Review: Try Your Worst

Try Your Worst

by Chatham Greenfield

Bloomsbury YA, 2025

Category: Young Adult

Reviewer: Kathryn Hall

 

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This well-written light sapphic rom-com mystery with an enemies-to-mor-than-friends plot has some serious themes. The story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Sadie, who is Jewish, and Chloe, who is not. These high school seniors are dealing with depression, anxiety, chronic pain, uncertainty about the future, an unrequited crush, and mothers. Being lesbian and being overweight are not presented as significant problems. When bad things happen to them and they are unfairly blamed, it becomes obvious that someone is trying to frame Sadie and Chloe, and the school administration will not help them. Gradually misunderstandings are cleared up, and betrayal is revealed. The mental health concerns are handled realistically and with sensitivity. The sexual content does not go beyond kissing. In the dedication the author warns the reader about the content, and in an afterword describes her own experience with depression and discusses a variety of resources for the reader. The novel is set in St. Augustine, Florida, which is nicely described.

The Jewish content is casual but unmistakable and helps make Sadie a more three-dimensional character.

 

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Reviewer Kathryn Hall is a retired pediatrician, lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, volunteer librarian for her synagogue and for her local LGBT+ center, and active in her local PFLAG chapter. She has a special interest in Jewish children's literature with LGBT+ content. She lives in Central California with her husband, the youngest of her three children, and two of her eight grandchildren.