What do you think?
Rate this book
Left on Read
Not yet published
Expected 4 Aug 26In this rivals-to-lovers romcom from Marissa Eller, overachiever Murphy wants one thing: to be the top student in her school. So when a student who could beat her turns up, she tries to keep her eyes on her own paper… and off this infuriatingly perfect boy.
School is everything to Murphy—literally everything, since she’s missed out on all of the Traditional High School Things in pursuit of academic success. Her senior year is going to be perfect, and so is she... because she's pushing herself to her physical and mental limit. All she needs to do is ignore her mounting anxiety! Which is probably clinical! La la la!
But Hayes—her ultrasmart, ultra-annoying rival for valedictorian—is making her year far less perfect than she imagined.
He's after that top spot, and he doesn’t care who he has to shove outside. But when Murphy and Hayes are paired up for a group project on student mental health, Murphy discovers that he might be the only one who understands what she’s going through. The burnout. The self-doubt. The unrelenting grind. Together, they can stand up to the pressures of academia, family, and the way most traveled... if they partner up in more ways than one.
School is everything to Murphy—literally everything, since she’s missed out on all of the Traditional High School Things in pursuit of academic success. Her senior year is going to be perfect, and so is she... because she's pushing herself to her physical and mental limit. All she needs to do is ignore her mounting anxiety! Which is probably clinical! La la la!
But Hayes—her ultrasmart, ultra-annoying rival for valedictorian—is making her year far less perfect than she imagined.
He's after that top spot, and he doesn’t care who he has to shove outside. But when Murphy and Hayes are paired up for a group project on student mental health, Murphy discovers that he might be the only one who understands what she’s going through. The burnout. The self-doubt. The unrelenting grind. Together, they can stand up to the pressures of academia, family, and the way most traveled... if they partner up in more ways than one.
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication August 4, 2026
174 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House for giving me access to read this in exchange of an honest review.
🪼⋆.ೃ࿔*:
4 rounded up to 4,75 ⭐️
This YA romance book is a breath of fresh air. I loved reading the story of Nova and Hayes so much. This story really dives into how school causes a lot of stress, anxiety and other mental health issues, especially when you're in a special program. I think this is a very important topic and I enjoyed seeing it being talked about.
The story follows Nova, a 12th grade student in the fast forward program to College, while still in high school. She's one of the best students, has a high GPA, and dreams of becoming an english professor one day. She always puts all the efforts that she can in her studying. Being in the advanced program means burnout, being tired a lot and also hating on your academic rival. Hayes is the nemesis of Nova, he's the perfect picture of a guy who has it all without needing to put that much effort. That's how Nova mostly saw him, the arrogant guy who won president of BETA club the previous year and made fun of her. However, behind this persona, hides a guy that never offered too much of himself and tried to show his interest in the wrong way. Hayes is the son of two successful docters, his older brother is also in Med School in an Ivy League, so the expectations are high. But what hides behind those expectations is someone who doesn't want to go that way but doesn't know what to do to show it. Nova and Hayes both find themselves in the same American English Lit class, the one that Nova has been waiting for since her freshman year, but what awaits them was completely different from what I imagined and even managed to go throught her cracks and destroy that image she made in her head.
˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚ I honestly loved this story a lot, I will never stop talking about how cute they are and how the character building and background was so well done. It helped to understand the dynamic between the MC and to appreciate how they started to get closer and learn to enjoy each other's company.
If you're an adept of a slow burn, academic rivals, enemies to lovers and a cute YA romance, then this is definitely for you.
🪼⋆.ೃ࿔*:
4 rounded up to 4,75 ⭐️
This YA romance book is a breath of fresh air. I loved reading the story of Nova and Hayes so much. This story really dives into how school causes a lot of stress, anxiety and other mental health issues, especially when you're in a special program. I think this is a very important topic and I enjoyed seeing it being talked about.
The story follows Nova, a 12th grade student in the fast forward program to College, while still in high school. She's one of the best students, has a high GPA, and dreams of becoming an english professor one day. She always puts all the efforts that she can in her studying. Being in the advanced program means burnout, being tired a lot and also hating on your academic rival. Hayes is the nemesis of Nova, he's the perfect picture of a guy who has it all without needing to put that much effort. That's how Nova mostly saw him, the arrogant guy who won president of BETA club the previous year and made fun of her. However, behind this persona, hides a guy that never offered too much of himself and tried to show his interest in the wrong way. Hayes is the son of two successful docters, his older brother is also in Med School in an Ivy League, so the expectations are high. But what hides behind those expectations is someone who doesn't want to go that way but doesn't know what to do to show it. Nova and Hayes both find themselves in the same American English Lit class, the one that Nova has been waiting for since her freshman year, but what awaits them was completely different from what I imagined and even managed to go throught her cracks and destroy that image she made in her head.
˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚ I honestly loved this story a lot, I will never stop talking about how cute they are and how the character building and background was so well done. It helped to understand the dynamic between the MC and to appreciate how they started to get closer and learn to enjoy each other's company.
If you're an adept of a slow burn, academic rivals, enemies to lovers and a cute YA romance, then this is definitely for you.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Eller achieves sophomore book success with this academic rivals to lovers YA romance about Nova, a neurodivergent teen struggling under the weight and expectations of her senior year at an accelerated college program. I loved that autism/autistic traits are never explicitly addressed but anyone who is familiar with them will feel seen.
There's great disability rep (Nova has chronic migraines) and mental health rep as Nova fights for better mental health supports at her school and finds love with Hayes, the one boy she thought hated her but has actually been one of her biggest supporters and who loves her for who she is. Highly recommended for fans of authors like Jackie Khalilieh and Elle McNicoll.
There's great disability rep (Nova has chronic migraines) and mental health rep as Nova fights for better mental health supports at her school and finds love with Hayes, the one boy she thought hated her but has actually been one of her biggest supporters and who loves her for who she is. Highly recommended for fans of authors like Jackie Khalilieh and Elle McNicoll.
April 11, 2026
I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley. As someone who grew up with an autistic sister, it is so nice to read books that represent autistic people is a great way. Mental Health was also brought in so well, especially for YA. This also really reminded me of the show “Never Have I Ever” which is one of my favorites. If you love a good slow burn enemies to lovers, you’ll love this one!
April 20, 2026
I had so much fun with this one. You get the academic rivals to lovers who come together via a school project in which they learn to work together and dare I say… understand each other? This is a great read especially for those of you dealing with anxiety and academic pressure along with just the pressure of being a teen growing into adulthood.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Left on Read by Marissa Eller is a rivals-to-lovers romance set at an elite prep school. Nora is driven to be both valedictorian and senior class president. But there’s one annoying, super-smart boy in the way: Hayes. The same kid who ruined her class presentation the year before by setting off her car alarm, forcing her to abandon her presentation and be escorted by a security guard to the parking lot. The same Hayes who will likely be both valedictorian and senior class president unless Nora can do something drastic. It’s enough to push Nora’s anxiety into the stratosphere. Then a teacher does the unthinkable: pairs Nora and Hayes on a project about mental health. And it doesn’t take long for Nora to realize that despite how much she hates everything about him, maybe Hayes is the only person who can really relate to all the stress and burnout that she’s going through. The two are in a class where the teacher is completely checked out, and Hayes does the unthinkable – much to Nora’s horror and delight – he suggests to the other students that Nora could teach them the subject matter. If you like a good slow-burn enemies to friends to more high school romance, Left on Read might be for you.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews