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From Square One
Not yet published
Expected 27 Oct 26Falling in love with your enemy? Impossible. Falling in love with him twice? --
After an accident leaves Riley Wilson with amnesia to deal with on top of his chronic pain, he can recall everything except the crash that landed him in the hospital, the last year of his life, and having a boyfriend. Who happens to be his older brother’s best friend. And the guy he resents more than anyone.
Learning this information sends Riley spiraling. In what world could someone as sensible and meticulous as Riley have ever willingly agree to go out with Aaron—an arrogant prick who screwed up his brother’s life?
Riley would love nothing more than to use his amnesia as an excuse to start fresh and snip Aaron out of his life. But with his family being cagey about the past, and his memories far out of reach, he realizes that this troublemaker is the only person willing to help him remember the last year. And teaming up with him despite his brother’s protests may be the only path to finding the missing memories—even if it means starting from square one and reenacting every date, every kiss, every “first” they’ve ever had in the hopes of rediscovering them.
All Riley has to do is not make the same mistake by falling in love twice.
After an accident leaves Riley Wilson with amnesia to deal with on top of his chronic pain, he can recall everything except the crash that landed him in the hospital, the last year of his life, and having a boyfriend. Who happens to be his older brother’s best friend. And the guy he resents more than anyone.
Learning this information sends Riley spiraling. In what world could someone as sensible and meticulous as Riley have ever willingly agree to go out with Aaron—an arrogant prick who screwed up his brother’s life?
Riley would love nothing more than to use his amnesia as an excuse to start fresh and snip Aaron out of his life. But with his family being cagey about the past, and his memories far out of reach, he realizes that this troublemaker is the only person willing to help him remember the last year. And teaming up with him despite his brother’s protests may be the only path to finding the missing memories—even if it means starting from square one and reenacting every date, every kiss, every “first” they’ve ever had in the hopes of rediscovering them.
All Riley has to do is not make the same mistake by falling in love twice.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 27, 2026
About the author
A.M. Woody
4 books177 followersA. M. Woody is a queer nonbinary author based in metro-Detroit and represented by New Leaf Literary. Some of their book weaknesses include:
Uncontrollable magic
Boys who fall in love
Girls with swords
Snarky banter
Eyes that glow
Chaotic queers
Dorks to lovers
Pirates and thieves
Uncontrollable magic
Boys who fall in love
Girls with swords
Snarky banter
Eyes that glow
Chaotic queers
Dorks to lovers
Pirates and thieves
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
remind-me-once-out
April 8, 2026I'm fine, it's fine, I don't have an arc, but I will cope...
Want to Read
May 9, 2026the arcs have begun going out omg, fingers crossed I get one😭😭
Did Not Finish
May 7, 2026Dnf @ 16%
After adoring They Hate Each Other and Most Valuable Player by this author I was so excited to read From Square One especially since it has one of my favorite tropes, the amnesia trope. However, I really wasn’t gelling with the overall execution. Was I the person with amnesia because the substance of the first few chapters felt like reading one of these sentences every five lines:
“I can’t eat gluten”
“My brother lost his scholarship”
“Aaron was a bad influence on my brother”
“I loathe Aaron”
So yeah that got old pretty quick.
Now I can’t fully judge what ends up happening and developing with the characters but I felt like the whole amnesia trope didn’t deliver the angst that usually coincides with it. In my eyes Aaron seemed to underreact to the whole fact that Riley had no recollection of them dating and the entire last year of his life. Dude was way too nonchalant and borderline corny, maybe it ends up hitting harder later into the book. I don't know, the dynamic just felt so off.
I’m still kind of curious how everything ends up with Riley’s brother so I’ll probably look up spoilery reviews once the book is out.
Thank you so much to Penguin Random House and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing me with this eARC.
After adoring They Hate Each Other and Most Valuable Player by this author I was so excited to read From Square One especially since it has one of my favorite tropes, the amnesia trope. However, I really wasn’t gelling with the overall execution. Was I the person with amnesia because the substance of the first few chapters felt like reading one of these sentences every five lines:
“I can’t eat gluten”
“My brother lost his scholarship”
“Aaron was a bad influence on my brother”
“I loathe Aaron”
So yeah that got old pretty quick.
Now I can’t fully judge what ends up happening and developing with the characters but I felt like the whole amnesia trope didn’t deliver the angst that usually coincides with it. In my eyes Aaron seemed to underreact to the whole fact that Riley had no recollection of them dating and the entire last year of his life. Dude was way too nonchalant and borderline corny, maybe it ends up hitting harder later into the book. I don't know, the dynamic just felt so off.
I’m still kind of curious how everything ends up with Riley’s brother so I’ll probably look up spoilery reviews once the book is out.
Thank you so much to Penguin Random House and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing me with this eARC.
May 14, 2026
4.5⭐️ binge read this today, it wasn’t the plan for the day but it somehow ended up that way and i’m not mad about it one bit. i was giggling screaming kicking my feet and also feeling so sad at some points… love love love the characters and the story (and the cameo from THEO)! also loveeeee the celiac and anemic representation!!!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Pre-review housekeeping: HUGE thank you to the wonderful A.M Woody themself who sent an arc to the random person (me) who DM’d them on Instagram. I promised a review in exchange, of course, and I will be buying a copy when this comes out because…
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
WHERE’S THE OPTION FOR 1000 STARS??
The way I devoured this should be criminal, I fear. No one tell my boss that I definitely neglected a little bit of my work for this.
Aaron Beckham the man that you are!!!
Riley Wilson you sweet loving thing!!!
If the person I love isn’t going to fight as hard to get me back as Aaron Beckham does, then I don’t want them😤 if they’re not going to make the effort to make sure that I’m ok and get me out of my head that Aaron Beckham does, then I don’t want them
I don’t have chronic pain or celiac like Riley does, but what I do have is anxiety and people pleasing tendencies so let me tell you, Riley Wilson hit close to home. He’s just SO sweet and adorable, I just want to put him in my pocket 🥺 I might have to fight Aaron for it but I’ll put up a good fight!
As an older sibling, I came away with a deep desire to slap Logan. Riley might be too nice to do it but me? Just a little slap please 😈 as a treat?
I understand his motivation, even though it was shitty, but as someone with younger siblings who I would die for - Logan Wilson when I fucking get you!
But this book!!! Instant favourite!! Instant favourite main character and love interest too!
And the little cameo??🥹🥹 my babies!! My grumpy, bickering babies!!
“Sunshine”!!!!
I am never shutting up about sunshine as a nickname. Too. Fucking. Cute.
The amount of times this book had me giggling at my desk? Illegal.
I also really loved that it had a little pinch of spice (just the lead up and then fade to black) as well as frank discussions of sex and sexuality, since I haven’t seen that a lot in YA books recently.
“Finally, a win for gay people!” - So true, bestie, so true.
I swear, the second I get my hands on a physical copy!!! I will be ordering x2 copies for my store, however one will never see the shelf because ITS MINE ITS MINE
In conclusion: I need to get myself a giant duck plushie.
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
WHERE’S THE OPTION FOR 1000 STARS??
The way I devoured this should be criminal, I fear. No one tell my boss that I definitely neglected a little bit of my work for this.
Aaron Beckham the man that you are!!!
Riley Wilson you sweet loving thing!!!
If the person I love isn’t going to fight as hard to get me back as Aaron Beckham does, then I don’t want them😤 if they’re not going to make the effort to make sure that I’m ok and get me out of my head that Aaron Beckham does, then I don’t want them
I don’t have chronic pain or celiac like Riley does, but what I do have is anxiety and people pleasing tendencies so let me tell you, Riley Wilson hit close to home. He’s just SO sweet and adorable, I just want to put him in my pocket 🥺 I might have to fight Aaron for it but I’ll put up a good fight!
As an older sibling, I came away with a deep desire to slap Logan. Riley might be too nice to do it but me? Just a little slap please 😈 as a treat?
I understand his motivation, even though it was shitty, but as someone with younger siblings who I would die for - Logan Wilson when I fucking get you!
But this book!!! Instant favourite!! Instant favourite main character and love interest too!
And the little cameo??🥹🥹 my babies!! My grumpy, bickering babies!!
“Sunshine”!!!!
I am never shutting up about sunshine as a nickname. Too. Fucking. Cute.
The amount of times this book had me giggling at my desk? Illegal.
I also really loved that it had a little pinch of spice (just the lead up and then fade to black) as well as frank discussions of sex and sexuality, since I haven’t seen that a lot in YA books recently.
“Finally, a win for gay people!” - So true, bestie, so true.
I swear, the second I get my hands on a physical copy!!! I will be ordering x2 copies for my store, however one will never see the shelf because ITS MINE ITS MINE
In conclusion: I need to get myself a giant duck plushie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC: The build up of this romance was great. At the start, I found myself anxious for the MC. His lack of memories coupled with the strain of his home life, and self esteem issues had me extremely cautious that he was being taken advantage of by everyone around him. I was skeptical of Aaron as a love interest, wondering if he was too good to be true, and fearing for how easily Riley would be to take advantage of if Aaron was a different person.
But as the book went on, my caution around Aaron and Riley’s relationship fell to the background as I got swept up in their romance. Aaron became more of a person to me. His actions in the present spoke louder than the memories missing, until eventually I liked him, despite all the warning signs. This was exactly the path that the MC experienced, and I think A.M. Woody was so smart to lay out the pieces the way they did, even if it caused all of my red flags to go off at the start 😅
What I liked most about this book though, was that it went a step further to address all of those concerns. It could’ve just ended with Riley gaining all of his memories back, realizing he loves Aaron, and everything going back to the way it was pre-accident. But the author went a step further and showed all of the ugly truths behind the origins of their relationship. The thing is, Aaron WAS a different person. So was Logan. So was Riley, but the heart of the story was about surrounding yourself with the right people. That message came through, and none of it felt “preachy” or undeserved.
Great book! I loved the hurt/comfort aspects. Sometimes you just need some TLC in your life <3
But as the book went on, my caution around Aaron and Riley’s relationship fell to the background as I got swept up in their romance. Aaron became more of a person to me. His actions in the present spoke louder than the memories missing, until eventually I liked him, despite all the warning signs. This was exactly the path that the MC experienced, and I think A.M. Woody was so smart to lay out the pieces the way they did, even if it caused all of my red flags to go off at the start 😅
What I liked most about this book though, was that it went a step further to address all of those concerns. It could’ve just ended with Riley gaining all of his memories back, realizing he loves Aaron, and everything going back to the way it was pre-accident. But the author went a step further and showed all of the ugly truths behind the origins of their relationship. The thing is, Aaron WAS a different person. So was Logan. So was Riley, but the heart of the story was about surrounding yourself with the right people. That message came through, and none of it felt “preachy” or undeserved.
Great book! I loved the hurt/comfort aspects. Sometimes you just need some TLC in your life <3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A.M. Woody is single-handedly giving us ALL of the queer YA hurt/comfort books. From Square One is a story about healing, emotionally as well as physically. It was a short, face-paced read and I somehow managed to read it all in one sitting.
The writing style did feel a bit like it was skewing on the younger side of YA for teens, but there was a lot of emphasis placed on the physical intimacy between the main characters, so I do feel like that was a bit jarring. But, both characters were adults and sex is a part of life so I'm not at all criticising the story for including it! Just tonally, it felt a bit discordant.
This one is 100% for the hurt/comfort lovers. This story is hurt/comfort on steroids. Hurt/comfort is more the plot than the amnesia plot. Hurt/comfort is what the characters breathe. Hurt/comfort and healing and growing up and becoming better people. VERY wholesome. Still infused with some of the classic Woody angst that we know and love them for. But mostly hurt/comfort.
Because it read a bit younger and I am not a superfan of hurt/comfort in my romance, this is closer to a 3.5 stars for me but I am very aware that is personal preference so I am rounding up because I think this book will be a huge hit with its audience. Despite being in an insane reading slump, I still read this in one sitting and could not stop reading so I hope that is an endorsement in of itself!
Thank you so much to Viking Books and Netgalley for the eARC!
The writing style did feel a bit like it was skewing on the younger side of YA for teens, but there was a lot of emphasis placed on the physical intimacy between the main characters, so I do feel like that was a bit jarring. But, both characters were adults and sex is a part of life so I'm not at all criticising the story for including it! Just tonally, it felt a bit discordant.
This one is 100% for the hurt/comfort lovers. This story is hurt/comfort on steroids. Hurt/comfort is more the plot than the amnesia plot. Hurt/comfort is what the characters breathe. Hurt/comfort and healing and growing up and becoming better people. VERY wholesome. Still infused with some of the classic Woody angst that we know and love them for. But mostly hurt/comfort.
Because it read a bit younger and I am not a superfan of hurt/comfort in my romance, this is closer to a 3.5 stars for me but I am very aware that is personal preference so I am rounding up because I think this book will be a huge hit with its audience. Despite being in an insane reading slump, I still read this in one sitting and could not stop reading so I hope that is an endorsement in of itself!
Thank you so much to Viking Books and Netgalley for the eARC!
May 10, 2026
thank you to A.M Woody themselves for allowing me access to an ARC of this novel!
i have read everything that A.M Woody has released, to the point in which they have become an autobuy author for me. i was looking forward to this novel for so long and it did not disappoint. to put it into perspective: i read the whole thing in a single day, while having one of the busiest days of my life. i quite literally could not put the book down because of how addictive it was.
i loved riley and found his struggles so relatable, and aaron was such a delight to discover more about through riley’s POV. i absolutely loved their dynamic and found it so fun and adorable. i loved seeing the lengths that aaron was willing to go just to help riley and simply be around him, even with the memory loss. you could truly feel the love these characters had for one another, even if riley wasn’t aware of it just yet.
this book was funny, heartbreaking, and so amazingly well written. A.M Woody has, yet again, written such a beautiful story with such incredible characters. cannot wait to reread it again once it officially releases in october and force everyone i know to read it as well. thank you again to A.M Woody for the ARC! already anticipating re reading this a million times and (im)patiently waiting for their next novel.
i have read everything that A.M Woody has released, to the point in which they have become an autobuy author for me. i was looking forward to this novel for so long and it did not disappoint. to put it into perspective: i read the whole thing in a single day, while having one of the busiest days of my life. i quite literally could not put the book down because of how addictive it was.
i loved riley and found his struggles so relatable, and aaron was such a delight to discover more about through riley’s POV. i absolutely loved their dynamic and found it so fun and adorable. i loved seeing the lengths that aaron was willing to go just to help riley and simply be around him, even with the memory loss. you could truly feel the love these characters had for one another, even if riley wasn’t aware of it just yet.
this book was funny, heartbreaking, and so amazingly well written. A.M Woody has, yet again, written such a beautiful story with such incredible characters. cannot wait to reread it again once it officially releases in october and force everyone i know to read it as well. thank you again to A.M Woody for the ARC! already anticipating re reading this a million times and (im)patiently waiting for their next novel.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Most Valuable Player was one of my favorite books of last year, and From Square One automatically is going in my favorites of 2026 as well. A. M. Woody is rapidly becoming a favorite author of mine, the way they write ya with so much depth and feeling packed into such a feel good story is masterful.
I walked in thinking it was going to be a cheesy love story but I should've known better, this was in equal parts devastating and achingly beautiful. The amnesia is just the tip of the iceberg really.
Riley is too good for this world, I hugged my kindle multiple times because I just wanted to hug him. And Aaron, oh my god I love that little shit so much! He's exactly my type of character, meaning confident and cocky but with a mushy interior and really sensitive. And they complement each other perfectly, as someone that is closed off just like Riley I can attest that we all need our Aaron to take us out of our little bubble sometimes.
The whole redoing things to try to regain the memories was the cliche that we all love and the author more than delivered, in more than one time I caught myself smiling so big my checks were hurting. I also cried a lot, but that shouldn't be news to anyone that has ever read an A. M. Woody book before.
I'm in love with this book.
Thank you so much to the author for the early copy, it was absolutely perfect.
I walked in thinking it was going to be a cheesy love story but I should've known better, this was in equal parts devastating and achingly beautiful. The amnesia is just the tip of the iceberg really.
Riley is too good for this world, I hugged my kindle multiple times because I just wanted to hug him. And Aaron, oh my god I love that little shit so much! He's exactly my type of character, meaning confident and cocky but with a mushy interior and really sensitive. And they complement each other perfectly, as someone that is closed off just like Riley I can attest that we all need our Aaron to take us out of our little bubble sometimes.
The whole redoing things to try to regain the memories was the cliche that we all love and the author more than delivered, in more than one time I caught myself smiling so big my checks were hurting. I also cried a lot, but that shouldn't be news to anyone that has ever read an A. M. Woody book before.
I'm in love with this book.
Thank you so much to the author for the early copy, it was absolutely perfect.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I’m convinced this author cannot write anything that isn’t good. From Square One was a fantastic novel that had so much packed in. Memory loss, chronic illness, family issues. It was amazing to see chronic illness handled so well. To be honest I’ve never read a YA book with it before.
The relationship between Riley and Aaron is sweet. The way Aaron cared for him was obvious from the start. The reveal at the end was heartbreaking, but the way it was written (without revealing anything), explains why Aaron was forgiven and Riley’s brother was not. At least not yet. The work Aaron did to earn that forgiveness felt real.
Also just dropping here that I HATE Riley’s family in general. They don’t even notice how much they’re taking advantage of him. Wanting him to go grocery shopping the day after he gets out of the hospital after being in a COMA from an auto accident?! Seethe.
The relationship between Riley and Aaron is sweet. The way Aaron cared for him was obvious from the start. The reveal at the end was heartbreaking, but the way it was written (without revealing anything), explains why Aaron was forgiven and Riley’s brother was not. At least not yet. The work Aaron did to earn that forgiveness felt real.
Also just dropping here that I HATE Riley’s family in general. They don’t even notice how much they’re taking advantage of him. Wanting him to go grocery shopping the day after he gets out of the hospital after being in a COMA from an auto accident?! Seethe.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
"I can't give up on you just yet, Riley Wilson. I made you fall for me once. I can do it again. Even if I have to start from square one."
Avert your eyes, I'm rereading a book that isn't releasing until October, the last time I did that was with Red, White, Royal Blue so you know this is book of the year material right here ✌️
Avert your eyes, I'm rereading a book that isn't releasing until October, the last time I did that was with Red, White, Royal Blue so you know this is book of the year material right here ✌️
Review of advance copy received from Author
LOVED this story, and these sweet boys! Who can resist an amnesia twist on a love story between two kind, flawed and completely lovable characters? I don’t want to give any spoilers, and the joy of this book was in the journey (you can see it only took me 2 days to read, couldn’t put it down!), so I won’t say much more but I highly recommend!
Review of advance copy received from Author
You read MVP and you came back anyway huh?
Review of advance copy
banger after banger
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
RTC!
May 14, 2026
My first amnesia trope book, this book was not as angsty as I would have liked. But it was still just as fun as A.M Woodys other books!
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
"I can't give up on you just yet, Riley Wilson. I made you fall for me once. I can do it again. Even if I have to start from square one."
book of the year for me, calling it right now ✌️✨️ in a weird way this healed something in me that Most Valuable Player (another masterpiece by the author) broke...and not just because Woody added another Aaron for me to add to my list of perfect, flawless, protect at all costs characters 💛
book of the year for me, calling it right now ✌️✨️ in a weird way this healed something in me that Most Valuable Player (another masterpiece by the author) broke...and not just because Woody added another Aaron for me to add to my list of perfect, flawless, protect at all costs characters 💛
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