You Between the Lines

Leigh has just been accepted into the MFA program at the prestigious Perrin University. She will spend the next two years learning and honing her poetry writing skills. Then, she learns her favorite writer will be an adjunct professor next school year. Leigh is determined to land the coveted fellowship which means a lot of one-on-one time with her idol. Leigh soon learns that her High School crush, Will, is also part of the grad program. This puts Leigh's anxieties into overdrive. She still has never gotten over a bad critique Will gave one of her poems during class ten years ago. Leigh has always been intimidated by Will's ease and comfortableness with writing. Not just that, there's history between them that they'll finally have to show more settle otherwise it'll be a long two years.

I appreciated the plain and simple way the story comes right out and makes clear that Leigh is dealing with her anxiety surrounding how she feels she is perceived by those around her. It informed everything she does. Trying to make sure she is meeting, what she assumes, are everyone's expectations. Oftentimes the morals of the story are circumvented in order for the readers to draw their own conclusions. One might say this is akin to reading and interpreting a poem. I think it's very refreshing that this story is very open with this and we get to see Leigh working her way through these things both in her personal life and her writing.

However, I also felt this sense of strangeness because I never felt like I could get a beat on Leigh as a character. This is actually probably very in line with how Leigh sees herself throughout the majority of the book, and kind of mirrors the struggle she faces of bringing more of herself into her writing. On the opposite side of that I also see myself in every single worry and question and anxiety-ridden tirade she goes on in her mind. I just felt like she never brought the two sides of herself out for others. That Will was really the only person who saw her clearly (to be fair Leigh's best friend Gen also sees the full picture of who she is, but she's a very peripheral character).

I like the connection between Will and Leigh. I loved how Katie Naymon draws out the depth of their relationship. Like Leigh herself, there's more than meets the eye, there's more than surface level. I like how the information is doled out as we go. There's something just so perfect about their relationship journey. Maybe because it never overshadows Leigh's personal journey, but is still just as important. It's all wrapped together perfectly as a whole.

You Between the Lines is a great introduction to Katie Naymon and her writing. I've read fiction books featuring writers. This may be the first one where that writer's specialty is poetry. Seeing the way that the poems are crafted and the techniques used was very interesting and a sure highlight of everything else overall. show less

My sincere thanks to Forever and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read You Between the Lines by Kate Naymon. I give my unbiased opinion of it in the following review.

Leigh and Will have been accepted into a graduate program where they will be studying creative writing, specifically poetry. They knew each other in high school and were kind of poetry rivals. Anyway, they are going to be in this program together for two years. How long will it take before they admit they really admire each other and go from crush to more?

This was a unique idea for a romance. The graduate program setting was interesting, and it was fun to read about how the different personalities in the program bonded and became a family of sorts. I really liked show more the beginning back story and the initial start of their time in North Carolina, but I got bogged down in the middle of the book and wasn't enjoying it as much. I'm not that much of a poetry person, so that might have been part of it. I was also not enjoying Leigh and her attitude. The ending was good, but I wasn't as invested at that point. I will definitely recommend this book to those I think will enjoy it even though it wasn't quite what I was looking for. show less

This book was a weird read. Whenever I wasn't reading it, I didn't really feel like picking it up. But whenever I was actually reading, I would read big chunks at a time. The only reason I didn't finish it faster than I did was because I was traveling home and spending time with family.

I really liked Will's character, I liked the setting, and the MFA cohort. Leigh was the only character I wasn't the biggest fan of. And because the book is written from her POV, at the very beginning of the book it felt like I was reading about high schoolers or at most freshmen in undergrad. It took me a while to adjust to the fact that this book was about grad students. Leigh is a very immature character. She has a therapist in the book which is good, show more but the way things were fixed at the end of the book was were very quick. I also feel like some of the relationship was very unrealistic. Miscommunication was a trope very much utilized in this book. It led to a really big argument between Leigh and Will, and to be honest after some of the things they said to each other, I'm not sure if I could ever go back to being in a relationship with someone who said those things to me.

I suppose if you want your traditional type of romance book then I would recommend this book, but for me it was just okay. show less

You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon
Contemporary romance. New adult. Enemies to lovers troupe. High angst.
Leigh Simon is shocked when she’s accepted in a prestigious poetry program in North Carolina. She wanted it badly but didn’t believe she had a chance. Now that she’s in the program, she’ll do whatever she needs to in learning, growing and maybe even winning a fellowship. Leigh is floored when she finds that William Langford is in the same program. She won’t have a chance against him in poetry or a relationship relaunch. Can she step up her game and hold her own with her poetry and her love life?

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook. The narration was performed by Sarah Beth Goer who was able to create show more specific voices for Leigh and William, as well as emotional spikes. The audiobook narrator is able to keep the reader’s attention using the dialog as conversation, banter and arguments between the characters. I did increase the speed to 1.5 which more closely matches my reading and conversation speed.
I’d recommend the audio in this instance for the lively new adult situations.

Ultimately a good romance in the end but to be honest if a couple breaks up more than once in a book, I tend to distance myself from them so I don’t get hurt. This couple, over the years had a yo-yo relationship that was too much on and off for me to keep being invested. Too much angst for me.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Hachette Audio. show less

For me this was an adequate romance novel. The characters were a bit wishy washy- especially Leigh who cannot decide what she wants, she's not even sure about her writing. I am not a big fan of poetry so that part of the story did not work well for me. I appreciated the writing style but it was not as light hearted as I was expecting. Still a decent story. I listened to an audio version of this book and the narrator was good. 3 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Hachette Audio | Forever for a chance to read/listen to an ARC version of this book.

A romance between 2 people who write poetry and end up in a MFA program. Okay but not great.