An enjoyable book with funny parts and sad moments that I loved and were 5 stars, and other parts that had me cringing away from the story and feeling like it was a 2 or 3 star read because of how painfully certain characters were written.
Love triangles in any form are inherently difficult to do well in this day and era, with many readers now expecting a triad, or even a poly romance to come out of it instead. Inherently fighting or competing for a girl feels so old fashioned and out of place now. Exes & Foes turns this on its head by having the two main characters competing instead for a side character, and instead focus more on each other.
There are moments in the beginning where I laughed out loud, and felt I was in for an enjoyable read;
"She's way too cute and I'm the pinnacle of mediocrity stuffed into the body of a linguine-limbed behemoth."
I was having a good time, and then the love interest that Caleb and Emma compete for enters the scene, and my feelings quickly became mixed.
Everything to do with Juliet is giving "manic pixie dream girl", and shows the pitfalls many white authors fall into when writing a BIPOC character, being so afraid of writing them flawed that they are instead written so flat and perfectly that they give little to the story other than a plot device. Juliet's only purpose is to bring Emma and Caleb together, and from the moment she comes on page she is both sexualized greatly and also infantilized in her interactions. (She also 100% does not read as a BIPOC character) Everything she wears is described in great detail, far more than even our MC's. (It's very clear Juliet is meant to be neurodivergent coded, or even autistic, yet it felt more like someone writing how they wish they were treated by others) Everything she does is viewed as quirky and cute, and our mc's swoon over her and everything they do do. To make matters worse, at the end it is revealed that Juliet

knew the whole time that Caleb and Emma were competing and in fact worked to bring them together. Truly taking further away from the character who is only used as a plot point to bring others together, a magical BIPOC godparent that authors so love to include. There is nothing else to their character. While I did enjoy the inclusion of ace and gender figuring out rep, the way it was written just felt...not cohesive, and even at times the shifting to their character felt so out of place amongst everything else happening.

There were times it almost read like a y/n story in the beginning with every cringey thing Juliet did. I felt physically pained during every finger gun. Physically. Pained.
"'Can't',she gives me finger guns."
'"She gives me hoarse, flimsy laughter. And more finger guns."
Even when Juliet plays video games everyone in the chat just swoons over the physical aspects and how amazing they are. Great job, y/n.
The second chunk of the book is a complete shift in the story, and I truly wish the author had just given greater attention to Emma and Caleb instead, and spent more time on the more serious topics because that is where this book shined. I felt like I was reading a completely different story. I didn't expect to be fully sobbing with how painfully real and well emotional abuse and neglect was written, nor did I expect to see how well it translated onto page. It almost felt like a disservice to have so little of the story devoted to the true meat of the matter, and I wish it was different.
Everything Emma goes through, how her mother treats her, I was sobbing, and added more money to my therapy jar.
"...'Just because you don't hit us doesn't mean you're not abusing us in other ways.'"
Emma and Caleb finally coming together felt so beautiful and raw. I really wished they were given the story they deserved. Though there were moments later in the book where it almost felt like everything was so neatly wrapped up and a lot of the conversations almost felt a little like...someone writing conversations with how they wish they would have gone instead, or moments from their life that they wish had happened. I truly hope that makes sense, dear reader. I did have a lot of difficulties with how many points were just forgotten about by the end.

We are just disregarding that Emma seemed to really care about soccer, is still in an abusive situation, among other things. Quite frankly it almost gives the message in a way that there is nothing that can't be done if you are in an abusive situation like that and if you just talk back to your parent everything will be fine. I was surprised that Caleb and his mother didn't immediately invite Emma to live with them, an abusive parent doesn't just stop being abusive after a lifetime after being told off once.

It was so difficult to figure out how to rate this book, because the second chunk I was like, TAKE MY MONEY, FIVE STARS! While the first chunk felt like quite frankly a 2 to 3 star read, and I foresee many readers potentially dnf'ing it just because of various moments in the story that just feel like a 'and everyone clapped moment.'
Writing this review out, I feel I should have perhaps given it 3 stars instead of 4, but I have already committed, and I am biased because of my own mommy issues, so I am sticking with 4 stars.
Personally, I say take a look at some of the reviews before you dive into this one. It might be to your tastes, or it might not, but this one isn't for everyone.
This was my first book by Woody, and I am currently on the fence if I were to read anything more of their work. It is clear they can write, and well. But the flat and at times y/n style that Juliet was written really keeps sticking with me, even though I loved all the great queer rep and the trauma writing. If their next book is different, I might try it.
Complete side note, in the beginning of the story, Juliet's body is mentioned being round, or wide several times. The cover doesn't convey that, so I am at a loss if they are meant to be a plus sized character or not. And if she is, I wish the cover showed that.

Thank you Penguin for this arc
Quotes are subject to change because this is an arc