I watched the Epic Reads YouTube Channel when Margot Wood was on there so it was so exciting to read her book! Please read this great coming of age story about a girl in her freshman year of college. It's so relatable and "Fresh"! I hope you enjoy it!

I have read other people’s reviews where they say they were pulled in from the first page. I was repelled from the first page. The very first sentence of the book mimics the first sentence of Emma. A classic technique and appropriate for any retelling with lines as memorable as Austen. Unfortunately I was immediately jarred by a simultaneous fourth wall break and dramatic tonal shift into what I would soon become acquainted with as the annoying voice of Elliot McHugh.

What a gem! Hilarious and relatable, I was captivated from the start and so invested in these characters. Like the title, the plot was "fresh" (sorry and didn't feel at all expected or like I knew what was coming next. Original, fun and definitely worth your time.

Margot Wood's debut was an absolute delight. Elliot is an instantly relatable protagonist, funny and honest to a fault. This book is unapologetically sex positive and a needed addition to the freshly graduated/new college freshman canon. Cannot wait to read what else Wood comes up with.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

3.5 stars, but rounding up because this one did make me laugh out loud a fair bit and it did make me think (mostly fondly, a little bit shamefully) about my own freshman year away at college.

Full disclosure as well: I'm friends with Margot in real life. And this book made me think of her so much, because the humor, heart and the voice felt so true to who she is. It was entertaining (and very much like watching a film) to see all of the ups and downs Elliot experiences in her freshman year! While vastly different from my own experiences, there were a few key emotional things that felt personally relatable and the book ended up putting a smile on my face.

A wonderful debut by Margot Wood! I've been following Margot since EPIC Reads and it's been amazing watching Margot flourish in career.

This followed Elliot as she navigates being a Freshman in college. There were a lot of funny moments and brought to the life the realities of college life.

A really incredible debut. I loved it for the humor, the vulnerability, and the heart. There's nothing more enjoyable to read than a really great coming of age story, and this really delivered for me.

A fun title from a familiar name to anyone involved in published. Always love to have a new classic retelling to recommend.

The first paragraph is Elliot introducing herself as: white, rich, and privileged. So I guess it does set the tone for the whole book. This is a Rich White Girl All American College Experience story where they literally go to college to have sex and drink. Elliot comfortably spotlighted her own wealth all the time so it was just...a bit hard to read. $100 bets mean nothing to her, $36K tuition for one year was paid for by her parents (no loans for her), she's not even doing a major, just fun-fluff courses, she spends a semester writing an essay on sex and just has sex as all of the research.

It touched on dissolving stereotypes and empowering young women and being sex positive, but mostly it felt like 350 pages of Elliot's sex life where she hurt people and had to say sorry.

I absolutely loved this book. This was essentially a bisexual disaster and I loved it so much. I loved how Elliott was so sex positive even if she got crap for it. I wish I had something like this when I was in college.

One of my favorite settings to read about is in regards to the college experience. I thought how Margot Wood wrote her setting and characters was very believable and true to what I remember college (mostly) being like ;)

When I originally received this book as a digital ARC from the publisher, I was SO excited to read it, but I quickly discovered that the format wouldn’t be easy for my brain to read in digital form, thanks to footnotes that in physical book form were on the same page as the footnote number itself, but were 5-8 pages away in digital form. So I had to wait until this actually published and I could buy it before I could read it and… I’m SO mad I couldn’t read it sooner! Granted, part of that is on me, because then I was in a reading slump when it DID come out and I JUST got to it now. But holy crap, I finished this in roughly a day and I just couldn’t put it down. It was such an amazing story. The plot, the characters, the writing, the format itself… Despite my digital issues with the format, my brain LOVED the format in physical form. I’ve discovered a lot about myself over the last two years, and one thing I’m 80% certain of is that I have ADHD and I have trouble focusing on reading now. But the footnotes, the little “choose your own adventure” moments, the lists, etc… Just absolute perfection. The format made my brain so happy!

Okay that was a very rambly first paragraph for this review.. If you’re still reading, I appreciate you.

Anyway, moving on. The plot was amazing. This story was so amazingly sex positive, and it’s definitely something that YA/Upper YA/NA books need. I loved Elliot and the way she was unapologetically herself, but still owned up to her mistakes when she realized how badly she had screwed up. I loved her chaotic brain and how relatable she was. I loved living the college experience I never got to have vicariously through her. All the secondary characters felt like such real people, too.

I’ve been following Margot since she was working at Epic Reads. I still miss Tea Time, and I’m incredibly honored to have gotten to meet her at a signing many, many years ago. I was so pumped when I saw she was publishing a book, and what an incredible book it was. Simply put, I devoured it. And I encourage you all to do the same.

10/10 amazing book and can’t wait for whatever Margot comes up with next!

It's a good one, but it's not my type of book. I was expecting to like because I liked the synopsis but it didn't affect me.

As a student at Emerson College, I was overjoyed to see a book that took place at my school! I had very high hopes for this sex-positive young adult contemporary, but it was lackluster at best. The writing style often fluctuated between being too young and way too old. The sexual innuendos were often cringey and felt very middle school. All of the characters, unfortunately, felt very juvenile and flat. I was hopeful for this book but was left very disappointed.

I have been a follower of Margot woods’ on social media for a long while so when I heard that she was releasing a books i was super excited.

Fresh is a college age romance/coming of age story. Our main character is Elliot McHugh and this is the story of her struggles and experiences in college.

I like Margot and i have always found her content online amusing so I was very excited for this book, but unfortunately it just was not for me. I never really connected with the main character and that just kept me distant and not fully immersed in the story like I prefer to be. The writing just wasn’t for me either. I never quoted clicked with it.

I can absolutely see how this may be the perfect book for someone out there but unfortunately that just was not the case for me.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Oh wow! This book was everything I needed in my life and more! From the banter, to the real experiences, there was never a dull moment. This book was fast paced and kept you intertwined in the story, and made it impossible to put down.
Beautifully written bisexual representation, sex positive, kink positive (for those 18 and above of course), mental health representation, and overall a diverse and important book.

I've followed Margot online for years and really enjoyed her content so I expected to love this, but I am really bummed to say that this one didn't quite work out for me the way that I was hoping it would. While I do appreciate that this book exists and I do think that a lot of people would still really love it, I just was never really able to connect to our main character, Elliot. Something about her inner monologue just rubbed me the wrong way and I was never able to fully invest in the story because of it. With all that being said, I do think that if you're looking for a light hearted, queer coming of age story this could definitely still be the book for you!! It just wasn't quite the perfect book for me. Womp :(

CW: sexual assault, cheating, slut shaming

This book was so fun and entertaining. I could not put it down as it was so good. What a blast of a read.

This was so much fun, I loved it all. I just couldn't stop reading this. Elliot was a refreshingly honest character and I hope others will fall in love with her like I did.