Thank you St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the DRC of Whenever You're Ready! All opinions in this review are my own.

I'm glad I had reviewed the synopsis of Whenever You're Ready ahead of time because it is not one to go into lightly. Jade and Nia have not talked in three years, since right around the time their best friend died from cancer. As they are nearing 30, they are determined to cross the final item off Michal's bucket list, a tour of Southern Jewish history. Not only must Jade and Nia confront both their grief and their feelings for each other on this road trip, but Jade also must work through her grief in relation to her brother Jonah as well who was dating Michal at the time of her death.

I find I don't typically gravitate towards books with heavier topics lately but I figured I would try Whenever You're Ready. Although it is categorized as a romance, I think it is important to know that the romance is not the most addressed relationship or emotion, especially in the first half. I found this to be more about grief and friendship, especially the exploration of why romantic relationships are given more importance than friendships.

My only complainy is that at times the narration can be difficult to follow. The point of view would switch between Jade and Nia's inner thoughts but because it is still told in third person and it would switch during chapters, it could sometimes be difficult to figure out which person's thoughts we were currently hearing. I wish it had either been written as first person so you would only see one name and know who "I" was referring to, or it was told with an omniscient third person narrator so you had everyone's thoughts whenever they were shared.

Overall, Whenever You're Ready is an emotional undertaking, but it is so worth it!