Speaking of support and understanding, their dynamic was fantastic. The love, care, and respect they had for each other was next level and reminded me of my relationship with my partner and how we support each other through trauma, mental health struggles, insecurities, and more. In some ways, this felt like the most real, authentic, deep, and fully developed relationship from this series, and seeing the way they communicated with each other and learned to support each other was beautiful to read. Being on the stage is easy for Stevie - she's a whole other character, one that doesn't have her anxiety and brain that won't stop spiralling.

last, but certainly not least. These friendships. Have I ever read a more beautiful last line to a book about childhood friends that truly only want the best for each other? Even seeing Iris struggle so passionately because of her love for her friends meant the world. Ofc the characters have a "disdain for literary fiction" and think it's pretentious. Boohoo a book makes you think and doesn't rely on tropes Solid 4* read, I was leaning towards 3.75 but that would be unfair as I did really enjoy seeing these two figure things out on their terms.What I liked: I found both Iris and Stevie relatable in a lot of ways. I love seeing anxiety rep in books, AND awesome bisexual rep! Stevie’s anxiety, while different from mine, also felt so familiar. My heart ached for the way her friends took advantage of her, the way she made herself small to be more likable. Watching her journey throughout the book was so wonderful. With Iris, I really related to the way everyone in her life was constantly pressuring her to live life the way they thought was best. Truly, these two characters are the closest I have felt to fictional people in a long time. They were nuanced and real and didn’t always make the right choices, and I loved them. And then putting them together?? Absolute magic! Their love story was so sweet, it had me wishing for a real life romance just like it.

I also felt like Stevie RLLY needed to learn how to be by herself, not jump into another relationship after the toxic shit with Adri (also, RLLY confused abt her and Vanessa’s whole deal throughout the book, they honestly, seemed like shit friends. Ren, too, for that matter. so, that was a bummer bc we saw a lot more of them than of the crew I loved from book 1). I really enjoyed Delilah Green Doesn't Care, I thought that it was a great deconstruction of the tropes that plagued the romance genre. Then I read Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail and realised that the cliches weren't deconstructions at all, but the features of the story. I really wanted to have hope that this book would turn the cliches around, but it took all of the things that were wrong with the series and solidified them. The diversity felt like pandering, the side characters felt like cardboard cutouts, and the plot points were constructed entirely out of cliches.It seems... a choice to make the few POC characters obscenely rich, some of them from generational wealth Eighteen-year-old Mallory Greenleaf is no longer interested in chess, not since her hypercompetitive dad left—the game calls up painful memories. But she grudgingly agrees to play in a charity tournament as a favor to best friend Easton Peña. After she unexpectedly beats current world champion Nolan Sawyer, she’s offered a fellowship that will prepare her to play professionally. Even though Mallory doesn’t want to play anymore, she needs the money that winning would provide; she’s delayed college to support her family, since her mother is chronically ill with rheumatoid arthritis and is unable to work regularly. The more time she spends with Nolan, the more Mallory comes to like and respect him—and the more time she spends playing chess, the more she remembers how much she loved it. But when she learns that Nolan has been keeping a big secret from her, she isn’t sure if she’ll be able to move past it to build a relationship with him. Filled with the author’s signature humor, well-developed characters, and realistic conflicts, plus the fully realized setting of competitive chess, this captivating romance will delight teen readers as well as Hazelwood’s adult fans. Mallory and Nolan are both cued white; there is some racial diversity among the supporting cast. Mallory and Easton are queer. So, as much as I love the fake dating trope, love theater, and much ado abt nothing is my fav Shakespeare play, it fell so flat for me. I never felt giddy or excited abt any of their interactions. It’s a bummer that I didnt connect with Stevie that much, bc I can DEF relate to her anxiety, particularly abt dating/meeting new ppl (not quite to her levels, but, still) but I never rlly did. (Similar to how I felt abt Jordan in book 2, I though not as extreme as i pretty much never warmed up to her at all). This book frustrated me to a point where I had to make copious amounts of notes while reading it, so let me just organize them thematically, starting with...

Two talented chess players challenge each other on and off the board in bestselling author Hazelwood’s YA debut.Iris Kelly has been through a lot. She's loud and opinionated. She has a big heart and loves so very fiercely that anyone who is loved by her should be happy they are. All of the characters in the book feel so two-dimensional. I hoped that this was a trait that was reserved for the side characters but even the main characters of the book suffered from this. Stevie is an actress with anxiety who is struggling to break out of the Portland theatre scene. She is begged by her ex/friend to play the lead in a "queered up production of Much Ado" because they know that she will sell seats as a big name in the scene (she's big enough to sell out a theatre but not to be offered any other roles???) . Iris Kelly is struggling to get her love life together because she's "really good at sex" but struggles in relationships. She learns that her best friend is engaged and she makes the entire situation about herself. She runs a successful business and is a published writer but the author wants us to believe that this woman is incapable. She's perfect at everything that she sets her mind to. she gets the co-lead in the play by falling into the audition on a whim . These characters are supposed to be in their late 20s to their early 30s and they all behave like teenagers at any given moment.