Rhodes and Iliana couldn’t be more different, but that’s not why they hate each other.
Hyper-gifted artist Rhodes has always excelled at Alabama’s Conservatory of the Arts despite a secret bout of creator’s block, while transfer student Iliana tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce.
They both escape the pressure on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a graphic novel. And despite being the worst enemies in real life, their anonymous online identities I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are starting to like each other… a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other’s future?
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Oh I loved this so much 😍
Make way for an F/F REAL enemies to lovers story!
I got some SERIOUS Pride and Prejudice vibes from the story–So if that is your jam definitely pick this book up. Privilege,
Iliana hates Rhodes guts for a very real situation that happened between the characters in which Iliana manages to be the hurt party. Ever since then, Iliana hates Rhodes, Rhodes seemingly hates Iliana, but they are stuck in close proximity because of their friend “glue” in the form of Sarah. Sarah has been Iliana’s BFF since they were children, and is Rhodes’ roommate at this fancy conservatory arts school in which they seem to be the only poor scholarship kids.
Iliana fights tooth and nail for everything she has ever had, but she also will trample over people to get there. Rhodes is quiet and reserved which comes off as snobbish and cold–Rhodes inner monologue really hit close to home, as she is anxious and suffering from depression (which is something she shares with Iliana as her online self, Alice). Iliana however believes Rhodes to be full of privilege, which Iliana is too but because of Rhodes economic advantages she is a step up in the privilege department (both characters will come to address this).
“If there were a time on Slash/Spot before I-Kissed-Alice–Alice as I call her, and she calls me Cheshire after my own username–I don’t remember it. There was no life before Slash/Spot, and the rest of it barely mattered before I met Alice.”
In the online world, Alice (Rhodes) and Cheshire (Iliana) have been a team for many months and are in a sort of online relationship. They work on an online comic book together as co creators and basically are as honest with each other as only two strangers on the internet can be. Since they seem to be taking internet security seriously though, they do not divulge specific information that will lead either person to pinpoint who the other one is. Convenient, but safe and only helps to build the tension. I cannot wait for the finished copy to hit the bookstores so I can buy my copy and look at the comic book sections which are ILLUSTRATED and look AMAZING ❤
There are a lot of complicated relationships in this book, not only between Iliana and Rhodes, but also the one between Iliana, Rhodes and Sarah. The girl on girl hate that occurs on this book is not motivated by romantic relationships (kind of), overall I think it is portrayed in a realistic way. Not only is the “hate” necessary for the trope, but it really helps to shine a light on unhealthy relationships and what they can do to your self esteem and mental health. We all have had those relationships that are bad for us that we just don’t see how to quit. There is this other character that then comes along and “works to sabotage the girls” but really I can see where the character is coming from because she was working from a very specific mind set and because of the main characters bad behavior (which gets addressed). In the end, it all has a purpose.
I just love how the story was written, how issues were addressed, and how complicated the relationship issues were. I will definitely be recommending this one to friends and anybody who manages to understand my babbling about how great this story was.
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
For the Sake of Reading 