Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Temperature of Me and You

Okay so I just finished reading this book and in my opinion it’s a bit ‘WattPad’-ish. I love the queer representation and it’s a well-written book, but it’s a bit unrealistic how quickly they catch and confess their feelings. The pacing was off, too. The beginning of the book took long, and then the plot where it was building up to happened in maybe five chapters at the end of the book and that was all.
They also don’t really go through a lot of character development during the book and the characters seem a bit flat in my opinion.
Aside from that, I really did love the book. It was an easy, light-hearted read with queer representation and some sweet scenes.
If you’re in need of something light-hearted, I’d definitely recommend it!

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larseneiii's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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parasolcrafter's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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betweentheshelves's review

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing for an advanced copy of this to review! It has all the elements that I love in my stories. Romance, superpowers, great friendships. Usually, this is a winning combination. However, parts of this book fell a little flat for me.

After a bit of a slow start, the book does start to pick up pace wise about halfway through. There are some great action sequences included, and I will admit that Dylan and Jordan have some good chemistry. It is a bit on the instant love side, which isn't my favorite trope. But given Jordan's life situation, it does make sense.

Overall, the plot feels a bit all over the place. The pacing for most of the book feels off, stretching out scenes that don't need to be and skipping some important information. Some of the world building could have been done a bit better. I think this is partly becuase there is focus on details throughout that weren't important to the structure of the world. I'm left with so many questions and not a lot of answers.

At times, it does seem like Dylan and Jordan are moving a bit quickly in their relationship. However, it does make sense in the context of the overall story. They are teenagers, after all. Some teenagers like to move quickly. Most of the characters in the book also felt a little underdeveloped, especially the side characters. They felt one dimensional and I just wanted more from them.

All in all, while I loved the idea behind the story, the writing didn't quite live up to my expectations. But, if you're looking for a gay superhero romance, you'll definitely find it in this book! If you like things like The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune, you will still enjoy this story.
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Mixed feelings about this one! I liked the story, but some of the writing wasn't quite where I wanted it to be. Stay tuned for a full review to come soon!

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bookstarbri's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

So I have been looking forward to this book for a really long time and I'm so happy I got the chance to read it early! In short, The Temperature of Me and You is about a boy, Dylan, who meets another boy, Jordan (who serves as our love interest) and it turns out Jordan is a little weird. At a high temperature of 110 degrees, he is both literally and figuratively very hot. Things start getting really interesting when

Jordan passes his powers onto to Dylan.

Once Jordan and Dylan meet, the book is packed with a lot of action and powers. The powers aspect was one of my favorites of this book. It was SOO cool! And I could picture everything so vividly because of how this author writes, and it was all so cool and unique.

The characters are nothing short of spectacular. Dylan is such a good main character and he's so funny. I was cracking up at some of his inner monologues many times. I relate to him a lot, as it turns out and he made reading this story through his eyes very enjoyable. Dylan's best friends take up a lot of pages and they're hilarious as well. Their friendship felt natural. Even one of the antagonists of the story was really good. Once she stopped being terrible, I liked her and was pleased with the bond she shared with Dylan. Jordan is a sweet love interest and I wish we could've gotten more of him! That's honestly my biggest complaint with this book. Jordan was amazing and kind and I think he and Dylan have a beautiful connection.

It’s actually because I love Jordan so much that I wish he could've been more a part of the last fight! I was bummed that Jordan wasn't really a big part of it since HydroPro was terrible to him in a dark way and I think he deserved some revenge! So I t would've been nice for Dylan and Jordan to take down HydroPro together rather than it mostly being Dylan and his friends

.

I also wish we could've had more questions answered

like what was Jordan doing for the month he was gone from Dylan? What was Dr. Ivan's endgame? Why didn't Dr. Peter do anything about Dr. Ivan sooner?

But other than that, this book was SOOO awesome!! Like I loved it so much. I REALLY wish this was a series (or even just a duology) because I feel like some of those questions I have would likely be answered in a second book and I really love these characters and want to dive more into this world of HydroPro and see how they still try to get their hands on Jordan and Dylan (because I just have a feeling they would still try).

I really want a book 2!!!

Special thank you to NetGalley, Disney Hyperion, and the author for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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krin's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

I think this would be a great book for a younger person to read - maybe late middle school/early high school?

I think this was an excellent effort for a debut novel. The dialogue was great and I loved Dylan's voice from the first-person POV - he's funny and sweet. It's a great story of friendships (and family, more near the beginning).

The romance part of the story was a bit lacking - it's sweet and has a very cute ending but it's lacking substance. Which is fine, they're teenagers. Similarly, there is a lot left unexplained about the powers. It's not too difficult to suspend your disbelief but it's hard to forget that you need to do it.

A few content considerations: teenagers drinking alcohol, some low-key fatphobia and while maybe it's not bullying exactly, there is a lot of . . . mean-spiritedness. The book could also have done with a sharper round of editing - there were some slightly awkward turns of phrase and a couple of inconsistencies. But it didn't take away too much from the book.

Overall though, it was a good story and I'd be interested to see what the author turns out next.

I received a digital Advanced Review Copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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foreverinastory's review

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tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a hot ass mess. Pun intended. I might lower my rating bc this became such a damn chore to read.

The Temperature of Me & You is about two young boys navigating high school, crushes and fire powers. Unfortunately for Dylan, Jordan seems interesting until he explodes his ice cream cup can then literally burns Dylan within minutes of meeting. Dylan needs to know what happened, but he doesn't know how to contact Jordan. The two eventually connect again and they try to figure out how Jordan's power works.

I really wanted to like this but when we start out by lightly stalking a love interest, the red flags go up. I could not deal with Dylan. He just seemed so disconnected from reality. As the book goes on, the plans he hatch just got increasingly more ridiculous. I really considered DNFing this book because I was so annoyed/irritated. I don't know if this was a product of the writing, the characters, the plot or a combination of all three. there's also a Harry Potter reference in this and like I hate seeing those in books written by white cishet authors, but seeing it in a queer books that publishing in 2022?? You should know better.

I did really like Dylan's friendship with Kirsten and Perry. I loved those two girls. I loved how much they were there for Dylan and each other. Easily the best part of the book for me. I also loved the sapphic character who came in later even though she's done some pretty awful things.

All in all, this didn't work for me, but I would read the author's next book and see if it was just this book in particular.

Rep: white gay male MC, achillean male love interest, white lesbian female side character in a WLW relationship.

CWs: Underage alcohol consumption, bullying, fire/fire injury, homophobia/homomisia, kidnapping/attempted kidnapping, medical trauma/scientific experimentation without consent. Moderate: Car accident, death of parents, vomit. Harry Potter reference.

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