Scan barcode
aexileigh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Dysphoria, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Sexual content, and Outing
mkwreads's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Vomit
lyd4ever's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
3.0
Overall I enjoyed this book. However, it didn’t really give “enemies to lovers”. It felt more like privileged to pitied, and I’m sorry but I didn’t really like Neil. He and his family are extremely classist and suddenly at the end of the book that’s not forgotten about because all along they had trauma?? No.
But I like Wyatt, Wyatt is awesome.
Also, I notice how Deaver purposefully made Neil fat. I am glad for the representation but it’s hardly ever mentioned and is always sort of subtle. Which I think doesn’t have to be a positive or negative thing, but a lot of fans seem to have interpreted Neil to be slim in fan art. So this isn’t really a comment on the book but the readers. Neil is a fat trans man, stop drawing tall skinny white boys with perfect features.
But I like Wyatt, Wyatt is awesome.
Also, I notice how Deaver purposefully made Neil fat. I am glad for the representation but it’s hardly ever mentioned and is always sort of subtle. Which I think doesn’t have to be a positive or negative thing, but a lot of fans seem to have interpreted Neil to be slim in fan art. So this isn’t really a comment on the book but the readers. Neil is a fat trans man, stop drawing tall skinny white boys with perfect features.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Dysphoria, and Transphobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Cursing
Minor: Deadnaming
bywayof's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Genuinely the love story I didn't know I needed. As a queer person with a complicated relationship with love, seeing a story that reflected what I believed love to be in a lighthearted, funny, overall hopeful tone was so refreshing. Queer kids deserve love stories and this is one I'm glad to have read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Dysphoria, Deadnaming, and Sexual content
the_true_monroe's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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? Yes
5.0
The only thing that made me question 4 or 5 stars was that the ending was abrupt to me since I yearned to just continue following the characters/ relationships. Then again, the book had to end somewhere! I loved it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Transphobia
dododenise's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The first two thirds were perfection. Beautiful development and beautiful use of the fake-dating trope.
Then came the third act drama, and I wish that was done differently. I know this book is following all the typical tropes and yet I hoped for a different ending. I hate it every time a romance book does this and this one was no different. I feel like a different ending would have felt nicer and healthier. Especially with Neil’s mom I wish it was handled differently. She is still not painted as perfect of course, but the road to forgiveness was entered too quickly. But also Neil and Wyatt’s relationship could have been given more time to deal with their issues and the way that Neil struggles with his emotions and his relationships. I was waiting for more shared conversations about this in particular.
In the end, I still flew through the pages. It was so easy and light to read that I lost track of time and kept going as long as I could.
And of course, I love the trans rep. Mason does it beautifully and it makes me want to read everything they write. Add to that their writing style that is perfect for me, and you get me gushing all over their books. I saw a lot of myself in Wyatt, both in their experience with their gender and their personality, so they were wonderful to watch and to see them grow.
Then came the third act drama, and I wish that was done differently. I know this book is following all the typical tropes and yet I hoped for a different ending. I hate it every time a romance book does this and this one was no different. I feel like a different ending would have felt nicer and healthier. Especially with Neil’s mom I wish it was handled differently. She is still not painted as perfect of course, but the road to forgiveness was entered too quickly. But also Neil and Wyatt’s relationship could have been given more time to deal with their issues and the way that Neil struggles with his emotions and his relationships. I was waiting for more shared conversations about this in particular.
In the end, I still flew through the pages. It was so easy and light to read that I lost track of time and kept going as long as I could.
And of course, I love the trans rep. Mason does it beautifully and it makes me want to read everything they write. Add to that their writing style that is perfect for me, and you get me gushing all over their books. I saw a lot of myself in Wyatt, both in their experience with their gender and their personality, so they were wonderful to watch and to see them grow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Deadnaming, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Misogyny, Outing, and Sexual content
jasperdotpdf's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria
Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, and Transphobia
Minor: Homophobia
atmreads's review
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
And here we go again, I’m in love with love and questioning my gender. I don’t know where to start, I don’t know what feels more important. Whether Neil and Wyatt’s love for each other is what I want to talk about or Wyatt’s short scene about their gender that sent me spiraling (in the best way).
I guess I’ll start with the relationship. Neil is such a little shit for almost the entire book and I know that’s a turn off for some people, but I kinda liked it. He was stupid and impulsive and annoying and so head over fucking heels for Wyatt and it made me so happy. And it made me angry when he wouldn’t admit how much he loved them and when he tried to convince himself out of these feelings. But then I was smiling quietly to myself as I listened to the last hour of the audiobook, as I read about their reconciliation. Knowing they got their happily ever after and their first dance made me so. damn. happy. Seeing Neil not only realize he /can/ love, but also realize that he’s /allowed/ to love. Seeing Wyatt tell Neil that they love him, that it was always real to them. It made me realize how much I love love. And I think a huge part of my love for this book is how batshit and messy and trope-y it is. I’d absolutely hate this if it was cishet, I’d write it off as a cash grab because it’d be like every other Hallmark romcom of a book. But it being queer, and t4t made it hit different. It made it feel genuine, like a love letter to queer kids who think they don’t get to love. I mean the dedication is literally “For every trans person who ever believed they were too complicated for a love story.” THAT HIT ME SO HARD. I don’t use the word trans for myself, but that didn’t make it any less meaningful. That being the first thing I heard when I started the book made me know this book was for me. It was for people like me. Queer people, queer *kids* deserve these stories. They deserve the messy crazy love stories that we’re told we don’t get to have. This book managed to make me realize how much I actually like romance books, queer romances that is. Reading stories like this is a reclamation of love, it’s telling little me that I do find love, that even if I like girls instead of boys I can love and I /get/ to love. It’s telling little me that eventually, I get to see people like me have these messy love stories, people like me can be batshit and wild in stories. Reading stories like this is telling little me that even if right now I think I want to be every pretty girl without being her and without being a girl, eventually I sorta figure it out, eventually I feel seen. Eventually, we get to lay in bed at night and smile as we read about the joy of love, the kind of love we want.
And then Wyatt’s gender thing in the middle of the book. I listened to them explain it, the way they said they sometimes feel like wearing makeup and skirts and wanting a soft body. But sometimes they like their scruffiness and masculinity. And sometimes they felt like everything but neither and it just didn’t fit into boy or girl. The way they said they liked the idea of just simply not fitting into the gender binary. That resonated with me. THAT finally felt like my gender, this thing I’ve grappled with for ages and never understood if I was cis or trans or neither. I finally felt like I knew how to explain it when I heard someone else (albeit fictional) explain it. Seeing that kind of representation in media felt good. Hearing Wyatt ask for Neil to use different pronouns the same way I asked friends to use different pronouns for me felt so good. It made me feel seen.
I read this book in a day, I pretty much listened to the audiobook nonstop. I fell so madly in love with it, the way I felt seen, the way I felt like love was so perfectly portrayed. Just please go read this book and thank you Mason Deaver for writing it
I guess I’ll start with the relationship. Neil is such a little shit for almost the entire book and I know that’s a turn off for some people, but I kinda liked it. He was stupid and impulsive and annoying and so head over fucking heels for Wyatt and it made me so happy. And it made me angry when he wouldn’t admit how much he loved them and when he tried to convince himself out of these feelings. But then I was smiling quietly to myself as I listened to the last hour of the audiobook, as I read about their reconciliation. Knowing they got their happily ever after and their first dance made me so. damn. happy. Seeing Neil not only realize he /can/ love, but also realize that he’s /allowed/ to love. Seeing Wyatt tell Neil that they love him, that it was always real to them. It made me realize how much I love love. And I think a huge part of my love for this book is how batshit and messy and trope-y it is. I’d absolutely hate this if it was cishet, I’d write it off as a cash grab because it’d be like every other Hallmark romcom of a book. But it being queer, and t4t made it hit different. It made it feel genuine, like a love letter to queer kids who think they don’t get to love. I mean the dedication is literally “For every trans person who ever believed they were too complicated for a love story.” THAT HIT ME SO HARD. I don’t use the word trans for myself, but that didn’t make it any less meaningful. That being the first thing I heard when I started the book made me know this book was for me. It was for people like me. Queer people, queer *kids* deserve these stories. They deserve the messy crazy love stories that we’re told we don’t get to have. This book managed to make me realize how much I actually like romance books, queer romances that is. Reading stories like this is a reclamation of love, it’s telling little me that I do find love, that even if I like girls instead of boys I can love and I /get/ to love. It’s telling little me that eventually, I get to see people like me have these messy love stories, people like me can be batshit and wild in stories. Reading stories like this is telling little me that even if right now I think I want to be every pretty girl without being her and without being a girl, eventually I sorta figure it out, eventually I feel seen. Eventually, we get to lay in bed at night and smile as we read about the joy of love, the kind of love we want.
And then Wyatt’s gender thing in the middle of the book. I listened to them explain it, the way they said they sometimes feel like wearing makeup and skirts and wanting a soft body. But sometimes they like their scruffiness and masculinity. And sometimes they felt like everything but neither and it just didn’t fit into boy or girl. The way they said they liked the idea of just simply not fitting into the gender binary. That resonated with me. THAT finally felt like my gender, this thing I’ve grappled with for ages and never understood if I was cis or trans or neither. I finally felt like I knew how to explain it when I heard someone else (albeit fictional) explain it. Seeing that kind of representation in media felt good. Hearing Wyatt ask for Neil to use different pronouns the same way I asked friends to use different pronouns for me felt so good. It made me feel seen.
I read this book in a day, I pretty much listened to the audiobook nonstop. I fell so madly in love with it, the way I felt seen, the way I felt like love was so perfectly portrayed. Just please go read this book and thank you Mason Deaver for writing it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Classism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexism, Dysphoria, and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Fatphobia
ivan_levitt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming
Moderate: Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Transphobia
imstephtacular's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Cursing, and Transphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Vomit, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy