Astor Hill by Sydeny Madison ✨️ arc review ✨️

So many emotions ran through me while reading this book. SO MANY!!!

Let's start with the FMC Olivia (Liv); I really love how this character was written because they made her super relatable. She is strong, smart, beautiful, and headstrong (in a good way). All while struggling with the very realbattle of shoving feelings that are so strong into a mental box in the corner of her mind just so she could continue moving forward. I truly admire her strength, and I also admire the amount of growth that she has over the course of this story.

Next onto the MMC (Ben); I love when authors write about mens mental health, especially since the topic *in my opinion* does not get talked about enough in this day and age. The basketball captain with everything, the looks, the skills, the wealthy family. How could he be anything but happy? What these authors do is show that even guys/boys/men can have a hard time under pressure, that sometimes it can be A LOT to handle.

The story these two characters have together is just magical to witness, from the witty banter and quick slightly sarcastic comebacks (mostly coming from Liv lol) to the hard moments and tear jerking scenes, this book will have you feeling so many feels you'll be sad when the book ends but happy you took the journey.

Side note there is spice, however, not too much (though there is plenty of tension 🫣), meaning you really get to know the characters outside of physical attraction, which i absolutely LOVE about books!!. I cannot wait for a second book!!!!!

First of all, thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC!🤎
This book gives gossip girl but set mainly at a University near Boston. Page turning drama, but with a good portrayal of the ways grief can affect someone. Some of the characters take some time to grow on you. In between the grief, the grandparents, family issues, there’s something for almost anyone to relate to. My only criticism is that there are a few times that I feel like there are too many luxury brands mentioned in a short period of time. Thankfully it only happens a few times, and other than that the brands names are thrown in here and there. If you like gossip girl, you’ll enjoy this too. Can’t wait for the next book! The ending pretty much had me in tears, so that also helps it’s rating lol

Astor Hill is a heart-wrenching romance novel anchored in the desire to overcome the past through new connections and pushing the boundaries that we create for ourselves.

It starts with a rush of collegiate parties and the society that comes with old money as we meet Olivia and her best friend, Lily. They are eager to start the next four years and woo the entire student body of Astor Hill. When Lily suddenly passes away, we flash forward two years and are reintroduced to Olivia, who has achieved most of what she sought after. Her vision board has come to life; the hot jock boyfriend, Will, writing for the paper… she is truly the embodiment of Rory Gilmore in season five of Gilmore Girls.
Enter Ben, Will’s older brother, returning from a two-year gap year, and desperately enamored by the girl he saw at a frat party before he left… who just so happens to be dating his brother.

The romance between these pages is everything; there is yearning, pining, and aching. Ben feels, to me, like an Andrew Garfield love interest; he is the book boyfriend of the month. A golden boy just so down bad for the girl he likes it's toe curling.
Olivia is so elusive and nonchalant, she is so clearly fighting her emotions about a variety of things, and Ben is determined to escape the reputation he’d crafted before he left.

There is so much in this book to unpack: the way it handles grief and the guilt Ben feels for pining after Olivia… it is so beautifully written, and there is such gorgeous prose in these pages. I genuinely fell in love with these characters and found myself reading slower as the book went on so I could stay in their world a bit longer.
I will say- it did drag in the middle for a bit, but I still wasn’t bored. It is a slow burn, and for good reason. But, by the end, I was smitten with their relationship; I was squealing into my pillow kicking my feet at their dialogue, and the vulnerability that they share is so heartwarming.
I definitely recommend picking this up, and I am eagerly awaiting the second installment!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
✓slow burn
✓mental health rep
✓he falls first
✓new adult
✓boyfriend`s brother
✓secrets

I'll start by saying I loved the cover – it's amazing! But this isn't a light sports romance about college students, as you might think. There’s angst, intrigue, and secrets. The heroine is dealing with loss, and then she falls for her boyfriend's brother, who has anxiety. By the way, mental health rep is one of my favorite tropes, and I really liked Ben.
As for Olivia, her relationship with Will had a lot of toxicity, and I wish she’d left him sooner. I also would have loved more heartfelt moments in her friendship with Lily, as I didn’t feel much connection to her.
Anyway, this is a good debut novel! It gave me Gossip Girl vibes, so if you enjoy that show, this book is for you. I’ll be waiting for the sequel about Grant and Gen!

Thank you to NetGalley and PS Publishing for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes:
- ex’s older brother
- Mental health
- Sports: basketball
- Grief

I enjoyed this book! Admittedly it’s really messy & at first I didn’t love how toxic some of the character relationships were. But the further I got into the story the more it just reminded me of how messy life can be & made it feel real.

I’m excited to see how the next book in the series will continue the friendships that seem to be blooming & creating a found family vibe

Thank you to NetGalley & PS Publishing for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, love the cover. However, I don't know what I was expecting for the story but this wasn't it. I think this would be more of a high school book

Once I got into this, I couldn't stop until I was done. It was really well-paced and a proper cozy fall romance to curl up with.

Astor Hill is an Elite College full of the rich and well to-do, but that factor isn't overdone like in some books. It's a background feature rather than the main event which made the world easier to buy into.

Olivia, Ben and Will are all well-drawn characters and the story woven around them is easy to get lost in. There are twists which are a little easy to see coming but, overall, the web of lies which underpins the whole story got me so invested I just had to finish the book as quickly as I could.

It's a gorgeous romance which I will definitely read again and recommend to friends. Good for those who like Hannah Grace, Elsie Silver. There is a hint of spice, but again, it's handled well and not too much.

3.25 stars. This book was different from what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a cute sports romance with the fmc finding herself after the death of a friend.

But this book was very toxic. I hated Will. Could not stand how he treated Olivia. Once you get more into the book it explains why he did what he did but it still did not excuse his actions. Olivia was also really toxic, but it did show the struggle of not loving yourself and finding your way to that throughout that I really enjoyed.

I liked Ben, he is a great book boyfriend. I liked that the author showed his struggle with mental health and him actually bettering himself! But I will say him flirting with his brothers girlfriend was getting really messy.

Overall, I think it was a fun read and I am intrigued for the second book in this series.

This book immediately had me hooked!

The secrets, the relationships, THE DRAMA! It was so good. I truly enjoyed it.

I especially loved focus on mental health, and the importance of taking care of it. It’s not an easy topic but it was done very well.

Ultimately, I loved it! Cannot wait for more books in this series.

If you like the Magnolia Park series, you'll like this book! I'm looking forward to reading more from this author! This book is full of love, drama, and friendship, and it truly feels like you're right there with the characters.

4 stars ✩

➺ This was a very entertaining read. And I will be happy to read the next book in the series soon!

Astor Hill follows Olivia, a student at the prestigious college of the same name, where she’s navigating life alongside her best friend, Lily. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, Olivia’s world is completely shattered as she faces the devastating loss of Lily.

On top of her grief, Olivia is stuck in a turbulent relationship with Will, her boyfriend of two years, who’s giving her serious mixed signals. Things get even more complicated when Ben, Will’s stepbrother, returns to campus after two years away, having taken time off to deal with his mental health. Ben’s reappearance stirs up all kinds of old family drama, especially since he’s been secretly harboring feelings for Olivia ever since he first laid eyes on her.

What follows is a tangle of emotions as Ben struggles to suppress his growing attraction to Olivia, while she begins to realize that being around Ben feels different—better—than her complicated relationship with Will. The more Olivia is around Ben, the more she feels like she can be herself without the pressure of being “Will’s girlfriend,” and the sparks between them become impossible to ignore. The slow burn between the two of them was a treat to watch unfold, and by the end, I was completely rooting for them.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Characters:
Ben: I really liked how Ben was written—his openness about mental health, the maturity with which he handled it, and how he challenged the stigma around therapy for men was such a breath of fresh air. He comes across as a guy who’s been through a lot but managed to face his problems head-on, which makes him feel like a really mature and well-rounded character. He was super sweet with Olivia and I adored the way, he made Olivia feel better whenever she needed reassurance.

Olivia: Olivia is both witty and intelligent, with a blend of confidence and vulnerability that I found really relatable and endearing. She’s strong in her own way but also has her sad moments which made her a really likeable persona. Her friendship with Lily, though, was a bit of a puzzle—it seemed deep, but there were layers of complexity that made me question how much they truly understood each other.

Will: Oh man, here we go. With all due respect, Will just wasn’t ready for this relationship, especially after everything that happened with Lily. He would’ve been better off focusing on getting his own life together rather than dragging Olivia into his mess. I get what he’s been through and how hard it must have been for him, but committing to a relationship that felt more like an attempt to fill the void left by Lily’s loss just wasn’t the right move. In the end, it not only made him feel hurt, but it also caused Olivia way too much.


Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It has its slow moments, but the character development and the way it deals with complex emotions like grief, love, and mental health really stood out.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.


thank you netgalley and ps published for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book! I loved the slow burn and the dynamics between the characters. The relationship between the brothers was so tense but you just couldn’t look away.

Will pissed me off throughout the book. He just had the audacity and he was such a dirty dog. Then Ben came in and we got everything. Forbidden love and lots of drama. I also loved how Olivia came into her own and made her own decisions. I wasn’t here the for the third act break up but it made sense.

I’m so excited for book 2 even though this book hasn’t come out yet! The cover is also pretty and it matches how good the story is. I can’t wait to grab the physical copy 🍂🍁

Thank you @Netgalley for this ARC

I went into this book expecting a novel about a girl who lost her best friend and a boy who was fighting his own demons and how they get together and conquer the world…. Yeah, not quite.

This was not my cup of tea at all. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been out of college for almost 7 years or if because this was not my college experience at all, but these characters sucked. I mean, a sink hole could have opened up under this school and I would only be slightly sad that Ben died. No one else.

Even from the first chapter I found the characters snotty. Lily, Olivia, and Will are just terrible. Almost reminded me of the show You’re The Worst because it felt like a competition for who was the worst human.

Grant and Ben were okay, but Ben had a thing for his brother’s girlfriend which doesn’t sit right with me. I know he doesn’t get along with Will but it’s still betrayal.

I suppose if drama, a college setting, and complex characters are your thing you may like this one. To me it just didn’t work.

I do hope the rest of this series pans out, but I probably won’t be continuing.

*An ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Something that I look for in a romance, is characters that a fully fleshed out and feel real. The characters in Astor Hill felt real to me, they were messy and complex and deeply human. They were relatable and I was captivated from the very start!

Olivia is smart, beautiful and fierce. She's also drowning in grief at the loss of her closest friend. She's dating Will, the basketball captain and most popular guy at school. He's pretty bad for her and I'll admit I found myself frustrated at the way Liv let him treat her. As the story unfolds you'll understand why he is the way he is, and why they needed each other so much at such a dark part of both of their lives.

Enter.. Ben. Sure to be everyones new book boyfriend. Will's older step brother, his greatest rivial on court and the previous basketball captain before his mysterious disappearance. Ben takes a women's literature class, he goes to therapy, he talks through his feelings and he's incredibly self aware - I mean come ON! His POV chapters made me absolutely swoon. He had these epic declaration of love moments that I genuinely loved - as I said swoon! You'll want to underline/highlight it all. Oh.. and he's madly in love with his brothers girl..

This book is like if One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl had a baby.. in the best way. There's rich people drama, toxic relationships, sibling rivalry and secrets. It's the kind of romance you can binge over one weekend because you simply look away. The side characters were just as intriguing and I'm excited to go back to Astor Hill and find our their stories (I have some theories).

All in all, a very fun read. I really enjoyed the college setting, the basketball theme, the old money society vibes and just the absolute drama. There were parts of the writing I felt were a little clunky and some small spelling errors, but overall the story flowed well and was incredibly enjoyable.

3.5/5 stars. Thank you so much NetGalley and Sydney Madison for giving me the chance to read this one! x

3.5★

If you enjoy complex characters, a touch of found family and those “What were they thinking?” moments, then this book is definitely for you!

This was a quick, cute read packed with drama, character depth and some serious self-discovery. While some characters had more complex relationships than others, everyone seemed to be caught in the web of toxicity in one way or another. The plot itself was unique and grief-driven, but I wasn’t a fan of the relationship dynamics — way too messy for me, girl!

Overall, I liked this read, but I’m hoping the next book clears up some things that left me hanging like the newfound (unexpected?!) friendships. Can’t wait to see where the series goes!

Thank you NetGalley and PS Published for providing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel delves into the complexities of love, loss, and the struggle to reclaim a sense of self. Olivia’s journey is both compelling and heart-wrenching as she grapples with the aftermath of tragedy while trying to maintain her perfect façade. The tension between her past and the unexpected arrival of Ben, with his captivating smile and troubled history, adds an electric dynamic that keeps you on edge. You feel Olivia’s internal conflict as she navigates the pain of her losses and the intoxicating pull of new possibilities. This story beautifully captures the chaos of young adulthood, making you reflect on what it truly means to choose between safety and passion.

This was definitely an entertaining read! I really enjoyed all of the characters. Each character had so much depth and complexity that I hadn't seen in a while. This book was also filled with lots of drama but that was to be expected with any book following college students but especially with the setting being a prestigious college.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this book and soon to be series will be the talk of romance readers this upcoming winter and spring. It's giving gossip girl vibes. Some people will love these characters and others will have issues with their morality but it will no doubt create buzz and chatter.

Olivias lifelong best friend, Lily, suddenly passes away after their first college party at Astor Hill. This leaves Olivia isolated and reeling as she finds comfort in Will, a boy she meet at that very same party. Their relationship over the years is tumultuous, often causing Olivia to doubt herself, that is until she meets the mysterious Ben who has returned to Astor Hill after a hiatus. Turns out Ben is Wills older brother and he has secrets. Hello drama!

Although the writing is a bit choppy, these characters are perfection. Olivia is witty and smart. She is simultaneously confident and insecure, something I found relatable and endearing. Her friendship with Lily was confusing. I wish there were more flashbacks between the girls as I think it would have provided a more in depth understanding of their dynamic. The relationship between Ben & Will is heated, intense and combustible. The shining star of this story though is Ben. His patience, understanding and continuous growth is exactly what I want to see in a book boyfriend. He's super sweet with Olivia and I love how he helps to elevate her perception of self.

Overall, I really liked Astor hill. There's conflict, there's sports, there's fashion. It's fast paced and fun but also explores difficult topics like grief and anxiety. It's well balanced and I can't wait for Gen & Grants story in the second book of this series!

I was really excited for this book, but it wasn't for me. I didn't love the main characters, and I didn't engage much with the author's writing style.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

I have no words for the emotions that I felt during this book. I went through all 5 stages of grief alongside our FMC. Such a fantastic read, I am dying for the next book in the series.

This book follows Olivia and Ben, from first sit our guy Ben is enamired with our girl Olivia but he never approaches her. However his younger step brother Will does. 2 years go by and we find out that Olivia best friend, Lily, passes away unexpectantly they day after Will and Olivia meet. Whilst dealing with the trauma of losing her best friend, she is also dealing with her relationship with Will and how hot and cold the two of them are together. At the same time Ben returns to Astor after having 2 years away to deal with his mental health, a fact he did not relay to anyone for fear of judgement. His return certainly stirs up a lot of negative emotions for our boy Will and these 2 have been pitted against each other entire lives.

When Olivia and Ben finally come in contact for the first time, Ben has it in his head that they are going to have this perfect meet cute where they will fall in love and live HEA, he could not have been more wrong. He never realised that girl he fell for upon first time, is actually his step brothers girlfriend of 2 YEARS!! Shit just got complicated real fast.

Our guy Ben is now hiding this feeling for Olivia, while Olivia is still dealing with the loss of her BF and the negative impact her relationship is having on her esteem. When Olivia and Ben meet, she is not best pleased but she cant help eyeing every inch of her man Ben and finding herself more attracted to him than bees are to honey!

When luck strikes Olivia, she forced to be in Bens orbit and closer she gets the more she feels like she can be herself without the pressure of only being know as Will's gf. The more time these 2 spend with each other, the clear it becomes that they just can't stay away. Let me make this clear, THERE IS NO CHEATING IN THIS BOOK!, it was just circumstance and the timing that made it a bit awkward but the timing be damned but these 2 were fated to be together from the start.

Ben was very quickly added to the category of best fictional men ever written, but all the best men are written by women, that obvious. The reason I loved these 2 characters so much was the maturity in Bens actioned towards his mental health and pushing away from the stigma of Men believing therapy is a bunch of bull! and how Olivia navigated losing her BF in the end and how her banter and humour hit in right in dark depraved soul.

All in all, these I loved this book, it was written beautifully and I now waiting with bated breath for Grant and Gens story. A basketball player x Ballerina, stop it!

The release date will be here quicker than you think, so don't miss out before its too late.

Kisses x