I Think I Love You

by Auriane Desombre, Rafał Bzdak (Translator)

Młodzieżowa komedia romantyczna o dziewczynach, które zaczynają znajomość jako rywalki, po czym zakochują się w sobie, a przynajmniej tak im się wydaje. Błyskotliwy i zabawny romans queerowy z motywem enemies to lovers.

Emma i Sophia biorą udział w konkursie podczas letniego festiwalu filmowego. Pierwsza jest niepoprawną romantyczką i marzy o księciu na białym koniu, druga nie wierzy w miłość, a do kwestii uczuciowych podchodzi bardzo pragmatycznie. Obie konkurują ze sobą, walcząc o wyjazd na prestiżowy festiwal filmowy do Los Angeles. Czy silna rywalizacja może przerodzić się w ognisty romans?

Dla fanów Leah on the Offbeat Becky Albertalli, pełnej śmiechu i momentów zmiękczających serce.

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

Auriane Desombre is a middle school teacher and author of love stories for teens and tweens. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her wife and daughter, their badly behaved dog, and an ever-growing collection of houseplants (most of which are pretty well behaved).

Reviews

[vatana is trying to read]

i go where the gayness is.

[Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd)]

Might print out a copy of this cover and sleep with it under my pillow, idk.

[persephone ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's crazy how i can read the filthiest smut like it's the morning paper, but blush like there's no tomorrow when i read the tiniest bit of fluff 🙄

anyway, i'm on my way to murder Matt, anyone wants to join ?

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get this is a Much Ado About Nothing retelling but the two main character's getting together was just far too unbelivable. Emma's hatred for Sophia was so unjust I couldn't look past it.

[Leah]

Dnf at 30% so no rating from me. I found both mains to be annoying and selfish and I don’t care enough about either to keep reading.

[Ace]

Sapphic rivals-to-lovers? I have been summoned

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

Well I do enjoy a good enemies to lovers light hearted romance

This was a fun but at times frustrating story. I always get a bit miffed when the old miscommunication plot goes on for a few too many chapters as it did in this one. It's probably because it would never drag on for too long in my world before I had some kind of truth bomb showdown. I actually really liked the main characters and thought the personal challenges they faced were relatable and sensitively dealt with. I'm not sure about the volume of the peripheral friend drama as at times it over shadowed the main love story. A nice slightly quirky and predictable romance story.

[Irena BookDustMagic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2,75

Review to come soon.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like any of these characters and I don't think even teenagers are this stupid. The immaturity level is ramped with everybody talking nonsense, about life, about each other, about their plans and expectations. And particularly about relationships.

I'll give one example that was driving me nuts. It's a big one but only one. Sophia, one of the leads, is running around seriously claiming that "love doesn't exist". She doubles down on that sentiment when challenged. Even a teenager, in all their ignorant hubris, isn't going to give that obvious idiocy headspace. People hold lots of weird ideas about love and I'm generally willing to go with a character's various excuses for an author to explore them. But "it doesn't exist" is just dumb.

I finally got cranky enough to quit when the whole peer group blows up, subverting the very activity they're supposedly very serious about. It was already a stupid conceit that six people could create a film that could stand up to national competition. Anyone thinking they could do it with three is beyond delusional. And that's before you have Sophia running around saying "artsy films do better in competitions". Which is true, probably, but define "artsy" (hint: anyone who can create an "artsy film" doesn't call it that and anyone who calls it that can't create one).

Ugh. I'm frustrating myself by going on about this. It's a one-star dnf and I regret wasting time on it.

[tessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5)

hi i really wanted to like this and i didn’t and i am now Sad

i never had like High High expectations for this but i was like !! nice a cute sapphic contemporary which i will enjoy !! and instead ended up feeling annoyed the whole way through

i found both of the main characters super annoying and whiny?? kinda self centred aswell i guess??? and hating both of the main characters in a romance is ,,,, not the greatest time because it meant there was No part of me really rooting for the romance??? like it WAS cute when they were together but i also didn’t really care

the conflict towards the end also felt SO forced like !! i know that’s super common in ya but it just felt so pointless here

also a very me thing to why i didn’t LOVE this - and this is very much a me problem and if this sort of thing never bothers you then just ignore this !! - but while this was sapphic and cute and both the mc’s were sapphic identifying they were the only queer characters and there were multiple straight romances in the background and ?? i don’t know that is fine and i understand in a lot of books why there’s only going to be maybe two queer characters because of the context but this was about artsy film nerds in new york ??

and idk, again a me thing, but when i’m going into a queer romance book it’s because i want,,,the queer characters and their romance but i’m pretty sure there were many points where the straight side characters and their romances got WAY more focus

again that is a very me complaint so take it with a massive handful of salt !!!!

and definitely check out this book if you don’t necessarily feel the same about these points because it WAS cute and i loved the film festival stuff and there were some important elements such as one of the main characters throughout the book trying to come out and it explores that sort of ~grey area~ of supportive parents

(one thing i liked were the much ado about nothing vibes which is one of my favourite shakespeare plays so i’m kinda sad that didn’t save the book for me)

(why must books with the MOST gorgeous covers be so mediocre)

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auriane Desombre's debut novel, I Think I Love You , is sweet and poignant, a hate-to-love (sort-of) rom-com that definitely touched my heart.

“The best love is matter-of-fact. It doesn’t need those big gestures and those bug romantic moments. Real love comes in the everyday moments, the daily life you share.”

When Emma learns of a film festival competition which could lead to college scholarships and an internship in the film industry, she instantly convinces her best friends to help make a movie. As a bisexual teen and a huge romantic, she’s never found a rom-com that makes her feel seen, so that’s her idea for a film.

But when Sophia returns after some time living in Paris with her mother, she’s quick to throw a wrench in Emma’s plans. Not only doesn’t she believe in love or romance, but she thinks a cheesy idea like Emma’s won’t win the festival—they need something artsy, introspective, and pretentious. The differing opinions between the two create a great deal of tension in their friend group, so they split up to make both movies.

Of course, having friends in competition with one another is never a good idea and many feel caught in the middle. When something happens to cause Emma and Sophia to start seeing each other in a different light, they realize there are reasons each behaves the way they do and perhaps their dislike of one another is misguided.

Come on, rom-com fans, you know what will happen. But this is an emotional story, so there’s drama, misunderstandings, and tension afoot and there are secrets to be revealed. In a lot of ways the book feels like a rom-com, but it also resonated for me in a number of ways.

I love the abundance of LGBTQIA+ rom-coms out there these days!!

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the last decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Kelsey Rodkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This super funny and QUEER AF book is as cute as its cover! It's a great take on MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, set in the present-day NYC high school scene with driven and talented lady leads!

[kay! · Rating 4 out of 5]

☆ advanced reader copy from netgalley ☆

How do you write a review about a book that means the world to you?



When I finished this book, I was hyperventilating. I've never had a book hit me so close to home. It's like Desombre reached into my soul and wrote it out on paper. From Sophia's parental situation to Emma's bisexuality, the book just spoke to me on a level no other book has.

Sophia is just --- she's me. That's all I can say. Emma is perfect... Goodness, everything about this book was perfect. I can't even make coherent sentences.

I loved reading Sophia and Emma transform in this book. Their character development and their relationship development was perfect. They are both flawed but that's what makes them great characters.

Not to mention, this book was ADORABLE. I was practically smiling the entire novel. Sophie and Emma's development from rivals to friends to lovers was... ugh, I loved it.

In conclusion, this is a new favorite, please buy it, bye!

[sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

i hate this book and i’m so unbelievably upset about it.

let’s get into it shall we ? going into this book obviously the cover is gorgeous and i mean the plot sounded fairly interesting enough, sapphic enemies to lovers who are rivals in a film competition yes please ! however, i have yet to be more disappointed than i was with this book.

i’ll start with all the things i despise about this book.
- THE WRITING STYLE. the characters aren’t written like real teenagers, it’s written like a 47 year old woman trying to figure out what teenagers sound like and failing absolutely miserably.
- almost all of the characters, emma has the personality of a glorified fifth grader who stans the kissing booth. seriously. tom is a narcissist asshole, myrah and kate were alright but overall irrelevant, sophia i liked more than others but i’ll talk about her later and you know, matt was, well matt.
- emma going on and on about her perfect romance and love and ugh. listen, i’m a hopeless romantic myself so going in, i thought i would relate to her but instead i loathed her. similarly, how sophia went on and on about how she hates love and yak.
- everything in this book was either predictable or i’ve seen it done a thousand times. the “my parents are divorced and i’m scared of love so i just hate it wahwah”, the godforsaken coming out storyline (listen, i get it, i’m gay i relate trust me, BUT IT DOESNT NEED TO BE IN EVERY LGBTQ+ BOOK DAMNIT), not to mention the fact that i knew kate, myrah and tom had set sophia & emma up from the beginning so that story wasn’t interesting whatsoever.
-the whole of the enemies to lovers storyline. so in my experience, enemies to lovers can work one of two ways 1. diehard, stone cold hatred or 2. strong dislike usually with petty arguments and fun banter. i believe this book was supposed to be the latter but it just fell flat (like everything else in this book). they talk about how mean they are to each other but tbh they’re just annoying and petty.
- all the “plans” and “sabotages” were childish and unnecessary.
- THE ENEMIES PART WASN’T LONG ENOUGH AT ALL AND THERE WAS NO TRANSITION. this drove me crazy. its like one day they hate each other and the next they’re all giggly and “in love”. (thats another issue, the other doesn’t describe the feeling of being in love well at all)
- i’m all for tropes but it feels like this writer said “you know what would be fan-fucking-tastic, if we took all of the overused tropes and just turned them up to MAX”

things i liked (hint: there’s not much)
- sophia. “liked” would be a strong word, much like emma i found her annoying and whiney but compared to that god awful excuse for a main character, i found her to be the best part of the book.

so to conclude this book was a shitshow and absolutely awful and had it been any longer i would have gouged my eyes out with a pencil. but in all seriousness i was really disappointed when i didn’t like it because i was really looking forward to reading it:(

also- i feel like it should be noted that i read a book a couple weeks ago that totaled to about 340k words and i read that in sixteen hours and this book is 300-ish pages, probably not over 75k and IT TOOK ME THREE FUCKING DAYS. i hate this book with every fiber of my being.

[alaska · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you think i could resist reading a sapphic book with 1) a hate-to-love romance and 2) a film festival...you clearly think of me too highly. i am weak, okay? i see the cutest cover ever and hear it's sapphic and i am craving the book. that's about 80% of my personality at this point.

i used to never read light-hearted books, especially not romcoms, so i'm trying to get into them more and this definitely was one that made me so incredibly happy! i found myself actually loving just reading without thinking too much, you know?

i loved the setting of this book so much! as an absolute movie-freak it was so much fun to see the characters be so passionate about the film festival and how their own love story developed while, well, developing their own movies! there's also something about sophia and emma. their chemistry was so cute and wholesome.

i 100% believe they are real. i refuse to believe anything else.

there's also a pretty good balance between the more serious stuff (like sophia's parents their divorce and emma not being out to her parents). about emma: being bisexual myself, I definitely related to her and the representation made me so incredibly happy! especially this quote:

"When I come out to them, I want them to know that bisexuality is valid, and I want them to know that bisexual love stories are as possible and beautiful and lovely as any other."

and that's exactly why i'm so happy i picked this up: we got to see that. and that's so, so important.

the thing just is: romcoms are something i'm gonna need some time to get used to. while i usually read books with lots of descriptions and build-up, this one was more straightforward? like i said, i really enjoyed not having to crack my brain over things, but it also felt really...ill at ease, to be honest? so i guess this is a typical case of it's-not-you-it's-me.

that being said, this is a very positive three-stars for me though! i read it in one sitting and enjoyed my time with it a lot! highly recommend if anyone's looking for some sapphic cuteness!

thank you to the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review! this did not affect my opinions in any way.

[bee 🍉 · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When I come out to them, I want them to know that bisexuality is valid, and I want them to know that bisexual love stories are as possible and beautiful and lovely as any other.”

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and enjoy a good sapphic romance so I decided to pick this up since it’s been in my tbr for so long.

I loved the idea and setting behind this. The fact that the two main characters give such wonderful representation fills me up with so much comfort and joy.

I wish there would’ve been less focus on the straight relationships of this book because I wanted it to centre more around the development of Sophia and Emma’s relationship. I loved the conflict surrounding Sophia and Emma with their parents. That’s also what I wanted the focus on.

Being afraid of your parents reaction to you coming out is such a large issue and fear that people apart of the community face and I loved that aspect of this book and would’ve loved more of it.

Overall, this was a cute story and I enjoyed it.

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rep: lesbian mc, bi mc

(2.5)

— i cared way more about sophia and a lot of emma's problems with sophia at the start were...so childish but they are teens so i guess that was whatever

— i loved how sophia twice said "i love being a lesbian" that's why i've gone 2.5 rounded up tbh

— there's so much het drama for a book about sapphic omd, and i'm not at all sure i'd have forgiven tom for pulling that shit

— if i was friends with anyone who meddled in my life to the extent that these friends meddle, i can't say i'd be particularly forgiving, or look too kindly on them, not gonna lie, but i guess that's just me

[Ellie]

As part of F/F February 2021, over at Beyond A Bookshelf we talked to author Auriane Desombre about debuting with a LGBTQIAP+ novel and the hate-to-love romance trope! You can read it here.

*

I Think I Love You is a light and easy sapphic rom-com that's quintessential YA. It's also a loose retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, which is fun. I enjoyed the hate-to-love dynamic between Emma and Sophia, and by extension their respective characterisation. There did seem to be a lot of deception about various things by various characters and it did make me wonder whether it was all necessary, but by the end the characters did seem to learn that it wasn't the way to go about things.

The quick pacing was excellent and I breezed through it! It was refreshing to have something shorter, especially as I've been reading longer YA novels as of late. I also enjoyed how clear Desombre made Emma and Sophia's identities.

All in all, a light and easy YA debut with a fun sapphic romance at its heart.

[Haley Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wonder what would happen if you took Much Ado About Nothing, introduced it to Emma, and then plopped it in modern day NY? Then this stunning f/f romcom is definitely for you! Filled with heart, humor, and impressive amounts of wit, this book follows Emma and Sophia and their complicated (turned swoony!) relationship during a film competition.

I was able to read an early version of this story and am more than excited to read it again. And again. And again.

I don't just think I love this book... I love it with absolute certainty!

[Andrea Contos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the f/f romcom you've been waiting for!!

I loved everything about the enemies-to-lovers romcom set in fabulous NY! Desombre perfectly captures the feel of being a student in New York, and the chemistry between Emma and Sophia manages to be both swoony and sweet.

This is one of my fav reads of 2019 and 2020 can't get here soon enough!!!

[cossette · Rating 3 out of 5]

lowkey was really disappointed by this one. i think it just wasn't for me? the characters seemed ... very self-absorbed/whiny (sophia reminded me of anna and the french kiss) but it was cute!

[mims ₊ ⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

💌 pre-read: reading as a palate cleanser because i still need to recover from the anatomy duology 😭✨

[Izzy. · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly as far as gay contemporary books go these days this one isn’t half bad. i liked the trope in this book a lot. sort of enemies to lovers but with a twist of them both thinking that the other is in love with them. the only flaws i can think of are how unrealistic the movie aspect of this book is and how annoying sophia was about french things. other than that the book was pretty solid. and i absolutely loveeee the cover art

[Althea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Think I Love You is a fun, sapphic, enemies-to-lovers/rivals-to-lovers YA contemporary romance that follows Emma, who absolutely adores rom-coms, and Sophia, who after her parents’ divorce no longer believes in love. After the two butt heads while their group of friends tries to come up with a concept for a prestigious film festival, the two end up competing against each other. But after some friendly interference, perhaps there’s more to their snarky remarks and cutting insults. As I’m sure you’ll already no, I’m not a huge fan of enemies-to-lovers romances, and rivals-to-lovers is on thin ice too, but I was sold by the film making competition plotline and the gorgeous cover, so I had to pick it up. Immediately I was so, so happy to see that the characters refer to their sexualities by name on page – Emma frequently talks about how important her identity is as a bisexual, and it was great to see that she talked about how it is still an important part of her, no matter what gender her future partner is, and Sophia is an out and proud lesbian who mentions several times that she loves being a lesbian!

Despite this, I did think that the book got off to a pretty shaky start, hence the four star rating, and I found Sophia and Emma’s dynamic to be too much on the enemies side. It is explained that there is no real reason why they hate each other but they don’t just trade snarky comments, instead making really quite hurtful remarks and pushing the other away for literally no reason. I also picked up on a a line at the start of chapter six that felt really off to me as a lesbian – for some context, Emma is asked out by one of her male friends, Matt, and she rejects him several times but he keeps persevering, only to stop when Sophia interjects. At the start of chapter six, which is from Sophia’s POV, she thinks: “No one deserves to be on the receiving end of a man’s romantic attentions for so long after making it clear that she isn’t interested. At some point, it’s disrespectful of boundaries. Reason 4,948,127 why I love being a lesbian”. The first part of this about boundaries, I have no problem with, but the part where she insinuates that she doesn’t have to put up with this because she is a lesbian is questionable at best. I know that I, and many other lesbians, have experienced being hit on by a man who doesn’t seem to want to give up and even some who suggest they can ‘change us’, so to suggest that this doesn’t happen made me a bit uncomfortable.

However, aside from this, once the plot got going I found myself really sucked into the story and read the majority of the book in one evening! I think that the interference of their mutual friends into Emma and Sophia’s relationship was a plot device that I particularly enjoyed and I loved seeing their dynamic evolve from that point onwards. The drama of the film competition was also a lot of fun, and the setting of New York City in the midst of a heatwave makes this book the perfect read for summer!

As for the characters, I was definitely team Sophia, but I loved them both regardless! Emma is your classic hopeless romantic who adores rom-coms and just wants to see herself, as a bisexual girl, represented, and so decides to film her own sapphic rom-com. She is also still closeted to her parents and this part of the story meant a lot to me, though I don’t want to talk too much about it for fear of spoiling something! Sophia is dealing with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce and having just returned from Paris, and has decided to create a French-inspired, moody artistic film. There’s a part in the book that really resonated with me when she says that she “…was miserable when I was in France. I spent the whole time lying around in my room and eating my feelings. And France is a good place to do that”. Those lines really made me laugh because when I moved to France I spent a lot of my time crying in the Intermarché and devouring freshly baked baguettes and mustard crisps (I miss those crisps so much)! Her discussions of loneliness were so relatable and I really loved her character a lot!

Overall, despite my initial hesitations, I really did enjoy reading this book for the most part and even if, like me, you’re not a fan of enemies-to-lovers, once you power through the first third of the book or so, you’ll find that this is a really sweet sapphic romance with an engaging plot and a really hopeful outlook!

[Avery · Rating 2 out of 5]

booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
what do u call a ya novel where you hated both of the main characters? bad. you call it bad. hated this book sm that i texted isaiah to make sure that their film stuff was accurate bc i needed more reasons to dislike this book. their problems just seemed to DUMBBBBBB also sophia’s whole thing where she hates love bc her parents got divorced? stupidddddd like bruh youre 16 and youre just gonna??? claim love ever existed???? love is dead ig. but then its SO easy to change her mind. also!!!!
emma when she manipulates her friends into getting together: 😊🥰❤️🥰😊💕💞💖😘😍
emma when her friends do the exact same thing to her: 😓😥😭😢😟😔😞😕☹️🤕🤧😡
this is barely rivals to lovers and its laughable to call it that. the reasons they give for hating each other are dumb. the third act break up???? even MORE stupid than usual. emma doesnt even take sophia’s feelings into consideration she just immediately assumes that everything was because of the lie like gosh ur just dumb at that point. and after all that they dont even WIN the competition so what was the POINTTTTTTT.

[Rachel Solomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I THINK I LOVE YOU is an absolute DELIGHT!! Auriane Desombre's voice is so fresh and modern, and I adored both Emma and Sophia, along with their (hilariously) scheming groups of friends. This contemporary f/f Much Ado About Nothing retelling stole my heart.

[rachel, x · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram

[Dona's Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found an audio copy of I THINK I LOVE YOU by Auriane Desombre on the Libby app. Check for your local library on the app and read great books for free!📚

Emma and Sophia are in high school, navigating the challenges of academics and relationships. Emma struggles with the challenges of competing against Sophia in a student film competition, while also wrestling with romantic feelings for her. Sophia is the first girl Emma has ever liked in that way, and now she worries about things like coming out to her parents as bisexual along with potentially dating her competition. Emma is stressed! Sophia meanwhile is perfectly composed, of course. Is she even taking any of this seriously?

This is a sweet story, but a little boring and predictable. Considering how little bisexual representation there is in fiction, I'm pretty happy with that aspect, but I even found this element a little watered down.

Honestly, I really struggled to connect to this one because I despised the narrator that read for Emma for the audiobook. Her intensity level was like a 9 for the whole book, which was not necessary when voicing a romcom. I kept waiting for someone to jump out with an ax. I understand that the character she read for is an anxious character, but there should still be some nuance to the reading.

Rating 🎥🎥 / 5 film students
Recommend? Sure, it's not terrible
Finished: March 12 2023
Read this if you like:
👩🏻‍🤝‍👩🏽 Sapphic romcoms
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 Bisexual rep
🙎‍♀️ YA romcom
🌈 Diverse stories

[John Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 up to 3 for a first effort.

But it was a real dog's breakfast. Six friends join together to make a video for a contest where the winners all get sholarships to Hollywood or something or other. Split narrative in alternating chapters between Sophie and Emma, who are natural competitors and clash. Five of the six are always manipulating things to get people together romantically without their knowledge. They are all pretty horrible actually.

There were elements that worked and it could have been a good story without all the background game playing. Very disappointing, but as I finished it, it got the 3.

[ʙᴏᴋɪᴛᴀ.ɴɪᴋa · Rating 5 out of 5]

هر ضعف و کلیشه ای که داشت برام مهم نیست فقط دوستش داشتم :)

لذت خوندن همچین کتابی به دنیا می ارزه..
واقعا می ارزید برای من که با مرددی خوندمش چون به زبانم اعتماد نداشتم تجربه شیرینی بود