While We're Young
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A whirlwind romance inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off about four friends whose hearts are broken and mended over the course of an epic senior skip day—from the bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules!
Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an inseparable trio before their love lives became a tangled mess. For starters, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous Freshman Year Fracture. And, oh yeah, no one knows that Isa has been hanging out with James, Grace’s brother—and if Grace finds out, it could ruin their friendship.
With graduation fast approaching, Grace decides an unsanctioned senior skip day in Philadelphia might be just what they need to fix things. All she has to do is convince Isa to help her kidnap Everett and outmaneuver James, who’s certain his sister is up to something.
In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly's finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. But can their hearts withstand the wreckage?
Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an inseparable trio before their love lives became a tangled mess. For starters, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous Freshman Year Fracture. And, oh yeah, no one knows that Isa has been hanging out with James, Grace’s brother—and if Grace finds out, it could ruin their friendship.
With graduation fast approaching, Grace decides an unsanctioned senior skip day in Philadelphia might be just what they need to fix things. All she has to do is convince Isa to help her kidnap Everett and outmaneuver James, who’s certain his sister is up to something.
In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly's finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. But can their hearts withstand the wreckage?
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
If I'm going to endure a tangled love triangle with a side of amateur kidnapping, it might as well come with a complimentary cheesesteak and a warning label.
Senior skip day. A time-honored tradition where teens throw caution (and apparently, logic) to the wind in favor of reckless hijinks, unnecessary emotional turmoil, and love triangles—or in this case, love octagons. While We’re Young promises an epic, Ferris Bueller-inspired day of adventure, but instead delivers a front-row seat to the world’s messiest friend group trying (and mostly failing) to resolve years of romantic baggage in a single afternoon. Spoiler: It doesn’t go well.
Let’s start with Grace, our protagonist and the self-appointed captain of this chaos train. She’s in love with Everett, who used to date Isa, who is secretly dating Grace’s brother, James. Grace’s solution? A forced group bonding experience where she kidnaps Everett and drags everyone through Philly like a caffeine-fueled tour guide with a vendetta. Because nothing says “let’s fix our friendship” like trapping people in close proximity with their exes and hoping for the best.
The book is essentially 300 pages of unresolved feelings, questionable decision-making, and lots of running—running up the Rocky steps, running from their problems, running out of time before graduation. Do they learn anything? Sort of. Do they stop making bad choices? Absolutely not. At one point, I started rooting for Philly traffic to intervene and end the madness.
While the narrative does race up the famous Rocky steps (in more ways than one), the story trips over its own ambition more than it soars. But between the will-they-won’t-they melodrama and the characters’ complete inability to communicate like functioning humans, I found myself less invested in their romantic woes and more interested in how they all managed to make it this far in life without imploding.
Final verdict? If you love teen angst, dramatic declarations, and the absolute worst way to handle interpersonal conflict, you’ll probably have a good time. But if you’re looking for an actually fun and charming senior skip day adventure? Maybe just rewatch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off instead.
Senior skip day. A time-honored tradition where teens throw caution (and apparently, logic) to the wind in favor of reckless hijinks, unnecessary emotional turmoil, and love triangles—or in this case, love octagons. While We’re Young promises an epic, Ferris Bueller-inspired day of adventure, but instead delivers a front-row seat to the world’s messiest friend group trying (and mostly failing) to resolve years of romantic baggage in a single afternoon. Spoiler: It doesn’t go well.
Let’s start with Grace, our protagonist and the self-appointed captain of this chaos train. She’s in love with Everett, who used to date Isa, who is secretly dating Grace’s brother, James. Grace’s solution? A forced group bonding experience where she kidnaps Everett and drags everyone through Philly like a caffeine-fueled tour guide with a vendetta. Because nothing says “let’s fix our friendship” like trapping people in close proximity with their exes and hoping for the best.
The book is essentially 300 pages of unresolved feelings, questionable decision-making, and lots of running—running up the Rocky steps, running from their problems, running out of time before graduation. Do they learn anything? Sort of. Do they stop making bad choices? Absolutely not. At one point, I started rooting for Philly traffic to intervene and end the madness.
While the narrative does race up the famous Rocky steps (in more ways than one), the story trips over its own ambition more than it soars. But between the will-they-won’t-they melodrama and the characters’ complete inability to communicate like functioning humans, I found myself less invested in their romantic woes and more interested in how they all managed to make it this far in life without imploding.
Final verdict? If you love teen angst, dramatic declarations, and the absolute worst way to handle interpersonal conflict, you’ll probably have a good time. But if you’re looking for an actually fun and charming senior skip day adventure? Maybe just rewatch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off instead.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.