4.5 stars 
 Loved it. This was so perfect. I loved that it was in between high school and college, before it had even started. 
 Full review originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 12/23/13: ROOMIES was near perfection. This is everything I've been looking for in YA and NA and even crossing over into a little of both. My first reaction to the book was really how much I loved that one: it alternates POVs between the two girls and two: that it stays almost strictly in the "in between" time between high school and college. We get to see how both of these girls' lives changed in that summer before leaving for college which I feel often gets glossed over and overlooked. 
 I don't know how ROOMIES would have turned out if we had two POVs written by one author, but I will say that I'm really, really glad that both Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr each got to tell their own story, but together at the same time. I think they brought an original voice to each girl and such authenticity to each voice as well. I really felt like I got to know each girl and really felt invested in each of their stories. 
 I really liked the emails in every chapter. The two girls communicate almost exclusively through emails so we get their stories together strung throughout their own personal stories at home. I felt like this was a perfect way to bring everything together while still giving each girl their own time and spotlight so the reader could get to know them both together and apart. 
 Whereas other early reviews have said how much they related to the book because they went through the same thing, I actually didn't quite have that same connection. Well, I kind of did. For those of you who don't know me as well, you probably don't know that I actually went to a community college for two years and then transferred to a university my junior year. I skipped the whole dorm process, having a stranger for a roommate (well, for the most part -- that's an entirely different and longer story), and went straight to living in an apartment so for me, ROOMIES was absolutely still relatable but it wasn't an "OMG, this was my life" deal. I guess what I'm trying to say with all this long-windedness is that regardless of how closely your experience is/was to EB and Lauren's, ROOMIES is extremely enjoyable and a very personal experience. Even people who haven't gone away to college I'm sure can still relate to these girls as well -- graduating from high school and other friends moving away, leaving home for the first time, first loves, family issues. ROOMIES really has it all! 
 Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr totally stuck gold with ROOMIES. I love every character and really felt like each one -- from the main characters to their love interests, their parents, even down to Lauren's younger siblings -- really felt like a real person to me. The situations that each girl goes through, the gamut of emotions and first-time experiences -- everything was just done just right. I'm really excited for everyone to get their hands on ROOMIES, especially the "new adults" and twenty-somethings like myself because I feel like it will really hit home and root itself as a favorite for many!