Jackie Khalileh is a Palestinian-Canadian author. You Started It is perfect for fans of Olivia Rodrigo and is different from her book Something More.

it is cute, sweet and above all else a very simple read. It is not a masterpiece of a book but it does get the job done.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

4/5 stars. This book was an absolute delight! I felt like the FMC, Jamie, was a great and realistic teenage character. Her struggles with her mom, navigating high school, relationships, and anxiety were all really relatable from a teen perspective. Our MMC, Axel, is adorable. Such a golden retriever of a human. The story was fun and wonderful, it just didn't give me that five star feeling. I struggled a bit with the extended conflict throughout the story (although understandable within the story), and the romantic development with Axel and Jamie fell just a little bit flat for me. There were so many wonderful moments in the story and I will absolutely read more books by this author.

P.S. Free Palestine.

Review 8/10💗 This was my second book by Jackie Khalilieh and my favorite of the two! Although it did hurt me when they called baby by Justin Bieber a retro song lol

What I liked:
💜Even though it wasn’t stated in this one the MC was definitely autistic and that’s always a plus to me!

💗The characters in this one were older than the last book but still genuine to their age in a way that most contemporary YA isn’t. For a good chunk of YA age is just a number, they could be 15 or 20 and it makes very little difference to the character outside of the setting. That’s not true of Khalilieh’s books! They write so true to age that it sometimes has me remembering things about myself as a teen and feeling that embarrassment so strong lol The characters make mistakes, say the wrong things, and aren’t 100% likable all of the time. But it makes them feel human and I like that.

💜The plot in this is top tier, but I love fake dating so it was always going to win me! I really like the amusement park date and going to the outdoor concert was also cute. The book had a lot of fun moments. On the flip side there were also serious themes about finding yourself and family.

What I didn’t like:
💗Okay I’m going to lump all this together as one dislike and that was a handful of weird/uncomfortable dialogue choices. I get that characters are young and flawed, and there were many good examples of this in the book, but some moments just didn’t work and felt like an out of tune note making me wince and wish a different line had been chosen. The characters were often called out in these moment but never seriously enough that it seemed like there was a point to it at all.

For example the love interest makes a comment about his sisters cycle and her mood, which gets pointed out but then brushed off likes he’s allowed because it’s his sister? No, it’s still not funny or appropriate.

CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

CONTINUED: There was an instance where the love interest mentioned he likes dancing and the MC asks if he’s gay, which he calls her out on but I’m still like why have this be the dialogue? They just moved on from it right after but I didn’t like it. Later in the book the MC is introduced to some queer people and in introducing herself announces that she’s straight in a kind of oh do we share our sexuality way. I felt like that was a good example of an awkward/embarrassing exchange that was done well as opposed to the first which just had sour undertones.
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At the start of the book the MC is looking for her shoe, he uncle find it and she says “yas queen” and I was like that was weird. Until a few pages later when the mention the uncle was gay and I was like okay I see why she said that but it was definitely unnecessary. Yas queening a gay character to signify their sexuality is not the way to go. I hope they take that out for final print😅
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At the end of the day I enjoyed the story and characters! Like I said, there were just a few off moments in dialogue that felt like bad choices and read out of character for characters who were overall considerate people. Generally the book had bubbly vibe that I liked!
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The book comes out May 20th! If you’re a fan of fake dating or quirky YA romance I definitely recommend giving it a go! Thanks to netgalley and Tundra books for a copy of this book.

Jackie has a way of writing characters that really resonate with me. I absolutely loved the characters in this book - they were loveable while also being flawed and messy because what teenager (or human) isn't? At the heart of this book is a love story, but it's also about the relationships between Jamie and all the characters - from her love interest(s), to her friendships, to her parents and Amo, as well as her relationship with herself.
This book also touches on some deeper topics within Jamie's family - an absent father, a struggle to feel connected to her culture and her mother - as well as her anxiety and IBS. We see the way these issues seep into Jamie's life and affect her relationships, both romantic and familial. Still, in the midst of all that, we get such a cute love story that had me both laughing and crying. I really fell in love with all of the characters in this book, major and minor, and can't wait to read whatever book Jackie writes next!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

Love the representation in this book- always love reading books that have different representation and cultures. I'm new to the YA game kinda stumbled in but happy to be here, our girl Jaime is a sometimes anxious mess- honest for a teenage girl and she likes to check the boxes the next thing is the winter firmal.but Ben has other plans he comes in the summer wanting a break she then catches him with olkvia determined to get him back with jealousy she fakes fate Alex but is there more there than she bargains for - anytime fake dating comes into play you know what's gonna happen! Hi jinns- I could have delay without some third act drama but over all the ending was good i recommend it especially if you have young adult enjoyers!

Thank you net galley for the arc- in exchange for an honest review!

You Started It" by Jackie Khalilieh is a delightful young adult novel that explores love, friendship, and self-discovery. Jamie's relatable struggle with anxiety and her fake-dating scheme with Axel made for a charming, heartfelt story. The author does an excellent job of portraying Jamie’s inner world and growth throughout the book. Axel’s character, with his passion for dance and cultural background, added a unique and refreshing dimension to the plot.

What I loved most was the chemistry between Jamie and Axel. Their banter was fun and realistic, and I found myself rooting for them from the start. The book also touches on deeper topics like cultural expectations and mental health, which added depth without weighing down the lighthearted feel of the romance.

Jackie Khalilieh’s writing is fresh, engaging, and full of emotional moments that made me smile, laugh, and even tear up. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys fake-dating tropes and stories about personal growth. This was a solid 4/5 stars for me!

I didn't like the format of the book, but I was reading it on my Kindle, it got really hard to understand.

But the good was good, the story was really good, but because of the formatting it kind of played a role in my rating.

I would recommend this book once publish, it was good and I don't regret reading this book and was really exited to read it. The cover, the title and description of the book really got me.

4.25 stars

Thank you Tundra Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own :)

You Started It has fake-dating, TikTok dancing, a “drivers license” sequence, and Toronto sights, but underneath, it’s a beautiful story with Arab/Palestinian rep, anxiety, and the opening up of one’s self to new experiences. 💜

YA romance is not often my genre, simply because I’m older and usually find it cheesy, but Jackie Khalilieh has a way of writing characters that in their core and actions feel realistic and human. Jamie makes mistakes, she fights with her mom, she’s says the occasional rude comment and people call her out on her behavior. She can be very single minded/hyper-fixated, but she’s becomes aware of her weaknesses that she wants to eventually work on. Jamie has anxiety and I found it realistically shown and discussed. One impactful and learning experience moments for me was is the discussion of internalized racism and differences in culture. You see Jamie wanting to embrace her Arab heritage while it conflicts with her mother’s avoidance of her own.

Jamie’s narration style straight forward and to the point that reads like today’s teenager. Jamie bounces between her beliefs as she struggles to understand how she feels. It doesn’t always have the best outcome.
There are more references to today’s current language and pop culture, compared to Something More, so it may become dated. Also, thank you Jackie for making me feel old as a 25-year old when Jamie says Justin Beiber’s “Baby” is old. 😂

I liked Jaime and Axel’s connection and it felt authentic. I think they brought out the best out of each other and really opened Jamie’s heart at her own pace, to new experiences, people, and the world around her. She started to learning to start trust others, and they communicated with each other for the most part.

As a usual disgruntled 3rd act break up hater, I was fine with this one has it happened like two-thirds of the way in, but it didn’t feel as dragged out as as the focus became Jamie exploring her outer boundaries without Axel, and finding support in her own self and family which I appreciated.

to be totally honest, this really failed to meet my expectations. one of the biggest issues i had was the writing style. it's extremely ya with tons of pop culture references and almost mediocre structure and wording. it really felt like the author was trying too hard to write a story that would connect with teens and went overboard with the gen z terminology. not to mention that some of the popular stuff she mentioned was pretty outdated- baby and new rules have not been huge for years yet they were like the only two songs in the entire story. while i understand that it is ya and it does match the style and vibe, it just felt like lower grade ya compared to upper grade ya, if that makes any sense.

the characters were also just extremely bland and i literally hated jamie with a burning passion. as a girlie with anxiety and other mental health struggles, i do understand her experiences with that and i do empathize- however, pretty much everything else about her was intolerable. she's beyond toxic in her relationships and the way she used axel was honestly insane. i love a good fake dating trope but this was straight up manipulative. she did not care about him or his feelings about the fake dating thing whatsoever until she started liking him. and the way she treated her mom made me scream, she was literally so terrible for no reason and constantly threw things in her moms face without actually understanding the situation at all.

the other characters were kind of okay in comparison but they just lacked a lot of depth and real feelings. axel wants to be a dancer but his dad doesn't approve, which is like the only source of sadness in his life. ben was a cheater, plain and simple, and there should not have been a "redemption arc" for him at all. olivia was okay except for being a literal homewrecker. and jamie's parents were pretty chill but they weren't around enough for me to actually form an attachment to them. i honestly didn't really enjoy reading it mostly because the characters were just so shitty.

despite all this, it was definitely not the worst story i've ever read in my entire life. there was lots of potential and the overall plot was fun to experience, i just couldn't get into it whatsoever.

I was hoping to live this one but unfortunately did not. It was slow and I just could not connect to the characters. One of my biggest book pet peeves is when they use modern lingo and slang especially when it’s overused and doesn’t make sense. This had a lot of that. Random words and references thrown in that felt like a way the author was trying to relate to the younger audience but it was obnoxious and annoying to read and ended up taking me right out of the story. I liked Axel but the plot of him wanting to be a TikTok dancer was weird. I’m all for him wanting to be a dancer (even if it doesn’t quite make sense with his bad boy persona) but (and maybe this is because I was a competitive dancer myself my whole life) TikTok dancing isn’t really like the sport of dancing and I found the whole videos on TikTok storyline cringey. I also found the fmc to be unrepeatable and toxic and annoying unfortunately. She would say things about how she liked Axel and then randomly switch to wanting her ex and thirsting for him. Honestly, that was my biggest problem with this book. I’ve read the whole fake boyfriend to make my ex who scored me jealous plotline so many times and even though it gets old and repetitive, I actually love it. It’s fun guilty pleasure. However, this tried to put a twist on that classic storyline and instead of making it new and reinventing it and made it worse some minor spoilers that you find out in the first few pages to follow if you don’t want them…But the whole trope or plot is that her boyfriend potentially cheated on her while he was away at camp or at least had a thing going as he broke up with her with no warning right when he got back from a trip they were both supposed to go on and then immediately got with a different girl who was on that trip. Then she meets Axel and decides to fake date him…fine that all sounds normal enough but the twist is that she’s still pining for the ex. He’s so rude to her, and he just threw her aside for no reason and didn’t talk to her about. It wasn’t mature at all, but for some reason she still wants him back. This does not make sense to me at all nor is it a good storyline for this book and it made her an unlikable character. She’s fake dating Axel then to make him jealous and get the ex back. Now, as I already stated, I don’t like that black point but I stuck with it wanted to give it a chance see if when she started letting Axel if they would get over it. There was pretty much no burned at all, which was another problem I had with it immediately. She’s attracted to Axel and they’re flirty and they like each other and they acknowledge that they like each other at least to themselves. But the girl still talks about how she’s using him to win back ex-boyfriend. This honestly made me feel really bad for Axel and I hate the girl because that’s a red flag, toxic, manipulating and unfair in my book to acknowledge that you both like each other but still just be using that to your advantage to win your ex back was horrible to you and doesn’t want you. So unfortunately, for these reasons as well as the fact that I did not love the writing style felt too quick and rushed and forcefully modernized. I did not enjoy this book even though I wish I could say more positive things about it.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher and the author for the chance to arc read this, this review is of my own opinions and choice to write. That being said if these things don’t seem like a problem to you, I would still recommend you give it a chance and you may find that you like it. I hope you do

I personally didn’t care for this book it was a bit TOO YA for me. I won’t rate it low simply because it was too YA. This is a great book for the right audience <3

Wow, this was sob fun, I loved the romance and this book was so cozy. I think the author had a great idea and wrote it well. I think the romance was the best part and made me feel so cozy and happy!!

This book offers a captivating blend of engaging storytelling and well-crafted characters. The plot moves at a steady pace, keeping the reader hooked from start to finish. The author’s writing style is both accessible and thought-provoking, with themes that resonate long after the final page.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I read You Started It, I was in the throes of a raging fever and flu, bed-bound with nothing to do until an email came in that I got approved for this book. Cue my surprise when I read the entirety of You Started It in half a day, unable to put my Kindle down for even 10 minutes before I would pick it back in.

Indeed, I'm starting to sense a pattern with Jackie's books as I had the very exact same experience with her debut.

Now with You Started It, I thought that this was an excellent well-rounded and very realistic read. I must also outline that when I say "realistic read", I'm talking about Khalilieh's writing style which has always felt less fictional and something akin to autobiographical and in some weird way, not like a book at all. I think this is due to Khalilieh's craft and mastery over her particular writing style which is completely aligned with what works for me. As a reader who has a positionality quite similar to the main characters, her books are more so felt like reading myself through her characters.

I saw a lot of myself in Jamie, as an Arab-Canadian girl who also struggles with anxiety, mental health, her identity, and heights (lol). Khalilieh navigates her character arc and growth in a touching and respectful way, handling an array of sensitive subthemes with grace and skill. I'm genuinely impressed by how Khalilieh navigates all this without sacrificing the loose ends of one for the other. Perhaps my favourite part of Jamie was just how unafraid Khalilieh was to make her immature, judgemental, and honestly a straight-up classic Teenager. Honestly, the characters ALL feel so human to their core, their emotions, logic, actions, etc are multifaceted and multilayered and I had so much respect for Khalilieh for not watering them down just to their perceived actions. It really made for a lot of funny and emotional moments, especially when Axel comes onto the scene.

Axel is one of the most charming, adorable, kind, puppy-like YA male leads I've read in a while, who shows that Arab men deserve love and can be leading men in books as well. I absolutely loved and enjoyed his character, both as an individual and how he exists and drives the plot in relation to Jamie. Axel in the context of this fake dating trope genuinely had me beaming and enjoying the story SO much. He (and other characters) shows how Khalilieh can take such a well-loved trope of sorts and spin it into a refreshing and complex read at the same time.

Overall, if I could give this book a million kisses and awards, I would be all over it in a second, I think this book will always have a special place in my heart. This was such a delightful, tender, and healing read and I can't champion this book harder enough -- not just for what it does for the YA romcom genre, but for the Arab-Canadian and Palestinian community who deserve to have representative books that are actually positive for once.

You Started It is ahead of the game in which it brings in modern tech and language without making it feel overdone. Jamie is a stubborn but loveable character who had me yelling at my e-reader. I saw a lot of myself in Jamie and if I had had this book in high school I would have felt so seen. I still feel seen. Her planning for control and IBS anxiety symptoms are representation I feel like were made for me and others like me. I think that this is a fun summer/fall read that will have you swooning. I give four stars just because there was a little more miscommunication than I usually like but that's a me thing!

3.5
this has been so high on my anticipated list, and in was both good and bad..the book is fast paced which very important conversations around culture and how Arab culture is portrayed to people, even people in the community sometimes have their prejudices..i loved that aspect of the book, loved how axel was able to slowly change jamie's perspective on her own people, culture..however the romance felt a little flat, how quickly everything moved and how one second jamie was feeling like ben was her endgame to having feeling even though she was in denial for axel...it felt too fast.
however it was a fun read and it didn't take me much time to finish it by the way i was enjoying the fun banter and antiques of the two..but yes, it could've been a little more well build.
the plot and characters as individuals definitely get full point, this is for anyone who like light romance with a good subplot and cultural weightage.
and ofc always free palestine.

Jackie's YA romances are truly exceptional. They have everything I crave in a heartwarming yet relevant young adult romance. Her writing revived my nostalgia of teenage love with all the struggles and triumphs.

The MC, Jamie, is a brilliantly crafted multi-dimensionsl character. I resonated with her on many levels, especially on her anxiety triggered from her father's absence. Khalilieh shows Jamie's vulnerability while simultaneously showcasing her strength and resilience. It’s a reminder that even in the front of challenges, one can grow and thrive.

The chemistry between Jamie and Alexander is perfect. Their relationship, even in the complexities of fake dating, felt mature. I was genuinely impressed by how well they understood each other! The emphasis on great communication in their dynamic is rare in YA romance, and it made their connection enjoyable to read.

The writing is impeccable, with representation of themes such as anxiety, mixed-race identity, and the impact of having parents who struggle to embrace their roots. Khalilieh added these elements into the narrative, enriching the reading experience.

The only reason I’m withholding half a star is because there were moments when Jamie's thoughts felt a bit repetitive regarding her feelings—about things we already know . However, this is a minor detail.

I highly recommend this book! Jackie Khalilieh is a remarkable author, and I can’t wait to read all her future works!

This book was such a cute little romcom to read after reading some more dark and twisted books recently. A painfully realistic FMC paired with a hilarious MMC, makes for the best read. I love the way the author portrayed Jamie's anxiety so realistically. I will admit, I didn't like the third-act breakup, but that's honestly just a personal preference. The amount of Arab culture in this book was amazing, and I loved the way it was written so beautifully. It was definitely giving Better Than The Movies vibes. If BTTM was a vanilla latte, this book would be an affogato. Still sweet, but a little angsty too. Nevertheless, I was hooked from the beginning and it was such a fun read.

Thank you NetGalley & Jackie Khalilieh for the ARC.

First I'd like to say that I really liked the writing and the story... The reason I'm giving this book 3 stars is only because the FMC was getting on my nerves and it made my reading a bit painful. I also know that it was the point but I just couldn't get past it.

I did adooooore Axel thought, patient, loving, fun, adorable.
I liked that Jamie and Olivia developed a friendship.

People are gonna love this YA romance when it comes out.