Dahlia Adler is a writer that I’ve been coming back to for a few years now. Her books are by no means my favourite, but she usually writes strong, well-developed characters with great dialogue that I really enjoy. She also usually writes queer characters, which isn’t the case here with Come As You Are, her latest. This one takes place a boarding school (yup, sign me up) with a hilarious trope of a girl who is stuck living in a boys dorm. Realistic? No, but I’m down for the ride.

Hot on the heels of a broken heart, Everett “Evie” Riley arrives at Camden Academy ready for a new beginning—one far away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, the sister who stole him, and the best friend who let it happen. But her fresh start is stopped in its tracks when she’s accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm, with no choice but to stay.

When rumours and gossip about Evie’s housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new reputation… but she’s definitely going to require help. Her grumpy emo dorm mate, Salem Grayson, isn’t exactly her first choice, but he does need her help to repair his relationship with his parents every bit as much as she needs his to learn how to be cool. And so they make a pact—he’ll teach her how to be bad, if she teaches him how to be good.

It’s a flawless plan, except while Salem thrives academically, even romantically, and—annoyingly enough—even physically, Evie’s quest feels like one dead end after another, and the girl she’s becoming certainly doesn’t feel remotely cool. But when Evie realizes what she wants more than anything, she’ll have to contend with her thrice-broken heart and figure out how to become someone capable of chasing happiness.

I have read a few Dahlia Adler books before, and though Going Bicoastal was a real win in my books, Come As You Are was definitely not as strong. There are lots of things that I enjoyed, Salem, the main male character (MMC) and his twin sister, Sabrina, for one, as well as the banter between him and Evie. But there were a few things that frustrated me a bit—like that I felt like this story would have almost worked better if it were set in college versus high school, because the characters didn’t act like teenagers.

What didn’t work for me

Evie’s sister issues: Without going into spoiler territory, I completely understand how Evie would be upset about her sister sleeping with her boyfriend and how that would affect their relationship. But for someone who really (mentally) focuses on her sister a lot and their strained relationship, there could have been a lot more in the story to put these two together that would have been interesting—especially after there’s a bit of a reveal.

Evie’s school friendships: Maybe this is just me being cynical, but Evie is a very blunt, sarcastic, take-me-or-leave-me personality, and she made instant friends at school, in, like, less than 24 hours. And the friends seem to just understand her and put up with her (she’s a lot) without question. Do you know many teenagers who would just accept the new kid like that? It just felt very convenient.

The bad girl/good boy trope: Ultimately, I feel like the whole “make me a bad girl” premise wasn’t really necessary. I guess for forced proximity reasons? There could have been a better reason (maybe a school/academic-related one) that could have put Salem and Evie together, because this kind of just ended up fizzling out anyway.

What I liked

The male characters: I really adore Salem. I wish we got his POV in the story instead of just Evie’s because I tend to like that storytelling better. I got a sense of who he was—especially when it came to his relationship with his sister—and I really enjoyed his journey. I also thought Matt was such an interesting character. Believable as a teenager? Probably not, but I got a kick out of his relationship with Evie.

The banter: One thing I adore about Adler’s writing is the banter. Her characters are quick and witty and complement each other so well. This is what keeps me coming back for more each and every time.

3 STARS

“To fel like being with you is the most comfortable thing in the world but also gives me butterflies? Dude, that’s romantic as fuck.” —Dahlia Adler, Come As You Are

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for an advanced book copy in exchange for my honest review.