Surprise, you have a match! Emma Lord’s latest book, You Have a Match, walks along with Abby as she discovers new – and very shocking – news about her family after taking a DNA test. This book was on my radar because of the topic of adoption and I knew I would find it fascinating but this was a really interesting look at DNA test news that isn’t sunshine and rainbows.
Before We Get Motoring…
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Let’s Dive In
Leo, Abby’s bestie, was adopted as an infant from the Philippines and is interested in learning more about his birth family. Cammie (Leo’s sister) and Abby agree to take the same DNA test as Leo in an act of solidarity. Leo expects to find a wealth of information and Abby expects to see nothing of importance in the report. However, expectations and reality are slightly different. Surprise, you have a match!
Now, This Complicates Things
While Abby and sibling duo Leo/Cammie are all besties, Abby has been pining for Leo for God-knows-when. And Leo and Abby might have stepped over the friendship line months ago and neither of them have the guts to talk about that fateful kiss. Sister Cammie might have shared inaccurate info with Leo about Abby’s feelings. And Abby’s doing her best to pretend those feelings for Leo are nothing.
Didn’t See That Comin’
Abby discovers that she has a biological sister. And this news-to-her bio sister lives in the Seattle area as well. And after a bit of cyber-stalking (c’mon, you would too), Abby finds her biological sister, Savannah (‘Savvie’).
To say the girls are opposites would be an understatement. Abby likes to be behind the camera; Savvie is an Instagrammer extraordinaire. Whereas Savvie is all ‘yes, let’s,’ Abby is ‘why would I?’ See, different!
Savvie has known from the beginning that she was adopted and she adores her forever family. But she, like Leo, was a bit curious about her birth parents. Unlike Leo, she didn’t try to seek them out or find out more intel.
Abby’s parents have some news to share, amirite?!
Layer This In
So if the surprise sisters didn’t hook you or the lingering-friends-but-maybe-there’s-more trope didn’t hook you, maybe this will.
This gaggle of fresh drama will all be at the same summer camp at the same time. So any plans to keep the secret sisterhood a secret might be challenging. And any ideas of Abby playing like an ostrich and burying her head in the sand over Leo might prove to be futile.
Family secrets, secrets of the heart and secrets Abby has hidden from herself emerge in You Have a Match.
How this author can mix together secrets and Instagram and expectations and birth families and choices and years-long crushes without it feeling forced or like you need to write down the flow of the story is BEYOND me. But this book is super fun and I am most definitely picking up Emma Lord’s next novel!