You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh

You Started It

Jackie Khalilieh

Tundra Book Group · Hardcover · May 20, 2025

Better Than the Movies meets Olivia Rodrigo's Sour in a new YA romance novel from Something More author, Jackie Khalilieh.

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Who it’s for
A flirty, contemporary YA romance that keeps things light, sharp, and a little messy.
Genres
Romantic Comedy for Teens, Mental Illness for Teens, Dating & Sex for Teens
Published
Tundra Book Group, May 20, 2025

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Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Romantic Comedy for Teens.

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  8. Fake SkatingLynn Painter63% match

For older readers: Once Upon a Time in Dollywood: Reese's Book Club, Last First Kiss, The Next Chapter

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About this book

Better Than the Movies meets Olivia Rodrigo's Sour in a new YA romance novel from Something More author, Jackie Khalilieh. Seventeen-year-old Jamie Taher-Foster has big plans for senior year. She's made a list of things and places in Toronto she and her boyfriend of three years, Ben Cameron, need to check off before graduating. And the biggest plan of all: a very special night for the two of them at the upcoming Winter Formal.

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But then Ben arrives back home after a summer away with an unthinkable announcement: he wants to break up. And when Jamie discovers him with Olivia Chen the next day, she is determined to get him back. Even if that means fake dating the younger, curly-haired, TikTok dancer Axel Dahini, whose bicycle she accidentally ran over. Though she and Axel have nothing in common aside from their shared Arab heritage — she's a messy, type A with anxiety; he's carefree but meticulous — their forced time together brings them to better understand one another. And for Jamie, it just might mean learning that not all experiences or people need to be crossed off a list. "You Started It is honest, wise, and wholeheartedly romantic, starring a cast of endearingly flawed characters who feel like real friends. A total delight." —Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda “A true joy to read. Earnest and effortlessly charming, You Started It embodies everything I adore about YA rom-coms. Jackie Khalilieh has such a talent for writing nuanced characters you can’t help but laugh with, cry with, and root for.” —Ann Liang, New York Times bestselling author of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You

Flirty, Fast

A flirty, contemporary YA romance that keeps things light, sharp, and a little messy.

Come here for

  • teen rom-com energy
  • contemporary romance with a dating-and-sex lens

Expect

  • romantic comedy pacing
  • author-following appeal

Where it sits

Romantic Comedy for Teens93%
Mental Illness for Teens40%
Dating & Sex for Teens28%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Contemporary YA Romance
  • Romantic Comedy for Teens
  • Multicultural & Interracial YA Romance
Authors
Jackie Khalilieh
Publisher
Tundra Book Group
Published
May 20, 2025
Format
Hardcover
Reading lane
Contemporary YA Romance