

spending christmas eve with this beauty i hope it’s worth it

—

i got the arc ??? it’s so insane because my review ratio is shit (mood reader tendencies and i like my choices sorry) and i honestly applied as a joke but holy crap.

i’m soooooo excited to pick this one up though!

[SK · Rating 4 out of 5]

"... Because I'm willing to lose everything, so long as I don't lose you." ❤️‍🔥

✔️ Academic rivals to lovers
✔️ Forced proximity
✔️ Slow burn

This was so good and felt like a breath of fresh air. It's fast paced and will be a great palate cleanser if you want something fun, lighthearted and cozy.

I have only read 'This Time It's Real' before this book and I gotta admit this one is much better. I appreciated the Caz Song reference tho 👀 I Hope This Doesn't Find You did not feel overly cheesy and the chemistry came so easy, not forced at all between Sadie and Julius.

Sadie and her struggles were relatable to an extent. Her people pleasing personality, always putting others before herself, neglecting herself to the point she's feeling tired of pretending someone she's not was very well written. From being that person to accepting what she thought and giving herself a chance was nice to read. Julius on the other hand is pretty self reliant, confident, and knows what he wants. To see him conflicted about his rivalry with Sadie to grow into someone who is head over heels for her was so adorable.

The romance between the two was pretty angsty. It's obvious from the beginning that these two are into each other and yet oblivious to their own feelings. We see them defend each other, get jealous, do acts of love yet deny that they want each other. The slow burn was well written. There are a lot of cute moments and some intensely heated ones as well.

But this book wasn't perfect for me. As I had two issues-

1. I did not care for the characters lives outside each other lol. Especially the storyline with Sadie and her family, it really did not matter to me.

2. Like Ann Liang's other book- 'This Time It's Real' I had the EXACT same issue with this one too. The couple takes 95% of the book to get together and when they actually do, the book ends. Although this book did it slightly better, it's something I couldn't overlook.

The ending was pretty sweet and I loved the confessions. The identity of the person who sent the email was predictable. Overall, it's a fun read and something the majority of the people will enjoy. Do give it a go 👍

~•~•~
Hope this delivers. Ngl I have high expectations 🤞

[bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

★ 3.75 stars

first of all, i need to mention that young adult romance is not something that i usually read. it’s not my cup of tea. i tend to avoid the genre because it’s not capable of captivating me and a majority of them are way too juvenile, cheesy and often full of cliches that i’m honestly not fond of. sure, i can enjoy young adult romances, but i’d say that it’s quite rare. overall, i personally enjoy reading stories that are more mature and far from cheesy. i assume you must be asking right now, “then why did you choose to read this book if you are not a fan of YA, bruna?” well, let me tell you plain and simple: fomo. i always see everyone talking about it and hyping it up so i just had to be included too. couldn’t be left out!

i must confess that i went into this with not a lot of expectations. yes, i’ve heard incredible things about it beforehand and i was very curious to know why people were so obsessed with it, but i didn’t really believe that i would become obsessed too. i was genuinely bracing myself for an okay-ish story and nothing more because i didn’t want to set my own expectations super high and get disappointed.

that being said, i still managed to get a bit disappointed with the first half. sorry y’all... but it didn’t deliver. as i said earlier, i didn’t have a lot of expectations to begin with — but that doesn’t mean i was expecting the worst, you know? i thought it would be mediocre at least, but it was not even that. it was boring and unimpressive. that’s why it took me a whole month to finish this book. i stopped reading at some point and didn’t have any motivation to go back to it because there was nothing truly exciting to make me keep going. not a single thing captivated me and certainly there’s nothing more unmotivating than that, am i right?

the plot was basic. obviously very YA, which means it was not spectacular or mind-blowing or even new, just basic and cliche, nothing else. not particularly engaging to me. didn’t think it would be, though.

as for the characters... well, let’s just say i didn’t like them. not at first. [Sadie + Julius lovers, please don’t kill me just yet. i promise i can redeem myself, and i will. hang in there!]

my first impression of Sadie Chen was... kind of irritating. see, i knew Sadie would be portrayed as a people pleaser who desperately seeks academic validation and feels like she has to be extremely perfect in everything, and that truly made me excited to meet her because i can relate to those things to a certain extent and i felt like i would connect to her in a deep level right away. but erm... i didn’t. don’t exactly know why. i think that perhaps i expected a different portrayal because for the majority of the first half i couldn’t relate to her as much as i thought i would and i mostly found her character occasionally irritating, a bit obnoxious, and unnecessarily rude at times. i felt a little disappointed since that was definitely not what was expecting to feel. i didn’t hate her, don’t get me wrong, i just couldn’t connect with her in the first 50% and she didn’t really live up to some of the expectations i had.

with Julius Gong was no different. everyone loves this guy and everyone is obsessed with him. everyone. but at the beginning, i didn’t quite understand why and it was also hard for me to connect with him. with all honesty, my first impression of him was arrogant, bland, and uninteresting. i was not getting the hype. at all. i just thought, “so that’s it? that’s the guy people are obsessing over?! i don’t get it, what am i missing?”

but, thankfully, my distaste of the main characters didn’t last until the end. something magical happened in the second half and i ended up changing my mind (what a relief!). as i got to know Sadie & Julius and their personalities more, they kind of won me over and i finally could see why everyone loves these two so much. now, i do think they deserve the hype they have and i regret having such negative thoughts about them at first; i believe i was a tad harsh. i mean, i’m not saying i think that they’re perfect, a few of my complaints remained in some form, but despite that, i can still admit that they are adorable and special. i grew quite fond of Sadie and Julius.

and my distaste of the plot didn’t last either. don’t get me wrong, it was still not something i could call super impressive, but it became somewhat fun and less boring after the 50% mark which was obviously a win. i guess connecting with the characters was what truly changed my experience — after i warmed up to them, i started seeing things in a positive light and from that point on i didn’t have many complaints anymore.

that is... until the ending. one major thing that bothered me and prevented me from rounding up my rating to four was how fast things wrapped up. before reading this book, i saw lots of reviews saying that the ending was extremely abrupt so i was already bracing myself for it. but even so, i got frustrated. the ending was not bad per se, it was actually sweet and heartwarming — but the thing is that it just wasn’t enough. not really. i feel like we deserved more time with Sadie and Julius. more pages or an actual epilogue were very much needed here, and it sucks that we didn’t get any of that. not a big fan of abrupt endings myself.

all in all, i surprisingly ended up liking I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, even with its issues. i might not have deeply loved it like most people did, but i still liked it nonetheless and i do think it was worth giving it a try. i strongly recommend this novel to those in need of a short, sweet and heartfelt story.

. ݁ ˖ 𓂃 ⟡ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 ⟡ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 ⟡ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖ 𓂃 . ݁ ˖

๋ · ˚ 🖇️ ⊹ ⌇ pre–read. ⋆
⤿ started on august 7, 2024.

i always hear amazing things about this book and people have been strongly recommending it to me for months, and for some reason i kept putting it off... but now i feel like it’s time to find out what the hype is all about 👀 i’m not really a young adult girlie so i have to admit that i’m kind of scared — but let’s hope for the best! 🤞🏼🩷

[hanna ʚ♡ɞ · Rating 5 out of 5]

♡︎.ᐟજ⁀➴4.5 stars 🪩🩷

⤷ my playlist for sadiejulius 🎧

“Iʼm not so familiar with vices— I like to think I have none, but if anything were to count, you would be my only one.”

dear reader... 💌

i hope this finds you well! to the emotional, people-pleaser older or younger sisters, who constantly crave academic validation and have big dreams in life, the mirrorball girlies, this one's for you.

after thinking about this book a lot and basically going through the 5 stages of grief while reading (thank you bsf hannah for enduring with me), here are my thoughts:

⤷ sadie wen 🩷₊˚⊹♡
i think sadie's character was the part of this book i was most excited for. the idea of being in the perspective of a people-pleaser and a girl who constantly tries to be great seemed so relatable and it was.

“I really can’t stand it when people are angry at me. Like, I know it might be simple for others, but I can’t focus on anything else. I can’t just forget about it and go on with my own life. It’s like there’s something hard wedged inside my chest. I’ll always feel guilty. I’ll always want to make amends.”

“When I was fourteen, I would stare up at my bedroom walls and wonder what it was like to fall in love. Most of my inspiration came from songs and the movies. But still, I imagined it. What it would be like to be someone who had somebody else. I would imagine tenderness. The concept of infinite. Of endless patience. Imagine them chasing after me even when I run. Cradling my sorrows in the palm of their hands. Imagine them caring, trying to understand.”

⤷ julius gong 📖₊˚⊹♡
i honestly adored julius much more than i thought i would. i feel like he showed his care for sadie in so many kind actions including giving her his jacket, running a race for her, showing up to her bakery on purpose, etc. i also felt like he had so much depth to him especially for just being the love interest. there were some aspects i felt like i related to julius more on than sadie? for example, his older brother basically setting a standard for him, like he had this need to be good and successful because he wanted to measure up to his brother 🥺

“You have to understand . . . If you knew the effect you had on me, how often I think about you, the things I would do for you . . . I wouldnʼt stand a chance against you ever again. You would have taken everything from me.”

“I think you're obsessed with me, Sadie Wen.”

⤷ sadiejulius 🧸₊˚⊹♡
they truly are the definition of academic rivals to lovers, being two school captains who always competed on everything. their banter was the cutest + there were so many adorable moments. the scene where they both sprayed each other with the water hose was adorable and their entire school trip omg 😖🫶 i also adored their kiss scene and confession scene sooo much like it was just perfect 😭🩷

“Do you always pay such close attention to everything people say?”
“No. Only what you say.”

“For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you.”

“Are you here to select bread, or a future wife? What's taking so long?”
HIs smile is sharp, taunting. “The latter.”

“Why is it me? Why do you always single me out?"
"Because," he says quietly. "You're the only person worth paying attention to.”

i was kind of disappointed on how abrupt the ending was, i wish we got more of them together. i also love my man julius but i kind of wished there was a bigger confession from him? like sadie poured her heart out in an email and we got like a one sentence response and then it was suddenly acknowledgements ☹️

⤷ additional thoughts:
- i LOVED sadie's mom so much, the way she was soso understanding. she honestly reminded me of my mom so much 🥺🩷
- i felt like the plotline with sadie's brother was so strange. he was very annoying the entire book, not focusing on school and just playing basketball. he suddenly gets offered to play for a team and it's just all resolved?
- ABIGAIL I LOVE HER SO MUCH. tell me why in books like these the best friends of the main characters are just so lovable <3

⤷ overall, i definitely felt like some parts of this book were amazing and made me feel sooo happy, but there were also minor things i didn't enjoy that didn't meet my expectations. however, i will say i do love sadiejulius very much and they hold a special place in my heart💐🩷

i had the most fun time doing this buddy read with bsf hannah ilysm 🤭🩷

“You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.”

more quotes:

“I have never known anybody as completely as I know you, and yet I still want to sit next to you, draw close to you, closer. I want you to tell me every story, want to listen to you speak until the night sinks in the sky and the stars fade out. I want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost.”

“It’s us, Sadie,” he says, like that’s answer enough. “When have we been bad at anything?”

“I can't always say pretty things, and sometimes I tease you when really I just want you to look my way, and—wait.” He stops. Even his breath freezes in his throat. “What...did you just say? Say it again.”
“I choose you,” I say quietly, glad for the shadows concealing my flushed cheeks. For the support of the wall behind me.
“You will always be my first choice, Julius Gong.”

“Because beneath my apprehension is the stronger, deeply ingrained need to be liked. To be accepted. To be forgiven. To be recognized as good. I'll do anything to redeem myself.”

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not a people pleaser so maybe that's why this wasn't for me lol. DNF @81%

ೃ❤⁀➷ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚

Sadie and Julius are co-captains of their school, but they don’t exactly get along. They are constantly competing against each other and rubbing their successes in each other’s faces.

For years, Sadie has channeled her frustration with him and everyone else in her class by venting into emails instead of risking her good girl persona. Except, she leaves them in drafts rather than type and delete, and that turns out to be a big problem. Somehow, while she’s in class, the emails all get sent…. to the entire class.

After some public snipping, Sadie and Julius are handed a punishment: they must work on a variety of assignments and projects together until they can learn to get along. The forced proximity helps them learn more about the personal pressures that drive them toward being high performers.

ೃ❤⁀➷ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚

Whew, okay. Look - I know this book is widely loved and that I'm out here on outlier island again, but that's okay. I've got my bestie with me this time lol.

I... just never got invested in this story. Right from the beginning the two main characters Sadie and Julius acted like pre-teen annoying little twats.

The immaturity was through the roof! I'd anticipated some immaturity due to this being a YA novel but holy wow... the only thing missing was 'I know you are but what am I?' - Hard side eye.


ೃ❤⁀➷ Let me just talk about our dear Sadie here for a min.

⁀₊➷ She stalks the MMC.
⁀₊➷ She sends him over 40 hate emails.
⁀₊➷ She has no accountability what-so-ever.
⁀₊➷ I don't even think she's a people pleaser, I think she just wants people to like her and blames them when they don't.
⁀₊➷ She's a Mary Sue for sure. An unhinged little psycho Mary Sue.

The toxicity is next level in this novel and whoever said this was a rom com can't be serious. When I wasn't rolling my eyes or clenching my fist in annoyance, I sat with a straight face and didn't find this humorous at all.

ೃ❤⁀➷ Right. To. The. Trash.


⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Connect with me on Instagram ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹




I keep hearing about how fantastic this author is... time to see for myself. Here we go! 🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️😍

[Ri ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚, 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚, 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩. 𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚.”

This book is so 'Mirrorball', 'The archer' and 'This is me trying' coded.

I have always been a people pleaser my whole life and that's why this book is so special for me because I felt seen. Sadie and Julius are so precious to me and I love them with all my heart 🥺💗 I related to them, I loved them, I felt their fears and struggles and their need to always give their best whether it's academics, life or just some random shit in life, their need to seek validation from others because they just want to be accepted and loved by people and I wanted to hug them because they reminded me too much of my teenage self especially Sadie — the pathological people pleaser girl who wanted the world to see the best in her. Sadie is me and I am Sadie 🫂

“I’m not so familiar with vices— I like to think I have none, but if anything were to count, you would be my only one. It must be an addiction, or an obsession. I have never known anybody as completely as I know you, and yet I still want to sit next to you, draw close to you, closer.”

The rivals to lovers trope in this book was rivaling. When I say I need an actual rivals to lovers book this is what I mean. This book is definitely the best rivals to lovers I have ever read. Hands down, this is new favourite by Ann Liang and at this point, I believe that no one can write a better rivals to lovers than her. I absolutely loved the concept of the hate emails because that was something I have never read in a book and it made this book even more interesting and addicting. I was giggling, squealing, swooning with hearts in my eyes because of how adorable Julius and Sadie were. This book is also kind of really comforting to me like a therapy because of relatable characters. I also loved Sadie and Abigail's friendship a lot. The way Abigail was always trying to hype up Sadie was so funny and endearing.

“You know what I think?” he murmurs, drawing so close his mouth skims my ear, his cruel face blurring in my vision. My breath catches. Goose bumps rise over my bare skin. “I think you’re obsessed with me, Sadie Wen.”

I am a fan/lover of Ann Liang and her books and her beautiful and captivating writing. The way she writes these relatable characters who I have never met and will never met in real life but I developed a companionship with them like they are my friends. The relatable as well the empathetic way she writes her character made them even more special, lively and real. I didn't even felt that Sadie and Julius were just two fictional characters. The character development and growth was perfect and real. I liked how Sadie accepted that she can't make everything right or everyone happy in her life and how she accepted her the way she is.


➸ 𝙎𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙣

She's so mirrorball and the archer 🏹 coded. Sadie Wen is so precious and special to me. The “I wanna be a perfect girl with perfect grades” Sadie who always wanted to be accepted and appreciated by the people whether they were her classmates, teachers, Julius or her family. She NEEDED to be accepted and didn't like upsetting people because that only made her feel like she's the only one to blame for all the things. I see so much of myself in her and it's insane. At times I was feeling like I was looking at my teenage self struggling with academic pressure while trying to seek validation from everyone. She's also a lot stubborn who wants to do everything by herself and call it daddy issues or Julius Gong effect but she never back down from anything. She had to give her best, had to do everything in the perfect manner, had to make everything right or her life might just fall apart. I love how she was with Julius. Like she might seem all docile, thoughtful and sweet to everyone but with Julius she was literally a little firecracker and I love her so much that way. He brings out a side of her that she tries her best to hide.

“For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you.”

➸ 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙜

The obsessed boy who memorized all the hate emails sent by his rival Sadie. The boy with the smartest brain and his mysterious and the cool personality. But behind all that facade Julius is just a boy who wanted to be just loved, accepted and respected especially by his parents. He might seem like he's a very cold hearted person who hates his rival with burning passion but inside it he's just a soft hearted boy who would do anything to protect her. He was so obsessed with Sadie and for years and the way he blushed everytime she was near him and he even begged her to let him kiss her. He's such a lover boy 💘🦋 I loved how caring and possessive he was for her and made sure she was okay everytime. He's just so perfect and......yet fictional. Why did I never had a rival like Julius in my class 🥲 I wish we got more insight to his background and his past and I really needed his povs to understand him better. I mean this book has boy obsessed trope so obviously I needed to know how he can't stop thinking about her and how made it made him go feral when she smiles up at him.

You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.
Love, Julius

╰┈➤ 𝙎𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙚 & 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙪𝙨

Rivals. Enemies. Lovers.

They are just so perfect for each other. They complement each other so well and in every manner whether it's rivals in school or lovers in real life. Their chemistry is top notch and I was internally screaming and kicking my feet in the air, twirling my hair because the slow-burn in this is literally burning and sizzling. Like so hot and but also adorable and at times I just wanted to kiss them just be done with it because it was torture. The way they treated each other as “the bane of my existence” was just so endearing to watch. It was so apparent that behind all the “I hate you” and “I wanna strangle him so bad” there was something more that they just tried to ignore it because they were just too busy seeking validation from other people. The way they wanted to hate each other but also couldn't stop wanting each other was just so cute. Him beating up a guy because he wrote some shit about Sadie on a wall made my heart go all crazy and Sadie trying to defend him against Julius's brother for Julius was so sweet.

“Why do you always single me out?” “Because,” he says quietly, a curious expression on his face. I’ve never seen him so serious. So sincere. “You’re the only person worth paying attention to.”

What I loved the most is that they never tried to hide their trueself with each other. Julius brings out the firecracker version of Sadie and Sadie annoys the shit out of him. They both understood each other because they both were similar in so many ways. Their banter was perfect. Their obsession with each other was something that made me obsessed with these two. The way he was furious but also so shocked to read those many hate emails because Sadie was paying way too much attention to him and his personality and his hair. Them trying to tell each other how the other one was obsessed with them. There are so many moments that are so dear to me. The accidental confession, their first kiss and how they pretended to not like that kiss but still kissed the hell out of each other, the way he won the meddle for her, their letters at the end 💌💘 EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM WAS PERFECT!

“When I was fourteen, I would stare up at my bedroom walls and wonder what it was like to fall in love. Most of my inspiration came from songs and the movies. But still, I imagined it. What it would be like to be someone who had somebody else. I would imagine tenderness. The concept of infinite. Of endless patience. Imagine them chasing after me even when I run. Cradling my sorrows in the palm of their hands. Imagine them caring, trying to understand. And now there’s you. This whole time, it’s been you, and I didn’t even realize.”

I loved the ending and also there is no third act breakup over some misunderstanding or misscommunication. It took them the whole book to confess their feelings to each other but I don't mind a single thing and I have no complaints except that I NEEDED IT TO BE A DUAL POV BOOK. I was also a bit shocked with the plot twist about who sent those emails. The letter at the end has all my heart 💌


“𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤.” 💌🎀


Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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DEFINITELY THE BEST ACADEMIC RIVALS TO LOVERS BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!
Sadiejulius are so 🥺💘 RTC!


————————
My first arc of 2024 🤭 I already know I'm going to LOVE this book!

————————

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UPP
I JUST GOT THE ARC OF ONE OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024 🤭🥺 can't wait to start 2024 with this beauty!

[rina · Rating 5 out of 5]

.˚ ₍🗒₎┊∞ stars ★
⌇ spoiler free review - 20/12/2023 (second read)

⊹ i will genuinely never ever get over this book. it has engraved itself so deeply in my heart. i've memorized every detail and interaction of sadiejulius, and yet, i'll never get bored of re-reading them for as long as i live. this re-read was perfect and everything i needed, and if you think i loved this book just as much as the first read, you're wrong. I LOVED IT INFINITELY MORE.

⊹ chapter 21 😭😭 i didn't know it was possible for a book to make me cry this much out of sheer happiness.

⊹ this is my roman empire. carve my heart and i bleed sadiejulius.

dear readers,

please read this when it comes out.

live footage of me when this book ended:



.˚ ₍🗒₎┊5 stars ★
⌇ spoiler free review - 20/11/2023 (first read)

content tags┊꒰🏷꒱ : #academicrivals #standalone #yaromcom, parental abandonment, cyber-bullying

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⌞ “ for ten years i thought i was preparing to destroy you, when really i was preparing to love you. ” ⌝

—⟡—

i. overall thoughts:

⊹ i am absolutely so thankful to have been given an arc for this. it made my entire month, possibly my entire year. i have no idea how ann liang did it, but this book my god, is the definition of giggling and squealing into your pillow. the amount of times i had to put the book down, breathe, and remind myself to contain my excitement ??? i’m so giddy and drunk on sadiejulius. i need what they have so bad 🥹

⊹ him defending her against everyone despite how much they hated each other ??? BEGGING TO KISS HER ?? CHOOSING HER TIME AND TIME AGAIN ??? THE WITTY ACADEMIC BANTER, THE TENSION ?? please let me live in this book forever. there are so many other cute and sweet scenes that had me ready to jump of a building, but i’m going to leave you guys in anticipation, wanting more 🤭 sadiejulius and this book have definitely become my new comfort characters and unhealthy obsession.

⊹ even though, the romance and rivalry were a very big and my fave aspect of this book, there is so much more to love and connect with. for the people who feel very deeply. for the people who constantly strive to fix everything and everyone, who yearn for perfection, and who relentlessly push themselves to their limits and try their best but are never seen or appreciated. i promise you will be able to see a piece of yourself in this book <3

—⟡—

ii. about the book:

⊹ the plot. we follow the life of sadie wen, a model student who secretly vents her frustrations by drafting unsent emails. however, her world turns upside down when these drafts, filled with her unfiltered thoughts about her classmates, including her rival julius gong, accidentally get sent out. as she grapples with the fallout, she discovers that julius, her infuriating co-captain whom she's always despised, may not despise her so much after all 🤭 to all the boys i’ve loved before except hate emails instead of love letters = perfection.

┊➶ “ this whole time, it’s been you. ” ₊˚๑

—⟡—

iii. character analysis:

⊹ sadie wen. from the very first page, i was enchanted by sadie’s character. she’s one of my absolute favorite book girlies. i’m fully convinced that ann liang wrote sadie wen inspired by me because she is me and i am her my delusion speaking. sadie wen captures the essence of being a young adult who is constantly striving to prove themselves, as if our worth solely rests on our achievements. her character is flawed and beautiful and it felt so effortless to fall in love with her entire being. i will cherish her words on each and every page.

⊹ this book gives us a reminder that it's okay to stumble, to make mistakes, and to learn from them. we are allowed to feel and to find joy even in the most unexpected places especially if it’s with your academic nemesis 🤭

┊➶ “ you were right, sadie wen. i am completely, helplessly obsessed with you. ” ₊˚๑

⊹ julius gong. is my lifeline. THE ROMANCE ?? prepare to not only be swept off your feet, but blown into another dimension. julius and sadie’s chemistry is absolutely electric. their hate and obsession and mutual pinning, I SWEAR THIS TROPE HAS NEVER BEEN DONE THIS WELL BEFORE. julius is the physical description of witty, snarky, swoon worthy. ann liang already had me at academic rival, but this makes him 10x better. WHENEVER HE GETS FLUSTERED AND HIS CHEEKS TURN PINK. WHEN HE ACTS COLD BUT REALLY IS THE SWEETEST. GETTING BUTTERFLIES AS WE SPEAK 🦋🫠 ughhh he makes me have an emotional breakdown. he’s so wholesome <3 they are my happy place, and i can’t wait for all of you to meet them.

┊➶ “ i want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost. ” ₊˚๑

┊➶ “ for now and forever you will never be second. you will never be inadequate. you will never be anything but good. ” ₊˚๑

⊹ sadiejulius. the growth and transformation of the characters, is beautifully handled. their relationship during the beginning was so chaotic in the best way possible. as an academically driven overachiever, i can confirm sadie and julius represent exactly how we think.

iv. annotations - mild spoilers: 🗯️

— “ all of which is to say i really hope this finds you. and i hope you find me too. ”

— “ in order to beat the enemy, you have to understand them intimately. you have to observe them, learn their weaknesses, memorize their every word, track their progress, predict their next move. for ten years i thought i was preparing to destroy you, when really i was preparing to love you. ”

— “ i used to imagine what it would be like to be someone who had somebody else. i would imagine tenderness. the concept of infinite. of endless patience. imagine them chasing after me even when i run. cradling my sorrows in the palm of their hands. imagine them caring, trying to understand. and now there’s you. ”

— “ you distract me when my brain is being cruel, you sharpen my edges when the world tries to wear them down.”

v. final thoughts:

⊹ the ending. the cutest thing i’ve ever read. it will leave you smiling, crying, and perhaps, drafting a few emails of your own.

⊹ anyways, this was flawless and if you enjoy cute and cozy rom-coms, please, as someone who really struggles to read romance books, i can’t rec this book and honestly all ann liang books enough 💐

⊹ i think part of the reason why everyone adores ann liang and her books is because everyone can in some way relate to her characters. i can’t wait for all the updates for this book on my fyp when february comes around. thank you scholastic for the arc !! 💌

⊹ i’m so happy that sadie and julius were able to find each other in the end, and i really hope that each and every one of you find what they have too <3

-📩-

𖥔 ࣪ 📼 # PRE-READ ᝰ.ᐟ
I CAN SEE YOU WAITIN DOWN THE HALL FROM ME AND I COULD SEE YOU UP AGAINST THE WALL WITH ME AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO BABY IF YOU ONLY KNEWW 🎶

did this book just change the trajectory of my life ? yes. yes it did.

[annie]

Gonna imagine SONG KANG as Julius! 🤭

[ingrid ₊ · Rating 5 out of 5]

ann liang said, "let there be the best story with academic rivals to lovers of all time," and sadiejulius diaries was created

[fadheela ♡ (mid-terms ia) · Rating 5 out of 5]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷・❥・“𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓐𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓸.”・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

💌03/04/25
Edit: Y'ALL OMGGGG I'M UNWELL ASDFGHJKL WDYM WE ARE GETTING A NOVELLA FOR SADIEJULIUS OMG OMG OMG!!!!! MS. ANN HEARD OUR PLEAS 😭✋🏻 Them in their dating era 😩💘 *SQUEALING. SCREAMING. CRYING.*

💌11/02/24
➸ 5 stars
⤿ br with bestie sama💌🫶🏻 I had sm fun reading this with you baby!🥹🫶🏻

~💫spoiler-free review💫~
Note to self: this is meant to be saved as a draft, never meant for anyone's eyes.👀

𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖: 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚊
𝚃𝚘: 𝙰𝚗𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚐

𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝: 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 ���𝚘𝚎𝚜'𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝙼𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕? 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜?🔮 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎🕵🏻‍♀️ 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚝𝚙, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠🕳🏃🏻‍♀️

𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚎𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚞𝚜💌:

“Fix this. It's what I've always done, or tried to do. Fix the gap in my family, the holes in my life, patch everything up, smooth everything over.”

Sadie Wen 💕~ 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝, 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 & 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝🥺🫂🫂❤️‍🩹

“I have all your emails memorized word for word.”

Julius Gong 💕~ 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚎, 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢! 𝙷𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 (𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚢'𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜) 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘😩💘

“It’s not about his dignity, it’s about mine. By insulting my competition, you’re insulting me.”

“Because I’m willing to lose everything, so long as I don’t lose you.”

“I choose you, you’ll always be my first choice, Julius Gong.”

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕❤️‍🔥 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 "𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜"😋 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎😩 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐😭😭💘 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚎𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽🥺 𝙼𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚐, 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜😌✋🏻

𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢,
𝙵𝚊𝚍𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚊.

You guys really thought it was over?! Not so soon lovelies😈 I've more in stock for y'all🤭💗

❥𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓿 𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴💌:

“I think you’re obsessed with me, Sadie Wen.”

“Your entire existence is basically a run‑on sentence.”
“And here I’d thought you’d already used up every possible insult in your emails.”
“Don’t worry, I can always think of more.”

“You look how you always look, Julius,”
“And how is that?”
“Completely pretentious, in a nice way though.”

“Be quiet. You’re prettier when you don’t talk.”

“Well, Julius Gong. It sounds like you’re the one obsessed with me.”

“You’re the only person worth paying attention to.”

“All of this is to say that Julius is lovely,”
“And Sadie is the light of my life, the sun in my sky, the source of all my joy.”

“Are you here to select bread or a future wife? What’s taking so long?”
“The latter.”

“It’s like I’ve been poisoned, it’s like a sickness, and somehow, the cause and cure of it is him.”

“If you’re quiet about the things that hurt you, people are only going to mistake your tolerance for permission. And they’re going to hurt you again and again.”

“I recall you saying you would rather die than kiss me again.”
“God, you really know how to hold a grudge.”
“They’re your words, not mine.”

“Do you always pay such close attention to everything people say?”
“No. Only what you say.”

“I want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost. You’re so beautiful it enrages me.”

“Let me establish for now and forever that you will never be second. You will never be inadequate. You will never be anything but good.”

“You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.”

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷・❥・𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

💌09/02/24
RTC soon💘 I'm really going to rant in the review, so prepare yourselves🤭💕

💌07/02/24
Okay, it's here. IT'S FINALLY HERE GUYSSS😭😭 Doing the much awaited buddy read with my bestie westie sama 🥹🫶🏻🫶🏻 SadieJulius here I come🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

💌27/01/24
Seeing everyone's gorg reviews makes me want to read this too😭💖
10 more days to go to get my hands on this book😩💘 My patience is really testing me rn🤧

[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crying at 1 a.m over a romance I will never get to experience.

Rtc.

── ᝰ .ᐟ pre re-read.
It's time to re read this book again and feel something. <3

Dear Ann,

💌 5 fucking stars are not enough.

Alexa, play The Archer and This is me trying, by Taylor Swift.

This is for the youngest daughters, the ones who are sensitive and feel it everything but don't say a thing because they don't want to bother, the pathological people pleaser and academic validation craver girlies. Yes, including me. And I'm here for it.

I just found a new favorite book.

My review might contain some spoilers, so watch out! You've been warned if you haven't read it yet.

I'll start saying that this book felt like a big hug and also, like I was being called out.

→ Academic validation.
The more I think about this book, the more emotional I get. You see, I related so bad with Sadie Wen because all my life, I've been a people pleaser and I've craved academic validation since I can remember. For me, it's always has been get the best grades, being among the top 5 (or top 3 or being the best, because my pride won't allow me anything less than that) in everything. I've always wanted to be the best at what I do, to prove my worth and all my knowledge, to get a pat in the back and being told "Excellent." because that's the way I was raised since I was a little girl.

"I'm supposed to be the reliable child in the family, the person most likely to succeed and turn our lives around."

"I would be the good daughter, the strong one, the one who kept everyone afloat."

Those two phrases sent me to a mental and emotional breakdown. It's not easy to be the reliable kid, the one who has the burden of all the family's hopes on their shoulders. The one that it is expected to succeed and be great.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I want to be great, or nothing. But sometimes, that weight, those expectations, those hopes takes us to swallow all the pain, all the sadness, all the emotions, because you don't want to be a burden, because you must succeed and don't bother the others because they don't have it easy either... It's exhausting.

Maybe it's because none of my siblings made it to college and I did, that the pressure rocketed to the sky. I was the first in my family to actually get in to collage, so everyone felt proud of me (which was what I've craved for so long), which meant that I couldn't fail. Failure wasn't never an option for me. It's still not an option. Not even in a million years.

So, I pushed myself to the limit. I basically gave everything in me to obtain not only good grades, but excellent grades. I did everything in my power to be one of the best of my year, to make my mum and my family proud of me, for five exhausting years.

And finally, last year, when I finally concluded my university career, when I got my final grade... That night I broke down. I cried so much that night (I cried so so so many nights before because of the pressure, for a "bad" or "regular" grade, because I couldn't handle things anymore, but still, I pushed myself to the very edge) because all of my effort was reflected in those grades. All of my mental breakdowns and those times when I thought "It's not enough, "I'm not gonna make it", or even "I'm not good enough", but I did it anyways... All of that was there. It was satisfactory and scary at the same time. My mom was happy, my entire family was happy and proud of me because I made it... But I was feeling empty for some reason.

I guess it's because I didn't know what to expect once college was over. I still have to graduate, but still, I hadn't planned my life to that moment. Of course, I always knew that I want to become a writer and to be fucking successful because I want to be known. I've longed that since I was 15. It's the only dream that nobody, not even me with my negative thoughts, has been able to take me away. I've quit to many career dreams: neurosurgery, astrophysicist... Becoming an author is the only thing that has kept me alive for a decade now, and it's the only thing that I hold on to, like my life depends on it.

A couple of days after finishing college, having my grades and all the pressure was vanishing, I had time to think, because I didn't know what was gonna happen to me next. I'm still trying to figure out things, but now, in a healthy way. I still crave for validation in my first job, to do things right and to figure out what to do with my life now, which is scary and exciting at the same time, as I'm getting to know more people, to make friends, to socialize and to be positive and to live (thing that I hadn't done until this year, because I missed a lot putting pressure on myself for so many years) ... Which is really really really new and unfamiliar to me, but it feels good.

→ People pleaser.
Like Sadie, I've spent my entire life blaming myself because my mom wasn't happy just because my dad left as well... However, I realized like 10 years ago, that it wasn't my fault, but still, I've always wanted to succeed, to prove myself worthy and reliable and responsible.

"Because beneath my apprehension is the stronger, deeply ingrained need to be liked. To be accepted. To be forgiven. To be recognized as good. I'll do anything to redeem myself."

"I wish I wasn't the kind of person who is always so sensitive to other people's shifting moods and tones, who startles when someone raises their voice even a little, who cowers when someone else gets annoyed."

"I hate it when people are mad at me. I hate it, I hate it, I can't stand it."

Gods, I felt like Ann Liang was specifically talking to me, like she was narrating my life since I was very young, until now. And it felt weird, to be honest, like I was reading about my life through someone else's words.

Because I will never write down my feelings and acknowledge them as mine. No. I will write down those feelings as they were my characters' emotions and feelings because my own feelings to me feel invalid... Yes, it's something I've been working on now that I'm more conscious of everything and I'm trying to get better.

I know it's not gonna be an easy road. However, I'm willing and eager to know what I'm capable of and because I want to make my dreams come true.

In a more positive note, I loved Sadie and Julius' banter, bickering, chemistry and development. As always, miss Liang is making me fall in love with her characters and hate some others, lmao.

But as I said, this felt like a hug and also like a kick in the stomach, so you can see now why this book felt personal and it hit home.

The only mention to Caz Song made me want to read This Time It's Real again, haha.

Now, I need my Julius Gong SO bad.

Love,
Ale.

[Lilyya ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

GIVE ME A TIME MACHINE. TAKE ME BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL. MAKE ME A SADIE
——-
i need fluffy and cute

[lydia ‧ ia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars ꣑ৎ˚⊹
⤿ reread

“I want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost.”

♬ ⋮ miss americana & the heartbreak prince
they whisper in the hallways,
“she’s a bad, bad girl”
the whole school is rolling fake dice
you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes

spontaneously rereading this to start off 2025 was one of the best decisions I’ve made so far this year 🤭 sadiejulius are my absolute everything! I need the bikeshed/julius punching danny scene and the kissing scene from julius’s pov asap, as well as a novella about the two of them. Actually, just rewrite the whole book in julius’s pov and give us a sequel thank yew 😚

🩷 ⋮ fav quotes

“Sadie is the light of my life. The sun in my sky, the source of all of my joy.”

“It's embarrassing how tightly I latch on to these little pieces of validation, how much I want to be liked, to make everyone happy.”

“If you knew the effect you had on me, how often I think about you, the things I would do for you... I wouldn't stand a chance against you ever again.”

“All of which is to say I really hope this finds you. And I hope you find me too.

[shania (hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius sadiejulius

[manju ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

❝i’m so tired of playing nice, of smiling as people walk over me. what i’m realizing is that if you’re quiet about the things that hurt you, people are only going to mistake your tolerance for permission. and they’re going to hurt you again and again.❞

it’s not often that i come across a romance book that is not only hilariously entertaining but also full of lovable, well-written characters and complex relationship dynamics.

ann liang is a talented author, and that is especially evident in both the characterization and character development in i hope this doesn’t find you. romance is tricky to write because it is merely a byproduct of its parties — it can only be as good or as bad as that in which it exists. to write a good romance, you must write good characters. and liang does exactly that.

it’s not enough for a character to simply have a few distinctive traits, though even that is rare in the romance genre. we need to understand why they are the way they are and why they make the decisions they make. what drives them? what are their fears? their goals and dreams and hopes? how are all of these facets of their personality connected? that is what i’m looking for, and that is what i got in this book. liang crafted sadie’s character so carefully, with so much thought and deliberation and love, and it shows.

after sadie’s emails are accidentally sent out to the entire school, she is forced to confront the fact that the facade she had worked so hard at creating — this perfect, hard working student who never speaks ill of anyone — is going to come crumbling down, and it might crush her in the process. liang uses this plot point to highlight sadie’s internal dilemma, her desire to make herself smaller and avoid conflict clashing with the part of her that yearns to speak her mind. and this paves the way for her character development. she is, at first, a people pleaser, desperately seeking validation and approval from others. but in the span of 300 pages, we see her slowly embrace the side of her that is less concerned with what other people want and instead prioritizes her own feelings.

this is, in my opinion, ann liang’s best romcom. it is so brilliantly and beautifully done, and i can see myself coming back to revisit it more than once.

—

i am so so so picky when it comes to romance. but god this was good. 4.5 stars and full rtc

—

just in time for romcom season!! 😩😩 (when u have two exams tomorrow but sadiejulius are more important 😔)

—

why is my kindle edition only 257 pages 😭😭😭

[Annabella⁷ (blackford & henry li’s version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Readers,

I hope this email finds you well. After taking some time to process, I wanted to write an email-style review encouraging you all to read my new favorite YA romcom on February 6th, 2024. As you might already know, I am 1000% on the Ann Liang train (I might even be the loco pilot). Each of her books occupying a very special place in my heart. There's nothing that makes me feel more seen than her books. Everything about them, it's like living directly in the pages. Captivated on page one. You can't help but connect to the characters, fall in love and feel all the emotions throughout the story. And this might be my favourite book so far. This is why I’m a reader. For the folklore competitive academics. The pathological people pleasers. The ones that are always trying their best, putting pressure on themselves, afraid of failure. Willing to do whatever has to be done for family and friends. It’s deeply sweet, funny, relatable, vulnerable, and so much more. Send those hate emails, speak your truth, find your voice. You’re allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. You’re allowed to smile. Fall for your nemesis, mutual hate or mutual obsession? They’ll pay most attention to every single detail about you, guaranteed. In my own words- you’ve always infuriated me but you’re mine, it will only ever be you. Julius really said, Sadie is my favourite cardigan. We all need a Julius, the ideal love interest. And I think we all need this book.

Love,
Annabella <33

P.S. If you’re at all dramatic like me, please invest in some tissues because you will be crying.

P.P.S. I’m afraid I can’t go too long without being unserious, so thank you Ann for reassuring me Henry wouldn’t divorce me for cheating with Julius.

Whatever comes after P.P.S. Always remember delulu is the solulu. This is also for the Foolish One girlies.
———
I HOPE THIS DOESN’T FIND YOU GETS EVERY SINGLE STAR ON GOODREADS, IN THE SKY, EVERY PLACE THAT HAS STARS. I’M CLAIMING THEM ALL AND THEY’RE GOING RIGHT HERE♾️♾️♾️. I WILL ALSO BE CLAIMING SADIE AS MYSELF IN ANOTHER DIMENSION AND JULIUS AS MY LOVER💌

Full rtc🥲👍 (Just know Ann got a thankful, slightly hysterical, in love, obsession rant. Very on brand?😎)

(Yes I’m the one constantly yelling about Ann on this app😮‍💨)
———
NOTHING BEATS ANN LIANG BOOK MAIL >>>. THANK YOU SCHOLASTIC FOR SENDING ME AN ARC😭😭. YOUR CANADIAN ANN STAN IS HONOURED AND REPORTING FOR DUTY🫡 (AKA OBSESSIVELY SCREAMING UNCONTROLLABLY FOR MONTHS😇👏)
———
💜SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR’S VERSION) CODED💜
———
“I think you’re obsessed with me, Sadie Wen”🪦✌️
———
COVER REVEAL💓= ULTIMATE GORGEOUS SLAYAGE😭
MY FAV TROPE💓= RIVALS TO LOVERS😫
OUR WILL TO LIVE (US ANN LIANG STANS)💓= 📈
———
I may have blacked out today, but I found myself in the dimension where ANN’S NEW BOOK IS ON GOODREADS. A win is a win🤗 I’m so ready to get called out again🫶

[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

ive said it before, but this is another book in ALs bibliography that proves she is quite skilled at exploring the growing pains of adolescence. all of her main characters are flawed, yet relatable girls who are just trying their best. you will always get a very real and genuine MC when you pick up one of ALs books and this one is no exception.

and while i found the premise of this story a bit over the top, the romance is not. it was so cute experiencing sadie and julius rewrite everything they ever thought and felt by becoming friends and then more. i will say that the ending, while fine and gets the job done, did disappoint me a bit. i just wanted more than what was given. i know there is a companion novella that gives the characters more of a resolution, but why couldnt that just have been included in this book? it just made the conclusion feel like a weak point.

but overall, this is a good addition to ALs growing bibliography!

↠ 3.5 stars

[ella ˚୨୧ ⋆｡. (interactive hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

⤳ I am fully prepared to get down on my knees and beg miss ann for a sadiejulius novella.

ღ second read:
What better way to end the year than to reread one of my fav books of 2024?! Although I will sadly never be able to experience this story for the first time again, I hope I love this reread almost as much as I loved my first read 🥺🩷. Ann truly writes magic, and I can’t wait to see Julius and Sadie again

But to make this even better I am buddy reading this with the loml and queen ahana! I’m so happy I get to share this experience with you my bby, I just love how we both love this book so much <33. Love you to pieces MWAH MWAH MWAH.

ღ first read:

✉! .•°⟡˚ღ ༘ 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓪 𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓰𝓮 ! 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓪 ୨୧

✎𓂃 "All of which is to say I hope this finds you. And I hope you find me too."

5☆ | New favorite Ann Liang book unlocked 🗝 I need every word of this novel to be injected into my veins, so that I can never forget a single detail. What a freaking masterpiece.

If it wasn't already obvious, I love Ann Liang's work, but I Hope this Doesn't Find You is the first of her books that I've given a full five stars. Everything about this book is literally perfect. I don't think my review can do it justice, but I will certainly try my best haha. I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading xx

ღ storyline/writing:

⤳ The synopsis describes it best: I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters. I absolutely love that concept, and it was executed perfectly. I don't have much else to say on the matter, except that it was so fun, addictive and bingeable! And ofc, Liang's writing is just beautiful. Many contemporary romances have such bad writing quality, which is one of the reasons I enjoy Ann Liang's books so much.

✎𓂃 "For ten years, I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you."

ღ the romance: (minor spoilers in this section)

trope: academic rivals to lovers

⤳ Sadie and Julius really brought the saying 'hatred is another form of love' to a new level. Their banter was literally everything omg, and the CHEMISTRY was so good. I swear sparks were flying out from the pages. They reminded me a bit of Cardan and Jude, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if Julius had notebooks filled with Sadie's name. They had so many swoon-worthy moments. Like the truth-or-dare kiss. AND WHEN JULIUS PUNCHED THE ONE GUY (I forgot his name) THAT WAS SO HOT LOL 🤭. I'm so happy Sadie and Julius found each other, even though they spent the first ten years hating each other's guts ahaha.

✎𓂃 "I'm willing to lose everything, so long as I don't loose you."

ღ the characters:

⤳ Sadie: Sadie Wen was written for the Mirrorball girlies; the ones who change themselves to meet expectations, who struggle with making everyone happy, and who always work the hardest but still never feel good enough. I love Sadie so so much and can relate to her too. Throughout the story she experienced a significant amount of character growth and definitely learned from her mistakes. I wish I could give her a huge hug bc I'm so proud of her 🫂

⤳ Julius: BOOOK GIRLIES I found your new fictional crush 🤭❤️‍🔥 I have such a weakness for Asian boys HAHA. When Julius was first introduced it felt like I was meeting a celebrity, especially after all I've heard about him the past couple weeks. I was obsessed from page one. I love how he's so protective over Sadie hehe. I know he truly, deeply loves her with every fiber of his being. The book definitely wouldn't have been the same without him.

✎𓂃 "I want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost.”

ღ conclusion:

⤳ I've been wanting to read this book for SO long its almost surreal to have finished it already. I loved every minute of this book, and I'm so sad that it's over 🤧 I am fully convinced that Ann Liang can do no wrong. I Hope This Doesn't Find You exceeded my expectations 100%. That is, to say, I am so glad this book found me 🥺

~Ella

✎𓂃 “You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.”

[hannah ꣑ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 4 stars ✰
➳ ann liang, you've done it again 💌
➳ first buddy read ever with my beautiful bsf hanna 💐 ily 🤭🩷

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "all of which is to say i really hope this finds you. and i hope you find me too." ꒱ ₊⊹

going into this, i had pretty high expectations. i mean, it's ann liang, how could i not? she quickly became one of my favorite authors and one thing about me is i will devour anything she writes. so imagine my excitement when i saw there was another book for me to read by her described as to all the boys if lara jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters. this was such a great academic rivals to lovers and so entertaining, but i do have to say i was left a little disappointed by the ending because of how abrupt it was. all of which is to say i still really enjoyed this book and had so much fun reading this with hanna. 💐

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "for ten years, i thought i was preparing to destroy you, when really i was preparing to love you." ꒱ ₊⊹

‧₊˚ ⋅ જ⁀➴ plot
sadie wen is the perfect student. school captain, valedictorian, and pleasure to have in class, sadie does everything to maintain her reputation. to be seen as likable and keep her reputation, sadie channels all her anger and frustration into email drafts, never to be seen by anyone. that is, until all her emails are sent out. most of these emails are directed towards her co-captain and rival, julius gong, whose arrogance and competitive nature has infuriated sadie since childhood. overnight, sadie's life has taken a turn and now everyone knows what she really thinks of them, but only one person has grown to appreciate the real sadie - julius, the boy she hates.

this book was so fast paced and entertaining. from the first chapter, i was intrigued by the characters, the story, and the writing. what surprised me most was the genuine dislike sadie and julius had towards each other. it's rare to see ya enemies/rivals to lovers where the characters aren't already in love by the 5th chapter. i loved the true rivalry they had and it was so funny how they argued about everything. however, i do wish the transition to lovers was smoother. and by that, i'm mostly referring to the ending. the tension build up was phenomenal, but the ending itself felt rushed and anticlimactic, like there wasn't a "proper" confession. one second i was giggling over their kiss and then all of a sudden, i turned the page and it was over. i just really wanted to see more romance and them together.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "i'm not so familiar with vices - i like to think i have none, but if anything were to count, you would be my only one." ꒱ ₊⊹

‧₊˚ ⋅ જ⁀➴ characters
⋆⋅𓍢ִ sadie wen 🪩 ‧₊˚.
a true mirrorball, pathological people pleaser. as someone who painfully relates to this is me trying, i saw a lot of myself in sadie. her constant striving for perfection and need to be the best, the feeling of not wanting to ask for anything or take help from anyone, and only wanting to be liked - everything about these feelings were written so well and realistic. however, there were some moments where i thought this girl really needed therapy. i felt some of the emails were very intense and almost obsessive? especially the choking email. you know what i'm talking about. i understand the frustration, but girl, let's take a deep breath because there was no need to be describing that in as much detail as she did. her character development was amazing though and i still loved her. 🩷

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "it's embarrassing how tight i latch on to these little pieces of validation, how much i want to be liked, to make everyone happy." ꒱ ₊⊹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "i haven't given any thought to what others might owe me, only what i owe them." ꒱ ₊⊹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "because beneath apprehension is the stronger, deeply ingrained need to be liked. to be accepted. to be forgiven. to be recognized as good. i'll do anything to redeem myself." ꒱ ₊⊹

⋆⋅𓍢ִ julius gong 💌 ‧₊˚.
i get it now. i fully understand the hype around this man and i think it's safe to say i'm in love with him. the emotional depth he had and the constant comparison to his brother was so interesting to read about but also heartbreaking because he deserves only the best. ☹🩷 he drove me crazy in the best way possible with his sarcasm which made up for amazing banter and made it so easy to fall in love with him. i know i say this in every review, but i really am just constantly giggling and kicking my feet. basically, i need my own julius. i mean, he memorized her emails word for word. and they weren't even nice. get you a man who appreciates all sides of you. 🤭

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "i can't pretend to care about the things that once interested me. i can't fall asleep. i play through every look you've ever cast in my direction. i read through your emails over and over until they're carved into my memory. you did this to me." ꒱ ₊⊹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "julius isn't just a boy. he's my enemy. my equal. my point of comparison. he's the one i'm constantly trying to outrun, to outsmart, to impress. he's the ever-moving target in my peripheral vision, the person i've mapped all my plans around, the start and finish line and everything in between. all my dreams and nightmares are about him and only him." ꒱ ₊⊹

⋆⋅𓍢ִ sadiejulius 💐 ‧₊˚.
now this is how rivals to lovers are done. the tension, the banter, the i hate you, yet i can't stop thinking about you - all of it made for such a good romance. i won't be able to stop thinking about them and the moments they had with each other, because it was just so perfect. when he gave her his jacket, punched a guy for insulting her, THE TRUTH OR DARE KISS, him staying to help her clean after a party, running a race for her and giving her the medal - the list goes on. i adore them so much and no one does rivals like them.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "you're the only person worth paying attention to." ꒱ ₊⊹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "because i'm willing to lose everything, so long as i don't lose you." ꒱ ₊⊹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "you'll always be my first choice, julius gong." ꒱ ₊⊹

➳ final thoughts: it's safe to say ann liang is one of my favorite authors of all time now and i will buy anything she writes. i'm also here to convince you to read this if you haven't already because this is one of the only books i've read that actually put the rivals in rivals to lovers. while there were some expectations that weren't met, i still loved this book and sadiejulius so much. i had the best time and thank you hanna for reading this with me! 🤭

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ "you were right, sadie wen. i am completely, helplessly obsessed with you." ꒱ ₊⊹

happy reading!
love, hannah 💌

[Dawn Solaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

★彡 5 stars 彡★

“I want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost.”

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ This book became my entire personality trait in the span of a day. And it’s made its place in a big and warm nook of my heart, so what can I say other than I’m completely, helplessly obsessed with it?

My love for I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is catastrophic. It changed the trajectory of my life, because I cannot function a good day without sneaking into its pages – my reprieve… Trust me, the actual amount of times I’ve reread this will not suit the public eye if you‘re gonna call me a weirdo, then to hell you shall go (⊙_⊙)!

𑁍ࠬܓ ᏖᏒᎧᎮᏋᏕ ᏗᏖ ᏇᎧᏒᏦ 𓇢𓆸

⌯⌲ Academic Rivals To Lovers

⌯⌲ Slowburn

⌯⌲ Forced Proximity

⌯⌲ He Falls First, He Falls Harder

𖡼.𖤣𖥧 ᎷᎩ ᏖᏂᎧᏬᎶᏂᏖᏕ 𖡼.𖤣𖥧

: ̗̀➛ 🅣🅗🅔 🅢🅣🅞🅡🅨 & 🅣🅗🅔 🅕🅔🅔🅛🅢: So, let us hop on a rewind and revisit what the book is about, actually. We have Sadie Wen, a people-pleaser (which is why she’s so beloved among her peers… huh), tracking her way through high school and being everything those around her want her to be. She goes through it all, biting back every retort that comes to her mind anytime people do her wrong. But the hate and anger towards the general humanity doesn’t exactly evanesce… oh no, anything but that.

So she pours out all her collective frustrations on elaborately drafted emails addressing every one of those infuriating people who she fake-nicely dealt with (which she had no intentions of sending, for obvious reasons). Now, everything is all nice and peachy for Sadie Wen, class captain, valedictorian, beloved by all… until one magical day her hate emails get magically sent out- *shudders*

And so, we watch her life and reputation that she so carefully built, crumble before her eyes (some people will find it dramatic, but people-pleasers know what I’m talking about).

And guess what? One of her emails (90% of it, actually) also happens to be indicated at the gorgeous rival of hers, where she expresses her displeasure with his existence in quite a vivid manner (she writes about wanting to strangle him and watch the life dim out of his eyes, if I wasn’t clear enough). That’s what marks the beginning of one of the most epic academic-rivals-to-lovers known to date.

: ̗̀➛ 🅢🅐🅓🅘🅔 🅦🅔🅝: Sadie’s my soul sister, and I cannot name a character more real and relatable to me than she is. When I say I understood every one of her internal monologues, every one of her tiny quirks and every darn insecurity? Heaven knows I mean it. Characters like her feel like the warmest of hugs, because don’t we all crave to be understood and seen in non-embarrassing ways?

What’s better is how beautifully she grew from her struggles. She didn’t just shed her people-pleasing tendencies over the span of a single day, but she’s trying in minuscule ways that matter, still.

Question Of The Century: What is it with Ann Liang and relatable characters? Not even just Sadie, but literally every female character in her books. From Eliza Lin to Jessica Chen herself, where does this sorcery end? ₍^. .^₎⟆

: ̗̀➛ 🅙🅤🅛🅘🅤🅢 🅖🅞🅝🅖: Deliciously cruel and stylishly cold, Julius Gong has a swoon factor of a plus infinity. Where can I find a guy who’ll have all of my hate emails TO him memorised word for word? Who’ll come back and seek me right after I kicked him in the knee for being a snobby brat? Who’ll freakin answer “I’m trying to” when I say that he won’t ever understand me? Just answer my question and give me a Julius before I search the streets myself ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)

Not going to lie, first time I read this book, my thoughts on Julius were either Heart Eyes or Punch-Mode. No in between. One minute, he would have me rolling on the floor and kicking my feet like a crazed buffoon and the next thing you know I’m cursing him in colorful words.

Rereads tend to make me utterly blind to all the arrogant flairs and shitty mishaps he got into though

One thing I really loved was how he wasn’t just a character Ann Liang threw all that “MMC sparkle factor” in so that us girlies could scream in a heap. I love how he was tailored around the edges so meticulously that him and Sadie are meant to be. That he’s the perfect kind of guy Sadie needs and will appreciate.

· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·

⋮ ⌗ ┆ ƢƲƠƬЄ ƑЄƧƬ (𝕊𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕖-𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝-𝕊𝕚𝕤 edition):

°˖➴❝ Because beneath my apprehension is the stronger, deeply ingrained need to be liked. To be accepted. To be forgiven. To be recognized as good. I'll do anything to redeem myself. ❞

°˖➴❝ Fix this. It's what I've always done, or tried to do. Fix the gap in my family, the holes in my life, patch everything up, smooth everything over. ❞

°˖➴❝ What I'm realizing is that if you're quiet about the things that hurt you, people are only going to mistake your tolerance for permission. ❞

°˖➴❝ Rejection is the most humiliating form of defeat. It's losing a battle before it even begun.❞

°˖➴❝ I really can’t stand it when people are angry at me. Like, I know it might be simple for others, but I can’t focus on anything else. I can’t just forget about it and go on with my own life. It’s like there’s something hard wedged inside my chest. I’ll always feel guilty. I’ll always want to make amends.❞

· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·

⋮ ⌗ ┆ ƢƲƠƬЄ ƑЄƧƬ (ℕ𝕖𝕖𝕕-𝔸-𝔾𝕦𝕪-𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖-𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 edition):

°˖➴❝ Why is it me? Why do you always single me out?"

"Because," he says quietly. "You're the only person worth paying attention to.❞

°˖➴❝ You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.❞

°˖➴❝ I can't always say pretty things, and sometimes I tease you when really I just want you to look my way-❞

°˖➴❝ You have to understand . . . If you knew the effect you had on me, how often I think about you, the things I would do for you . . . I wouldn’t stand a chance against you ever again. You would have taken everything from me,” he goes on in a rush, like the words are burning him from within, like he has to get it out before the pain becomes overwhelming.❞

°˖➴❝ Please, Sadie. I’m begging.❞

I WILL HAVE THE LAST ONE TATTOOED ON MY FOREHEAD

· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·

⋆⭒ ᏗᎴᎴᎥᏖᎥᎧᏁᏗᏝ ᏖᏂᎧᏬᎶᏂᏖᏕ ᏁᎧ ᎧᏁᏋ ᏗᏕᏦᏋᎴ ᎦᎧᏒ ⋆⭒

✾ Sadie, for the love of averting anxiety… use Google Docs next time

✾ Is it just me (and Sadie) or is the perpetual high bun preference REAL?

✾ About the dude who Julius punched the living daylights outta? Why the heck is his name Danny no offense to anyone named that, just saying that his name doesn’t quite fit his attributes? Danny The Dog ~

✾ Want Julius POV as any other sane girlie out there and Julius begging scenes (•̀ᴗ•́ )و

»»——★ fιnαℓ тнσυgнтѕ ★——««

➳ I attach the memory of this book with my favorite person Nancy because she’s been unbelievably thoughtful enough to have gifted me a copy of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You… friends don’t get better than this, I hate you, girlie ᥫ᭡

One of my forever favourites, just like that. If this doesn’t fill everyone with undying warmth, then I don’t know what will… all of this to say, I hope you find this book, and that this jewel finds its way to you.

｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡

[benedicta · Rating 5 out of 5]

stop 😭😭 younger me would have loved this book so much!!!! Sadie and Julius are just those cute for words!! reminding me why academic rivals to lovers is a superior trope 😩💗💗 it warms every bit of my heart!

***
I hope this isn't too YA for me 🥺

[ˋ✧*⁀➷ ʙᴇᴛᴛʏ (med school got me good) · Rating 5 out of 5]

alexa play Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince by taylor swift:

And I don't want you to go, I don't really wanna fight
Cause nobody's gonna win, I think you should come home
And I'll never let you go, cause I know this is a fight
That someday we're gonna win, just thought you should know.
It's you and me, that's my whole world
They whisper in the hallway, "She's a bad, bad girl"
The whole school is rolling fake dice
You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes
It's you and me, there's nothing like this
Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince.

no cuz the audacity of a ya book to steal my 5 stars.

"For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you."

i kid you not this book is so scandalous. cuz me? a certified hater? an emotionless raging bitch? was screaming, crying, thrashing, giggling, blushing, heart banging, breath holding, eyelids taped to stay up till 5:30 in the morning to complete this book.
HOW CONTROVERSIAL 😨

"You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you."

this easily is the best ya i have ever read. PERIOD.

this might be my fastest read too. i practically flew through this shit like it's my daddy's private jet. the fact that i ate this up in 4 hrs says a lot. it's been a good hot minute since i stayed up all night for a book.

this book made me so happy. it made me feel so content, i can't describe it in words. i cried a lot, but those were the tears of happiness and complacency.

this might also be the best academic rivals book in my dictionary.

idk man, this book is literal perfection and i can't put it in any simpler way.

AND JULIUS MOTHERFUCKING GONG, THE MAN YOU ARE.

he made me go:

[chloé ✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮ 3.5 stars ✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖

this was super, super cute… and surprisingly relatable. 💖

academic rivals to lovers is something i eat up every single time. Sadie & Julius were both perfect characters for the trope.

i especially adore Sadie Wen. her anxiety and overthinking was presented so well — it felt so real. i just want to hug her. 🥺

˚ ༘✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ “turns out i always want to be wanted, even by the boy i loathe.”

my biggest complaint is that this book wrapped up so quickly, it felt like it ended prematurely. i genuinely could’ve used 50 more pages on Sadie & Julius.

i’m not sure how memorable this book will be in the long run, but it was adorable with plenty of depth.

I definitely recommend for the YA romance lovers out there, the people-pleasers, those who set crazy academic standards for themselves, anyone afraid to disappoint those they love, and the girlies who have anxiety about being enough.

˚ ༘✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ “you’re the only person worth paying attention to.” 💕

[sama ୨୧ (slumping.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

actually, it’s 6 stars ✰ sadiejulius, you will always be famous to me, i love you sm <3
….

₊˚⊹ 5 stars 💌𓍢ִ໋
⤿ this is how you write academic rivals ‹𝟹

disclaimer: basically rewrote my whole old review so consider this the updated version. enjoy 😚🫶🏼

thank u to fadhee for reading this with me, ur my bsf and ily so so much. we did have loads of fun which is probably why this book is stuck with me forever 🤭🤭 this book changed lives. mine, and probably everyone else’s that read this book bc how could it not? two 5-star ann liang books in one day. nobody does it like our queen 🥹💞 sadiejulius are my roman empire.in twenty years I will still be thinking of them. im not kidding..

💘 For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you. All of which is to say I really hope this finds you. And I hope you find me too 💘

may this kind of love and passion find me. it’s all I want.

😍 julius gong 😍

this man. I am never moving on from him

🤍 you were right, sadie wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you. 🤍

he is going in my shelf for my book husbands— no doubt about it 💌 everytime she looked at him, he was staring at her. he said things to get her attention and when she spoke about kissing someone else he got jealous. i am more helplessly obsessed with julius gong than he’s obsessed with sadie

also that love confession called me single in about 20,000 different languages so thank you for that ann liang 🥲✋🏼

🍡 sadie wen 🍡

this girl may have invented the word people-pleasing bc woah. and u can imagine a people pleasers worst nightmare is everybody she knows finding out how she really feels about them (i felt like it was happening to me and i wanted to die and tell her to just move schools and countries atp 😭)

🪩 “you’re so strange sometimes, sadie. you know most people rush to place the blame instead of taking it all themselves, right?” 🪩

’mirrorball’ and ’this is me trying’ were acc written for sadie wen confirmed. im crazy and i like to listen to music while i read and trust me these two were my most played with this book <3

🌷the romance🌷

this is the best book ann liang has ever written. i stand by it nothing can beat sadiejulius for me <33 (edit: can confirm i still feel the same after my reread, though ianjc is also a strong contender) although I wouldn’t be very surprised if she wrote an even better one (edit #2: subtle foreshadowing bc ‘i am not jessica chen’ is literally a masterpiece and yall are not ready. prepare ur tissues)

THE ROMANCE IN THIS BOOK ATEEEEEE!!!

—like elizacaz and alicehenry were still adorable but they were friends for wayyyy too long. with sadie and julius you can feel their tension, you can see the secret pining and the “I hate you but I can’t get you out of my mind” feelings they have and I just adored them so much 💌🎀

🫶🏼 my fav scenes 🫶🏼

that truth or dare scene will forever live rent free in my head. edit #3: 10 months later, can confirm I still think of this scene on a daily basis it’s so perfect for many reasons: the kiss, the ’you call that a kiss?’ from julius, the way he got so jealous when he found out it’s not her first kiss 🥹💞 everything about this scene was chef’s kiss <3

edit #4: that love confession changed everything about my life. I don’t think I appreciated it enough the first read but now? omg it’s the best thing I ever read. he poured his whole heart out for her and it was so worth the wait. i think that confession is engraved in my mind the same way julius memorised all 42 hate emails sadie sent him.

tbh if i wanted to say all my favourite scenes it would literally be this whole book. there’s so many scenes I loved and for such a short book that’s really impressive. every page was written beautifully and perfectly. ann liang, u outdid <3 im your biggest fan.

🫂 in conclusion 🫂

edit #5: ngl it’s not just my fifth edit bc i changed the format of the whole entire review. im sorry to whoever saw the last one, it was truly hideous. after rereading i can confirm this is one of my all time favourite books and i fear i will never shut up about it so u might as well read it 🤭

I hope this review finds you well and that you enjoyed my yapping as much as i did 🧸💋 ily all,
sama xo

[lila ୧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

→6✰
~spoiler free review!

✧"you were right, sadie wen. i am completely, helplessly obsessed with you. love, julius"

first of all, let me just say that i read this book in less than a day. which never happens, so let that be a sign to you to please-for the love of julius gong himself-read this book. also, be prepared for a rant review about how much i am deeply and utterly in love with this book 😭

ੈ✩‧₊˚my thoughts 💌
ann liang, the woman that you are. i love this book so much that i can't even form the right words (i need to get myself together 😃) i think i broke my kindle because i was highlighting and taking notes of every. single. interaction. between sadiejulius. i just can't get enough of them. their banter and chemistry is flawless. no complaints whatsoever (except the fact that i'm starving for more of them, and i'll probably never be full again because who knows if we'll ever even get crumbs (sorry that was a weird way to word it but you know what i mean))
this book left me screaming into my pillow, internally sobbing, and wanting to jump off a building because why can't men like julius exist?

ੈ✩‧₊˚sadie wen 🎀
sadie is me and i can't be convinced otherwise. i love her character with my whole heart. one thing i admire about ann liang's characters is that their very real. their lives aren't perfect, but their very normal and have real struggles, which is comforting because i've read plenty of books that are so unrealistic in those aspects. i like seeing myself in the people i'm reading about, and ms. liang delivers every time. anywayss sadie is the perfect student and she strives to be liked by everyone. i love how much she cares for her family, although she believes that the reason they have flaws is because of her. i just want to give her the biggest hug ever because she deserves everything.

✧"for ten years i thought i was preparing to destroy you, when really i was preparing to love you. all of which to say i really hope this finds you. and i hope you find me too."

ੈ✩‧₊˚julius gong 🎓
ohmygod don't talk to me. because THIS MAN 😩 so swoon-worthy. i'm screaming, crying, giggling, kicking my feet. he fell so hard for sadie and it was the cutest thing ever. his character was so beautifully written as well. i don't want to spoil too many things, but i love him so much

✧"because i'm willing to lose everything," he says, his eyes blacker than the surrounding darkness, than the sky outside, "so long as i don't lose you."

ੈ✩‧₊˚overall 🌷
i can't wait for this book to be released and i can't wait for all of you to read it and to see all of your updates on my homepage 🤭 i truly hope that you guys love this as much as i did! happy reading xx

-thank you to netgalley and scholastic for the arc!!

ੈ✩‧₊˚quotes 🏹 (minor spoilers!)

✧"you'll always be my first choice, julius gong."

✧"it's us, sadie," he says, like that's answer enough. "when have we ever been bad at anything?"

✧what i'm realizing is that if you're quiet about the things that hurt you, people are only going to mistake your tolerance for permission.

✧"it's like a sickness, and somehow, the cause and cure of it is him."

✧"she's smart, okay? she's a formidable force. she does everything she sets her mind to and nothing can stand in her way. not even me."

✧i'm only meant to absorb what others feel, present the best side of myself, sit still and swallow my own emotions.

✧and i know, even as the present is unfolding, that i'll always remember this. the gleam of confetti on the hardwood floor. the night falling around us. the dark strand of hair falling over julius's eyes. the quiet that feels like a truce, a reprieve from the war, something more.

ੈ✩‧₊˚
pre-review
ADSGSDFASFHB STOP 😭 I'M HAVING A MENTAL BREAKDOWN RN I'M NOT KIDDING
i loved this beyond words. idc if i'm exaggerating bc this book omg.
i'm also half asleep while writing this so i wouldn't be surprised if i don't make sense
there will be an rtc bc this book was just so 🥰

ੈ✩‧₊˚
pre-read review
I JUST GOT APPROVED FOR THE ARC!! screaming, crying, jumping up and down ☹
i can't wait to meet sadiejulius 🥹💐

[rei ‧₊˚✩彡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

╰┈➤ 4.75 stars!

⋆·˚ ༘ *minor spoilers ahead!

to all the girlies who thrive when they get academic validation, this book is specifically made for us!! to all the people who have so many versions of themselves just to make themselves fit in, i appreciate you for who you truly are, and i think that book will make you feel so seen.

౨ৎ sadie. i have never read a character i can relate to as much as i can to her. her thoughts somewhat mirrored mine all throughout the story. she’s such a well rounded character—the good traits are pouring out that even people take advantage of it. then all of a sudden, she’s suddenly the bad guy for venting out her feelings she didn't even meant for anyone to see. i honestly would never get how people can easily disregard all the good things you’ve done for them once you show them an emotion that isn’t convenient for them. all her good deeds were thrown in the bin because she feels other emotions other than just by simply behaving herself. to see her slowly forgive herself and changing her habits for the better made her the well rounded character i meant, and i truly couldn't be more proud of her for it.

౨ৎ julius. my first impression with him is that he’s extremely confident, like he’s the type of student who excels even without trying because he just screamed that kind of vibe. and you know what? he is actually confident, but when i heard how his brother talked to him, it literally crushed me to the point where i cried because i can imagine how much it hurts for him. he keeps his head high because of the pressure that is placed upon him, and i just wish i could tell him that i actually see him trying and that he's doing enough, he's enough.

overall, i really had high expectations for this book and it didn’t disappoint me. although it felt as if the part where julius’s brother talking to him was inserted out of nowhere or maybe it’s because the pov was focused on sadie. i still think the way it was written was so good it’s because i see myself in sadie so much and the characters have their depth into them. their chemistry, the tension between them, and everything in between. it was all so good. this book is for the mirrorball and this is my trying girlies out there!

౨ৎ favorite lines/quotes:
"It's embarrassing how tight I latch on to these little pieces of validation, how much I want to be liked, to make everyone happy."

"I would be the good daughter, the strong one, the one who kept everyone afloat."

"His smiles really do feel like miracles. Especially when you're on the receiving end of them."

"I'm only meant to absorb what others feel, present the best side of myself, sit still and swallow my own emotions."

"I'm so used to taking responsibility for everything, to apologizing to her and everyone else, that feels wrong to not say sorry."

"Because I'm willing to lose everything,", "so long as I don't lose you."

"I do choose you."

"For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you. All of which is to say I really hope this finds you. And I hope you find me too. - Sadie"

"You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you. - Julius"

[anh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

“For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you.”

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You follows Sadie Wen, a high school overachiever who vents her frustrations in private email drafts—especially about her annoying co captain, Julius Gong. When these drafts are accidentally sent out, Sadie’s perfect life unravels as everyone finds out exactly what she thinks of them. Amid the chaos, Julius starts to see the real Sadie, and she begins to rethink her feelings about him. It’s a witty, heartfelt story about the pressure to be perfect, the messiness of being real, and the unexpected connections that come when we let our guard down.


➸ This book was soo adorable and fun! I had a great time reading it! My first Ann Liang was a total success for me. While it’s not perfect, it was exactly what I needed to get me out of my bad luck streak with books. It had me giggling and genuinely smiling throughout. If you’re looking for something quick and bingeable, this is the perfect read. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who’s feeling stuck in a reading rut.

“Fix this. It's what I've always done, or tried to do. Fix the gap in my family, the holes in my life, patch everything up, smooth everything over.”

Sadie Wen is a character who will resonate with anyone who’s ever felt the pressure to be perfect or sought validation from others. Her drive to excel in everything always striving for more, even at the expense of her mental health was something I really connected with. It’s like she believes that if she just gets everything right, she can fix the messiness of life. I admired her determination, but what struck me most was how that desire for perfection starts to consume her. We’ve all heard that inner voice telling us that we need to keep going, that we have to measure up to this unreachable ideal. Watching Sadie slowly realise that her self-worth isn’t tied to other people’s approval was deeply moving. Her fear of disappointing others, especially her family, felt so familiar. It was almost painful to watch her constantly try to be perfect when she was clearly struggling. Beneath her stubbornness, though, Sadie has this deep compassion, always putting her family’s needs before her own. She carries a lot of weight, and it was heartbreaking to see how much she believed it was all her responsibility. I just wanted to reach through the pages to tell her that she’s enough as she is. Her growth throughout the book, as she lets go of the idea of perfection and starts to accept herself for who she is, flaws and all was such a rewarding arc.

“Why is it me? Why do you always single me out?"
"Because," he says quietly. "You're the only person worth paying attention to.

Julius Gong, on the other hand, is initially the picture of confidence. He knows what he wants and has no problem showing it. But as the story unfolds, we see that there’s more beneath the surface. Julius’ growth was just as compelling as Sadie’s. His shift from being her academic rival to someone who quietly cares for her is heartwarming. The way he hides his feelings while still supporting her spoke volumes about his character. What made me fall for him was how vulnerable he was despite his seemingly perfect exterior. His emotional journey is shaped by his ongoing comparison to a sibling whose brilliance always made Julius feel like he didn’t measure up. This sense of inadequacy leads him into a cycle of self-sabotage, where he questions whether he deserves love or happiness. It was heartbreaking to see him struggle with this, especially when it was clear that he did deserve both. Watching him eventually open up and start to believe he was worthy of affection was one of the most touching aspects of the story.

“You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.”

The romance between Sadie and Julius is absolutely one of the highlights of the book. They start off as academic rivals, and there’s so much tension between them from the very beginning. It’s obvious they like each other, but neither is willing to admit it. They argue, defend each other, get jealous—each of them subtly caring for the other while pretending it’s no big deal. Their playful bickering and competitive nature create a lot of tension that made the eventual shift from rivalry to romance so satisfying. There are plenty of sweet moments sprinkled throughout, as well as some fiery exchanges that added a layer of depth to their relationship. Watching them figure out their feelings while denying it to themselves made their eventual confession all the more rewarding.

That said, while I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I did have a few issues:

At first, I found Sadie kind of irritating. She seemed overly confident in a way that came across as arrogant. It took me a while to warm up to her because, early on, her perfectionism felt more grating than relatable. But once I got to understand her motivations and struggles more deeply, I really started to root for her. I think my initial frustration stemmed from how disjointed the pacing felt at times. The narrative moved quickly, but certain emotional beats didn’t always land as smoothly as I hoped. The same goes for Julius—he felt pretty bland in the beginning. But, like Sadie, he eventually grew on me as I got to know him better.

Another issue I had was how easily most of the conflicts were resolved. The apologies and forgiveness happened almost too quickly, which felt a bit rushed. I get that this is a YA book, but I personally prefer a bit more tension in my stories. The characters seemed to resolve their issues in a way that felt a little too neat, considering the emotional stakes involved. I also found that at times, the characters acted younger than their age. They were supposed to be in their last year of high school, but sometimes their actions and dialogue felt too immature.

Once Sadie and Julius got together, I was hoping for more moments of them together I guess I wanted to see more of their relationship as a couple. The book ended pretty quickly after their romance blossomed, and while their connection was cute, I just expected more development in that area. But, honestly, that’s a small nitpick, and it didn’t detract too much from my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, this was a really cute, heartwarming read. Thank you to Ann Liang for ending my bad luck streak!

_____________
My first Ann Liang! Please get me out of this bad luck streak 🙏

[elly ♡ ︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

˗ˏˋ꒰ 💌 ꒱ 6 stars!!

“And now there's you. This whole time, it's been you, and I didn't even realize.”

: ̗̀➛ first and foremost - thank you so much eveonne for buddy reading this with me!!! it was such a fun experience and your commentary was the best! 💕

: ̗̀➛ i have amazing news for yall!! you will never hear me shut up about this book. literally one of my favorites of all time, new roman empire ☺️!!! i could talk about this all day if i wanted to. make this review a 5 page essay—if i had the time. that’s how much i love this book.

“‘So. Tell me. Why is it always me?’
‘Because,’ he says quietly, ‘You're the only person worth paying attention to.’”

: ̗̀➛ also there’s a TON of quotes so you guys can be fully convinced to read this book. not bc i just loved the quotes sm.. no, no.

˗ˏˋ꒰ 💌 ꒱ plot - sadie wen is a person you’d call a people pleaser. she always shows everyone her happy side, but when someone really angers her, she resorts to writing rage-fueled email drafts that she’ll never send out, of course. until one day, they get sent — all 57 of them. to teachers, peers, and others, but the majority of them are addressed to her rival, julius. since the day they both joined their highly competitive school as children, they’ve always been against each other, but when sadie’s emails garner the notice of their school’s principal, he decides to force sadie and julius to work together for a month. here begins our story.. 🤭

“Maybe, by this stage, we've both been hardwired to hate each other. Maybe it's a fundamental part of our internal coding, and there's no way to reprogram it without self-destructing, setting everything on fire. Maybe it's for the best this way.”

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🏵️ ꒱ sadie wen - when i tell you i love this girl — i love sadie. she’s such a realistic and vivid character. she is a people pleaser, a literal academic weapon, and so so kind. she’s the captain of her school, cocaptaining with julius (dont worry, we will get to him later 😉). she’s athletic and plays sports and is very, very good at track me and sadie twinninggg!! look, look, look! this is a quote that very accurately explains both me and sadie :)

“I like to consider myself a smart person. I take great pride in knowing things, like whether a graph is wonky, or when an answer is accurate, or which essay topic is going to work best.”

: ̗̀➛ i loveeee sadie. also her character growth over the course of the book is amazing!!! i love watching her grow out of her extreme people pleasing tendencies and show her real personality ☺️.

"’I really can't stand it when people are angry at me. Like, I know it might be simple for others, but I can’t focus on anything else, I can’t just forget about it and go on with my own life. lt's like there's something hard wedged inside my chest. I'll always feel guilty, I'll always want to make amends.’”

: ̗̀➛ what im going to write next is one out of my only two complaints about this book!! i think sadie was portrayed as a bit too nerdy.. like the scary story scene 😭. i don’t think anyone’s actually like that irl, as i, myself, am a nerd and have tons of nerd friends 😭😭.

˗ˏˋ꒰ 💘 ꒱ julius - MY MAN. IM IN LOVE WITH THIS GUY. HES ATHLETIC, CRAZY SMART, AND UGH JUST PERFECT. 🤭🤭 marry me. julius please marry me. he’s funny and sarcastic and sweet and he actually cares so so much although he pretends not to.

“‘Screw the others,’ he says fiercely. The heat in his voice shocks me. Burns me to the core. ‘I don't care about them. I only care about—’”

: ̗̀➛ he had super high standards set for him bc of his older brother, who went to harvard and was a bestselling author.. ugh i loathed his brother. i felt so bad for him bc his family(mainly his brother) seemed so tough on him🙁. his brother was so mean to him!!! 😠

: ̗̀➛ ok deviating from that topic, he made SO MANY SWOON-WORTHY QUOTES 🤭🤭.

“‘You have to understand… If you knew the effect you had on me, how often I think about you, the things I would do for you... I wouldn't stand a chance against you ever again.’” AHHH 🤭 more to come later in review 😉

˗ˏˋ꒰ 💞 ꒱ sadiejulius - 🥰. i will never ever ever stop loving them. academic rivals to lovers has alwaysss been my favorite romance trope and they did it perfectly ☺️☺️. from the very beginning of their time spent together, it was perfect. the tension and the cute little moments had me giggling and kicking my feet!!!

“I can't prevent myself from drinking in the sight of him. From hating him and wanting him all at the same time, one point of tension bleeding into the other until it's impossible to separate the two.”

“‘I better go home,’ I say.
His expression flickers. ‘So soon?’”

: ̗̀➛ i just realized i have wayyy too many quotes for this review 😭. anywwayssss.. omg the part where sadie was in denial… girl don’t lie to yourself!!!! julius is literally the best man ever 🤭.

“I can't stop thinking about him.
It's mortifying. Unproductive. Unnatural. And quite frankly, it's really enraging. He has no right to occupy this much space inside my head.”

: ̗̀➛ my second complaint about this book: the endinggggg 😔. yes, it was cute, but i was expecting more!!! it felt so unsatisfying.. i really wish we could’ve ended on a moment with the two of them together 🙁. i still liked it tho!!!!! 🤭

“I'm not so familiar with vices —I like to think I have none, but if anything were to count, you would be my only one.”

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🏮 ꒱ random other notes -

: ̗̀➛ 🙁🙁 i wish julius was a real person. my age. my school. please come into existence for me 🙏. i promise ill love you forever 🤭.

“‘You made it clear—so terribly clear—how much you hate me. That I'm the last person in the world you would ever consider. But I kept looking for signs that would suggest otherwise. I kept wondering if it was still possible. Because I'm willing to lose everything,’ he says, his eyes blacker than the surrounding darkness, than the sky outside, ‘so long as I don't lose you.’”

: ̗̀➛ THE SCHOOL TRIP WAS THE CUTEST. ☺️ I LOVED IT (and not just for the romance)!!!!

: ̗̀➛ i love love love love loveddd the way ann liang described running during the race scene. i feel like it was so realistic and relatable!!! like how did you capture how i feel during running (i do track short distance) so well??? like excuse me ms. liang??

“I have to catch up to him now.
I force my feet onward, relishing the hard push of the ground beneath me, the blood burning inside me, my hair flying back in the wind. Colors blur past my vision. Noise rushes down to me in waves. I'm running so fast I feel weightless. I feel like I'm falling, my body moving ahead of me. There's no gravity, no friction, nothing except the frantic beat of my heart and the person in my vision.”

: ̗̀➛ THE PARTY AHH. SO MANY CUTE MOMENTS!!! AND AFTER TOOOOO 🤭🤭

“‘Do they.. really look bad? My clothes, I mean.’
I'm dumbfounded—as much by the question as the fact that he's asking me. ‘You look how you always look, Julius,’ I manage.
His eyes are wary. ‘And how is that?’
‘Completely pretentious,’ I say. ‘In a nice way though.’”

“This is something else I know I'll always remember, no matter how hard I try to scrub it from my memory, to pretend otherwise.
That I had kissed Julius Gong.
That I'd kissed him, and wanted it.”

: ̗̀➛ HELLPPPP this review is so long, ive said sm and i still haven’t done all the quotes ive found 😭. ig this book was just TOO quotable!!! 😛

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🍯 ꒱ quotes -

“I was lying to myself before. Julius isn't just a boy.
He's my enemy. My equal. My point of comparison. He's the one I'm constantly trying to outrun, to outsmart, to impress. He’s the ever-moving target in my peripheral vision, the person I’ve mapped all my plans around, the start and finish line and everything in between. All my dreams and nightmares are about him and only him.”

“‘I have all your emails memorized word for word,’ he says.
‘Well, Julius Gong. It sounds like you're the one obsessed with me.’”

“‘How can you even tell the difference between liking and loathing someone? Physically speaking. How do you know if your blood pressure is rising because of how annoying they are, or how attractive you find them? If your hands are shaking because you're holding back from strangling them, or kissing them?’
‘Holy shit.’
‘What?’
‘It’s Julius, isn't it?’ Abigail says. ‘You're talking about Julius Gong.’”

“I also remember the softness of his blazer around my shoulders. The look on his face tonight, the quick violence in his voice when his brother spoke of me. His breathing, quiet beside me, as he swept confetti from the floor after the party. His hands, firm but warm around my wrists after the race. The shine of the medal, the light in his eyes, the curve of his lips. So beautiful and infuriating and confusing. So ready to split me open with a single word, stitch me up again with a fleeting touch.”

“‘It's revolting how much I care about him. Even now. I shouldn't want this. I shouldn't want him.’
‘It's like I've been poisoned,’ I go on, my palms itching. ‘It's like a sickness, and somehow, the cause and cure of it is him. I hate it so much, but I can't even control my own brain—’”

“‘You know? So you were the one who sent Julius to punch me?’”

“Let me establish for now and forever that you will never be second. You will never be inadequate. You will never be anything but good.”

: ̗̀➛ one last thing to convince you to go buy this book right this second: immediately after i finished it, i reread it. it was that amazing!!!! anyways ill shut up now i hope yall enjoyed my yap session review!!! ☺️❤️

“You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.”

playlist made by eveonne and i ✧.*

fine line — harry styles
bored — laufey
john wayne — cigarettes after s*x
poster boy — lyn lapid
what her smile would sound like — matsuii
from the start — laufey
out of my league — fitz and the tantrums
linger — the cranberries
i only have eyes for you — the flamingos
sparks — coldplay
i hate it here — taylor swift
lovesick — laufey
falling in love — cigarettes after s*x
making the bed — olivia rodrigo

“For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you.”

˗ˏˋ꒰ 💌 ꒱ pre-read

: ̗̀➛ ahhh my first br!!! thank you so much to the sweetest girl eveonne, im so excited to read this with u 🤭

[jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

ⓘ ✧ post read.
she’s done it again, this was so cute like i expected it to be!! my only issue was that the ending felt abrupt, the book ended soon after sadiejulius got together and i wanted just a little more time with them ☹️

“i want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost.”

ⓘ ✧ pre read.
um excuse me while i cancel all my plans to devour this

[kim ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

𓍢ִ໋💌 ᰔᩚ 4.75 stars
꒰ spoiler free review ⊹₊ ⋆

⊹ ࣪ ˖ for ten years, i thought i was preparing to destroy you, when really i was preparing to love you.

⤷ for the people pleasers. the mirrorball & the this is me trying girlies. the girls who always crave academic validation. the girls who strive to be perfect even when they really feel like the absolute opposite. the girls who constantly change everything about themselves to fit in. this ones for you. ♡

thoughts 𐙚

⟡ new favorite YA romcom unlocked??? words cannot describe how deeply i loved this one. every second that i wasn't reading it i was thinking about it, and i basically had to abandon all of my priorities because i couldn't put this down. please prepare to be sick of me because i'm about to never shut up about this 🤭

⟡ i hope this doesn't find you follows sadie wen, whos the school captain and basically the epitome of model student at her school. she strives to be percieved as perfect-- she's nice to everyone, always appears confident, and excels in everything she does. but it also means she allows people to walk all over her. so whenever she needs to release her pent up negative emotions, she drafts angry emails that she would never dare to send, mostly to her rival, and the other school captain, julius gong... except one day, the emails get sent out to the entire school. suddenly, her perfect reputation is ruined, and almost every person at school despises her. as punishment for her actions, she's forced to collaborate and work together with julius until they can get along. (and we all know what happens next)

⟡ my favorite thing about this book was that they were actually enemies. usually in these books, they hate each other the entire time, and at the end they surprise us with "i've been in love with you since elementary school" (cough cough, wes bennett. still love him tho). but sadie and julius genuinely despised each other for over ten years. they did everything they could to make the other's life a living hell and i was HERE FOR ITTT. but they never did anything completely crazy because, deep down, i think they always subconsciously had a soft spot for the other one.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ if you knew the effect you had on me, how often i think about you, the things i would do for you... i wouldn't stand a chance against you ever again. you would have taken everything from me. not just a debating championship or some points for a test or a fancy award or a spot in a competition--but my whole heart. my pride. god, my sanity. it would be all over. you would annihilate me.

⤷ julius' confession monologue had me kicking and giggling my feet omg 🤭

characters 𐙚

⟡ sadie
꒰ this is my trying by taylor swift⊹₊ ⋆

wow so she's so me coded it's insane??! she hates when people are mad at her, let's people walk all over her because she's too nice to say anything, does everything to make other people happy (even at the cost of her own happiness), and craves academic validation from those around her? yeah, ann liang where are the cameras... 😔😔 i loved her so much, and a small part of me was happy that her emails got sent out because my girl had been suffering in silence for way too long. she felt like she had the entire world on her shoulders, that everyone was relying on her not to fail, and i wished at times i could just give her a big hug and tell her everything would be okay. especially when she felt she was the reason her dad left... MY SHAYLAA 😞🩹 she truly deserves all the love in the world.

⟡ julius
꒰ foolish one by taylor swift⊹₊ ⋆

MY MANNN 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️ all the little things he did for sadie had me grinning like an idiot. from punching a guy who called her a bitch, to running (and winning) a race for her when she felt too bad to do it, to helping her clean up after a party when she was stressed & alone. he is the definition of "if he wanted to, he would". 🙏🙏 i desperately wish we got a bit more of his backstory & situation with his brother because he was so relatable it hurts. (ann liang pls pls make a novella with his pov, i'll do anything 🤸🤸)

also.. the scene when sadie is drunk and she describes him looking at her with dark, dilated eyes?? THE LOOK OF LOVEEEE

⟡ sadiejulius
꒰ i should hate you by gracie abrams⊹₊ ⋆

their dynamic is everything to me ㅤ♡ㅤ♡ ! from the bantering, the arguing, the jealousy, and the longing looks, nobody does academic rivals to lovers like they do 🤭 they have such a soft, innocent love, and this is the kind of romance that i adore to read because it's just so beautiful. every single scene with the two of them was adorable. and their confession scene??? SO PERFECT i swear i almost shed a tear 🥹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ i can't pretend to care about the things that once interested me. i can't fall asleep. i play through every look you've ever cast in my direction. i read through your emails over and over until they're carved into my memory. you did this to me.

BRB IM SOBBING JKSJKSSJK

final thoughts 𐙚
⟡ this book was so good and i reccomend it to anyone in search of the sweetest young adult romance to read <3 i'm already itching to reread this one so i can get the full experience now that i know how it ends 🥲♡♡♡

⊹ ࣪ ˖ all of which is to say, i really hope this finds you. and i hope you find me too.

julius & sadie's playlist 𐙚
⟡ new year's day by taylor swift
⟡ savior complex by phoebe bridgers
⟡ the blue by gracie abrams
⟡ the archer by taylor swift
⟡ wish you were sober by conan gray
⟡ glue song by beabadoobee
⟡ i can see you by taylor swift

started ➤ may 9, 2025
finished ➤ may 11, 2025