ARC Review: The Night When No One Had Sex by Kalena Miller

Title: The Night When No One Had Sex

Author: Kalena Miller

Publisher: Aw Teen
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Hardcover, 320 Pages
Publication Date: October 12th, 2021

Summary: It's the night of senior prom, and eighteen-year-old Julia has made a pact with her friends. (Yes, that kind of pact.) They have secured a secluded cabin in the woods, one night without parental supervision, and plenty of condoms. But as soon as they leave the dance, the pact begins to unravel. Alex's grandmother is undergoing emergency surgery, and he and his date rush to the hospital. Zoe's trying to figure out how she feels about getting off the waitlist at Yale--and how to tell her girlfriend. Madison's chronic illness flares, holding her back once again from being a normal teenager. And Julia's fantasy-themed role play gets her locked in a closet. Alternating between each character's perspective and their ridiculous group chat, The Night When No One Had Sex finds a group of friends navigating the tenuous transition into adulthood and embracing the uncertainty of life after high school.

I received an ARC of THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX in exchange for an honest review, and I'm really glad you did, because you guys...this book is hysterical. Seriously. I loved this book so much and am already hand-pushing it on all of my friends because I want them to all read it and laugh along with me. If the title itself wasn't enough to grab your attention, then trust me, the 

As the summary explains, the story follows a group of high school friends who are all seniors who made a sex pact for their prom night. They secured a cabin in the woods without adult supervision, all of their romantic partners, and it seems like it's going to be a great night...until everything that could possibly go wrong does go wrong. It's a hilarious story of runaway cats, roleplay gone wrong, and lots of twists and turns. Trust me, this is not the type of story that you want to miss!

I devoured this entire book in less than 48 hours and even read 200+ pages in a single day because I was so invested in the antics of all of the characters that I just couldn't put it down. I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt and I was also gasping at every single plot twist and shocking moment. I've been in a bad reading slump for awhile since I've been so stressed about other facets of my life, so it felt like this book found me at the perfect time. I was able to sit down and dive into a hysterical story that I found myself really getting sucked into. I definitely had "one more chapter" syndrome with this one, that's for sure! You get to watch everyone's nights unravel into pure chaos in so many different ways, and although there are a lot of different things going on with each individual couple, the title of the book lets you know that something interesting will be happening with all of them, that's for sure! And some of them are definitely things that you wouldn't expect.

Something else that was really cool about this book was the variety of different perspectives. You get to see the story from the perspectives of everyone in the friend group from time to time, broken up by transcripts of their absolutely hysterical group chat with its ever-changing names. Their dynamic with each other really reminded me a lot of my own friend group at home and the conversations we have, so that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I think above all, this is a story of friendship and all of the different forms its support takes, even among all of the chaos. Seeing them all together and supporting each other (and helping each other out of jams) really made me smile -- I just love books with such tight friendships, and that was really evident here.

My favorite characters of them all were definitely Kevin and Julia. Having such a big cast of characters means that there were so many different options to choose from and picking favorites was hard, but I loved whenever I got to see scenes between the two of them. Even as everything about their night was starting to go wrong and Julia's carefully laid plans (hehe) fell apart, it was clear how much love the two of them had for each other. And I also loved the way Julia would just casually blurt anything and everything about her and Kevin to her friends. She definitely kept the friend group on their toes, that's for sure -- even if she wasn't the only one!

Overall, I absolutely loved THE NIGHT WHEN NO ONE HAD SEX. If you're looking for a book that makes you laugh so hard it hurts, fall in love, and watch the hijinks of a carefully planned prom night unfold in disastrous real-time, then trust me, this is absolutely the book for you. I'm absolutely a fan of Kalena Miller's, and I'm really looking forward to reading more of her work in the future, because reading this book was honestly such a delight!