You Have a Match

TW: unhealthy parental dynamics, cheating, potentially fatal heart problem
4.2

When Abby sends in her DNA to a genealogy service it's for two reasons- winning a bet, and supporting her best friend and crush, Leo, who seems ready to look for biological relatives. What she doesn't expect is to find out she has an older sister basically right next door who's also been clueless about her. Sneaking behind her parent's back and avoiding summer school, Abby makes her way to the summer camp her new found sister, Savvy, is a counselor at to find out exactly what their parents are keeping secret. But it also turns out that that camp she's heading to? It's the camp Leo has been going to for years. Which means now she's stuck with Leo without a buffer, after the Big Embarrassing Incident that's been making thigs between them awkward. It also means those camp friends he spends every summer with? Savvy's one of them.

This is a very light, fluff drama type story of sisterhoods and crushes, which made it a fun read that I managed in one sitting. You do have to suspend your disbelief at certain moments, but it's definitely a fun time anyway.

I love interesting sibling dynamics, so I love that this book is about estranged secret sisters and that Lord manages to do that really well! I love the way Abby and Savvy navigate having each other in their lives, and the surprising pain and sensitivity it causes both of them, while also growing a sister bond. I was worried this book would solely pit them against each other or try to make Savvy a solely rigid, unlikable character for most of it. But that doesn't happen! You get to see both of them through different lenses- responsibility, their friendships, their parents, their interests- which makes them have more depth and lets their dynamic gain a lot of interesting layers. By the end you get a real sister bond, and it's both great to see and fun to get there!

The romance is built up on some stuff I didn't love, but is, through and through, very cute. Leo is hard to dislike, and I love the fact that he already has ties to these other characters and is always connected in some way, no matter if we're focusing on the crush or not. He's so inherent to the story you really feel like best friend and lowkey boy next door energy off of him.

And the energy in general is great. The summer camp vibe is strong, and the slightly kooky, teenage bids for freedom and soft rebellion all make this feel almost nostalgic. Plus the addition of Leo connecting with his culture and the side romance going on between Savvy and Mickey make the whole things feel that much more wholesome.

My issues lie with the constant miscommunication because I hate it in general and it felt over the top here, and with the unnecessary addition of a strange love triangle. I really could have lived without the love triangle, and I don't understand why it exists in this book.
Beyond that, I felt like the ending was flat. It's a rushed fix-it, so it feels cheap. With the context of the initial problem, I feel like either it would have been fixed a long time ago or the simple, quick fix would have never in a million years gotten them back to brand new like it did. It's just a weird ending that didn't feel like it lined up.

In general this is a cute, quick story of parent-trapping, family secrets, and best friend crushes. Definitely a feel good book!