Spring is on its way! Spring is a prequel to summer, and many of us eagerly await its arrival. With summer so far away, we need books to fill the yearning for summer break. Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a great book that involves the academic rival trope, where enemies become lovers and a girl who has a guilty pleasure for romance novels. This romcom YA read will have you giggling and swooning from beginning to end.
This book starts with an introduction to the main character, Rowan Roth, a girl who has a secret love for writing romance novels and is top of her grade. As well as her insufferable academic rival, Neil McNair, who also shares the place at the top of his grade. When the valedictorian of Westview High School is announced to be Neil McNair, Rowan can’t help but feel defeated and is determined to win Westview’s annual “HOWL,” a citywide scavenger hunt and assassin game with a grand prize of $5,000.
With quite the history of chaos, Neil and Rowan have an unspoken rule of remaining each other’s academic rival and nothing more. But when Rowan’s dreams are crushed and she is chosen as salutatorian, they join forces and decide to split the cash prize if they win. The academic rival trope can get a little intense sometimes and derail the storyline for many books, but Today Tonight Tomorrow does a great job of setting the scene and conveying the rivalry between Neil and Rowan.
Rowan is determined to work with Neil to get one final say in who is the best academically. Rowan and Neil start gathering their clues and remain in the top 5 for “HOWL.” They seem to be getting along and understanding each other, but Rowan can’t stop holding that grudge for Neil ever since he first beat Rowan in a book report competition.
A very interesting element of this book is that three quarters of the story is set in one day. The entirety of the “HOWL” scavenger hunt is told within these quarters of the book and intertwines with the character development. Solomon does an incredible job of not overdoing the hunt explanation and focusing on the character development of Neil.
A vital aspect of Rowan’s character is her guilt for loving and reading romance novels. Romance novels were frowned upon by her author parents, Neil, and her best friends. Her favorite author, Delilah Park, is having a book signing that Rowan will be attending in secret. This added element of a romance novel fan adds more character to Rowan and gives background on how Rowan expects her whole love life will play out.
Many secrets are revealed starting with Neil’s childhood story and reason for being so competitive. Neil reveals secrets about his past that completely change Rowan’s narrative of Neil. During the scavenger hunt, Rowan uncovers more details of Neil’s life, like his home life, his favorite music, and his best friends. Rowan starts to sympathize with Neil and also realizes there may be something there…
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon is the perfect easy YA read. This plotline is full of rivalry, comedy, and cute highschool romance. Solomon makes sure to ke- ep the story light hearted while also incorporating some heavy topics that give the story depth. The internal conflicts within each character unravel throughout the story, for Rowan it’s almost immediately thrown out to the reader. This light hearted love story encapsulates the highschool experience and is a fun springtime read.
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