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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
I didn't realize I was going to love this as much as I did! It made me hurt and cry and laugh and feel so many wonderful and terrible things. When I first started this adventure I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. About four chapters in I realized that it was way better than I assumed and after 10 chapters I couldn't put it down. I'll always remember this one and how it made me feel. Also let's please appreciate this beautiful and stunning cover as well.
This was a really compelling story with a bisexual lead character, which I haven't seen much of, so that was really nice. A few of the side characters are pretty fleshed out and the overall coming-of-age and leaving high school bit doesn't feel too downtrodden in the context of this story. There's a realism to Tanner and Sebastian's characters and their struggles that really drew me in as a queer individual, myself. I'll admit, it was a little bit cheesy in places, but it didn't dampen the experience of reading it overall. The end did feel a little tiny bit rushed and I'm not sure I like the sudden changing of perspectives in the last few chapters--it was inconsistent with the rest and while I see the purpose for the storytelling, it was a little jarring. Four stars--would definitely read and tear up all over again.
Wow. I've not cried at a book in a while and this has has me in tears. I did not expect this book to be much more than a fluffy gay romance and while it was lot of that it also really had some important messages and some tough topics.
I have never been so annoyed to read the word 'epilogue' no! Give me another 200 pages please. I really needed the end of the book to have more detail and just some happy cute scenes please!!
Really recommend this to everyone.
I have never been so annoyed to read the word 'epilogue' no! Give me another 200 pages please. I really needed the end of the book to have more detail and just some happy cute scenes please!!
Really recommend this to everyone.
I loved this book! Not only is this a really cute love story, but it also contains some really important messages about religion and sexuality. I'm so glad I decided to pick this one up and I would highly recommend it.
My heart. I devoured this book much faster than I expected to and couldn't help but fall in love with the characters. I adored both Tanner and Sebastian, but one of my favorite things about this was the openness of Tanner's parents and their family dynamic. This book was just so much more than what I expected it to be, and I couldn't be happier with it.
I’ll probably try to write an actual review of this later, but right now I’m just teary eyed with happiness and so emotional. It was just a purely good, heartwarming book and I love it so freaking much.
This was cute, and I love a good Christina Lauren, but I just felt like the characters fell a little bit flat for me. I know Tanner was in an impossible position, but the entire novel was a great big miscommunication trope, where he and Seb literally just needed to sit down and talk about what they were feeling.
What I did appreciate was the nuances for the two, and the discussion it opened up about being queer when your faith is very restrictive. I wanted to have more from Autumn or Mannie; I think this would have felt fuller if our side characters had more of an arc.
What I did appreciate was the nuances for the two, and the discussion it opened up about being queer when your faith is very restrictive. I wanted to have more from Autumn or Mannie; I think this would have felt fuller if our side characters had more of an arc.
Christina Lauren are my favorite romance authors. I think they generally do a GREAT job at writing character driven stories that are both romantic, believable and steamy.
As a YA book, I think this one hits the mark on all of those, as well as being appropriate for teens (but also still sexy) Since I am not the target demographic, it was a little TOO teen angsty for me. But, as a high school teacher, I would probably put this on a free reading shelf for kids to pick up and think it would be perfectly appropriate in a HS library. They like the angsty stuff.
I thought the story about a gay boy in an LDS family was very realistic, but I also appreciated that it wasn't "Mormon bashing." There was real nuance to how LDS families were portrayed - highlighting the importance of family and service, while also addressing how damaging "love the sinner, hate the sin" is to LGBTQ kids. Also, I appreciated how Sebastian's conflict between his sexuality, family and faith was treated - showing how important he felt they were and never mocking him for it.
In fact, now that I think about it, I realize I liked Sebastian as a character better than Tanner. Tanner was just pretty moony most of the time. His parents backstory was much more interesting, and I liked how it paralleled Sebastian and Tanner's story.
Super cute rom-com, and definitely stories we need more of for kids!
As a YA book, I think this one hits the mark on all of those, as well as being appropriate for teens (but also still sexy) Since I am not the target demographic, it was a little TOO teen angsty for me. But, as a high school teacher, I would probably put this on a free reading shelf for kids to pick up and think it would be perfectly appropriate in a HS library. They like the angsty stuff.
I thought the story about a gay boy in an LDS family was very realistic, but I also appreciated that it wasn't "Mormon bashing." There was real nuance to how LDS families were portrayed - highlighting the importance of family and service, while also addressing how damaging "love the sinner, hate the sin" is to LGBTQ kids. Also, I appreciated how Sebastian's conflict between his sexuality, family and faith was treated - showing how important he felt they were and never mocking him for it.
In fact, now that I think about it, I realize I liked Sebastian as a character better than Tanner. Tanner was just pretty moony most of the time. His parents backstory was much more interesting, and I liked how it paralleled Sebastian and Tanner's story.
Super cute rom-com, and definitely stories we need more of for kids!
