This coming of age romance is a quick and easy read that will not disappoint YA readers. Beyond just love, there are themes surrounding racism and cultural appropriation as well as social media and even plagiarism/AI. I think this would be a great book to check out if you are a fan of this genre. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to check out this book.

Such a cute quick read. I love coming of age and first love books and this one had it all. Will recommend!

Amazing book!
I was thoroughly engaged throughout this book and I didn't want to put it down! The author captured my attention from the get go! Five stars from me :)

The title is misleading as this book covers a lot of modern issues from racial, social ....discrimination, social media, plagiarism the love component is less prominent. It's a great read for the younger generation.
Two girls competing for one price which can change/save their lives. And a love affair that mixes in between that we already know will cause drama and how it will evolve. It's predictable but well written. And the cultural and social clashes are interesting.

I really enjoyed this book! It covered a lot of important topics such as cultural appropriation, racism and plagiarism. I really enjoyed Kiara's character and the development of Madison's character throughout the book.

This book wasn't what I expected it to be. I was expecting a chill, sapphic rom-com book but I was met with intense emotions coming from both main characters. This book tackles a lot of issues people experience in real life such as racism, cultural appropriation, plagiarism, financial issues, body image, and family issues. 

The characters are amazing. Madison being the white girl who didn't realize how privileged she is and Kiara who has to work harder than her to get into college because she doesn't have the same privileges and connections. I love Madison's character development the most when she realizes the effect of her 'simple' actions may not be as simple as she thought they were. 

I also think this book is informative in ways such as informing people how plagiarism hurts creators and that people should be supporting them, not the copycats or (in current events) AI products. That people don't realize the harm it does to the original creators or simply ignore that fact because 'it doesn't affect them personally' or 'other people do it anyway, why can't I?' or 'its just for fun. No harm done' when in fact, it does a lot of harm and they just can't see it because they don't try to see it or listen to people who express how it harms creators. This does not only apply to all forms of art but also in other ways like racism which is highly discussed in this book. Like what one of the side characters experienced. He's a black choreographer who created a dance that almost went viral until a white creator copied it and got all the credit instead.

To be honest, this book ignited an anger within me that I didn't know existed. I wish more people would talk more about the issues mentioned here; this book defines what being an ally truly means. This book is beautifully written and the author did a great work in expressing her messages.

I'm probably the wrong audience for this book. YA sapphic is hit and miss for me. The book was well-written and entertaining. I enjoyed the girls-as-kick-ass-coders premise. Both of the characters had very good reasons to want to win the competition and I found myself rooting for both of them. Due to my past, I found myself having a knee-jerk reaction of intense disbelief of the one MC who is beautiful, ultra-popular, head cheerleader, etc but super-genius in secret. As someone ostracized strongly for their brains, it brought up triggers for me of treatment by the popular, beautiful crowd. I would have more appreciated the MC being open about her smarts to serve as an example for being a counter-stereotype. I did enjoy the characterization of the other MC being a middle-class working-hard student just trying to survive. The side characters, though, *chef's kiss*. The whole family of the one MC, especially the cousin, just gave me the feels. I was rooting against the father of the other MC so hard.
TL:DR - well written book that is great for YA readers looking for a sapphic underdog story

Enjoyable YA romance with serious topics. It is the senior year at a STEM high school. Madison Lange is the daughter of a wealthy tech CEO. She is the “it” girl at school being a cheerleader, brand ambassador for her dads Fitbod brand etc. But she wants to show she is more than a pretty face. She writes code and wants to win an app contest that provides $45K in college tuition. She doesn’t need the money but it will prove to her dad she can be a serious code writer. Kiara Johnson, is black and a scholarship student at the same school. She wants to win the contest as it will help her become the first person in her family to attend college.

The extra’s beyond the stirring feelings between Madison and Kiara include: racism, cultural appropriation, controlling parent, intellectual property and more. Madison’s father is intentionally cringeworthy. Through the serendipity of timing this is my third YA novel I’ve read in a week's time. And they’ve covered the same type of topics in different settings and countries. I like this story but there are a few holes. Kaira is already a scholarship student and doing outstanding at an elite school she should know many schools and scholarships would be available to her at more than a community college. And I didn’t love the best friend jealousy storyline although it works out as good as can be expected.

Over all a nice wholesome, kissing only, high school romance, with thoughtful representation of racial topics and more.

This book has substantially more tension than the title suggests. A title like <I>Senior Showdown</I> might have been more appropriate. Madison and Kiara are in a high-stakes coding competition with only one prize, first place.

Both are under heavy pressure in their personal lives. Kiara puts pressure on herself to go to college and lift her family out of living paycheck-to-paycheck. Madison is under so much pressure from her rich tech mogul father that I half expected her to go postal in chemistry class.

This book has the best representation of software development that I've seen in any romance and maybe in any novel (I would have to think about that for a while). Kiara's measured, professional, collaborative approach feels totally real, while Madison's try-it-and-see hacking is equally convincing.

This was a book that really wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. I went in to it expecting quite a light-hearted YA romance which would be a quick, easy read – but it very much surprised me with the variety of different topics and issues that it managed to cover.

In particularly I really enjoyed seeing how Madison developed throughout the book. Through her POV we were given a good insight in to how her thought processes changed as she came to appreciate and understand her privileges while also acknowledging that there were still difficulties that she experienced in her own life. The effects of having a controlling parent / partner was well done, and at times quite uncomfortable to read. I loved that Madison wasn’t just a stereotypically written cheerleader character but that there was a balance between her this and her more nerdy side.

Through the book there were also discussions around cultural appropriation and the plagiarism of creators work. This is in particular highlighted with Kiara’s cousin Daniel, a young black choreographer who is trying to gain traction for his work. However, his chance at fame is seemingly taken when his dance is copied by white creators, who then go viral without crediting Daniel as the original artist. It was heart-wrenching to see how Daniel’s elation became dejection when this happened, and while he was not one of the POV characters I really did come to care for him through the book.

I did enjoy the app project that was central to the book – although I cannot imagine surviving at Centennial STEM!

I was a little disappointed by the ending. It just didn’t quite live up to the rest of the book for me. In some ways it felt a little bit too perfect for me, but this didn’t detract too heavily from what was otherwise a very strong novel. I would definitely want to read more works by the author in the future.

This book is whoa!

A romance between the nerd and the cheerleader is pure catnip to this '90s kid. make it sapphic and I read in it one sitting, It was a nice additional to my Autumn Reads list.

It wasn't as light a read as I thought going in, but the amount of issues it covered kept me in it to win it.

Thank you to Author Collective 20 and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.

I loved this book! This is a fun romance read which covers some important topics such as cultural appropriation, racism and plagiarism of creators' work. I loved the character Kiara and the development of Madison who wanted to be better and was willing to learn from her mistakes and their relationship was also really cute.

This book tried to cover a lot of different topics, including racism, black creators not getting recognition for their work (in this case a dance choreography), the effects of a controlling parent/spouse, and the economic realities of lower-class Americans. Would say I liked how Madison actually internalized conversations about privilege and recognition she had with Kiara and worked at being a better ally. Kiara's relationship with her family felt like a nice contrast to Madison's home life, and it was nice to see them start accepting her into their lives towards the end of the book. The romance felt sort of insta-love to me, but it was overall a nice romance that covered some deeper societal themes.

I read this book in a day and I never looked back! The plot were pretty easy to identify but the different POV's kept me intrigued to see how everything was going to unfold.

Overall I give this 5 out 5 because it really was a great book and I will definitely read more from this Author. I enjoyed the thrill of the plot and its twists.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC copy of the book!

"Lessons in Love" is a beautiful love story between a nerd and a cheerleader who also has a nerdy side. I liked how the book dealt with issues like identity theft, famous parents, fascism, and racism. The last part regarding college admissions was somewhat ambiguous. Overall, it is a great feel-good book, especially for nerds who are often underrepresented in mainstream media. Brownie points for the satisfying endings for all the characters. All in all, it's a package full of hope.