Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Nate Plus One

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye

24 reviews

piperclover's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Its was going really well until the 3rd ac miscommunication where it fell apart. Suddenly the mc

didn't explain that he had been kissed and not really the other way. It was frustrating bc it wasn't all the his fault. There was also very little emotional connection from the love interest. He just suddenly started flirting and there was no reason for it??

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thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.5

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for a copy of this book.

Nate Hargraves' looking forward to his cousin's wedding in South Africa until he learns that his ex-boyfriend Tommy will be there, and his mother can't travel with him. Luckily his friend (and crush) Jai Patel steps up and says he'll go as his plus one.

Meanwhile the lead-singer in Jai's band quits and betrays them just before a competition finale. Nate volunteers to take his place.

This is fun, easy to read, mainly lighthearted book, but it does deal with difficult topics at times. I loved seeing the relationship between Nate and his Ouma (grandmother). It's great to see a non-Western setting for a YA contemporary, I don't think this is something we see enough of.

My main critique of this book is that it's too short; I would really like to have seen more of a resolution of Tommy's story. The book felt like it ended too abruptly and could have used an epilogue.

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dbguide2's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

Another really quick read and another one that I really loved! I hope I can carry on with these quick reads that I really love. This one was a heartfelt, sweet read about two friends falling in love.

As I’ve said before, I’m just not really a fan of the friends-to-lovers but I think it’s due to how it’s normally written. Luckily it wasn’t the case in Nate Plus One. I very much enjoyed the trope and definitely would’ve liked the book to have been longer. Even if it would just have been more South African things to fill the pages.

Speaking of South African things, I loved seeing all the nods and little things – even if they didn’t come down to Cape Town (I live near Cape Town and I don’t remember Durban very well).

I laughed when they heard ‘robots’ and were very confused because, yes, we do call traffic lights robots. (don’t ask why, I don’t know why). I loved they included a braai (like a barbeque, but just better) but I would have loved the braai to be longer – both as in more written and chronologically longer. It’s a running joke that braais take forever. You could go to a friend’s house at 2pm and only eat the cookd food around 11pm. I’m quite serious.

There was a point where the aunt explained a Hadeda to the boys and I laughed because they’re absolutely awful and I hate them. On another ‘South African note’ the book mentioned Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu can be seen walking around with his wife. Tutu passed away last year, and so did Leah (his wife)… But also we don’t know which year the book is set in so they might still be alive?

The plot was unfortunately a bit over the place and confusing. The synopsis made it seem like there would be fake dating? And even as I read, I kept waiting for them to start up their fake dating agreement, but it never happened?

And when they got to South Africa the plot also fell apart a bit? It’s like it didn’t know what part of the plot to work on. That didn’t deter me from loving the book, so I’m glad about that!

While I loved what we were given, I do think the book would be better if it were longer. Even 50 pages would’ve been very helpful. Either more adventures in South Africa – them eating rusks, them eating biltong. Or even more bonding with Nate’s family (except for the homophobic uncle. YOU, I hope loadshedding hits you at every turn).

I loved the close friendship of Nate and Jai and the way it quickly turned into a sweet relationship! It felt natural, super sweet, like they’ll have cute moments with each other in the future! They also treat each other like equals and that’s a favourite thing of mine to see in relationships.

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sydneyd05's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was cute but I wish there was a bit more development. I think having maybe a small chapter from Jai's POV would help.

I received an arc from netgalley.

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