Book Review: I Hope This Doesn’t Find You

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Romance

I think I just found my favorite contemporary romance author. This was truly everything I could’ve asked for in a book. I was genuinely sad finishing this book because I wasn’t ready to let the characters go. This book felt like it was specifically made for me, especially with the loads of cdrama/kdrama vibes and scenes within the book.

Continue reading for more details. 

Synopsis:

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..."

Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out.

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...

Review:

The two main characters are captains in their school and very competive. They constantly want to one up each other and appear better than the other. Our main character, Sadie, hates Julius (the other captain). Hates him so much that she writes hate emails to him, but never sends them. She writes drafts for all the people that get on her nerves and she doesn't hold back in those emails as she pours out her true feelings and opinions for that person. Though one day, her emails are sent out and everyone's got a problem with Sadie. Especially Julius.

Sadie really and truly represents the people-pleasers of the world. She is so strong and just wants to be enough for everyone. It hurt me to watch her bottle everything inside of her and blame herself for something that wasn’t her fault. I’m also one with a very short temper so every time she was getting used by her classmates I was so frustrated and was rooting for her to stand up for herself. Sadie was also hardworking and an over-overachiever and I related to her at times when she pushed herself past her limits. Sadie deserves full respect and love from her classmates that she’s always helping out and getting pushed around by.

“I finish underlining the date with my ruler so it's perfectly straight. This is like my version of drugs.”

Julius is top tier boyfriend material. He acted cold and was fully involved in the academic rival/enemy role as he also strived to be better than Sadie but maybe not as wholeheartedly as Sadie tried to be better than him. He was preferred by her classmates and effortlessly fit in and respected which she hated so much about him (which is honestly fair for her to feel that way). Though, the cracks in his disguise at times where he showed how he truly cared for Sadie and was protective over her was EVERYTHING! (Like when Julius punched a classmate because he wrote something mean about Sadie had me whipped for him and the sports day scene after that one race 💗✨) I also can’t help but obsess over sarcastic, snarky characters like Julius. 

After ten minutes of this, I lose my patience. "Are you here to select bread, or a future wife? What's taking so long?"

HIs smile is sharp, taunting. "The latter.”

Their relationship was so much fun to read about! The constant teasing, fighting, and tension between them had me so invested in these two. They put on a real convincing act about hating each other but those scenes where it seemed otherwise had me squealing and giggling. Lots of the scenes throughout this book felt like they were straight out of a kdrama/cdrama so of course I devoured those scenes completely and reread them. I loved how both characters, especially towards the end, were protective over each other and were there for each other. It was so sweet!!

“For ten years I thought I was preparing to destroy you, when really I was preparing to love you.”

I hate it when a book is claimed to be "enemies to lovers" but the two characters don't actually hate each other. Though this book is how enemies-to-lovers should be done. In this book, Sadie shot down any ideas of Julius liking her instantly when it came in her mind because she believed he truly disliked her and she reciprocated those feelings. They were really set on denying what was between them till the very end. I’m not joking when I saw this book is an actual slowburn. The characters could not get over their rivalry for each other till the last chapter or so. I was actually getting a little impatient towards the end of the book, though the tension was still tensioning even towards the end of the story.

“Julius isn't just a boy. He's my enemy. My equal. My point of comparison. He's the one I'm constantly trying to outrun, to outsmart, to impress.”

The plot can get a bit repetitive with the recurring kdrama/cdrama coated scenes and it could feel like it’s being a little dragged on due to this being a slowburn. Though, I personally loved every second and scene with these two together and didn’t mind both the cliche and non cliche scenes as they were both done right. 

“I have all your emails memorized word for word,”

I mentioned how Sadie struggles with wanting to be liked and blaming herself for things. Well, Julius also struggled with being in his older brother’s shadows and having that pressure of needing to be as successful and good as him. These problems and struggles are those that can be easily related to by others. They also make these characters feel more real and raw as they don’t appear as perfect or have problems that regular people can’t so openly relate to. I love this aspect of her books as it makes me more attached to the characters and their stories.

Overall, one of the best enemies-to-lovers romance I’ve read and I’m now really liking the academic rivals trope and that may be my new obsession now. If you’re a fan of kdrama/cdramas then you for sure need to pick this book up and if you like a slowburn with lots of tension as well. 

“You were right, Sadie Wen. I am completely, helplessly obsessed with you.”

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