I really loved Khalilieh’s debut and so I was so excited for You Started It. And it was so good! I finished it in a matter of days I was so obsessed! Keep reading this book review of You Started It for my full thoughts.
Summary
Seventeen-year-old Jamie Taher-Foster has big plans for Senior Year. She’s made a list of things and places in Toronto she and her boyfriend of three years, Ben Cameron, need to check off before graduating. And the biggest plan of all: a very special night for the two of them at the upcoming Winter Formal. But then Ben arrives back home after a summer away with an unthinkable announcement: he wants to break up.
And when Jamie discovers him with Olivia Chen the next day, she is determined to get him back. Even if that means fake dating the younger, curly-haired, TikTok dancer, Axel Dahini, whose bicycle she accidentally ran over.
Though she and Axel have nothing in common aside from their shared Arab heritage—she’s a messy, type A with anxiety, he’s carefree but meticulous—their forced time together brings them to better understand one another. And for Jamie, it just might mean learning that not all experiences or people need to be crossed off a list.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Stop asking yourself what if something bad happens . . . what if something great happens?
I love a good fake dating situation and You Started It fits the bill. What I always love about Khalilieh’s book is the character voice. I love Jamie’s character from her speaking style to her mannerisms. Throughout the book, I related to her anxiety and her desire to always have a plan. It reminds me of how much of life happens when we are making lists for the future. We always think about what will happen, that sometimes we miss what’s right in front of us. If you love a good, “he is just a guy” mood, then You Started It is for you!
The plans, the lists, it was all so I could have control over my life in some small way, since that had been ripped away from me at such a young age.
I love the opposites attract, second chances and impressions vibe from this book. Another layer I adored were the conversations about family specifically about mothers and daughters. We can think we know a person, our mother, but often times there are so many things we don’t see. It’s easy to criticize the person who’s in front of us. You Started It was everything I hoped for and more. It’s about love, but it’s also about family and realizing that we can chance. We can embrace something new if we give ourselves the chance.
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156727073
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/You-Started-Jackie-Khalilieh-ebook/dp/B0DDSG4RFR/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/you-started-it-jackie-khalilieh/1146201918
IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/you-started-it-jackie-khalilieh/21754715
About the Author
JACKIE KHALILIEH is a Palestinian Canadian writer with a penchant for Samoyeds, to-do lists and staying up way too late. She is passionate about positive representation within her writing.
Something More, her debut YA novel, was shortlisted for the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award, as well as the Snow Willow Award, and was selected for several Best of 2023 lists, including the New York Public Library and Audible Books Canada among others.
She resides just outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two daughters, continuing to complain nightly about having to cook dinner.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.jackiekhalilieh.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/jackiekhalilieh
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackiekhalilieh
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22382957
Tour Schedule
April 28th
Utopia State of Mind – Review, Favorite Quotes
The Inkbound Reader – Review, Favorite Quotes
The Book Dutchesses – Promotional Post
April 29th
Confessions of a YA Reader – Promotional Post
The Violet West – Promotional Post
April 30th
deepireads – Review
Pluvioreads – Review
May 1st
Bookish In Bed – Top 5 Reasons to Read You Started It
The Bookish Ren – Review, Mood Board
May 2nd
The Bookworm’s Express – Review, Favorite Quotes
A Bookworm’s Life – Review
May 3rd
Paiges of Novels – 15 Reactions While Reading You Started It
Diary of a Bookworm – Promotional Post
May 4th
Little Corner Reads – Review
The Clever Reader – Promotional Post