Trust Fall

by Lynn Painter

Na nova comédia romântica de Lynn Painter, uma herança inesperada aproxima dois jovens de mundos diferentes, mas um segredo pode colocar tudo a perder

Julia e Damion são vizinhos. Até recentemente, ela era apenas uma garota do interior que adorava a vida tranquila que levava em Nebraska. No entanto, quando um idoso ― que, na verdade, era multimilionário ― deixa toda a fortuna para ela e a família ao morrer, a vida pacata da garota vira de ponta-cabeça.

A família se muda para uma casa histórica (e caríssima) em Nova York, e logo Julia começa a frequentar uma escola particular de elite, exclusiva para os jovens super-ricos da cidade.

Tudo maravilhoso… certo? Errado! A adaptação na escola nova vai de mal a pior e ela está prestes a ser reprovada. É aí que Damion entra em cena: misterioso, lindo e inteligente, ele é perfeito para ajudá-la com as matérias ― e, por acaso, é vizinho dela. Só que o garoto esconde um grande segredo.

Damion é sobrinho-neto do homem que deixou a herança e não acredita nem de longe que o tio-avô, que era como um pai para ele, destinaria tudo a um bando de desconhecidos. Determinado a descobrir a verdade, ele traça um plano para conquistar a confiança de Julia. Para o azar dele, ela não é nem um pouco boba, e desconfia do garoto rico com personalidade rebelde assim que o conhece.

Para piorar, quanto mais tempo Damion passa ao lado de Julia, mais sente que o plano está saindo pela culatra. O problema? O garoto está se apaixonando pela inimiga ― e a inimiga está se apaixonando por ele. Será que os dois vão conseguir conciliar as diferenças e lidar com o que sentem um pelo outro? Ou a confiança que Damion lutou tanto para conquistar vai ser quebrada para sempre?

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

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 29, 2026

Reviews

[levi (starboy) (s.ia)]

The way i was rejected this arc :(
——
The cover omg?
I want this book so bad

Please be good please be good

[molly lou]

Me after reading that title:

[chloé ✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

short and simple: this was cute, but it really didn’t give off the cozy fall vibes i was expecting and i wasn’t fully invested in the characters.

⊱ ─── ⋅ʚ what to expect ɞ⋅ ─── ⊰

» YA romance
» NYC and private school setting
» rich, Upper West Side MMC
» normal, small town FMC from Nebraska (but her family suddenly inherits money and a beautiful brownstone in NYC)
» some small town vibes in parts
» quite a bit of profanity
» enemies to lovers
» dual POV
» some familial conflict

⊱ ─── ⋅ʚ what i enjoyed ɞ⋅ ─── ⊰

» it was… cute. as many YA romances are, it was just nice to read and easy to read.
» the snobby private school and Upper West Side settings were really fun
» the plot set up was interesting and unique (the FMC and her family inherit a bunch of money and move from rural nebraska to NYC and start living a completely different lifestyle)
» Lynn’s writing flows very well and is so pleasant to read
» i loved learning about Remi and his life
» i loved Bernard/Bernie

⊱ ─── ⋅ʚ what i didn’t love ɞ⋅ ─── ⊰

» there weren’t nearly enough fall vibes considering the title and the cover of this book, in my opinion. sometimes Lynn would throw in a tiny bit of atmosphere such as leaves on the ground or a chilly breeze, but overall this book didn’t revolve around feeling autumnal like i thought it would. i could’ve used some cozy outfit descriptions, more fall scenes/activities, more pumpkins, more coffee, more festivities, more cozy, more SOMETHING.
» i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again – it was cute. but that’s about it. was it memorable? i don’t really think so, to be honest.
» i didn’t really connect with our characters. the bad boy and rebel MMC was never really… bad? he was pretty normal
» some of the quotes at the beginning of chapters from Remi were… too full of TikTok/brainrot vocabulary (like “deadass”) or just a bit cringe
» the latter half of this book felt a littttttle rushed
» profanity can be used to a certain degree, but i do believe it was overused here to the point of detracting from the story or the sincerity of the characters. occasionally, it’s fine. people curse. i curse… but multiple uses of “shit” and “fuck” on a page kind of pull me out of the story. (i’m sure someone will come up with a s-bomb and f-bomb count for this book soon and i’d love to see it)
» without any spoilers, i really don’t love the compromise the MMC came to at the end of the book

overall consensus: cute, sweet, easy to read, slightly forgettable, pretty predictable, too much profanity for my liking, and not as autumnal as i wanted. not bad, but not perfect.

i’d still recommend for fans of Lynn Painter, as a palate cleanser, and as something cute/short/sweet for October (or any time of year). this would be really good for anyone in a reading slump, as well!

[✨Julie✨]

OMG! This is so Gilmore Girls coded! 😍

Live Laugh Love Lynn Painter 🫶🏻

[rei ‧₊˚✩彡 · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHY DID I JUST READ THIS NOW???? i could’ve read this a long time ago and fell in love with it then, but it had to be during this month wherein it’s kind of a tough month for me.

i don’t think i’ll be able to give this book justice with my review but here goes nothing:

୨ৎ julia. honestly, i didn’t really know what to feel about her at first. i had a hard time connecting with her personality for some reason, and it took me a while before i started warming up to her. she definitely grew on me as the story progressed, though, especially as i got to understand her more and see where she was coming from. i love her petty side so much, i can relate to it so bad lol!

୨ৎ damion. first of all, his name literally reminds me of damian from spy x family, so yes, that comparison was living rent-free in my head the entire time. but beyond that, damion was such a charming character. i loved how patient he could be with julia (as her tutor), especially when he wasn’t actively trying to annoy the hell out of her. he really knew how to push her buttons, but there was also so much care underneath all that teasing. and can we PLEASE talk about how much of a physical-touch type of guy he is??? because i absolutely ate that shit up. i love a man who isn’t afraid to show affection, and damion definitely gave me everything that.

this book honestly gave me spy x family vibes 😆 iykyk, and i was absolutely living for it. i wasn’t completely convinced at first that i was going to love this. it felt like it still needed to pick up its pace before i could really get invested in everything that was happening.

but, lynn painter, i am once again asking you to PLEASE stop putting so many pop culture references in your books. sincerely, all readers.

BUT HOLY HELL, this book ended up being such a ride that i absolutely loved. somehow, it went from me questioning whether i was even enjoying it to having me completely emotionally invested. the pacing picked up so quickly, and once it did, i was SAT. i genuinely couldn’t put it down because there was always something making me want to read just one more chapter.

and when i say i cried real tears reading this book, i mean FULL-ON SOBBING, NEEDING-TISSUES kind of crying, especially the last chapters. 😭 i definitely wasn’t expecting the story to hit me that hard, but some of the emotional moments really got to me. what surprised me even more was how much i loved damion’s pov. ALL OF IT. getting to see his thoughts about his uncle, his dreams, and especially julia gave me such a better understanding of him. and the way he thinks about her as his julia??? I FUCKING LOVE HIM.

his grief over his uncle’s death also hit me harder than i expected. i didn’t even know his uncle personally, obviously, but the way damion talked about him and continued to honor his memory made him feel so real. it was like i was able to understand the kind of person he was simply through the way damion remembered him. there was so much love behind his grief, and i think that’s what made those parts especially heartbreaking for me.

overall, this definitely started off slow for me, and i genuinely wasn’t sure if i was going to end up loving it. but once the story found its footing, it picked up its pace so well, and i ended up having such a great time reading it. julia took some time for me to warm up to, but damion? yeah, that man had me sold. the romance, the banter, the emotional moments, and especially damion’s pov made this such an enjoyable read for me. lynn painter’s ya books really never fail to amaze me, and somehow she managed to make me go from “i’m not sure about this” to “holy shit, i fucking loved this.”

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, and the author for the e-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・

pre-read:

eeeeek another buddy read with my arc partner, ivy!! 🫧💞💌 what a great way to start september with a fall book to get into the feels, right?! there’s no fall in my country, btw LOL!! we’re vv excited with this one and i hope we get to love it 🤎🍂

・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・

pre-release:

AAAAA i got the arc for this one 🥰 I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!! i’m so excited i’m like rushing to read all my current reads rn 🥹💗

OK SO WDYM I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER FOR THIS BOOK? I NEED IT NOW

[lauren · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

4.75💫

honestly this book was everything.

the setting was chef’s kiss— New York at a fancy prep school in autumn? can’t get any more perfect than that. it was giving Gilmore Girls in a way and that’s one of my favorite shows so i was obsessed!

the Lowell family is from Nebraska and suddenly inherits millions of dollars from an old man after he passes away. the only stipulation is that they must move and live in his New York home for six months and attend Gardenwood. enter Damion Rutledge- the great nephew of Remington and whose family got nothing after he passed. when they hear some random family got their money, they were out for revenge to take it all back.

Damion was kind of a pain in the ass at first… but you could tell he wasn’t like the other kids at Gardenwood. he actually had a heart and wasn’t as self-centered as the other rich kids. although he started tutoring Julia as a way to get close to her family, he took his role seriously which i loved. again, you could see the heart he had as he actually cared whether the people he was tutoring were understanding and learning. swoon. the further you get in the story, the hotter he gets and you can’t help but love him. he’s so flirty and teasing Julia alllll the time. i had the biggest grin on my face sometimes from the things he said. it’s safe to say he fell first and harder.

Julia— my poor girl. she was bullied sooo much for being “new money”, but i don’t really get why her twin brother didn’t get the same treatment ??? that’s my one problem with this book- Liam didn’t get bullied, but also didn’t help her get the bullying to stop?? the two girls who actually liked Julia at this school also didn’t step up at all either to stop it or defend her (that i can recall). my girl also needed major help with math to raise her grades so that she didn’t flunk out of the school and disqualify them from keeping the inheritance- like this girl couldn’t catch a break! overall, i really liked her character though. like she punched Damion after first meeting him because she thought he pick-pocketed her wallet 😝😭 like okkkkk queen shit. she was impulsive, quirky, kind, and had a big heart. i just wish the other kids at Gardenwood saw her like that. she was awkward and had some social anxiety, but she didn’t deserve the way she was being treated at all.

Remi/Lou. although he was dead the entire book, you could just feel his love and major impact on these two kids. he was so lovable, supportive, fun and real. he was family to them, especially to Damion who really needed a good father role model in his life because his parents didn’t care for him. i love the cute touch of how every chapter started with a quote of Remi’s that related to what was happening in the chapter.

overall, i adored this book. lynn never lets me down!🙂‍↕️ i can’t wait for all of you to get your hands on this one in September. it is the most amazing fall read, perfect for fans of gilmore girls, gossip girl, and the inheritance games. thanks again netgalley for the arc!!


Read if you like:
🍂he’s her tutor
🍂NY prep school setting
🍂gilmore girls
🍂enemies to lovers
🍂small town —> big city
🍂autumnal reads
🍂he falls first and harder
🍂inheritance drama



°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ — preread:

GUYS!!!! I GOT ACCEPTED FOR THIS TODAY OMG IM GONNA CRY!!! IM SO EXCITED!! 🥹😭🧡 i just know i'll absolutely love this one because lynn painter never lets me down🤞🏼



Release date: September 29, 2026 (OUT NOW!)


many thanks to netgalley, simon & schuster, and lynn painter for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Ss · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐ A Fun, fast paced, cozy, easy to read book with an amazing vibes that matches the weather perfectly 🍂. I don't think its a memorable read but I still enjoyed it so much and had fun reading it, and at this point, I'm ready to read anything Lynn Painter writes 🙌🏻.

I really loved the idea of the quotes at the beginning of every chapter in this book and they somehow felt different than the ones in Lynn's previous books, they were quotes from a dead character that has big influence in the plot so it really made the quotes feel meaningful.

The 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 was chef's kiss. Even tho I knew that something might happen between Julia and Damion because of the secret I still enjoyed and loved all the tension and banter between them from the very first minute 🙂‍↕️. 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻 fell so hard and he didn't even know it, loved all his teasing and flirting and the times he defended Julia. and loved how affected he was after their first kiss🤭. Also the fact that he was willing to give up all his dreams up just for Julia?? I can't not love him. 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗮 is so real. Everything about her felt real, the way she feels emotions, her hate and love, the way she puts her family first, I really loved everything about her bc of how real it all felt.

The last 10% was all good, weird and funny. Good because everything started coming back together and the character were taking their time and rethinking many decisions. Weird because suddenly some characters started appearing out of nowhere and have talks with deep meaning with the FMC/MMC which made everything feel a bit funny bc where the hell did u come from? 😭.

I'd recommend to whoever wants to read something enjoyable and quick. I know u may see the 400+ pages and think it'll take a while but no, it's fast paced and Lynn's writing style makes it easy to read, add to that that the plot is easy to follow! ✨🤍




|𝐏𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 ⋆‧˚ʚɞ˚‧⋆
Here I come Lynn 🏃‍♀️ The vibe the book is giving seems to be a perfect one for this weather 🍂✨

[ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

࣪ ˖ ֪ꮽ᱖܄ 3.75 stars˚ִִ꒱꒱ ִ݂

⤻ no spoiler review .

་ 💭 ⊹ ࣪୨୧ preface. the lowell family mysteriously receives a beautiful & historic brownstone in west side - the only stipulation is that they need to live there for 6 months & attend the prestigious greenwood academy. Julia Lowell has just recently separated from her ex bf and looking for a new start, and this enigmatic offer is the perfect chance for her to escape. however, it turns out that Damion is the great-nephew of the man who left his house to the Lowell family, who also happens to go to greenwood academy, where they are fated to meet.

𐑺゛🎨 general thoughts . i think lynn painter is back !!! this was such a fun book and i read it in 2 days ( partway due to my determination, but still ) because of how addicting it was. when i requested this book, I was mainly looking for a cute 2000’s autumnal-coded read, and that was exactly what i got served. i’ve had some issues with YA books recently where they’re so cringe to the point where i want to DNF, but there were relatively few pop culture references in this book that i enjoyed it to its full extent. the New York descriptions were OUTSTANDING in this book ( exactly what you would imagine west side would look like in autumn ) and really made me enjoy reading this. i highly recommend listening to vintage autumn jazz while lighting a candle to really maximize your experience with this book 🍂🎃🌔.

𖥻 ׁ ׅ characters ! ﹒ ◡◡

・・・୨୧ julia & damion. they were so mature for teenagers that i thought for a second at the beginning that we were reading an adult romance 👀 but honestly, i appreciated that, because if they were the average 17 year old, i think i would actually lose it. their decisions were actually incredibly mature, and i don’t think we even get this level from actual adult romance books. this made me enjoy the story much more, because i didn’t have to roll my eyes everytime they talked to each other. i loved how they created a little bubble for themselves with a few other people and treated that like their safe space from the real world. made me yearn to be a teenager falling love in new york city 🥹🤎

ꕤ ⧽ overall, i had so much fun with this book! i’m really trying to read autumnal books for the season and this was the most perfect addition / start to it 🐈‍⬛🥮

છ˖ lastly, thanks so much to netgalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹

˒ 🍂 pre read ˒˒࿐・xxvi 𖦞.˖
ꕥ ⸺ 9/1 ⋆˚✿˖°
happy september + fall everyone!! cannot believe we're already in autumn 🤎 going to be reading as many autumnal books as possible this year 😌 starting off with this one because it looks like the most perfect 2000's pumpkin spice nyc romance ever ☕

𖦞.˖ buddy reading with my one and only ARC partner, rei <3

ᝰ⋆ thank you to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

🍁˳༄꠶🥧 ✩3.5 stars✩🥧 ˳༄꠶🍁

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Now playing:
[August - Taylor Swift]
2:11 ———♡——— 4:21
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

Summary: A small-town Nebraska girl named Julia inherits millions of dollars and a mansion in NYC. After moving, she meets Damion, who initially resents her, but their relationship evolves into something more
Tropes: enemies to lovers, opposites attract, tutoring
TWs: grief, bullying, family deception
Spice: 🌶/5 - kissing only

🍁˳༄꠶🥧˳༄꠶🍁

I love Lynn Painter with my entire being!! She always writes these magical rom-coms that never fail to bring me joy. Although I didn’t love this one as much as some of her other books, I still thought it was absolutely adorable! 💕

The premise was every girl’s dream: moving into a fancy town with a fancy school and fancy classmates. Lynn Painter did a beautiful job creating an alluring atmosphere, and I loved the fall theme.

The writing style with dual POV was fantastic. 🤩 Every time it was “Damion’s chapter” I immediately grew excited, because I just loove reading about boys simping over a girl.

The plot of this story was entertaining, and it also felt layered. The characters had such complicated backstories and interesting personalities, and that made the story so much better! This book had me staying up until 1am to finish!

My one issue with the book was that I feel like the whole conflict between Damion & Julia could have been avoided so easily. 😐 But honestly, this didn’t stop me from loving it!

Julia - Curly-haired icon. I loved her innocent joy for simple things, and her happiness was infectious. 🙂 Her social anxiety was super relatable, and I felt so horrible for her and what she had to deal with

Damion - Preppy, glasses-wearing boy that stole my heart. I wasn’t sure about him at first, because he just seemed kind of obnoxious, but he quickly proved me wrong. His love confession had me totallyyyy melting. 🥰

The relationship - freaking adorable!! The tutoring dynamic was so sweet and their chemistry and banter were totally peak!

Overall, this was a super cute and cozy read, and I would definitely recommend

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Lynn Painter for the arc in exchange for an honest review

🍁˳༄꠶🥧˳༄꠶🍁

Pre read:
AAAHHH I CAN’T BELIEVE I GOT THE ARC! 😆 I’m starting this right now

[Uswah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a good and refreshing read 🥹🍂🫶 I think that’s exactly what I needed after reading a fantasy book 🙂‍↕️

But if I had read it under different circumstances, I probably would’ve rated it slightly lower 😭 Not because it was bad, but because there were a few chapters that gave me “filler” vibes 🫤 Excluding those chapters, this would’ve been a solid 5-star read 🥹🥹 It had that much potential 🙂‍↕️

This rating is still so much better, tho 🥹🤭 So I’m calling it a WIN!!!!! It gave me all the vibes and cozy feelings I was expecting from this 🍂🫶 Lynn Painter did her magic again 🤭

The writing style, as usual, was addictive 🙂‍↕️🤭 I didn’t even have to worry about that 🫂

The main characters were SO good 🥹 I’m, like, totally obsessed with them 🙂‍↕️ Tho, some of the side characters really tested my patience 😃😃 Whew, that was a difficult one. I barely made it through 😂 But Julia and Damion stole all the moments 🥹👀 By the end, I had completely forgotten about those certain characters 🫂

Overall, it was a really enjoyable read 🥹🫶 I think this could honestly be a cure for a reading slump 🫂🥹 But be prepared to get annoyed by some of the characters 😭🫂

Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶🧡

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⊹₊ ⋆ ☕🍂🧺🧸⊹₊ ⋆ pre-read ⊹₊ ⋆ ☕🍂🧺🧸⊹₊ ⋆

Y’all are giving me FOMO 😔 So ig it’s time to join the cult 😋🧡

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big Lynn Painter fan, but I have a confession to make: I think I've officially reached the point where I look forward to her YA releases even more than her adult romances. And that's saying something because the woman could probably write the back of a cereal box and I'd still read it.

Last year, Fake Skating completely stole my heart and became my favorite YA romance of the year. I honestly thought, "There's no way she can top this anytime soon."

Well, apparently Lynn Painter took that as a personal challenge.

Because Trust Fall is not only my favorite YA romance of 2026 so far, it's currently sitting comfortably at the top of my Goodreads Choice Awards list. Could another book come along and dethrone it? Sure. Is that likely? Let's just say the odds feel about the same as me inheriting a Manhattan brownstone from a mysterious millionaire neighbor.

Speaking of which, what a ridiculously fun premise.

A small-town Nebraska girl suddenly becoming fabulously wealthy and getting dropped into the intimidating world of New York City's elite private schools? Add one brooding rich boy with secrets, a tutoring arrangement, plenty of emotional baggage, and Lynn Painter's signature banter, and I was sold before I even turned the first page.

Also, if my social media stalking skills are correct, I believe today is Lynn Painter's birthday. So happy birthday to the queen of romantic tension, awkward heroines, and fictional boys who consistently set unrealistic standards. My wish for her is simple: please never stop writing romances. I'll happily keep showing up, reading them in one sitting, and annoying my friends by forcing them to add them to their TBR piles.

Now, let's talk about Julia.

I adored her.

She's awkward in the most believable way, constantly second-guesses herself, struggles to fit in, and spends much of the story feeling like everyone else received an instruction manual for life that somehow skipped her mailbox. She's not instantly transformed by money or magically confident because of her new circumstances. She still feels like the same Nebraska girl trying to figure out where she belongs, and that made her incredibly relatable.

And then there's Damion.

Lynn Painter has mastered the art of creating male love interests who begin as walking red flags only to reveal themselves as giant green forests.

At first, I wanted to shake him.

Then I wanted to hug him.

Then I wanted to tell Julia to stop wasting time and kiss the boy already.

Watching him go from suspicious, snarky, and emotionally unavailable to completely, hopelessly, undeniably gone for Julia was one of my favorite reading experiences of the year. Every chapter from his perspective was a gift. The yearning? Immaculate. The tension? Delicious. The emotional vulnerability? Inject it directly into my veins.

And can we please take a moment to appreciate Lynn Painter's dialogue? Nobody writes witty exchanges quite like she does. These characters actually sound like teenagers—funny, messy, awkward, occasionally dramatic, and entirely lovable. I found myself smiling through so many scenes and more than once caught myself thinking, "Oh no, I'm attached."

The setting deserves its own standing ovation. New York in the fall feels like a character all by itself. The brownstone, the changing leaves, the private school drama, the cozy moments—it all created the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to book a plane ticket immediately and wander around Manhattan with a coffee in one hand and a romance novel in the other.

But what surprised me most was how much heart this story has.

Yes, it's funny. Yes, it's swoony. Yes, it gave me butterflies.

But beneath all of that, Trust Fall is really about grief, trust, identity, family, and finding your place in a world that suddenly feels unfamiliar. It's about learning that money doesn't fix everything, that first impressions can be spectacularly wrong, and that sometimes the people who understand us best are the ones we least expect.

By the final chapters, I was smiling like an idiot and simultaneously dreading the moment I would have to say goodbye to these characters.

And that's always the sign of a great book.

Lynn Painter continues to prove why she's one of my favorite romance authors writing today. Trust Fall is sweet, heartfelt, funny, and absolutely irresistible. It reminded me why I fell in love with YA romance in the first place—the butterflies, the first love, the hopefulness, and the feeling that anything is possible.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be over here impatiently waiting for whatever Lynn Painter decides to write next.

My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing | Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for sharing this sweet and irresistible YA romance with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

— Rating: 4 ★ .ᐟ

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎This book was quite different from Lynn’s usual YA romance books and I absolutely loved it! Trust Fall had been just as I expected with that lighthearted, cheesy dialogue and the relatable, dramatic characters that Lynn Painter always incorporates to tie her stories together. The entire atmosphere and plot were more unique than I’m used to with Lynn, I didn’t think I’d see the day she didn’t incorporate the fake dating trope into one of her romances. Usually I anticipate a cliché rom-com type plot, but I was happily surprised when I was introduced to a storyline that I’ve rarely seen written about. Obviously Trust Fall had it’s faults, Lynn Painter’s writing overall can be exceedingly cringey at times and this book wasn’t an exception, but it was also such a fun, upbeat read!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ I love myself a dislike to lovers romance and although it typically isn’t done extraordinarily well, Lynn Painter implemented the trope in a really entertaining way! From the first page I could tell the plot line was going to be unique, I was hooked by the prologue and hadn’t even officially started the first chapter. When I found out Damion would be the tutor instead of Julia I was so excited because I’ve only ever seen the stereotypical MMC jock as the tutee. I’ve seen a lot of people say the beginning of Trust Fall was hard to get through due to a lack of excitement and although I partially agree, I could not stop reading after starting the first chapter. The whole vibe of this book, which was unfortunately not very fall-centered but definitely had a focus on New York’s overall atmosphere, was captivating and I absolutely adored it! There were so many different locations the main characters interacted in, it made the story so much more fascinating.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ Near the end is where the plot started to fall off for me personally, the third act conflict made the whole story really slow down and become partially boring. I was enticed until around 85% in where it became decently hard getting through the remaining chapters. The ending overall felt pretty rushed, I felt like neither of the characters got the closure they deserved with their personal conflicts. Other than that though, Trust Fall’s entire storyline was so addictingly intriguing. Despite some chapters being partially boring, they never felt repetitive. I do wish we got to see more investigating from Damion about his uncle’s death, but this is a romance book so I suppose I can’t expect too much non-romance aspects. I did love the city and private school setting, it reminded me of what little I’ve watched of Gilmore Girls, it was super different than Lynn’s previous books and so engrossing!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ For Julia and Damion individually, I honestly have mixed feelings. Not so much on whether I liked them or not, because I absolutely liked them from start to finish, but more so about how much individuality they had. Lynn Painter’s main characters have all been decently similar personality-wise, and although the main character’s in this book had their unique personal stories to make them stand out from the rest, they weren’t the utmost unique. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the shy/quirky FMC x popular MMC trope, but it feels like this has been used in every Lynn Painter YA romance I’ve read thus far. Due to this factor Julia and Damion were pretty surface-level, and I struggled to fully connect with either main character for majority of this book.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ Now, this isn’t to say I didn’t like them, I loved the humor they added to the story and they were honestly much more mature for their age than other Lynn Painter characters. Although I couldn’t connect with either of them, I could undoubtedly relate to certain aspects of their personalities. Plus, Damion did have his cute moments that had me giddy, albeit being decently cringey. Both Julia and Damion had great character development and seeing them finally stand up for themselves was refreshing. Despite the lack of true depth in either character, I did like how Lynn described their grief of a loved one in differing ways. They also had intriguing interests, I’ve never heard of a non-elder having an interest in bird-watching, and the way they were incorporated into each character’s backstory was nice!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ What really saved this book for me aside from the unique storyline, and obviously Lynn’s addictive writing, was Julia and Damion’s dynamic. I loved it during their first interaction and I was still addicted to the relationship they created when the epilogue came around. What they were lacking in tension they made up in greats amount of humorous banter that had me kicking my feet. Not that they were significantly lacking in tension, but it wasn’t outstanding. Everything else about their dynamic though? Magical. I loved their back and forth, the chemistry that grew with each moment they shared together, the lack of lusting from both parties. They were just so cute together! I think the one thing they didn’t have going for them was communication, which was lacking the entire book, but everything else was perfect. And I personally though they actually disliked each other in the beginning, though I wouldn’t go as far as calling them enemies, which is a plus considering this was advertised as a dislike to lovers romance! The way they supported each other was adorable, they weren’t my favorite book couple but they were undoubtedly entertaining.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ Now, Lynn Painter’s writing altogether is one of the more questionable features in her books. I personally enjoy it, as much as it causes me second-hand embarrassment it’s cheesy in an addicting way. The thing is, it can get too cheesy sometimes. I can completely understand why others aren’t a fan of her writing considering the excessive cussing and pop culture refernces that’s forced into the dialogue, which I too can find obnoxious. Trust Fall was no exception for this, some of the slang got fairly repetitive and I was cringing a tad too much. But I still really enjoy Lynn’s writing, all the words flow together and it has just the right balance of dialogue and monologue. Yes, it was pretty surface level and had its errors, but it also had me captivated and in love with the book’s entire atmosphere. Her descriptions of the elegant setting were perfect!

౨ৎ Julia Lowell.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎I know I said she had little individuality especially when being compared to other Lynn Painter FMC’s, and I stand by that, but I also really liked Julia. She started off strong as a humorous lead and ended the exact same, though a tad more boring in the end, (I think that’s just because the entire story slowed down though.) She unfortunately didn’t get a lot of emotional depth, which was disappointing considering the fact she was bullied throughout this book which you’d think would be a great opportunity to delve into her feelings. The most she got was brief mentions of insecurity and fear of letting down her family. Speaking of bullying, I was incredibly disappointed with how Julia’s ending played out, I can’t say much without spoiling it but in a way Trust Fall ended with the bullies winning. But she was really mature about the bullying situation in addition to a lot of other events, while still having her moments of outbursts which I think just made her character more realistic, so I wasn’t exceedingly upset with the ending!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ I did like the personality Julia got, she had a quiet-ish exterior but was willing to stand up for herself and come out of her bubble when the moment called for it. Also, more curly hair representation! I can always rely on Lynn to feed into my need for more FMC’s with curls and glasses. I loved seeing how adventurous she was, plus she had just the right amount of kindness with a balance of sweet gestures and sassy remarks. Julia was fairly relatable but unfortunately only to an extent considering her lack of depth, her interests and emotions were mentioned briefly but not looked into with outstanding attention. Overall she wasn’t the utmost memorable, and I personally couldn’t fully connect with her character despite loving her, but she was also such a fun character to read about!

౨ৎ Damion Rutledge.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎To me, Damion differed from Lynn’s other main characters to a larger extent than Julia did, but he was still decently unmemorable. He could be unnecessarily mean at times, but considering the people he had been surrounded by since birth I can understand why. I did love his attitude so I suppose there was a plus to his snarky personality. He had great character development, I loved when he finally stopped trying to fit in to others standards and instead started standing up for himself. Unfortunately similar to Julia we didn’t get much closure for his character, the situation with his family was sort of just rushed during the final chapters and the outcome wasn’t all that refreshing. Again, he also didn’t have outstanding emotional depth and was pretty surface-level overall. I did love his personality, albeit his iffy moments he had me swooning for him and giggling at the teasing banter he tossed out.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ Plus I love seeing MMC’s that aren’t reduced to a singular hobby, he had many interests (some of which were skimmed over) that made up his character. Who knew I’d ever find someone who bird watched for fun cute? He was also much more mature than I was expecting, the way he dealt with his uncles death was decently looked into. So I guess he did have some individuality, the only thing is he fell under the “rich popular bad boy” with family issues trope whom every character is obsessed with for no reason. He was still humorous and I loved how he was as equally smart as Julia, but alike to Julia he wasn’t an extraordinary character that I’ll be fascinating over. Though he may be a close 2nd favorite Lynn Painter MMC of mine… so I probably am understating how much his character enticed me.

⤿ read: august 27 - september 28

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･ Julia is content and happy with her small-town life in Nebraska. But her peaceful life gets turned upside down when her neighbor passes and leaves everything to her and her family, but there is a catch: they have to live in the now-their historic brownstone, and Julia and her twin brother have to attend an elite private school. It shouldn’t be too bad, right? Julia gets to live in a rom-com-worthy neighborhood and go to a good school. It’s a dream come true. But her dreams are instantly shattered when she can’t seem to fit in with the wealthy kids who look at her like she’s an anomaly, and her grades need some serious help. And this is when her new tutor, Damion, enters the picture, who just so happens to be the great-nephew of Julia’s rich neighbor. But he won’t tell her that because it’s clear that his uncle and father figure wouldn’t leave his home to people he doesn’t know, so it’s up to Damion to prove that. So, he comes up with a plan: earn Julia’s trust so he can find out how all this happened. It’s no easy feat since Julia doesn’t trust him for a second. But his plan doesn’t seem to work when he begins to actually like the girl from Nebraska, and Julia can’t help but see that there is more to the New York rebel than what he’s leading everyone to believe.




⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🍁🍂⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🍁🍂⋆.ೃ࿔*:･







｛ ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: her by JVKE, Annika Wells ｝
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:00 ───ㅇ───── 2:47







༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･ This was my first Lynn Painter book, and I’m happy to report that it was a success! I’ve literally heard SO many good things about her books, but I was kinda scared that it would be a bit of a letdown. Thankfully, this was so fun and cute, and I really enjoyed it! 🥰

Julia was literally living my dream. After watching the movie Wonder, I’ve been wanting to live in a cute brownstone in New York City. Will it ever happen? Ehhh, probably not since I’m not a big fan of cities in general (it gives me so much anxiety—long story), but hey, it doesn’t hurt to dream, right? But it doesn’t matter since I was able to live vicariously through Julia as she navigated her new life that was like a 90s rom-com because this book delivered on the vibes.

Now, when I say “vibes,” unfortunately, I don’t mean fall vibes because I think that’s what the book was lacking the most. I wanted pumpkin patches, pumpkin lattes, and autumnal activities to make this fall book fall-ish. Sure, there was cold weather and falling leaves, but sometimes I forgot it was even fall in the story. It could have been summer or spring, and I wouldn’t even notice. I was hoping for When Harry Met Sally type of fall feels, but it just didn't deliver. 😭

But everything else? Oh yeah, it was great. The neighborhood sounded so freaking cute. It reminded me of Wonder and You’ve Got Mail. And the private school reminded me of Chilton from Gilmore Girls, which was honestly a vibe itself. I LOVED the descriptions for both of these places and wished the people were better so I could have enjoyed it more, but bullies always have to ruin everything, don’t they? 🙄 But besides them, this book was just so good! I had a blast!

Okay, let’s talk characters. My favorite aspect to criticize, lol.

Julia was amazing because not only is her favorite movie Dead Poets Society (I love and hate that movie. It hurts my heart every time single time I watch it), but she was funny, relatable as hell, and honestly just a joy to read about. You know the saying, “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Yeah, Julia embodies that. She didn’t fit in for a reason, and that was why she was such a likeable character. Granted, she isn’t perfect, and I did get annoyed with her sometimes, but it didn’t affect my love for her or my enjoyment of the story. I don’t remember who in the book compared Julia to the main character in Pretty Woman because of her hair, but I think they were spot on. It really helped me picture her character. ☺



And then there’s Damion. Okay, I know he was being a jerk and an asshole when he was bugging her, but it was honestly so funny! It just reminded me of my time in school as a little grasshopper, and how I am with my siblings now, so I can’t help but find Damion’s jabs amusing. I’m not excusing his behavior; I just think it was funny, and it made me like him a lot. Sorry!



But once he started liking Julia and was nicer, he was great. I really, really liked him. But I think my favorite part about him is how Gillian and I noticed how similar Damion was to our favorite character, Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. I literally have a list of similarities on my phone, lol! That aspect right there made this story soooo much more fun and enjoyable.

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU AN UPDATE: I got carried away with the characters and vibes of the book and never discussed their relationship/romance since this is, in fact, a ROMANCE, so I'm here a day or so later with this edit. Geez, get it together, Sarah. 🤦‍♀ Lol, anyways, the enemies-to-lovers trope was strong for a while, and I appreciate that. It always annoys me when the characters are enemies for like two seconds and then are all over each other. But in this book, they stayed each other's worst nightmare for as long as humanly possible. And once feelings started to change and the tension turned from "I want to throw you out the window" to "I want to kiss you so freaking bad," I was rooting for them. It did seem like Damion was carrying the romance, and Julia was just there appreciating it, but they were still a cute couple. I loved how similar yet different they were. They complemented each other so well. 🥰
Okay, back to our regular programming...

And everyone else in the story was either great or sucked.
Liam: Great.
Julia’s parents: Great!
Damion’s parents: Sucked.
Damion's bff: Great!
Julia’s friends: Great!
Everyone else in Gardenwood, or whatever the place is called because I forgot: Sucked!
Remi/Lou: Villain of the story. And here’s why.

None of this would have happened if Remi just left a note or something about his intentions. Like, he knows—HE KNOWS—what Damion’s parents are like. Did he not think that they’d get suspicious of strangers moving into his house and inheriting all his wealth and try to do something about it??? And he literally told Damion that he could have his house, yet he doesn’t even tell the kid (who is like a son to him, mind you) that he’s going to give his place to strangers from Nebraska. I’m sorry, what? Dude, it’s not cute, and it’s not funny. Well, it kind of is, but that’s not the point. At least explain it to Damion. Sure, they could trust you and your crazy ideas, but the boy is GRIEVING. Do you know the stages of grief? Yeah, one of them is anger. What do you think he’s going to do when he finds out, with his emotions all over the place because he just lost the most important person in the world to him? Ugh, that part of the plot annoyed me. I know it would have changed the story if it went a different direction, but it just made no sense to me, along with the third-act conflict, which is the main reason why this isn’t 5 stars. I was literally screaming at the book to not go that direction, and when it did, I was so disappointed. I guess I was asking too much of the story to do things differently than other books and movies that are similar to it.

And please, for the love of all that is holy, will someone give Damion a freaking hug??? He lost a father figure, for crying out loud! Damion’s behavior kinda makes sense if you realize that he probably hasn’t fully grieved his loss and just needs a good cry and someone to talk to. But noooo. We’ll wait till the end of the book to understand his feelings. Yeah no. I’d be pissed too.

Anyways, with all that out of the way, everything else was good. I loved, loved, loved the writing! It was fun, engaging, and made me smile and laugh, which is hard for YA books to do now that I’m old and grumpy. 😉 And the ending was really sweet. I felt like the Grinch when his heart grew two sizes. 🥹

All in all, this was a fantastic book! I can’t wait to read the author’s other books! 😍

Thank you sooooo so much to my lovely bestie, Gillian, for buddy reading this book with me! 🥰🫶🏼 I had the best time discussing the pros and cons of the story with you and fangirling over Spencer while we compared the similarities between him and Damion. 🤭


《 Content Warnings 》
Bullying, death of a loved one, and a scuffle.
Swearing: Yes
Spice: Kissing (🌶/5)

[jae ⟡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i’m mildly disappointed <\3 this wasn’t terrible but the characters were just too surface level for me. damion’s whole bad-boy reputation got old pretty fast and i never bought into the enemies dynamic between him and julia. they barely even scratched the surface of disliking one another 🫪 remi was probably the highlight of the book.

ⓘ thank you to netgalley + simon & schuster for the arc!

[jenoodle✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

🥐🍂 RTC. this one was honestly so cute 😭 and damn man, my bro damio needs to leave some rizz for the rest of us 🙄


🧇🍂 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: finally got my hands on this cutie and heard such good things! Praying we don’t get a cussing addict MMC 😟


🍁 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞: I am trusting you Lynn that I will fall in love with this book 😛

[Taskin⋆彡⭒ (s-ia) · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

4.25/5 🌟
⊹₊ ⋆ ☕🍂🧺🧸⊹₊ ⋆
𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"(Welcome To New York -Taylor Swift)"
01:23 ━━━━●───── 03:43
      ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤ



Premise: Julia's a regular small-town Nebraska girl whose family suddenly inherits millions from her elderly neighbor, who turns out to be a secret billionaire. The catch? They have to move into his NYC mansion for six months and she has to go to Gardenwood, the fanciest academy ever. Enter Damion, the old man's great-nephew, whose family got nothing and now wants everything back. He basically decides to make her life miserable.

Julia: She's awkward in the most believable way, second-guesses everything, and money doesn't magically turn her into a confident queen. She's still just a Nebraska girl figuring out where she belongs. And she's the Pretty Woman sorta beautiful, wild curls and everything.

Damion: Omg Damion my multilingual boy(acting like I'm not one as well), I melted when he spoke another language in front of her. He's so charming it's so hard to not like him. Even though he was a douchebag at first but it turns out his bad boy act is a mask for a kid who never felt accepted. He gets so much better, so he's forgiven. (Tortoiseshell glasses though? I'm doomed.)

Remington: Remingtons quotes were the best thing from this book. He was a Gen-Z in an old man's body. It touched my heart, the way everyone talked about him. He was definitely very loved.

What I didn't like: I honestly don't love modern slang and pop culture reference in books, like they mentioned a lot of them like Rupi Kaur and Bridgerton. The writing was a bit different too, took me some time to adjust
The bullying is a BIG part of the book. Julia gets targeted constantly for being "new money," and it's not just snobby teens either. Rich adults jump in too, and honestly it got exhausting.Liam is her twin brother yet he's getting a different treatment, which is so absurd to me. He pissed me off later on, he knew his twin was getting bullied and suffering and he was too busy spending time with his new friends. Her parents were a bit careless about this too, they were too busy settling in .

But overall such a cute book. I absolutely loved them in the end

[aira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars(?)....rtc.

-------

pre-read: ahhh, i've been looking forward to this

and it's a buddy read with the sweetest maddi.

-------

so I got the arc 🫣

[vaishnavi ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a chance on requesting this ARC for a couple of reasons: one, I've been reading a lot of fantasy and romantasy lately, so I haven't really picked up much contemporary romance this year, and even less YA contemporary romance. Two, I hadn't read any Lynn Painter books before, but her books generally seem to be well received, and my friends who enjoy the same things I do tend to rate them pretty highly. So I thought, why not? I might just end up loving this one! Plus, the cover is very fall-themed, and considering my house basically looks like it's autumn all year round (my furniture and wall paints are all browns and deep reds), I figured I'd have a good time with it. A weird connection to make, but if you get it, you get it.

And I was pretty much right! This wasn't anything extraordinary, but it was entertaining, sweet, and even made me tear up toward the end. Lynn Painter is really, really good at writing emotional conversations, especially when it comes to breakups and the feelings that follow. Like, wow. The way some of these chapters were written made me feel like I was watching a movie.

Longer thoughts here: https://plotdamn.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-writing-for-the

CHAPTER 51, BITCHHHH. My heart. Oh, that was SO good. I've gone through something very similar to what Julia and Will went through, except I never got to have that closure after-it-all-blew-up talk afterwards. Reading that scene made me cry fr 😭 And then every chapter after that was perfection. I have so many feelings about this book, and the last couple of chapters were just eueuueeueuu 🥹😭😭🥲😭🥹😭🥲🥹

The premise reminded me a little of The Inheritance Games, where a seemingly unrelated family finds itself named in the will of a crazy rich man. And similar to TIG, the catch here is that the Lowells have to live in his Gardenwood home for six months and send the children to Gardenwood Academy. In return, they stand to inherit millions of dollars. Of course, things get complicated when the Rutledge family (related to the deceased man), especially Daimon, his great-nephew, decide that Julia's family has no business being there and set out to uncover the truth.

I have A LOT to say about the characters in this book because there are so many of them, and my feelings about most of them were all over the place. The beginning was rough. Oh, how I hated Damion. Like, can you PLEASE give the poor girl her wallet back instead of acting like a first-class jerk? When Julia headbutted him and broke his nose, all I could think was, he deserved it. I have a very low tolerance for male nonsense in my books. The genre doesn't matter. Anyway, I'm going a bit off track here, back to the book itself.

Even after the first meet-ick, Damion remained a major dick for a good half of the book. I genuinely couldn't understand why he had to be so mean to Julia. Yes, his beloved Remi-House was being taken over by a girl from Nebraska and her family, but if he loved Remi as much as he claimed to, wouldn't he at least consider that the man might have had a reason for leaving the house to them? That there could have been a plan behind it? He improves SO much by the end of the book though, so I guess he's forgiven 🫶🏻

Julia, on the other hand, was a sweetheart, although I did have some issues with her character. Her POVs were very YA-coded in a way that reminded me of reading someone's blog, or their journal. The misplaced punctuation, the sudden inner ramblings, repetition of random thoughts and letters, the italics, the constant asides... you know what I mean. The overall tone leans towards a younger, very online audience, with multiple pop culture references and memes put into the narration. I think there are two broad styles of YA writing: one that feels more timeless and another that is very much rooted in the internet culture of its time. This book definitely falls into the latter category. And that's not inherently a bad thing! It's just not something I particularly enjoy, especially because it dates the book immediately. I can already tell that I won't be rereading this one, partly because so much of the narration feels tied to the present internet culture. I also wish Julia had developed a little more of a backbone.

The interactions between Julia and Damion made sense to me for the most part, but I struggled to understand some of Julia's thoughts and reactions. Did she actually believe that people would accept the whole "I don't even know him" excuse? Girl, you have had a boyfriend before. Surely, some things should be obvious to you by now.

Remington... I get what Lynn Painter was going for with him. He's supposed to be the endearing, slightly eccentric comic relief, but also someone to look up to and whose presence continues to shape the narrative even after his death. But the little quotes attributed to him under each chapter title? Oh lord. Pretentious as fuck. No human being talks like that. I agreed with maybe a third of the things he supposedly said, but the rest of the time, I just wanted him to shut up. Can you imagine that? Me wanting a fictional character who is already dead to shut up because his quotes were annoying 😭

I loved Bernard though. The way he handled the Lowell family and helped them integrate into Gardenwood society was entertaining, and his interactions with Julia were some of my favourite moments. Also, when he taught Julia to dance? So sweet 🥹 That's a man I respect 🫶🏻

The setting was fab!! I wanted to live in Gardenwood. The descriptions were absolutely gorgeous, and I loved how Lynn Painter incorporated smell into the setting multiple times. It's something I don't see used very often in YA books, and I thought it was done well here.

That said, I do think this could have benefited from some more aggressive editing. Some plot points were repeated so many times and there were moments when I felt like the story was going in circles, and I really don't think every single thought or emotional reaction needed to be revisited quite so often. This also ties into my general belief that romance books simply do NOT need to be over 300 pages. Maybe 350 if you're really stretching it. But 400 pages? For this particular story? I just don't think the plot needed that much room.

The pacing also felt off and the ratio of inner thoughts to actual events was... bleh. There was so much time spent inside the characters' heads that the story barely moved forward in some chapters. You know how Kindle tells you how many hours you have left to finish a book in the bottom-left corner? This one was so slow that every time I turned a page, the estimated reading time INCREASED INSTEAD OF DECREASING. I'd finish a chapter and then I would not want to continue because the story was moving at a snail's pace.

But overall, I had a really enjoyable time with this one, despite all those ^^ complaints. The setting was lovely, the romance had some sweet moments, and this absolutely delivered when it came to the emotional scenes.

── .✦ pre-read 𖹭.ᐟ
got approved for this arc! 🤭 hopefully I'll be able to put out a review by release day

[dawn ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 🍂 ↪ 4 stars 𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ .ִֶָ𓂃
꒰ no spoilers ꒱

"she was quite possibly the most devastating thing I'd ever experienced"

⤻ this wasn't a trust fall for me. it was me falling entirely, completely and irrevocably in love.


⋆ ݁🍁 ˖ִ༄˖°.꒰ thoughts ꒱ ⸝⸝
after not being the biggest fan of the do-over and fake skating, i didn't have much trust in lynn painter to deliver with this one. but wow, DID SHE PROVE ME WRONG... the book started off SO SO slow for me, and i had immense pain trying to connect to julia and damion. because why tf was damion acting like a disney bully 💔 him holding her wallet above her head and then getting elbowed in the nose was NOT the meet-cute i was expecting 😭

but at around 30%?! i was actually in awe. it was a 180 from "im really bored" to "HOLY MAKEOVER THIS IS A MASTERPIECE". the chemistry, the banter, the TENSION between the two of them had me flipping pages desperately and mentally screaming during every interaction. I WAS THAT ABSORBED. the pacing went from slug in the dry summer heat to i dont even know a literal cheetah or something.

AND THE THIRD ACT BREAKUP. I REPEAT. THE FUCKING THIRD ACT BREAKUP. okay so me being a bit weird i love a really well-written, ANGSTY and heartbreaking third act breakup. AND OH MY DID LYNN DELIVER 🙂‍↕️ my heart was hurting, my eyes were tearing up and damion's pov was destroying me in the most perfect way. like a book where the third act breakup actually LASTS instead of them making up in one chapter is the secret way to the bookshelf in my heart <3


.⋆₊⊹ ᰔ 💌 .꒰ characters ꒱ ⸝⸝

           𓍢ִ໋🍓‧₊ julia ˚ꨄ︎
⤻ "i think im burning alive, but nobody sees the fire" -gracie

"god, hearing his voice was brutal. i wanted to cover my ears and hide from it, but i also wanted to record it and save it to listen to on repeat, or find a way to shove it into the pages of my lit book in the overstuffed duffel"

⤿ i found it hard to connect with her at the start, and even at the end of the book i felt like i didnt love her as much as i adored damion, it felt like she had a kind of bland and boring personality... if i had to put her on the scale of my fave lynn fmcs, it would be directly in the middle of bailey (betting on you) and liz (better than the movies), because i LOVED bailey and HATED liz 🫣

           𓍢ִ🍬 ‧₊ damion ˚ꨄ︎
⤻ "i can run, but i can't hide, from my family line" -conan

"when you're in the room, every single cell in my body - every nerve, every muscle, every breath - is lost in you"

I ADORE HIM. (okay at the start i really disliked him but we dont talk about that 😔). him telling himself he was getting revenge on julia and using it as an excuse to spend time with her had me smiling uncontrollably. his constant verbal insults to julia were a tiny bit repetitive and unnecessary... but his actions and devotion to her in the second half fully redeemed him. and his YEARNING for her oh my god i actually screamed. a man who yearns holy shit. i was actually in love.


୨ৎ thank you so much to netgalley for gifting me this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

----------------------------------------------


⊹ ࣪ .🏵️꒰pre read꒱⋆.࿔       13・10・26

₊˚⊹ᰔ the title. the prettiest lynn painter cover ever. THE PREMISE... i trust im going to fall for this book 🤭 i got this as an arc eek!! but then i went on vacay and totally neglected it 😔 sooo this is my first read in over a month 😭 IM TRUSTING IN LYNN <3
okay im going to stop with the trust puns

[vxmpslibrary [back!!] · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

.💌 4.50 stars.
- publishing date: Sept 29th, 2026.

Trust fall follows Julia Lowells , a small town girl living in Nebraska peacefully. When her elderly neighbour - who is a secret billionaire - passes away and gives the will to Julia's family, she's swept away to New York and to live her life as one while attending the most rich academy.

I feel like words would genuinely fail to express how I do feel about this book. It's something special, a feeling that makes me smile half of the times.

Lynn Painter manages to make every scenario in such a loveable rom-com, but the way she added dark academia also settled in the vibes. When I first heard of the book, I couldn't believe my eyes, the aesthetics were so beautiful and I genuinely was so excited to unravel this story.

And I finally got to do it!

Her writing style is something that is so beautiful, yes it's young adult, but when she writes about feelings, it's something so sacred, it's like yearning and poetry, it tugs on your heart and stays with you for awhile. That's how I felt when she described their feelings. I felt so many emotions, it brought tears to my eyes, I was smiling a lot, I let out a chuckle. I did love this romcom.

This book was also somehow INTENSE at so many aspects and I had to take so many breaks whether it's due to second hand embarrassments or due to some intense scenes. Such as the bullying scenes, the intensity was A LOT i could feel myself frowning most of the times and the one with Julia and Quinn ugh I hate that dude.

˚₊‧꒰ა .characters. ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
Julia 📚 ,
MY LOVEE! She deserved the world and I wanted to hug her. Lynn Painter manages to make all her characters relatable in a sense, but here, I felt like she was so me in so many aspects. Whether it's academic, anxiety or anything particular sorts, my girl literally deserved so much more. Though whenever she lied made me wince at the second hand embarrassment but otherwise I totally get her.

Damion🍷 ,
He's like one those jerks that I definitely was like 'hes such a jerk oh my god' but over all that, there's a real personality inside him that I loved. I admit his perspective was so entertaining and living that I loved being inside his head more. I wanted so much more of him, even though he's almost there in screen but I wanted more of his aspects like everything of his dreams, ambitions etc.

Liam well he was okay, I really liked him in the start but then I didn't. I felt like for someone who's supposed to be protective did nothing sort of things to help Julia when she was being bullied, because word travels fast right? He could have complained, I know that's not what Julia would have wanted but for Liam to hit Damion for hurting Julia but then not doing anything for the bullying she received is just so weird.

They both are such lovesick fools it makes me giddy and nauseous, like stomach churning. I felt like the development of the relationship was done perfectly well, the pacing was also done quite right for the development. The way Lynn writes yearning is like a character is yearning without even realising he is. That one chapter I was so shocked, I felt this tug in my heart and I was so surprised of the monologue. They both deserved each other and whenever they both are happy it makes me the happiest. They could be somewhat similar to other lynn's characters, but I genuinely can make a difference because of how special their moments were💗.

I have highlighted so many words and quotes because Lynn Painter had me obsessed and loving those lines. She writes feelings in details and I'm left wondering if someone would feel like that in real life. There were other side characters that I loved too and the Remington is just one of them. When Damion had tears in his eyes, somehow the writing got blurry and I wasn't able to read it ugh.

I like this book more because this was what I needed, something rom-com that would make my day better after I gave a test and my day was going a bit bad. Despite that, yes it did had some aspects that needed to developed but somehow they weren't and were left behind.

🫧.final thoughts. - I would definitely recommend this book! i actually loved it and had a great and awesome time! The characters made me feel so many thingsss and I genuinely love how this book gave me so much to chuckle and swoon at💗

Thank you so much Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing House for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review💗.
_
OH MY GOD RTC
the amount of instagram breaks I have taken is ridiculous

┆ ⤿ 💗 .preread.
I have a test on Monday but anyways I'm so excited to read this book!! the message of recieving this honestly made my whole day hah😝💗.

9/7/26
EVERYBODY STAY CALM I GOT THE ARC-

[aeryn rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

For this being my first Lynn Painter book? I absolutely adored it.
This book had so many sweet, amazing moments that had me gushing and blushing.
I was originally going to give this book 3 stars because I just couldn't find myself getting into it. However, the blame is 100% on me. I feel like this book WOULD have been right book wrong time, so I'm rating this based off of how the book made me feel during the times when my slump wasn't too bad. Once my slump kind of fell away, I couldn't put this book down

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and I found them super entertaining. I enjoyed Damion's grumpy, closed-off personality that meshed so well with Julia's bright and bubbly personality.
Even though this was YA, I liked that the characters really did act their age. Sometimes in YA books the characters can feel so immature and hard to stomach, but these two? They were nearly perfect.
Of course, there were some moments where their teenage side come out, but I in no way whatsoever am holding that against the book because it fit.
Damion and Julia were so funny and I loved their banter and back-and-forth teasing and playing; they made for a great duo.

The plot of this book really gave off "The Inheritance Games" vibes just without the puzzles and mystery and more romance added to it with a splash of fall.
I think the idea of the plot was super fun and enjoyable! The inheritance idea wasn't the most unique thing ever, but Lynn Painter did an amazing job of making this book her own. It definitely goes down for books I likely won't forget about.
Her writing was super easy to read and digest, and it wasn't boring or bland which I was worried about.

As someone turning 25 next month, sometimes it can be hard for me to enjoy more YA books.
However, I feel like with the right mood you can love any book. This was my first YA romance since my start of reading 4 years ago and I genuinely loved how clean and wholesome this book was; it was a nice break from the heavy spice that seems to be in literally every adult book.
Lynn Painter, dare I say you've gained a new reader. ☺️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭: 🍂🧡

MY FIRST LYNN PAINTER BOOK RAHHHHHHHHHH

[ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

— 3.75 ☆ .ᐟ 🍁 spoiler free + mini review
⤷ will miss the fall vibes this brought omg
୨ arc @netgalley

⋆˚࿔ 87th review of the year


⌗ ꒰ my thoughts ꒱ 🪶
⤷ okay despite the avg rating, i LIKED THIS!! i honestly has such a fun time and am VERY appreciative of the arc 🍁 my first lynn painter ya arc hehe. but besides that, i wasn't as connected to the characters/story as i wish i was! at first, i wasn't a huge fan of our mmc (damion) but i really enjoyed our fmc (julia) and her character!

i love how everything got resolved in the end.. but MAN do i not like damion's parents 😭😭 overall, lynn still kept this book super engaging and fun to read. im already eager to see what she does next for her ya books!! i would trust this book and don't be surprised if you fall for it <3


⌗ ꒰ tropes ꒱
⋆ academic rivals
⋆ ya romance novel
⋆ dual pov
⋆ elite school

⌗ ꒰ info ꒱
⤷ find my book review on goodreads @elliexreads
⤷ this is recommended for young adult readers (14+)
⤷ YA romance novel
publish date: september 29, 2026

₊‧ all ratings and opinions are my own ₊‧
⤷ thank you to netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

------------

🍁 — pre-read .ᐟ ⌗

𐔌 ♯┆9.6.26
⤷ WOO so happy to finally be reading this!! im alr 50% of the way thru and it is the perfect pallete cleanser and book for autumn 💌 im curious to see where the end goes! always happy to be back in a lynn painter world <3 thank you netgalley for the arc! 🪶🪶


mar, 12, 26
cover reveal + title reveal on the same day? WHAT IS LIFE. THE RELEASES KEEP GETTING BETTER N BETTER

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost skipped this arc since YA hasn’t been hitting the same lately. But this is Lynn Painter, and I remember loving her debut, so of course I had to give it a chance.

The beginning hooked me right away. After getting some unexpected news, Julia’s family moves to NY, and this leads almost immediately to a hilarious meet cute with Damion.

That said, their interactions in the beginning were giving ‘he’s mean to you because he likes you’ and I’m not sure how I feel about that. While some teasing was harmless, other times he was genuinely mean for no good reason.

Thankfully that improved as they got closer, and the romance turned into pure cuteness and yearning. Younger me would be swooning over Damion, I’m sure. And as someone who loves bread, I loved when Julia mentioned her bread obsession, or baguettes made an appearance.

My only issue was the sheer amount of drama. High school bullies, multi-millionaire bullies… the characters felt flat. I also couldn’t stand Julia’s parents. Even when other adults were ganging up on Julia right in front of them, they just stood there. And they’re supposed to be the ‘good’ parents? They were clueless half the time which contradicted how they were described.

Overall, though, the romance was sweet and this was easy to read. It’s been a while since I finished a book in under a day and this was worth it. To think I almost skipped it. Criminal.

─ ✦ ────

✎ᝰ.┊ pre-read: do i have a pile of arcs already? yes. did that stop me from grabbing this? absolutely not. am i ashamed of my lack of self control? a little… oh well

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

[Susan Carolynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

EASILY my new favorite Lynn Painter book! (Sorry Fake Skating, you had that crown for about two weeks). I read Trust Fall in one sitting and absolutely devoured it. She did a beyond beautiful job capturing the essence of NYC in the fall.

I absolutely loved the Gossip Girl vibes of this book. It is pretty heavy on the mean girl elements, but I liked how Julia did have friends in her new school. I also think Lynn Painter captured the culture shock of moving from the Midwest to the upper crust circles of NYC so well. There was a lot of drama, and I ate it up.

While the premise is a bit unrealistic, it made for the perfect rom-com set-up. I loved the progression from enemies to tutor x student to friends to lovers. It felt very Cornelia Street by Taylor Swift. I also love how Lynn Painter writes familial-like bonds. I loved how Lou connected the characters together and how he was larger than life. And I adored Julia's brother and his loyalty to her.

And I appreciate that the pop culture references were toned down compared to her other YA books. Truly my new go-to YA romance book rec!

[nat (in a slump) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“but her smile as she looked down at me was what made me feel like dropping to my knees and saying a prayer of thanks.”

i honestly don’t have much to say about this one.

i really wanted to love it because i genuinely think lynn painter is one of the YA queens, but unfortunately, this one just fell flat for me. i liked the concept, but the execution didn't quite work, and i just couldn't connect with the characters. honestly, i didn't like any of them 😭

the tiktok references also weren't doing it for me, but to be fair, i mostly looked past them. i just think they were unnecessary because there are other ways to make a story feel like it's set in the modern era.

overall, i never really got invested in what was happening. i can definitely see the potential, and see the appeal. it was a solid read for a busy week that’s for sure.

this just wasn't for me !!!

[hater ★ · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

AAAAAAAAAAODJDIDNDKSBDJSNWKQNSJDISBWKWBDJSKDBDJDBDEJWIEUEGEBWKWNEBDNDNDBDDHUDBDJSBWBWUDDBWHWVWGWJWBWKWNWKSNDBDVSBSBDHWHWVWJWVWHWKWNWNWBKWWMWBEVWJDBENWNWLWJWVWVDJDKDBEJWKWBWJWIWNWKWMWKBEHWIWJEEBEBM

[alexandra .ᐟ [tate's version] · Rating 5 out of 5]

˚₊‧꒰ა 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

rating :
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
SIX BILLION TRILLION MILLION HEARTS

⋆ also sorry, its been a hot minute since i’ve written a review.. i’ve been super busy! ⋆

୨୧ ───────── ୨୧

thank you to netgalley and simon & schuster publishing for sending me this arc! i am so honored to be chosen!!

*no spoilers*

now playing ˎˊ˗
⤷ be my baby — the ronettes ౨ৎ
01:04 ━━━━●───── 02:40
ㅤㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ㅤ ↻

𐙚 ⋆｡˚

❛❛ the night we met i knew i needed you so ❜❜

𐙚 ⋆｡˚

pre-read˚.🍂⋆ ˎˊ˗
⤷ oh my goshhh i’ve been waiting for this to be released since the beginning of the year and then i get an arc for it?!?! this is honestly my favorite author ever and i was overjoyed to get this arc! thank you sosososo much to netgalley and simon & schuster publishing for sending me this arc!!ˎˊ˗

𓆩♡𓆪

❛❛ and if i had the chance i’d never let you go ❜❜

𓆩♡𓆪

• ꒰ overall thoughts ꒱ •
❛❛ i cried. no, i sobbed. LYNN PAINTER I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS. i felt so emotionally attatched to this story and the characters omggg! first of all, the book overall was giving such gilmore girls vibes, i loved it! secondly, the cover! i absolutely loved this cover, it was stunning and it fit the story so well! next, the characters. i’m going to rant about this so sorryyyy! but i LOVED the characters. they felt so relatable and i adored how it was sort of “opposites attract”. and the mmc was her tutor.. i kind of want a cute tutor now! also, the mmc reminded me SO MUCH of wes bennett. they could secretly be brothers, you never know SHRUG EMOJI ADD HERE. additionally, i loved the fmc! i loved that she was unique and she was such a diva! overall, when the fmc and mmc were together, i was kicking my feetttt they’re so adorable! next, the plot. omfg this is where the book got me. the ending was fine but as soon as i read the epilogue i was sobbing. these two characters were just perfect for each other. but anyways, the plot was just amazing. lynn painter added so many small, but important details in the story that just made me love it even more! for example, damion would always call julia “honey” or just flirt with her. i found that so charming! additionally, i adored that both damion and julia had somebody that they both loved and that sort of connected them (even if julia didn’t know it). i cant say too much more since i don’t want to spoil anything, but i will just say that julia and damion are perfect for each other! lastly, the setting. it takes place in new york city/nebraska. i live really close to nyc so it was cool that the story took place nearby! i also just enjoyed the overall city atmosphere! so overall, this book was actually the best book i’ve ever read. when this is released on september 29, you all better be running to the store to get this!! i am stunned lynn painter omg. ❜❜

˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

❛❛ we’ll make ‘em turn their heads every place we go ❜❜

˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

• ꒰ ratings ꒱ •

plot ୨୧ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
characters 𐙚 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
romance ౨ৎ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡
chemistry ⋆｡° ✩ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
spice ᵕ̈ ♥♡♡♡♡♡
pacing ☾ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡
ending ❀ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡

𐙚 ───────── 𐙚

❛❛ so won’t you, please (be my, be my baby)❜❜

𐙚 ───────── 𐙚

• ꒰ characters ꒱ •

—▷ julia ౨ৎ
wait she was soo cutesy! i loved how throughout the book she would notice something about damion, like “his glasses are so hot” and then she would try to convince herself that he was a jerk. you could tell she was slowly falling for him haha! and also i loveddd her hair. i know i couldn’t see it because its a book, duh, but i loved that she had curly hair!

—▷ damion ౨ৎ
WHEN HE CALLED JULIA “nebraska” i fell in love with him too. forever am waiting for a bf who has a cute nickname for me ! but he was actually such a perfect friend and boyfriend to julia! i loved him sooo much! also i adored his glasses, i used to wear glasses hehe!

—▷ beckett ౨ৎ
he is very odd. the “birthday daddy” shirt had me DYING.

—▷ donovan and jasmine ౨ৎ
i am so glad that julia had them as friends <3

—▷ “skins” ౨ৎ
they pmo so much.

˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

❛❛ be my little baby (my one and only baby) ❜❜

˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

• ꒰ recommendations ꒱ •

age ୨୧ 13+ years old
interests ୨୧ fall // small town —> city // cute tutor // fancy school
genre ୨୧ romance
tropes ୨୧ enemies to lovers // restricted romance // opposites attract 

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ 𐙚 ࿐

❛❛ say you’ll be my darlin’ (be my, be my baby) ❜❜

୨୧ ───────── ୨୧

thank you so much for taking the time to read my review! i hope it was helpful in your reading experience. if you enjoyed this review, please consider following me to receive more valuable reviews! xoxo, alexandra ୨୧

[cat]

・❥・⁀➷ pre-release

august 20th- wym my request was denied 🥺🥺 so sad right now. day ruined 😔

april 7th- this cover?! 🧡💛🤎 i’m actually obsessed!! i’m so here for the vibes it’s giving off!! can’t wait for this to come out 🤭

[naz · Rating 5 out of 5]

“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆, 𝑵𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

Lynn Painter, we gotta talk... because how dare you make me cry while sitting in a packed airplane... my tears were coming down, and I'm sure someone saw BUT I REGRET NOTHING 😭🧡

Julia and her family inherit what a multi-millionaire left behind. Who would have thought a small-town girl was going to attend an elite private school and live at a brownstone in NYC? No one, including Damion. He lost his uncle and thought he was going to get the house... but a Nebraska family got it instead. He doesn't believe it and will do everything he can to prove it. Enter Julia, needing help with her math, and Damion, being her tutor!!! I love me a student x tutor trope. Did I mention that Damion has glasses and loves a good flirt session!!! AMAZING OKAY 🔥

I love both characters so much. Julia's POV of being from a small town and navigating everything so new really made me empathize with her more, especially when she is very open with her struggles about change and anxiety. She still pushes through and keeps getting up with her chin up, and I JUST LOVE THAT ABOUT HER! 🥹 Damion, when you see past the flirtyness and his "elite" persona, you notice he cares a lot and tries his best to fix his wrongs, and once he falls, he falls HARD. ATE IT UP!!!! 😭

I do want to mention I am so impressed with how accurately Lynn wrote these high schoolers. What do I mean? Meaning the inner monologue that Julia has throughout the book over a man liking her is legit how I was, the little overthinker over here, overanalyzing every single detail lol 👀🫣

This story was so beautiful 🧡 The topics of grief woven into the story were what made me fall in love with this book even more 🥹 The banter and flirtiness between them were amazing, but having it all tied up with the grief of losing something made me LOSE IT OKAY. 😭💔 The ending had me sobbing, and welp, I have a legit video to prove it 😭

I do need to add that to those of you who do not like miscommunication, I definitely suggest you skip this one because this is a huuuuge miscommunication romance trope. Heheh, which is why this was a 5-star book for me. ⭐️ THEY ARE HIGH SCHOOLERS OKAY, obviously they do not know how to communicate entirely... and yes, a simple convo could have avoided the plot, but then where the book gonna go??

Take that what you will, I FOR ONE LOVED IT.

tropes
🧡 enemies to lovers
🧡 student x tutor
🧡 small town girl x city boy
🧡 he falls harder
🧡 fake dating (ish)

Thank you Simon & Teen for my eARC!

⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.

𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 ❀*･EXCUSE ME WHAT WAS THIS MASTERPIECE OMFG. I WILL SCREAM AT TOP OF A HILL HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS BOOK IS.

𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 ❀*･I need to giggle and kick my feet so 🤞

[Grace Quan · Rating 5 out of 5]

🍁｡° 🕰️༄⌞ 𝟓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 ⌝ ༄☕️｡°🍂

Trust Fall is without a doubt Lynn Painter's best work in my opinion. It delivered a really interesting premise that had an excellent follow through.

The story starts with Julia Lowell, an ordinary girl living in a small town in Springfield, Nebraska. When her family suddenly inherits millions of dollars and a historic mansion in NYC—with the one stipulation that they must live in it for 6 months before they can inherit it—it seems they have no choice but to accept.
On the flip side, Damion, the great-nephew of the man who left a portion of his fortune to the Lowells, absolutely hates Julia and her family on sight.

The setup is already intriguing, so that combined with the New York City Autumn, Julia's main character energy, and Damion's charisma, this might just be the perfect book for fall.

༄｡°₊˚⊹⋆🍁⋆⊹˚ ₊ ༄
. Tropes:
•Enemies to lovers
•Fancy Prep School
•Inheritance drama
•Opposites attract
•He tutors her
•He wears glasses
•He falls first and harder
•Grief

The plot: First off, I appreciate when a romance book has a substantial plot. I feel like Painter's previous books have mostly just coasted off vibes and banter. But I liked this one immensely; I wasn't just reading a fluffy rom-com, I was reading something with substance and direction.

My favorite part of this book was undoubtedly Julia. She had this wild curly hair that Damion described as Julia Roberts's Pretty Woman hair. It was so fitting to her personality and obviously the reference to that movie was just the cherry on top. I can definitely see her character resonating with a ton of teenage girls. From her awkwardness and social anxiety, to her struggle to fit in with "the popular kids," she was so relatable and easy to empathize with. Girl had such a hard time attending Gardenwood Academy. I felt for her as she was experiencing bullying and trying to navigate this whole new world.

Damion was a fun one to read about too. I loved his funky style and his big tortoise-shell glasses. He possessed a "rebel without a cause" attitude and had the kind of "bad boy" charisma that girls dream about. Overall he was an interesting character, he certainly wasn't perfect, but it's what made him such a multidimensional person.

༄｡°₊˚⊹⋆🍁⋆⊹˚ ₊ ༄

Although I am pretty much obsessed with this book, there are a few critiques I'd like to make.

1. Some of the bullying that Julia experienced was a little too intense. It was hard to read at times and could potentially be really triggering for teens who experience bullying. Especially if you have social anxiety, like Julia did.

2. I know some people will take no issue with this, and maybe even enjoy it, but some of the ultra Gen Z language really put me off. I understand that this is Young Adult, but it got distracting at times and really pulled me out of the moment. But on a positive note, there was not a single Taylor Swift reference which I found to be very refreshing.

Ultimately, Trust Fall really was the perfect book for fall. Highly recommend for fans of Lynn Painter, Jennifer Lynn Barns (for that little taste of inheritance drama and mystery), and New York City in the Fall.

༄｡°₊˚⊹⋆🍁⋆⊹˚ ₊ ༄

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are entirely my own.

📆 Publication Date: September 29th, 2026