Freddie and Stella Got Hot coming January 27th, 2026 from Feiwel and Friends; 336 pages
Content Warning: Foul language, emotional abuse, manipulation
About the Author: “Maggie Horne is a writer and editor who grew up near Toronto, Canada and now lives in the UK with her wife and a collection of dogs and children. The author of middle grade novels HAZEL HILL IS GONNA WIN THIS ONE (an Indies Introduce Summer/Fall 2022 Selection and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and NOAH FRYE GETS CRUSHED from Clarion Books, as well as the YA novel DON’T LET IT BREAK YOUR HEART from Feiwel and Friends, Maggie is always trying to write the queer stories she wishes she could have read growing up” (Bio from author’s website).
Find Maggie Horne on the following platforms:
After an uneventful homecoming dance, Freddie and Stella devise a plan to take down their former best-friend-turned-queen bee, Levi Preston. It’s been two years since Levi ditched them and climbed the social ranks of their private school, and Freddie and Stella decide to make it their mission to steal the one thing Levi wants more than anything: the Beaumont-Gardiner Award. Only the coolest, smartest, and hottest girls win, so the two make it their goal to become better than Levi by surrounding themselves with the “it” crowd. As the girls slowly worm their way through the ranks of high school popularity, Levi’s popularity plunges and Freddie begins to notice a stark change in Stella. She isn’t the same lovable friend she remembers, and as Freddie begins to spend more time around Levi, she learns that there was more to their friendship breakup than she realized. If Levi wants to help bring Stella back from the dark side, she will need Levi’s help.
Before reading, I was already aware the book was similar to the premise of Mean Girls, but I wasn’t expecting the drama and comedy that this book delivered. The execution was extremely entertaining and kept me on my toes with every chapter. I especially liked the characters—Levi, who is always true to herself, Freddie, who finally navigates her own desires, and even Stella, who had complex motivations but deep down cared for her friends. Though I’m not used to reading about rich white characters, at times I did feel like they lacked a sense of reality, and POC identities were saved for minor side characters, which stuck out to me. Also, while I ended the story as a Stella apologist, I did feel that some of her actions were completely unforgivable. Upon finding out what went down between Stella and Levi, I was very upset, and even felt sickened, and didn’t feel like it was something I personally could forgive or move on from so quickly. So, while in the end the mistakes are somewhat fixed, I still felt like Stella lacked a good character redemption arc and thought her ending should have resulted in intense therapy. I will say, the drama was very exciting, though it’s mostly gay-on-gay-crime, which can be a sensitive topic. I enjoyed the romance between Levi and Freddie and found it to be so satisfying knowing they shared the childhood friends-to-lovers trope. If you’re a fan of Mean Girls, Gossip Girl, and Bottoms, then you will love this drama-filled sapphic romance!
Freddie and Stella Got Hot releases on January 27th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Feiwel and Friends for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Anasofia Alejandro, Pine Reads Review Writer