I HOPE THIS DOESN'T FIND YOU BY ANN LIANG

Sadie Wen is a model student. A topper in academics and the school captain, Sadie has carefully built a reputation as one of the kindest students in class. She never displays her anger, even when a classmate takes credit for her work or when her teammates refuse to put in any effort on a group assignment. No matter how she feels about people taking advantage of her kindness, she always keeps the people-pleaser smile plastered on her face. But she harbours a secret.

Instead of openly expressing her grudges, she channels all her frustration into email drafts that she never sends to the intended recipients. After all, why would she ever jeopardise her ‘good girl persona’ for honesty?

While most of these drafts are addressed to people who have angered her once or twice, one person receives the most vehemently worded emails: Julius Gong, her co-captain and academic archnemesis. Julis and Sadie have been academic rivals since they were seven, and his arrogant, competitive streak always irked her. Sadie never worried about her angry drafts because no one is supposed to read them… until they are accidentally sent out to everyone! Sadie’s rapport with everyone, along with her carefully crafted persona, comes crashing down when they read her emails!

Her classmates are angry. Her teachers are disappointed. But amid this chaos, Julius and Sadie are forced to spend more time together to resolve their grudge and set a good example for the rest of the students as co-captains. As they work together, they slowly begin to see and appreciate the real personas behind their rivalry!

Honestly, I’m not someone who reads romance or rom-com’s very often. Even when I do, I end up feeling a little underwhelmed because many contemporary romance authors build their stories and characters around tropes, which is a big problem. When writers decide to use a ‘trope’ to draw in readers, they often end up writing main characters that seem like mere puppets of a trope, instead of well-rounded individuals. Fortunately, this hasn’t been the case here.

Julius and Sadie are two of the best characters to have graced the academic rivals-to-lovers trope on page. They not only look good together as a couple with organic chemistry, but their individual personalities and character development feel very natural and relatable. Sadie is the youngest daughter in her family, yet her determination to support her mother and elder brother reflects the maturity and burden an elder daughter would have. Her father abandoned the family after getting in an aggressive fight with her mother, and even though the fight wasn’t Sadie’s fault, she blames herself for driving a wedge between her parents and breaking the family. She misses her father, but she is determined to work hard and give a comfortable life to her family. And to do that, Sadie needs to be at her best. She aims to get accepted into Brown University, earn a degree that can help her land a job as a data analyst, so that she can buy a big house for her family. But amid all these goals, she never gets to enjoy her childhood, which really troubles her mother. I really like how the academic rivalry with Julius gives her a reason to act like a normal teenager who could be a little petty from time to time, without having to uphold her status as a people-pleaser. The same goes for Julius.

Julius Gong aspires to be a lawyer. Despite being at the top of his class like Sadie, he feels a little insecure at home because of his overachieving elder brother, who takes immense pleasure in cheekily flaunting his achievements. His rivalry with Sadie kept him motivated to perform better. Julius and Sadie struggle to admit it, but they are completely obsessed with one another. Their journey from hate to love is so satisfying because Liang’s writing perfectly captures the essence of this dynamic. They get on each other’s nerves, but they cannot imagine their school life without their rivalry. Even when they fall in love, they struggle with the mixed emotions of hating and wanting one another. Honestly, this story is a masterclass in how to write a good rivals-to-lovers story, and the following line perfectly captures the essence of this trope:

I can’t prevent myself from drinking in the sight of him. From hating him and wanting him at the same time, one point of tension bleeds into the other until it’s impossible to separate the two.

A story like this could have easily been too mean-spirited and toxic for my taste; fortunately, that wasn’t the case, as it remained funny, cosy, and endearing from beginning to end. Even when Julius and Sadie fight, they never become bullies or physically harm one another. Honestly, I don’t have any real criticism for this story, but I’m just a little disappointed that readers don’t get to see their dating era. It is a beautifully written slow-burn novel; it’s just that the ending really left me wanting see more from their relationship. Overall, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is an endearing rom-com with lots of heart, witty banter, and some memorable, swoon-worthy moments. 5/5