You Have a Match by Emma Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
You Have a Match is exactly what I have come to expect from Emma Lord.
A light, fun, heart-warming, Contemporary story that fills you with hope and positive energy.
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to support her friend, Leo. He’s adopted and wants to know more about where he came from.
Unfortunately, while Leo doesn’t discover much, Abby sure does. A secret sister!
Not a half sister, a full blown, we have the same parents sister. Basically, her entire life has been a lie. She can’t believe it. How could her parents keep something like that from her?
As it turns out, this sister is not much older than Abby and lives nearby. It also turns out she is a bona fide Instagram celebrity, with perfect hair, skin and the lifestyle to match. Great.
The girls first meeting, while not a total failure, doesn’t get them any closer to getting to the bottom of the mystery of their parents choices.
Even though she has to lie to her parents in order to do so, Abby agrees to attend a summer camp Savvy will be working at as a Junior Counselor, so that they will have more time to figure everything out.
The camp is located on an island and on her ferry ride there, Abby stumbles upon her best friend, and uncomfortable love interest, Leo.
Abby knew he went to a summer camp every year, but she had no idea it was THIS summer camp! It turns out Leo will be on the staff as well this summer, and he and Savvy have actually been friends for years.
This book is absolutely adorable. From the very first chapter, I was hooked right in to Lord’s writing. She has such a smooth, easy-to-read style. It makes her stories completely engaging!
There is a lot of drama in this one. She does manage to bring some important topics to her books, even though, overall, the feeling is light and fluffy.
As you can tell from the synopsis, as well as what I have written above, this story explores family relationships; what makes someone family, different types of family constructs, etc.
Abby is also struggling with grief due to the loss of her Poppy, and I liked how Lord handled that. Somehow, she has the ability to keep things light-hearted even while tackling these heavier topics.
The summer camp vibes were very fun as well. It gave the teen characters a little more freedom to engage with one another, than they would have had in a more traditional setting.
Plus, who doesn’t love summer camp!?
Overall, I had a great time reading this story. I will continue to pick it up anything Emma Lord writes. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to share my opinion.
