ALA Booklist (Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

Rod is pretty satisfied with his life. Sure, his dad left, but he's got a fun band and a great girlfriend. Then his mom announces that Rod's cousin, Blake, is coming to stay for three months. Rod's not thrilled about sharing his room for a semester, but he supposes it could be worse d as soon as he picks up Blake from the airport, it is. Entitled, lazy Blake is a pain in the ass, but only to Rod; in front of everyone else, he's completely charming. After a few days of this gaslighting, Rod's starting to go a little crazy. But even if no one else believes it, he knows Blake is trying to take over his life, and Rod is about to start fighting back. Strand (Stranger Things Have Happened, 2017) imbues Rod's downward spiral with plenty of wacky humor, and if Rod's outbursts are a bit overly dramatic at times, readers will be too busy sympathizing with him to care. A family drama guaranteed to keep readers laughing.

Kirkus Reviews

Two cousins trapped under the same roof engage in psychological warfare.Rod may not be very popular or live in a big house, but he has a tight group of friends, an up-and-coming band, and a perfectly sweet girlfriend. His dad abandoned the family, but Rod is close to his mom, a waitress. All in all, plenty to be thankful for. However, when his wealthy cousin Blake's parents go on a three-month around-the-world cruise, guess who shows up for an extended visit? Blake and Rod get off on the wrong foot, and the pair's conflict quickly devolves into a battle of wills and mutual sabotage. As Blake, with his high-handed arrogance, systematically chips away at Rod's sanity, readers will howl with laughter, cringing as the author twists the screws at perfectly placed intervals. The resolution is a tad disappointing, but Rod's narration is amusing, with a playful awareness of literary convention that makes for a breezy read. The tertiary characters are thin, particularly Rod's band mates (readers may have trouble telling them apart), but the book aims for laughs, and it earns them. All major characters are assumed white.A well-paced comedy that doesn't quite stick the landing. (Fiction. 12-16)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this self-aware comedy, a teen-s life