Just Like the Classics

by Amelia Critchley

Jinx is cold, careful and keeps to herself. She’s hardly the type you’d approach, constantly wearing her headphones, always absorbed in her own world, writing at any given time.

Vivienne is sweet, kind, but awkward and painfully quiet. She will go out of her way to help her friends, she always puts others first, but is often lost in the worlds of the books she reads.

The two have been rivals their entire lives, they were never not at each other’s throats in high school, and when they reach college they hope they never have to see each other again.
However these plans of hope are abruptly thrown off course when they find they share a class, and the rivalry sparks up again.

But over the time they spend working on a shared project, the learn more about each other and begin to wonder why they hated each other in the first place.

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Queer, Contemporary, LGBT, Gay, Lesbian Fiction

381 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2023

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I beta read this book and it was absolutely incredible!!! I cannot wait to get a physical copy

[Baila Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay. I liked how it was SUPERRR slow burny but when the burn was done it was like really quick like I want the aftermath. I was really hoping to see the reactions of the characters when they found out who Vivienne was on a date with, but whatevs, didnt take away from the experience too much. there was a MAJORR dropped story line, they were prepping for this in class debate the entire book but then just did not do it. at least address it idk. I thought it was like really cute but alsoooo there were a bunch of spelling and grammar mistakes, along with a few names being wrong (it saying that jinx sent a text when it was supposed to be julien, the hot chocolate [?] barista just randomly switching from ashleigh to miranda), but its pretty easy to ignore. the introductions to certain characters was a bit off putting like, Julien putting his feet in Vivienne’s lap was… an interesting choice, along with Jinx just being named Jinx, def dont think that fits the vibe but whatevs its not my creative vision. the characters kept getting hurt to a glaring degree but whatevs I loved how they took care of each other. Im not really sure where this story is supposed to be set, because they say something about Manchester being 2,500 miles away, but then are very very obviously all british, which was a bit confusing but idk not that hard to look past. overall, it was cute, just a little disappointing, probs will not reread.

[palak (Taylor's Version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a cute and beautifully written book. genuinely love it so much, and i was so glad I got to beta-read it!! honestly go read this, i promise you won't regret it.
the tropes (found family, black cat × golden retriever, rivals to lovers, etc) play out so well, and the relationship between all the characters is just 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼
the representation in the book was so inclusive and did not feel forced at all. seriously though, please absolutely do read this book, you're gonna love it-

[Navya2024 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf’d at 70%. Immature, wattpad writing and frustrating characters.

[Siddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both Vivienne and Jinx are headed to the same university, after being high-school enemies and rivals for years. They were at an expensive private school, both scholarship pupils, both unpopular without friends, but both brilliant at most of their studies. At the beginning Vivienne and Jinx are total enemies, but slowly they become friends and then more. We don’t really see much of them together as girlfriends which is such a pity; this is the story of how they get there. This is a young adult book with a ‘happy for now’ ending.
The story is interesting, well written, but sometimes feels a bit disorganised. There are many deep thoughtful parts. It is a long, drawn out story, often without much happening, extremely slow burn. It really does take a long time for Vivienne and Jinx to get together, but it is worth the wait.
It’s hard to place where this book is set. The location seems to be the US, but the English used is a version of British English, with British spellings, but also some Americanisms.
Jinx is such a lovely name, in my mind it evokes a cheeky, sarcastic but cute person, perfectly suited to Jinx in this story.
There are several mistakes that could be sorted by editing; wrong names, spelling issues, spaces missing, punctuation issues, line-break problems. Sometimes the English feels a bit basic, but there is nothing that really takes away from this interesting story.

[reva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this love this love this

[jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️

[Emmanuelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I NEED a movie about this book… I enjoyed it SO MUCH !!!! I need more. I want the rest of theirs stories PLEASE

[madelyn meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK OMG IT WAS SO GOOD I HAVE NEVER REVIEWED A BOOK ON HERE BUT NOW I AM LOL. THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS WHERE YOU FEEL EMPTY WHEN YOU FINISH IT. I GUESS IM GOING TO GO DIG A HOLE TO LIVE IN FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

[ollie · Rating 1 out of 5]

maybe if i was in seventh grade and reading this on wattpad i would have liked it better lol.

Edit 8/3/24:
I couldn’t be at peace with myself for giving this book 2 stars so

[Babaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable and a comforting read

[mady · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a little rough… ok so I got this book bcz I saw an edit about it on Instagram and I was like ok gay academic rivals to lovers I love it!! but it all went downhill from there :/ the premise is interesting it’s just that you can very much tell its self published since I felt like i was reading one of the books I wrote when I was 14? The sentences were kind of weirdly written, lots of unnecessary details, LOTS of very dramatic backstories so the characters would have trauma. The romance was cute ig but still moved at a weird pace and also THEY NEVER DID THEIR DEBATE like the whole point was they would be against each other and then it never happened?? I do like that the author tried to add a little gay found family moment but idk it was all kind of incoherent and very obvious that this person hasn’t been to college… anyhow overall 2/5 even though it got a bit better at the end

[Abha Paradkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

OH my god. This is probably the cutest sapphic romance. And I'm so glad that Jinx and Vivienne haven't been overly sexualized.
It was so sweet I think I got a toothache. Seriously I know how cheesy I'm being but good wlw romcoms are hard to come by.
This book is such a hidden gem. I feel it could have benefitted by maybe a better cover page and maybe some advertising/marketing. It could be really successful

[Zoe (taylors version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was adorable!
the characters were amazing and i can never say no to a good enemies to lovers. i was giggling and kicking my feet during certain scenes and could not help but blush when jinx was just purely existing. sometimes i was slightly confused as to what was going on but otherwise i loved this book!

[fionacolette]

https://www.lulu.com/search?page=1&am...

[leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

AGH this book was so cute. i love all of the characters sm and i really liked the ending. However, Jinx and Viviennes confession(?) was pretty rushed and kind of confusing. Either way, i loved this book a lot!

[Wren Rogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED IT!!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET A PHYSICAL COPY! :)

[ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh
my
gosh
this book was absolutely INCREDIBLE
the descriptions, characters, interactions between the characters, and the banter was EVERYTHING
ahhh i can’t get over this book. i totally recommend reading it!

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

YESSS!

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice

[d r b · Rating 1 out of 5]

couldn't get through with it because of the horrible writing. there are better books on wattpad than this. :)

[Kiera Lai]

awww that was adorable. definitely a wattpad-like read tho. still good. HEHEHEHEH rivals to lovers

[Estrella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Anna Bartolacci · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[sanjana s · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked it but why does every character smirk so much

[sea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this soo much!! I'm literally Vivienne except the smartness hahah :')

[Yana · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was just a silly goofy romance, did love the characters and while there were instances of grammar mistakes, I'd say it holds up!!

the ending was a little bit underwhelming but oh well idk, for what it was (a break from a high fantasy reading spree) it got rhe job done!!

[lora · Rating 1 out of 5]

just no

[amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

perhaps the worst published book I've ever read. dnf at 60%