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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
3.5 ☆ rough start to this one unfortunately - i was SO looking forward to reading this bc i adored the premise but i didn’t end up liking it as much as i’d hoped. every page was a struggle for the entire first half of the book as i couldn’t empathise with or even comprehend the motivations for any of the characters.
i kept being told jasper was attractive and charming but i couldn’t see that at all - he just seemed very self involved and unlikeable. i knew charlie was supposed to come across as anxious but he just seemed like a pushover, and for the life of me i could not understand why anyone cared about the letter writing tradition so deeply. i found it super frustrating watching charlie tear himself apart taking on all this extra work because he didn’t know how to say no, and that alone kept me from picking up the story again for weeks.
all that being said, i did enjoy the latter half of the book, once charlie develops a backbone and jasper develops awareness that he is not the centre of the universe. once their relationship develops we finally get to see some of jasper’s perspective, and this makes him much more likeable. the timeline of the story is well structured and doesn’t feel too jumpy despite it being set over a period of several months. i found the side characters charming, and there’s lots of subtle internet references interspersed throughout the text that did make me chuckle when i picked up on them. and of course this was brilliant trans rep.
i know i’ve written a lot but this book actually felt super difficult to rate, let alone write a review for. i wish we had a few more chapters beyond where the book ends because i still have so so SO many questions. so… many questions…
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
Cheesy title, interesting premise. I thought I would love it, but I ended up not liking it that much. The problem may have been that I was not the target audience.
The MMC was an anxious mess which I could relate to and I also appreciated the trans representation, the struggles Charlie was going through felt real.
However I didn’t understand how or why Charlie was drawn to Jesper, because Jesper was a self-centered, annoying guy imo. I felt no chemistry between them up until the end. Maybe if we would’ve gotten a look into Jesper’s POV or his thoughts to see his internal struggles that would’ve made me understand him or sympathized with him more.
Also there were too many side plots happening for me to get really invested in any of them and that made the situations not that tense/serious. STRIP, getting into the top 5, his struggles with transfering and his struggles with being trans, his relationships with his mom and Delilah, the training arc with Xavier, his new friendship with Luis and Blaze. In the end not every story line had a satisfying ending.
Loved the side characters though, would’ve loved to see more of Xavier, Blaze and Robby!!!
There were also some unrealistic things, like Delilah and Charlie’s friendship was weird. They call each other best friends but hardly ever talk? or hang out? Also Jesper becoming famous and voted as the sexiest poet at 16 with a Rupi Kaur/tumblr ah poetry.
This book had so much potential so I will definitely read future novels the author will publish!
The MMC was an anxious mess which I could relate to and I also appreciated the trans representation, the struggles Charlie was going through felt real.
However I didn’t understand how or why Charlie was drawn to Jesper, because Jesper was a self-centered, annoying guy imo. I felt no chemistry between them up until the end. Maybe if we would’ve gotten a look into Jesper’s POV or his thoughts to see his internal struggles that would’ve made me understand him or sympathized with him more.
Also there were too many side plots happening for me to get really invested in any of them and that made the situations not that tense/serious. STRIP, getting into the top 5, his struggles with transfering and his struggles with being trans, his relationships with his mom and Delilah, the training arc with Xavier, his new friendship with Luis and Blaze. In the end not every story line had a satisfying ending.
Loved the side characters though, would’ve loved to see more of Xavier, Blaze and Robby!!!
There were also some unrealistic things, like Delilah and Charlie’s friendship was weird. They call each other best friends but hardly ever talk? or hang out? Also Jesper becoming famous and voted as the sexiest poet at 16 with a Rupi Kaur/tumblr ah poetry.
This book had so much potential so I will definitely read future novels the author will publish!
The book had some highlights but overall the characters were shallow and stupid. Not naive the way kids their age tend to be. Genuinely stupid and oblivious. The mc kept having these outbursts where he was extremely mean unprovoked and refused to listen to the love interest whatsoever. He also seemed bent on seeing the worst in the guy to the point where it distorted reality. It's fine to have an unreliable narrator but you can't make their obliviousness that obvious or they come off as self absorbed and really fucking annoying. I liked the characters in some moments but they mostly infuriated me. Also the plot doesn't make that much sense. I would be happy to ignore it if the characters made up for it but alas they did not.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Self harm, Transphobia
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved the portrayal of dysphoria, it was cringey in some spots but the good, cute kinda cringy. nice turn-your-brain-off fanfiction-esque read
funny
lighthearted
medium-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