sadly I couldn’t continue to read this book. The author did such a good job accurately depicting the main characters Brooke’s depression that it got to me - if you struggle with depression please approach carefully.

2,5⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

This book was written well, and the characters were ok, but I don’t think this book was for me. This book should be targeted to older teen readers or even adults. This book was very heavy and dark- not a romance which the description suggests, but an exploration of trauma. I do enjoy how we saw Brooke grow and process her trauma, especially while also see Matt’s side of the story (even if his side didn’t really feel necessary by the end). I wish Brooke hadn’t just abandoned Charlie near the end though. Overall, not a book for me, but I can definitely see some people really enjoying it.

(Also I’m confused why the author is republishing, since the same book came out in 2022 titled “Can I Stray”, or why the eARCS are even necessary then)

🤍𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓜𝓮 𝓣𝓻𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰🤍

Stars: 3.5⭐️

genre: young adult/ coming of age

Publication Date: July 17 2025


Blurb: Brooke and Matt are casted as Romeo and Juliet. Brooke is only 14 and Matt is 17. They didn’t mean to fall in love but, they did. Brooke keeps secrets to maintain the relationship and Matt makes a choice that is illegal. Brooke makes a quick decision that changes her life forever. When they reunite years later can all be forgiven?

Opinion: This novel is told in 3 different acts and navigates through Brooke’s very traumatic past dealing with sexual consent and mental health. Jenna shattered my heart and had me shedding tears while reading this book, I was right along in the journey as Brooke learns to navigate everything she has ever known and learn to start over. This novel isn’t your typical love story, it’s one where Brooke learns to love herself and know that it’s okay not to be ok. I absolutely love that Jenna started writing this novel at the age of 14, you can see the way the novel sort of grew up as well as Jenna did and more knowledge behind asking for help when needed became available to her.

Read if you like:

🌸mental health awareness
🌸coming of age
🌸 loving yourself


**thank you to NetGalley and Unbound for allowing me to read this ARC**

5⭐️

This Is Me Trying completely took over my life—I couldn’t put it down. From the very first page, I was hooked, but I also wasn’t prepared for how heavy it would be. If you're thinking about reading it, definitely check the content warnings first. This book doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff, and it hits hard.

The story follows Brooke and Matt over nearly a decade, showing how one decision can create ripple effects that last a lifetime. At fourteen, Brooke falls into a relationship with Matt, who’s eighteen. At first, it feels like an all-consuming romance, but as Brooke grows up, she realizes that what happened between them wasn’t love—it was something far more complicated, something that, in the eyes of the law, was a crime. That realization completely shatters her, and from there, we witness her years of unraveling, self-destruction, and—finally—healing.

Told in three acts, this book doesn’t sugarcoat the messy, nonlinear path to self-acceptance. It explores consent, mental illness, and the weight of choices made too young. The characters are flawed, sometimes frustrating, but so painfully real. I found myself understanding them even when I didn’t agree with them. Matt never set out to hurt Brooke—he truly loved her—but love doesn’t erase harm. And Brooke is left to pick up the pieces of a life shaped by something she didn’t fully understand at the time.

The therapy scenes hit me the hardest. They felt raw, real, and deeply personal, especially in how they explored codependency and self-worth. As someone who has struggled with codependency, Brooke’s journey forced me to reflect on my own experiences in a way I didn’t expect.

Even though this book is categorized as YA, it feels more like an adult novel, especially in the later sections. It tackles trauma, consent, and mental health in a way that’s brutally honest and, at times, deeply uncomfortable—there’s a graphic self-harm scene that some readers might find triggering. But that discomfort is necessary because these are conversations we need to be having.

This is, hands down, the most real book I’ve ever read. It doesn’t hold back. It doesn’t wrap things up in a neat little bow. Instead, it gives an unfiltered look at how trauma lingers, how healing is never a straight line, and how self-forgiveness can be the hardest thing of all.

I loved this book with my whole heart, and I haven’t stopped recommending it to everyone I know.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (Rounded up)
# Pages: 432
Publication Date: 07.17.25

“My worst fear had been realised: they can find you. This safe little space you’ve made for yourself is in danger. Your separate worlds can bleed together. All that hurt, pain, and sadness from your past can wash in through the cracks in the walls you’ve built and get to you.”

* YA Contemporary Romance
* Coming Of Age
* Mental Health Rep
* Self Discovery
* Healing
* Explores Heavy Teen Topics

**Please check the ⚠️Trigger/ Content Warnings⚠️

Synopsis:
In this contemporary coming-of-age YA novel, a teenage girl navigates a romance with an older boy when they're cast as the leading roles in their drama group's production of Romeo and Juliet.
When Brooke and Matt are cast as romantic leads in their drama group's performance of Romeo and Juliet, they don’t mean to actually fall in love. Secrets and lies seem a small price for Brooke to pay for an older boyfriend, until they take their relationship to the next level one night in an empty auditorium. After she learns of the illegality of Matt’s actions, Brooke’s anxiety reaches breaking point and she makes a decision that changes her life forever. Years later, Matt is reunited with Brooke, desperately seeking redemption. But what sense can they make now of a love that never did run smoothly?
Exploring mental health, co-dependency, and the blurred lines of sexual consent, this captivating debut recounts a young woman’s journey to independence as she strays beyond all she has ever known to confront her traumatic past. (Previously published as Can I Stray)

“This Is Me Trying” by Jenna Adams was a harder read to get into due to the beginning kind of feeling like it jumped around. She covers some pretty heavy topics. However, they’re topics that teens DO need to explore and discuss. Taboo subjects that some are afraid to discuss. This book does allow a safe space to learn and reflect. I feel like it was delivered in a way that teens can understand and relate. With that said, I did enjoy that aspect.

I think there’s some definitely so much potential with these concepts and it fell a little flat for me. Kind of felt like a couple drafts in and need a little more fine tuning to the story. But I did love that she broke it down by three different acts and alternated between the Brooke and Matt. I also love that she did show Brooke working through her codependency and toxic relationships in therapy. I’m a huge therapy advocate and feel like it should be more normalized.

Overall, I think that Jenna has so much potential and is a very talented author. Her creativity and fearless with facing complex topics is highly admirable! I think that this is a great read for teens that really are struggling and seeing that even with toxicity in teen relationships, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Finding your inner voice and self empowerment is achievable!

Thank you netgalley and Unbound for this ARC copy.

I very rarely have such a visceral reaction to books I read, but this was one of those rare occasions. What a gorgeous, vivid book. A total triumph. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read - and review - it.

'This Is Me Trying' - aptly named in line with a brilliant song with similar themes - is, as described by the author, a story about a girl who, after years of mental illness and mistreatment, learns how to fall in love with herself. It's a YA coming-of-age, but one which transcends into adulthood; it's a story of consent, and battling depression, and finding yourself. It's unsatisfying and uncomfortable, with discussion questions at the end that genuinely had me stumped.

Another review called the plot dry... but to me, it felt less like a fairytale and more like a raw, honest depiction of real life.

Split into three "acts", the book follows Brooke and Matt, alternating between their perspectives, as we meet them in school; Brooke is fourteen, Matt is almost eighteen, but the pair strike up an unlikely romantic relationship when they're cast against each other in a small-town production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Brooke's world is turned upside down when she learns that the night they spent together was illegal... that, in the eyes of the law, she was r-ped by Matt, the boy she loves more than anything, the boy she would die for.

Three years later, we find Brooke at sixth form, Matt navigating life as a Master's student. The pair rekindle their relationship after Brooke's year thirteen prom, the promise of a future together on the horizon, but Brooke has other plans... shifting her world upside down for a second time as she ups and leaves.

Another three years pass, and our final part brings healing, and closure. Adult life is unsatisfactory, filled with unfulfilled promises and reflection, but Brooke is finally ready to look back at the past and face up to her sins... and those who sinned against her. I was deeply unsettled by her final choices, but maybe because she doesn't get that fairytale ending I was so hoping for - yet maybe, once the final page ends and her life continues, she will.

The book posed lots of important questions, and probably a lot of questions more teens should be asked, and forced to understand. When I was fourteen, I would have had no idea that it was illegal for me to sleep with an eighteen-year-old. When I was fourteen, I couldn't have possibly understood how much of a power imbalance would have been present in a relationship with a legal adult... and I don't think anyone ever told me.

There are lots of trigger warnings for this book, rightly so - but I think this is a book every teenage girl, and boy, should read. Consent is a sticky subject, and so are the legalities surrounding it, because everyone matures at a different age. But I think what the book displays best is how important it is for adults to check up on the young people in their lives, and for friends and family to never give up on those they love. So much of the story could've been solved with effective communication.

To me, the book felt like a more realistic, and therefore successful, version of Sally Rooney's 'Normal People'. Long and painful and beautifully told, set across the world, following the lives of all sorts of colourful characters.

I absolutely adored it, and I cannot recommend it enough.

⭐️: 3.25/5

💬: "It doesn’t matter where you’ve been. It’s where you are now that matters. And where you’re going.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

I was immediately drawn to this by the Taylor Swift-inspired title and the premise. This book covers the really important topics of consent, mental health and co-dependency.

I remember when I was growing up, some of the YA books I read romanticised age-gap relationships like this (as much as I loved this series, The Princess Diaries was definitely guilty of this!), so I liked that this book explore the toxicity, power imbalance and illegality of relationships between a teen and adult.

While I did appreciate what the book was trying to do, I didn’t fully gel with the writing style as it felt very detached in parts and did a lot of telling instead of showing. Overall though, it was a very thought-provoking read and one I think young adult readers will definitely benefit from.

💜 What I liked about it 💜
✨️ The conversations around consent and the power-dynamics in an age-gap relationship were well done, and I liked the questions that the book posed. There are definitely some big and difficult topics covered in this book, but they are important to face and not shy away from
✨️ I liked seeing Brooke’s journey of healing and self-acceptance over the course of the book - it’s a long and difficult one though, which does make her struggle feel raw and real
✨️ The book is told in three acts, which I thought was a nice touch, as it shows us Brooke and Matt at various stages in their life and how they’re dealing with what happened at the start of their relationship

For fans of:
🧠 Themes of mental health
🚩 Books exploring toxic relationships
🪩 Coming-of-age stories

This is me trying by Jenna Adams is a coming of age novel about a teenage girl who navigates a romance with an older boy.

The book opens with Sanjay, who is a therapist. Brooke and him are talking about codependency and how she's dependent on the love of her boyfriend

Part 1 is when Brook thinks back to her first major relationship, when she was 14 and matt was 17.
Brooke and Matt meet when they are cast as Romeo and Juliet in a play. The book explores mental health, co-dependency, and the blurred lines of sexual consent as Brooke trys to overcome her traumatized past.

Thank you to Jenna Adams and Unbound - Neem tree press for partnering with NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

This book comes to market on April 3 2025

This book stole my heart immediately, from the Taylor Swift reference in the title to the beautiful cover. I was not disappointed by the plot within. I thought the use of Romeo and Juliet as the background for this traumatic experience was an excellent way to illustrate the themes of this story. It was truly a heart-wrenching account of an all-to-common experience for teens. I highly recommend this book to all teens and adults trying to make sense of their past.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eArc review copy of this book!
I am sorry, but this one was very hard to get through, the storytelling, their ages and just the story self didnt capture my attention quite enough. And that makes me very sad because i actually had very high hopes for this one since i was very interested after seeing that gorgeous cover. Jeez i really have to stop requesting books based on their covers, this is mysecond dissappointment in a row because of this...
My deepest compliments to the cover designer!

I think the author should slightly change the way of writing. This feels more like im reading my schoolbooks instead of a romance YA.

Brooke is 14 and playing the leading role of Juliet. Matt, 17, is her Romeo and just had a birthday. Through the play and mutual friends, they find themselves spending more time together. Matt begins to confide in Brooke about graduation and, inevitably, college while Brooke shares her familial struggles creating an intimacy between them. This quickly gets complicated due to their age differences and we watch Matt’s internal battle with the legalities of pursuing a relationship with Brooke.

Now 22, Brooke is codependent on her partner, Charlie and seeing a therapist.

Whew.
This was a tough read for me.
Jenna Adams did an amazing job of showing the intricacies of high school relationships, social norms and how trauma as a youth can affect you as an adult. The story was so vividly told, it’s genuinely hard to believe this is her first book. So happy for Brooke to have gotten her happy ending, she really deserved it. Great read here for YA readers, albeit heavy the author covered these topics tactfully. I felt in some ways, this perfectly encapsulated girlhood for some of us. Love the resources and hotlines listed at the end for support.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eArc review copy of this book.

I had several attempts at reading this, however I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters or their journeys so from about 30% read I skipped through and intermittently read until the end of the book, enough to gather that the story skips forward in time a few times and, considering the main characters start off being 14/18, they end up both being mid-twenties by the end. I'm not usually a fan of this kind of storytelling device (I didn't like it in 'One Day' either) so I'm glad that I decided to skip lots of this book.
The dialogue is, for the most part, well written and realistic but there wasn't enough inner monologue for the character portrayals to feel truly well-rounded and fleshed out. I am also surprised that one of the pivotal events (don't want to give too much away here) is skipped over rather than actually written about, given that this event has ramifications that are felt throughout the rest of the book.

3.75 ⭐️
Overall I really enjoyed this.

This Is Me Trying is a YA coming of age novel about Brooke and Matt’s lives, as they navigate high school and beyond after they meet as a 14 year old girl and a 17 year old boy who form a friendship and then become something more.

Despite it being classed as a YA novel, it definitely covered some heavier subjects such as mental health, self harm, sex and and relationships and also age of consent/statutory r@pe so I would definitely not recommend for the younger teens.

I did enjoy this and struggled to decide exactly how to rate it, because it did keep me hooked and wanting to know more about these two characters as they progressed through their lives, but the writing did sometimes feel a little juvenile or long winded. I did enjoy the layout of the book and chapters though and glad we got dual POV throughout.

I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I say”eARC”, but I have since learned that this book originally came out in 2022, and I am not familiar enough with the author to know what caused the re-release with a new title.

I was interested in this book; I think there’s a deep importance for YA reads that discuss difficult topics with equal parts honesty and sensitivity, and this one tackles consent and codependency.

But this book just doesn’t work for me. The writing style is heavy on the telling and leaves very little open to interpretation for the reader, and the side characters don’t feel developed outside of their relationship with the main characters at the exact moment they’re on the page. I also think the writing focuses on the wrong things. There’s a self-harm scene described in detail which lasts multiple pages, but the main character allegedly spending months planning to leave the country exists in only a sentence.

In the end, I think the only thing I enjoyed about the inside of this book was that Brooke does go to therapy, attends sessions on the page, and speaks mostly positively about the experience.

I could not put this book down. I read it in one day.

This was such a beautifully flowing book, that was so, so intense. I loved seeing the progression and butterfly effect that they each had on each other's lives, and the writing style was really amazing.

There is this mix in this book- I love seeing the dual POV- seeing her perspective where she’s too naive to fully understand the consequences and his perspective where he’s really struggling with everything. I was giving me every single bit of heebie jeebies there is! But I do think having it portrayed how it is has been really interestingly done.

I do feel like This is a really great teen/YA novel because it portrays the issues of these sorts of relationships really well, a lot of the time that younger teens can’t really see.

While this novel does hit hard in some areas, such as the conversation around consent and age gap relationships, it lacks in others. Brooke is a frustrating main character who struggles with her mental health. It’s upsetting to see her tear down her relationships and the impact her actions have had on others. However, this one didn’t particularly spark any productive or meaningful thoughts regarding mental illness (outside of the scenes with Brooke’s therapist.) The pacing was also awkward, with large gaps in time taken out and the transitions that didn’t feel smooth. However, this read was quite engaging and there’s definitely some takeaways from this novel.

This was a fantastic young adult romance novel, it had that element that I was wanting and enjoyed the overall concept of this book. The characters had that element that I was looking for and was invested in what was going on. Jenna Adams wrote this perfectly and was glad everything flowed.

This is Me Trying is a young adult/new adult novel that will engage readers from start to finish. The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of Brooke and Matt, beginning when Brooke is 14 and Matt is 17, soon to turn 18. The two find themselves cast as opposing characters in Romeo and Juliet while navigating their burgeoning feelings for one another. This story addresses themes of consent and relationships with age differences. The author crafts two main characters with whom readers can empathize, creating somewhat blurred lines in their interactions. Please note that there are numerous content warnings related to consent and mental health, so readers should approach with caution. This book is appropriate for high school students and older readers.

I have mixed feelings about the conclusion of this story, as it provides a fitting and hopeful resolution. However, I believe the narrative could have benefited from being divided into three to four parts. The timeline spans approximately eight to nine years, and transitions between time periods can be somewhat abrupt for the reader. Overall, I would rate this book between 3.5 and 4 stars for addressing a challenging subject matter while being an engaging read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Neem Tree Press for this ARC.

Before I start, this book has some very complex scenes of self harm and drug use, which some readers may find triggering.

This was a complex read. It had so many elements. It was heavy and confronting and long. The ending felt rushed and didn't bring any closure to the story the protagonist, Brooke, had created for herself in Seattle.

It felt like a lot of back and forth, some unnecessary.
That being said, there were elements that are important. Showing the power of therapy, that it isn't something to laugh at, that everyone should go at some point in their life.

Fast paced, easy, flowing writing style.
I can see what the author was trying to do with this one, but for me, it didn't all meld together as it should have.

A bit too long and too much of unnecessary angst due to lack of communication. I liked the premise and the writing is good! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.