and then!! there’s this bit where a character is explaining what terfs are to the mc (?? pretty sure all trans people know what a terf is but ok) and says that most of them are lesbians . and honestly i wasn’t that surprised because unfortunately there’s been a fair few books out lately with invalidating comments towards lesbians like that, equating us to being transphobes (transphobia is a cis person problem not a lesbian problem) Ok, so I was deceived by the cover. This is NO romcom! This book needs a trigger warning so here it is: transphobia, grief, homophobia, ableism, sexism, discrimination, bullying, blood (minor), divorce, drugs, sexual assault, homelessness, mental illness, physical assault. It's not really spoilery but I put it under a spoiler tag.

Sara and Felix concoct a scheme to convince Olivia to fall in love with Jasper Dale instead of the wealthy Edwin Clark. Lukas Rivers, football star and head of the Homecoming Committee has had a tough life. After the death of his 'perfect' older brother. He has to go to his funeral where he also ends up getting dumped by his girlfriend who turned out to be a boy. But when he gets challenged by Jeremy to steal his crown. He has also had enough. This work will shake you up a little. It will be like going to a “Foreign Movies No Subtitles group”, as two of Yan Ge’s characters do, or, as one of Lisa McInerney’s characters does, dating Gérard Depardieu without speaking any French. You might be expected to recalibrate your balance, to learn and relearn. Which is what’s great about it. You will gain something, if you hop aboard, look around; as the great American short story writer Lorrie Moore said, “see what can be done”. Niamh DonnellyOverall this book was beautiful and fantastic and it made me cry so much! *remembers* I couldn't have asked for anything more...well maybe a less annoying Jeremy? But even Jeremy himself changed and I was really satisfied! Thank you Z.R. Ellor for writing this magnificent fantastic book! This will always stay in my heart ( ´◡‿ゝ◡`) I went into this expecting a cute and fluffy romcom. I mean—look at that cover! But... it was not a cute and fluffy romcom. And that's not necessarily a bad thing! It was just not what I was expecting, and it took some getting used to. In particular, I loved how Ellor tied these complex and messy feelings the characters are feeling to the queer and neurodivergent experience, respectively. In Jeremy’s case, the pure wrath that he feels comes from constantly being disrespected as a man and feeling the need to prove his masculinity through not only achieving, but prototypical ideas that link violence to it. As for Lukas, his need to prove himself comes primarily from how other people view him being autistic combined with the death of his very successful older brother whom he had a complex but mostly negative relationship with. I also very much appreciated the fact that despite how messy and sometimes problematic these characters were, there was either always a narrative admonishing and/or correction of the problematic behavior or a delicate line about subjects such as a person’s gender, sexual identity, and more that was never crossed. That being said, it took me quite a while to get my footing in this story. It felt like the book didn’t quite know what it wanted to be in the first third—e.g. quirky, politically activist, social commentary, a true love story—and it took a while for different plot threads to weave together. But as everything eventually moved clearer in one direction and Jeremy and Lukas actually started talking beyond trading snarks and glares, I could not put this book down before knowing what would happen during homecoming and who would be crowned king. an utterly fresh romance with messy queer teens falling in and out of love, finding their community, and fighting to be seen. ZR Ellor’s debut puts him on the map as a new, exciting voice.” —Molly Knox Ostertag, author of The Witch Boy

TW: Transphobia, dead naming, misogyny, bullying, attempted sexual assault, harassment, violence, homophobia, ableism This book contains trans, nonbinary, autism, gay, and lesbian representation, which was a major reason why I added this book to my TBR in the first place. This representation was included very thoughtfully and the representation brought up important messages about these topics that were extremely eye-opening to me. This is a book I can tell is gonna be divisive. Because Jeremy is such an unlikable character. Which is why he’s the trans character we need. Jeremy reminds me so much of me in high school, and so many other trans teens I’ve met. He’s angry, selfish, and dramatic. He struggles heavily with internalized transphobia and toxic masculinity. Hes so raw and realistic, and his struggles reflect how life often is for trans teens. He’s scared and vulnerable, and often takes that out on the people around him. When I came out I lashed out, I was selfish, I ruined all my relationships. Coming out is often traumatic and for teens going through that, it leaves them angry and scared. Jeremy is so realistic and I love it. I do think the idea was good but the execution really fell flat for me since the characters were so terrible. We definitely need more books like this in terms of the representation but this really disappointed me. what i can actually talk about is the way jeremy threatened to tell the entire school lukas is autistic when he damn well knows lukas isn't ready for that yet. if you didn't know, i myself am autistic and i was in no way okay with this. not because i think being autistic is something someone should hide or be ashamed for, BUT it should always be your own choice to tell that. your choice to decide when, where, how, and even if. jeremy just crossed too many lines here and i would never forgive someone for even thinking of threatening with something like that...

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This villainous behavior was a good contrast to the good-natured Jasper Dale, who displayed courage and thoughtfulness. Something however, should be said for the boy who fell into the well. After all, if it wasn't for Teddy, Olivia might have reconsidered Edwin's proposal. Criticism Olivia accepts Jasper's proposal. Edwin Clark's weasily actions helped elevate Jasper to a heroic level. Sol was probably my favorite character which probably says something since they were just a side character mainly used to advance Jeremy and Lukas' developement. They are a nonbinary latinx person, (like me) so that probably helps. I would've loved to hear more about them. While we're on the topic of characters that deserved better we should probably talk about Naomi as well. She's an Asian girl that barely got any "screen" time. She, sadly, was also used as a way to develop Lukas and Jeremy more. In this same chapter, we learn that the "dream woman" is Alice Reade, who arrived in Carlisle to teach music. The series representative of Jasper's early love interest was named Addy McNiel, and described in "The Story Girl Earns Her Name."