The Free Verse Society by Delali Adjoa: Review
Welcome to my review of The Free Verse Society by Delali Adjoa! This has been one of my most anticipated 2026 reads since last year, so I’m so delighted to announce that I adored this book. Delali is definitely an author I’m going to keep on my radar.
Title: The Free Verse Society
Author: Delali Adjoa
Genre: YA Romance
Publisher: Peachtree Teen
Pub Date: 03/24/2026
The Free Verse Society Description
A tender hate-to-love YA romance about two teens who connect through their high school poetry club, where the power of the written word tears down the walls they’ve built around their hearts.
No one in Delray knows Jae Aƒenyo’s story—that she’s a teen mom who placed her baby for adoption—and she intends to keep it that way. After moving in with her uncle, Jae is looking for a fresh start. But an accidental run-in with the school’s delinquent, Derek Patel, is not exactly what she had in mind. She soon finds a haven in the poetry club—at least, until Derek joins.
Derek Patel is desperately clinging to his old life—where his dad was alive, his mom was healthy, and they lived in an oceanfront estate instead of a run-down pink bungalow. He’ll do anything to hide his problems from his friends, including breaking into his old house to keep up the charade that he still lives there. But the house now belongs to the school’s lit teacher, who offers him the chance to join the poetry club as a penance.
As the newest members of the club, Jae and Derek are tasked with planning the end-of-semester poetry reading. While Derek is hell-bent on keeping his broken family a secret, Jae is desperate to prove to her uncle that she’s more than a walking statistic—which means guarding her heart against Derek, who her uncle thinks is no good.
A poignant exploration of love, loss, and the power of words to draw people together, The Free Verse Society announces the arrival of an important new voice in YA romance.
Perfect for readers who love Forced Proximity, Forbidden Love, Opposites Attract, Hate to Love, the Misunderstood Bad Boy, Opposite Sides of the Tracks, and Reading/Literature Club Bonding!
Review
The Free Verse Society was one of my most anticipated 2026 reads, and I’m so glad to announce that the hype was deserved. The blurb says this is a tender YA romance, and I can confirm it pulls at all the heart strings and will thaw out even the iciest of hearts. Did I mention that I cried twice? The poetry was weaved in seamlessly to the story and allowed us to get even deeper into the characters’ heads.
I was rooting for Jae and Derek because they fit so well together. Their experiences weren’t exactly the same, but they understood each other on a deeper level. And while the romance was definitely a highlight, there was so much more to the book than just that. The members of the poetry club were the MVPs, and I appreciated the way they fought for each other. High school is hard, so it was nice to see Jae and Derek find a place where they could be themselves, even when they wanted to hide parts of what made them them.
Overall, this was a beautiful and touching read. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for YA books with characters going through hard things, like grief, bullying, and teen pregnancy. And if you liked If I Could Go Back by Briana Johnson, The Free Verse Society should definitely be on your radar. Peachtree Teen has really been cooking with grease with their latest releases, and Delali is an author I’m definitely going to keep on my radar.
*Thank you to Peachtree Teen for the ARC. All opinions are my own.*
Author
Delali Adjoa was born in Togo to Ghanaian parents but grew up in Canada where she traded sunny cottons for wool tuques and snowsuits. She has been chasing warmer weathers ever since.
Delali writes fiction centered on identity, freedom, and family, and loves the American South for the stories it has buried. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Georgetown University and currently lives near Atlanta with her family.
Where to Buy
Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Amazon
