I have never read such a needlessly long book. It is bold to make comparisons to beloved cult classics in any scenario, but in this case it further emphasized how flat the story fell. With all of these pages, the characters should have felt fully fleshed out and dimensional, but I truly could not bring myself to care what happened to them.

I unfortunately could not get into this book. I did try several times but I think the story just couldn't grasp or hold my attention.
I don't feel confident giving it a true rating as it was 100% my fault for not being able to get into the story. The writing is great and the concept is usually something that I would love. I'm hoping to give it a better shot down the line and for that I have kept it on my kindle. Once I am back in the mood for this type of story, I will leave a better review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

I picked up this book because the blurb promised Magnolia Parks, Gossip Girl, and One Tree Hill vibes—aka, everything I love. Magnolia Parks is my jam, and honestly, the cover alone had me sold. But once I started reading, I didn’t get the vibes I was hoping for. Instead, it felt more like Gilmore Girls, which wasn’t quite what I expected.

That said, this isn’t your typical light sports romance about college students. There’s plenty of angst, intrigue, and secrets woven throughout the story. Olivia is grappling with loss, and just when things couldn’t get more complicated, she falls for her boyfriend’s brother, Ben—who, by the way, was a highlight for me. His struggles with anxiety were portrayed well, and mental health rep is one of my favorite tropes. Ben definitely stole the show.

Olivia’s relationship with Will, though, was frustratingly toxic, and I found myself wishing she’d walked away sooner. I also wanted more depth in her friendship with Lily—it felt a bit surface-level, and I never fully connected to their bond.

Despite my mixed feelings, this is a strong debut novel. It actually does deliver on the Gossip Girl vibes in its own way, so if you love messy drama and complicated relationships, this might be your thing. And yes, I’ll be waiting for the sequel about Grant and Gen—I need to know what happens next!

What an incredible book. I went into it completely blind, and it did not let me down.

I thought this was going to be a cute little romance book, but it was so much more than that. It talks about real life issues such as griefs, and that was my biggest surprised regarding it. The way the author wrote about it and how she made the characters going thought it was familiar to me. I highly appreciated how it was written and I think I needed that.

The writing style is addictive, once I started reading it, I could not put it down. Sydney Madison is making you wanting to know more - always more. It felt like I had a tiny tv inside my head.

This book has a dual pov, Ben and Olivia. I don't always think that dual pov's are needed in romance books, but reading both of their inner thoughts regarding different matters was really nice. I loved every single line.

They are both dealing with issues and reading how they are coming to terms with them, accepting them, living them was incredible.

The romance was very soft and sweet, it felt like a breath of fresh air. I could feel their love for each other through the pages and feel the tension, the want, the need to just be in the other's presence.

4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Sydney Madison for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

First of all, the cover is SOOO CUTE so based on this, I expected a cute little college romcom but boy was I wrong. This book has just the right amount of everything; love, drama and emotion. I was not a fan of Will at the beginning but as the story keeps developing, you see why he is the way he is because you learn about his trauma and his history. The slow burn between the two characters was great and had me rooting for them at the end LOL



Tropes:
- Basketball Romance
- Slow Burn
- Mental Health Representation
- Gilmore Girls + Gossip Girl Vibes

Thank you to NetGalley and PS publishing for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.

The author definitely had Gossip Girl and Magnolia Parks in mind when creating her story. With elements from each of those loved story lines I figured this book would have my attention. It fell flat for me with there not being much depth. I didn’t feel close to any of the characters until the ocean scene with Will and Olivia. That part did give me a tear or two.

This book is full of angst, family trauma, mental health, and “forbidden” romance due to her being his brother’s girl. There is a secret kept from the FMC that she’ll have to try to piece together throughout the book while navigating her grief of losing her best friend Lily.

While the idea of getting to know Ben through an article piece was brought up it gets left out of the book. I think there was an initial scene bringing it up and then it’s forgotten about. As if she didn’t really try to write the article at all. I felt that was a bit messy.

Overall I just needed more. It’s hard to write a toxic relationship that you hate to love the way Jessa Hastings does.

while i was excited for this book, it turned out to not be my cup of tea. it was well written and the cover is gorgeous, but i felt really disconnected from the main characters.

the mental health representation was really well done but the toxicity between the characters just wasn’t doing it for me. i wished we got a bit more character development from them as well as some groveling especially with the third act.

i wished i liked this one more but i’m not writing this author off! there’s so much potential and i can’t wait to see what more they do!

A fun mix of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill vibes, this story brought back some nostalgic favorites from my early years. However, I found the writing to be a bit choppy, which made it hard for me to fully connect with the story.

The love triangle and the cheating trope between the two brothers felt a little over the top at times, it was just a bit much for my taste. Still, there were moments I enjoyed, and I wish those had been the central focus rather than the drama that took center stage.

Olivia’s character really stood out to me, she had that Blair Waldorf vibe, smart and a little bit of a worrywart. She's dating Will, a very lost boy who makes questionable decisions. Then, in true Gossip Girl style, Ben, the older brother, makes his dramatic return, bringing with him a whirlwind of secrets and drama, much like Serena’s reappearance on Gossip Girl.

While I really wanted to love this, the writing just didn’t fully click for me. That said, there were still some great side storylines that touched on life, loss, and growth, which added depth to the story.

OMGGGG !! THANK YOU TO SYDNEY & MADISON for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

For starters, I loved the Dual POV because I needed to know what Ben was thinking at all times.

Summary: When love and loss collide, one thing becomes clear: everything will be forever altered. Olivia sees Astor Hill as her next great opportunity, a place where she'll design the perfect college experience. Her plans include winning the heart of Will Chapman, the star shooting guard, becoming the editor of the prestigious school newspaper, and experiencing campus life with her best friend, Lily, by her side. But a single, devastating night destroys the future she had carefully envisioned. Two years later, the scars of the past still haunt her, casting a dark shadow over her present. As Olivia begins to question the perks of being the perfect campus darling, a disruptive force arrives, threatening to unravel the delicate life she’s built. Ben Cabot, the elusive basketball star with a notorious reputation and a dangerously charming smile, returns to Astor Hill after a long absence. His presence sparks a forbidden attraction in Olivia, challenging everything she thought she wanted. Caught between the safety of her known world and the tempting unknown, Olivia must face her deepest desires and make a life-altering decision.

My Thoughts: I ate this book up, I love the fact that Will was so pressed about Ben being back and I love that Olivia was in charge of finding out why Ben was back in the first place. Will screamed stay away from my girl, while he was making Olivia look crazy. I love that this was eating Will up because does he even know his brother for real? Does he even like Olivia for real?

Olivia having her big girl panties on and letting Ben know that Will ain't stopping her show is amazing!

Interesting plot and characters. If you’re a fan on One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl this book is definitely for you.

While written nicely, the characters and story made me realize the reason why I stopped watching Gossip Girl after its second or third season.

I didn’t like the main female character, maybe because I can’t believe there are people that shallow and I had that vibe since the first chapter. The main male character was alright, gave me a bit of a later series Nathan from OTH vibe.

Overall, this wasn’t a book I would have normally chosen for myself but I’m glad I have it a shot. The characters definitely have a lot of growing /maturing to do.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this enook in exchange for a honest review.

Astor Hill is a drama-filled debut with very messy love triangles, grief, secrets and lies. I found the characters to be very unlikeable, but, for me at least, that seemed to be the point. Most of them are pretentious, snobby, and downright toxic. Grant, and Ben some of the time, are my only exceptions. Although there were some heavy themes throughout the book, it was a good palate cleanser read for me because I was able to disengage from real life for a while and focus only on some fictional drama. It definitely felt a bit like watching a few episodes of gossip girl.

In the end, the characters go through some healing moments and start to redeem themselves. No surprise, my favorite moments of the book were these heartfelt, healing moments for the characters. The beach/ocean scene, Ben supporting Will, the discussions of grief/anxiety/depression, etc. Loved these moments!

Will be interesting to hear Grant’s and Gen’s story. Grant is by far the best and deserves everything good.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous the cover is! Absolutely love it.

A huge thank you to author duo Sydney Madison & NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

DNF.
I was sold on the cover and the mention of One Tree Hill.
Maybe I've watched too many historical K-dramas, but the fmc gave off the vibe of a maid who hates her mistress 😅.
The atmosphere reminded me more of Magnolia Parks, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and Elite.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sydney Madison for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute read and definitely saved me from a post fantasy reading slump.

Loved the dual pov giving the right amount of yearing, touch of spicy but not smutty (explicit words)

I actually really liked the authors use of a romantic story to talk about mental health both for men and women and especially male athletes, grief, female friendships and being in a toxic relationship you need to let go off. I’ll be honest I didn’t expect the level of depth we got and I was impressed.

Gossip girl fans this one is for us

xoxo

I liked this one. I read some reviews prior to reading it. I did find it to have some gossip girl and one tree vibes but found it to be on the more edgier / darker side of this comparison. I liked the university setting and exploring the student and athlete life. There was interesting, toxic and dynamic friendship dynamics explored throughout that added some depth to the story. I liked that there was a duel POV and past timeline jumps. I enjoyed the mental health representation and the different coping avenues depicted when it came to anxiety, trauma and grief.

I would have liked gossip column explored more as I saw this to have real potential and would have made it more salacious. Im also not a huge fan of the insta love trope it just seemed very unrealistic to me.

Overall a quick and easy read

This was an okay read. This was not the type of love triangle I’m used to. I like heart wrenching, making you sob love triangles. This felt too much like a bad soap opera on tv. Olivia was very unlikeable and immature. 3 stars.

There were some things I loved about this book: the love triangle with the two brothers, the college setting, the messiness, and the Gossip Girl/One Tree Hill vibes. I found some of the storylines to be undeveloped and I didn’t love the best friend storyline. I also found it to be a bit too soapy for me. However, if you love the drama and Gossip Girl/One Tree Hill vibes, you might really like this one.

I was excited to get this ARC when I saw it getting compared to Gossip Girl. However, I think my biggest problem with this book was that the characters weren’t very likeable and hard to relate to. Olivia was such a pick-me girl and it was a red flag with how much she continued to flirt with Ben knowing she was still in a relationship with Will, no matter how toxic their relationship was. She was very rude and I felt like she wasn’t a girl’s girl, especially in the first chapter where she gets annoyed every time someone tries to flirt with her best friend Lily. Will was awful and how he treated Olivia had no real accountability or calls reason to it. There was a lot of telling more than showing how the characters felt. Ben’s anxiety was dealt with really well, but it was so messy and hard to root for him constantly trying to flirt with his brother’s girlfriend. I will say that the idea of the first book has a lot of potential to be a good series, but how it executes it here wasn’t for me. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but maybe it’ll be yours!

Thank you to Sydney Madison and PS Published for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

The way Sydney Madison deals with mental health, especially grief, was beautifully done. The story felt real and honest and I loved seeing the way the relationships developed.

This gave me the same feelings that Magnolia Parks gave me when reading it. I hated all the nonsense but still interested in what happens. I was annoyed majority of the time reading this with most of the characters but the drama is what gets you if you’re into reading about toxic relationships & drama 😂

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC

4.0⭐ this book was so gossip girl/magnolia parks coded and i was living for it

i kind of just expected a cute little college romance going into this but i was so wrong. the drama the love and the characters in this book were so complex and exceeded my expectations. although the relationships were *slightly* unconventionally i still loved them and i feel like every ironed out in the end

i feel like the characters really stuck with me in this book. olivia was such a relatable and flawed character like most of them especially the "second fiddle" part of her character that helped her develop so much. ben was a less complex characters but also was shown struggling so much with his mental health and his love for olivia was so pure and adorable i couldnt help but root for them at all times. will is trickier because i really hated him at the beginning when he was with olivia but once you learn his trauma and his backstory and he makes up with everyone he becomes so much more understandable and you just feel for him even though he acted out.

im so excited to see more of these characters in gen and grants book especially to see more of sloane! thanks to netgalley for this arc!!