Book Review: The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee

💘 Bookish Banter, College Chaos & One Very Fake Date

Jul 01, 2025

An enemies-to-lovers YA romcom written for the girls who read romance like it’s religion, blog their hearts out, and secretly wish their rivals had dimples. This book isn’t just cute—it’s a pitch-perfect love letter to romance readers and Bookstagrammers who know every trope in the book... and still melt when the grumpy one secretly falls first.

🏷️ Tropes You’ll Find:

Rivals to friends to lovers (online beef to on-campus banter)
Fake dating with “real” feelings 😏
Forced proximity (hello, group project hell)
Grumpy sunshine (he’s her snarky match)
He falls first, hard, and with his full chest
Book blogger vs. book blogger 📚💻
Coming-of-age meets coming-of-romance
Trope breakdowns as plot structure?? ICONIC
College freshman awkwardness with extra seasoning

Blush Meter 💖💖💖💖🤭/ 5

For a YA, this was toeing the line in the best way. Not explicit, but whew—the vibes are ✨adult-level pining✨. There’s a tension to Irene and Aiden’s dynamic that practically fogged up my glasses. The slow burn is delicious, the almost-kisses are timed like poetry, and their eventual connection is sweet, tender, and totally earned.

🌟 TAK Girlie Rating: ★★★★★

Five sparkly stars for making me feel seen as a romance reader and reviewer. Irene Park is my spirit animal in combat boots, and Aiden Jeon? Chef’s kiss for a book boyfriend who reads the tropes and then rewrites them with feelings. This book is heartfelt, hilarious, and emotionally smart—it gave me butterflies and a new journal entry.

First of all—Susan Lee? Thank you for writing a heroine who reads like she could be in the Tropes & Kisses DMs debating whether “he falls first” counts if the guy is in denial about it.

Irene Park is the girl who knows romance. She’s got a blog, a following, an eye for tropes, and a brain that won’t turn off when it comes to analyzing every beat of a love story, which makes it extra cruel when fate tosses her into college life, where she immediately meets her snarky, infuriating book review rival Aiden Jeon—in the flesh. He’s smug. He’s hot. He hates her takes. Obviously, she’s obsessed.

Their “love-off” wager? Whoever can secure a trope-perfect love story first wins. The loser gives up their blog. Stakes: high. Emotions: simmering. And just like that, they’re “fake dating” (because, of course, they are) and accidentally becoming real-life protagonists in the kind of swoony story Irene usually critiques.

I adored how this book took every trope we love and played with it in a meta, self-aware way—but without being cynical or overly tongue-in-cheek. It wasn’t mocking romance; it was celebrating it. The chapter titles alone had me screaming. And if you’ve ever gotten into a semi-heated Instagram Story debate about the ethics of second-chance romances? This book is for you.

Irene is layered. She’s confident in her niche but deeply uncertain in real life. Her struggle with people-pleasing, anxiety, and negative self-talk hit me hard in the chest. She's exactly the kind of YA heroine I wish existed when I was younger—funny, analytical, scared to disappoint the people she loves, and terrified of letting herself want something real.

Aiden, meanwhile, is peak MMC perfection: charming but thoughtful, snarky but sincere, soft but not simpering. The boy is out here catching feelings in real time, and Susan Lee lets us watch it happen. He challenges Irene, not in an alpha-male “I know better” way, but in a “you deserve more, don’t shrink yourself” way. Ugh. I need a moment.

And while the central romance shines, I also want to highlight the friendship subplot and the college setting. Irene is navigating the isolation of being new, trying to find community, and wrestling with “should I change to fit in or stay exactly who I am?”? SO real. Her dynamic with bestie Jeanette and the lovable Charles? Top tier. This book doesn’t pretend college is all frat parties and cozy libraries—it shows the messy, awkward, sometimes lonely in-between.

Bonus points for how bookish this book is without ever being gatekeep-y. The nods to romance trends, fandom debates, and blogger life felt so authentic. As someone in the rec/review game, I felt SEEN. Irene is not a caricature—she’s a book girlie trying to live what she’s always read, and it’s complicated and beautiful and often hilarious.

🎓 Final Thoughts:

The Romance Rivalry is the YA romance I wish I’d had in my first year of college. It's smart without being smug, romantic without being saccharine, and full of characters that feel like real people you could DM about your latest book boyfriend crush. Irene and Aiden’s story is for the readers who love love (like me lol) but also need a reminder that they’re worthy of it in real life, too.

Come for the fake dating, stay for the self-actualization and witty banter that hits harder than a Taylor Swift bridge. This is one rivals-to-lovers romance I’ll be recommending to everyone who ever wrote a love letter to the genre—and meant it.