As If on Cue

By: Marisa Kanter

Narrated by: Tara Sands

A pair of fierce foes are forced to work together to save the arts at their school in this swoony YA enemies-to-lovers romance that fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson are sure to adore.

Lifelong rivals Natalie and Reid have never been on the same team. So when their school’s art budget faces cutbacks, of course Natalie finds herself up against her nemesis once more. She’s fighting to direct the school’s first ever student-written play, but for her small production to get funding, the school’s award-winning band will have to lose it. Reid’s band. And he’s got no intention of letting the show go on.

But when their rivalry turns into an all-out prank war that goes too far, Natalie and Reid have to face the music, resulting in the worst compromise: writing and directing a musical. Together. At least if they deliver a sold-out show, the school board will reconsider next year’s band and theater budget. Everyone could win.

Except Natalie and Reid.

Because after spending their entire lives in competition, they have absolutely no idea how to be co-anything. And they certainly don’t know how to deal with the feelings that are inexplicably, weirdly, definitely developing between them....

©2021 Marisa Kanter. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Meh

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, but damn nothing was happening
So in this book we meet Natalie, she is very well known for her rivalry with Reid, her father's student and the school band leader, so when the school informs her that the budget for all art club will be dedicated to the band she is angry and she tries to make a stand .. and that leads her to a prank war and then a mission to cooperate with Reid to make a musical if she ever wants to save her art club
it was supposed to an enemies to lovers book .. but it was just about Natalie hanging around with her friends and occasionally Reid gets in the picture in a small scene just to prove he was there .. also .. what Natalie did to Reid towards the end ... I mean .. WTF ??? how can he forgive her like that ?
all and all .. the book was just Meh and I expected it to be cuter than this

The narrator was really nice and I was impressed by her performance

I loved it!

This is a great book! The author really gets into her characters' heads, and makes the reader feel what they're feeling. I loved Natalie, as well as her parents and sister. I love Reid, and understand why he was so close to Natalie's dad. I even understand why Reid's dad wanted him to major in something more practical in college.
The author also dealt with anti-Semitism and cutbacks in art and music in the schools.
I love her descriptions, of the Melted sets, the Albany Institute, and how characters looked. I also loved the emotions in this book.
I can't wait to read more!

Cute and safe

It was a cute book. It wasn't flooding with romance and had a really nice enemies to lovers plot to it which did make the ending predictable, but that didn't take away from the overall enjoyment. The last quarter of the book seemed a little rushed to me, it could have been given a little more attention to consequences to actions or more character building and developments as relationships become complicated. However, it was still very cute, if you enjoy light romance with some comedy, very slice of life.

Beautiful. Amazing. Frustrating.

Wow what a great book. The writing, the plot, everything was fantastic.

One quick rant:

Natalie is a terrible person. She is awful and she never really has consequences for her actions because by the end of the story she got everything she wanted. While she certainly had character growth, which I was grateful for, it was so painful to read the first half of the book where she was so full of herself that she never took responsibility. I couldn’t tell if the author purposely made her so terrible or if she simply didn’t realize what she created. Like with the Harvest Festival, it was an absolutely horrific event that Natalie caused. Yes it was an accident but she faced no repercussions. Sometimes even if it is an accident there’s consequences. What!

The only reason I’m happy for ending is because I love Reid and he deserves a happy ending.

Also the book has a really slow start. Considering the synopsis, the actual story doesn’t start till chapter 10 which is over 100 pages into the book. And because of that it felt rushed in some parts, I wish we could have seen more of Melted and everyone else.

Things I loved!!!

The other characters are great! I really liked her father and the complex story she had with him. I also really liked her mother, she is such a sweetheart and I want the best for her. Her sister and the problem she goes through is very interesting and I’m glad it was discussed because it’s a important discussion to have. Even though this is a cute romcom I like having important topics brought up, makes it feel more real. :)

There isn’t much to say about Reid. He’s a great character and I loved his strengths and weaknesses. And he’s cute.

I loved their romance, so sweet! High school romance is adorable and I loved their chemistry sooo much. I wanted them to get together so bad! Perfect writing. For real I couldn’t stop smiling. Also the kiss scenes ;)

You can clearly tell the author has a love of theater throughout this book and gosh I couldn’t agree more. While I’m not the biggest fan of current slang in books, it was executed well and I didn’t even notice till my second read through.

I don’t mean to be harsh at all. I genuinely liked this book and I am glad I picked it up. It’s a cute romcom with a ridiculously frustrating main character but I love it nonetheless. I read this in one day because I simply couldn’t put the book down.

Please read it and see what you think :)