This May End Badly | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: This May End Badly

Author: Samantha Markum

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 4/12/22

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Prep School, Fake Dating

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

When a high stakes boarding school prank war leads to a fake dating scheme, two teens must decide if they are ready to take the ultimate risk — falling in love.

Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.

To protect the school that has been her safe haven since her parents’ divorce, Doe puts together a plan to prove once and for all that Winfield boys and Weston girls just don’t mix, starting with a direct hit at Three, Winfield’s boy king and her nemesis. In a desperate move to win, Doe strikes a bargain with Three’s cousin, Wells: If he fake dates her to get under Three’s skin, she’ll help him get back his rightful family heirloom from Three.

As the pranks escalate, so do her feelings for her fake boyfriend, and Doe spins lie after lie to keep up her end of the deal. But when a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what’s more important: winning a rivalry, or joining forces to protect something far more critical than a prank war legacy.

This May End Badly is a story about friendship, falling in love, and crossing pretty much every line presented to you—and how to atone when you do. 

Content Warning: sexual harassment/assault

I’m a sucker for prep school stories so I knew I had to request this one.

The thing I liked most about this story was Doe and Well’s relationship. They have fun together and their interactions kept the story lively. They fake date to get under the skin of Three (Doe’s arch enemy and Well’s cousin) but of course feelings get involved by the end of the book and Doe has to figure out a bunch of stuff. The romance was cute and I was invested in their relationship.

The characters are all flawed – Doe being our main character seems to be the most flawed. She is self-centered and selfish especially when it comes to keeping her school non co-ed. She’s spent her whole time at The Weston School pranking her rival Three and the Winfield boys. Wells, who is Three’s cousin, and Doe’s fake boyfriend has his own reasons for trying to get under Three’s skin and we learn that his upbringing wasn’t exactly perfect. Both Wells and Doe have messy families and I think that’s why they get along so well.

I like the diversity of Doe’s friends and I thought it was good of them to call her out on how she was acting. But I also liked how they tried to work things out afterwards. It shows Doe’s growth when she owned up to what she did and tried to fix things. When things are good between the girls though, they are a fun group!

Outside of Doe’s rivalry with Three, there are important issues being discussed in this story like feminism (Doe’s strong inclination to keep Weston an all-girls school/woman power) but other issues were brought up to like the rights and feelings of LGBT+ students on both Weston and Winfield campuses. Also how being a co-ed school could benefit the student body. Another pressing issue in the story is a teacher who is a predator and girls voices not being heard.

Kind of wished that with the teacher being a very known predator on campus, Doe and friends would have done something about it much sooner. I know it’s because they didn’t have concrete evidence and they probably didn’t think their complaints would be heard by higher-ups and that’s a sad reality – because it IS real. The administration in the story definitely came out saying it was a bold accusation against a staff member – predictable, realistic – but in this story, at least the girls and boys finally come together to take this teacher down. I wish it happened that easily in real life but as we know…it doesn’t happen that way.

Doe has tunnel vision and it’s focused on Three and making him as miserable as possible. I thought she was a bit obsessive about it and wish she would have let up a little but I’ve never hated that one so much before so maybe it was just hard to let go for her. Because what is she without the pranks and hating Three? Doe is scared to find out but she does…and grows from learning more about herself.

Why you should read it:

• you like prep school rivalries
• a cute, fake dating romance
• I like how Doe grows and learns from her mistakes (it takes awhile though) but I like that she faces the consequences.

Why you might not want to read it:

• you are not into prank wars? lol…I can’t think of a reason

My Thoughts:

This story really held my attention and I read it in one sitting. It’s a a great story about friendship, falling in love, letting go of anger and channeling in into a cause that can rally everyone on both campuses.

📚 ~ Yolanda