Natalie, a theatre student who is most confident in a full face of makeup, decides to spend her summer on an adventure reality tv show. The prize is a $100,000 scholarship. She needs it. She’s going to win it. Finn, the most outdoorsy outdoorsman, whose favorite form of communication is grunting, also ends up on the show. As Natalie’s teammate.

This book had me hooked from the start. It was funny and fast paced, and I loved how the majority of the book was set on the Appalachian Trail. The outdoorsy adventure mixed with the reality tv show was the perfect combination. No wonder there are so many reality shows just like this.

I loved all the characters in the book. They were so funny, and the balance of friends and enemies was perfect. Of course, I especially loved Natalie and Finn. Their enemies-to-lovers situation was beautiful. There were a lot of misunderstandings that had me very frustrated, but without them, where would the third act break up be? That being said, I just wanted to yell at Natalie for not listening to what Finn was actually saying. But… was that the point? Is that anxiety? Not being able to move past one thing a person said in a moment of frustration?

This book was very politically correct. There were talks of pronouns, a they/them character, a whole moment for vegetarianism, and a full (confusing?) ‘lecture’ on boys/men acknowledging periods in the right way. Some of it felt really out of place. And forced. And the whole ‘Karen’ vegetarian moment became very hypocritical later in the book when Natalie and Finn were making fun of/became frustrated by other food allergies/sensitivities/preferences when hikers on the trail wouldn’t eat the s’mores that they made.

I was also frustrated by the language in this book. It felt very unnecessary and almost unnatural. I was annoyed that I couldn’t go a page without reading a swear word. I would have liked it more if that had been cut back.