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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
I'm so disappointed.
I was super excited to pick this book up. There's some great rep and a super interesting sounding plot, too. And it has fake dating! I'd just read my first fake dating book a little bit before and though it was sort of disappointing, I was excited to read another one!
And I'd just like to say that there are some really good things about this book. I mean, the representation first of all, especially of neopronouns, was amazing! Also, I loved Devin, e are just so awesome and nice.
But the rest of it....
Honestly, a lot of the other reviews here say my thoughts exactly, but I will try to write my own.
First of all, the Diary itself. It didn't make sense.
From what I gathered, every single one of these stories was set in Miami. Given that Noah was actually going to places to try to get plot for these stories (eg going to an ice cream store and 'forgetting' his wallet so that someone goes and brings it to him), all these stories were about people who are trans male and m/m romances? And Noah didn't get one person asking to submit a story to him that entire time? How could the readers, who he had thousands of and from all over the US and possibly the world, believe that there are only people submitting stories from Miami and and only m/m trans male romances?
Also, yeah, Noah was a jerk.
So, he definitely gets some character development over the book, but it's really not much and he's still really immature at the end. There are so many times when people do a lot of things for him and he just groans, or when something bad happens to someone else and he just complains about himself.
Especially like him getting a job. He hated having to work at all for any amount of time and just seems to expect that people will...give him money? For free? Without him working or anything?
Okay there's a lot of reviews out there that explain other things but these were the things that really stood out to me so those were the things I wanted to point out.
I was super excited to pick this book up. There's some great rep and a super interesting sounding plot, too. And it has fake dating! I'd just read my first fake dating book a little bit before and though it was sort of disappointing, I was excited to read another one!
And I'd just like to say that there are some really good things about this book. I mean, the representation first of all, especially of neopronouns, was amazing! Also, I loved Devin, e are just so awesome and nice.
But the rest of it....
Honestly, a lot of the other reviews here say my thoughts exactly, but I will try to write my own.
First of all, the Diary itself. It didn't make sense.
From what I gathered, every single one of these stories was set in Miami. Given that Noah was actually going to places to try to get plot for these stories (eg going to an ice cream store and 'forgetting' his wallet so that someone goes and brings it to him), all these stories were about people who are trans male and m/m romances? And Noah didn't get one person asking to submit a story to him that entire time? How could the readers, who he had thousands of and from all over the US and possibly the world, believe that there are only people submitting stories from Miami and and only m/m trans male romances?
Also, yeah, Noah was a jerk.
So, he definitely gets some character development over the book, but it's really not much and he's still really immature at the end. There are so many times when people do a lot of things for him and he just groans, or when something bad happens to someone else and he just complains about himself.
Especially like him getting a job. He hated having to work at all for any amount of time and just seems to expect that people will...give him money? For free? Without him working or anything?
Okay there's a lot of reviews out there that explain other things but these were the things that really stood out to me so those were the things I wanted to point out.
Süße queere Geschichte mit tollen Charakteren - es hätte aber noch mehr aus der Story rausgeholt werden können bezüglich Spannung und Aufbau der Geschichte. Trotzdem war es eine sehr schöne Geschichte für Zwischendurch! Fand außerdem richtig gut wie aufgezeigt wurde, mit welchen Problemen Personen, die trans sind, konfrontiert sind, vor allem auch regelmäßig im Alltag. Das kam auch nicht rüber wie in einem Schbuch, sondern wurde gut in die Geschichte eingebunden - genauso wie der Aspekt, dass der Hauptcharakter transracial ist :) Unddd: Die Lovestory war natürlich auch super (& etwas besondereres und zum Glück nicht ganz so klassisch.) Also kanns empfehlen <3
Dnf at 16%. Noah is so entitled and insufferable its unreal.
I was one of the people who've been looking forward to this book for a long time. I preordered it before it came out, because I was super excited about the premise, and a feel good book with trans and nonbinary representation written by an author with ADHD. At first, it was HUGELY disappointing, and I came very close to DNFing, but I'm glad I stuck around because the ending really did turn things around quite a bit for me.
The good:
- Devin. just. Devin. agree with everyone else who says e should have been the MC. I LOVED seeing a character with neopronouns, and also the ace representation made me feel very seen and e was highkey my favorite character
- like I said, the ending really turned it around for me. I want to keep this spoiler free, but I will say, I came into it with expectations that were turned around, and it was bad at first, but then I realized what it was trying to accomplish and I liked it a lot more. For some reason I had it in my head that it was definitely going to work out a certain way, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did not. so that was good
- the internet drama and tumblr culture was absolutely SPOT ON it was hilarious and too real. i'm so glad I don't have a popular blog
- I have ADHD as does the author, and normally I struggle significantly to read. This book flowed like silk, it was so nice and easy to read, and extremely accessible to me which was awesome! it's nice to read a book that's actually fun and enjoyable to read and not something that you have to slog through. the writing style was great and accessible and funny!
The bad:
- I have emetophobia and the vomit scene triggered me badly enough that I almost DNFed right there bc I wasn't sure if it would be worth it after that. again, I am glad I pushed through, but dang that was needlessly graphic and out of absolutely NOWHERE. For reference, I am usually totally fine with vomit scenes in books for the most part, but this one really got to me. I would put a hard warning out to anyone else triggered by it even if you think it'll be fine. I knew there was a vomit scene going in, had prepared myself for it, and it was hands down the most triggering book scene I have EVER read so please be careful! it was totally unnecessary too, at least with how graphic and sudden it was. that just infuriates me lol i know that you can't cater to everyone's triggers but I'd wager that no one wants to read that, regardless of whether you have emet or not.
- echoing what many others have said, I did not like Noah. He annoyed me a lot and seemed very entitled and also really rich which is just unrelatable to me (the credit card thing was like.... bruh)
- while i loved the mental illness/anxiety rep with Devin's character, it felt INCREDIBLY unrealistic to me that Noah would have absolutely no experience with mental illness or deal with it at all himself? maybe this is just an overgeneralization, but I've worked with queer teens for several years, and I do not know a single trans young person who does not have some kind of mental illness/anxiety/depression. it felt really weird and not realistic to me that he wouldn't and that bothered me for some reason idk
- some of it was just TOO cheesy to me, but that's entirely a personal preference thing
Overall, I'd give it a solid three stars, mayyybe four (I originally gave it four but after sitting with it for a bit, I decided to drop it down to three). It's also a debut, so I'll give it a bit of grace, and also my personal tastes effect it a lot (and personal triggers)
Anyway stop using vomit for shock/gross out factor 2k21 - signed, a very tired emetophobe
The good:
- Devin. just. Devin. agree with everyone else who says e should have been the MC. I LOVED seeing a character with neopronouns, and also the ace representation made me feel very seen and e was highkey my favorite character
- like I said, the ending really turned it around for me. I want to keep this spoiler free, but I will say, I came into it with expectations that were turned around, and it was bad at first, but then I realized what it was trying to accomplish and I liked it a lot more. For some reason I had it in my head that it was definitely going to work out a certain way, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did not. so that was good
- the internet drama and tumblr culture was absolutely SPOT ON it was hilarious and too real. i'm so glad I don't have a popular blog
- I have ADHD as does the author, and normally I struggle significantly to read. This book flowed like silk, it was so nice and easy to read, and extremely accessible to me which was awesome! it's nice to read a book that's actually fun and enjoyable to read and not something that you have to slog through. the writing style was great and accessible and funny!
The bad:
- I have emetophobia and the vomit scene triggered me badly enough that I almost DNFed right there bc I wasn't sure if it would be worth it after that. again, I am glad I pushed through, but dang that was needlessly graphic and out of absolutely NOWHERE. For reference, I am usually totally fine with vomit scenes in books for the most part, but this one really got to me. I would put a hard warning out to anyone else triggered by it even if you think it'll be fine. I knew there was a vomit scene going in, had prepared myself for it, and it was hands down the most triggering book scene I have EVER read so please be careful! it was totally unnecessary too, at least with how graphic and sudden it was. that just infuriates me lol i know that you can't cater to everyone's triggers but I'd wager that no one wants to read that, regardless of whether you have emet or not.
- echoing what many others have said, I did not like Noah. He annoyed me a lot and seemed very entitled and also really rich which is just unrelatable to me (the credit card thing was like.... bruh)
- while i loved the mental illness/anxiety rep with Devin's character, it felt INCREDIBLY unrealistic to me that Noah would have absolutely no experience with mental illness or deal with it at all himself? maybe this is just an overgeneralization, but I've worked with queer teens for several years, and I do not know a single trans young person who does not have some kind of mental illness/anxiety/depression. it felt really weird and not realistic to me that he wouldn't and that bothered me for some reason idk
- some of it was just TOO cheesy to me, but that's entirely a personal preference thing
Overall, I'd give it a solid three stars, mayyybe four (I originally gave it four but after sitting with it for a bit, I decided to drop it down to three). It's also a debut, so I'll give it a bit of grace, and also my personal tastes effect it a lot (and personal triggers)
Anyway stop using vomit for shock/gross out factor 2k21 - signed, a very tired emetophobe
Is it harsh of me to rate a YA contemporary romance meant for teenagers 1 star as a 20 year old?? Maybe, but I can't give it more.
YA AUTHORS, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE WRITING ABOUT TEENAGERS DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO MAKE THEM THIS FRUSTRATING.
Noah was honestly unbearable and he doesn't grow from his mistakes or bad attitude in any significant way. Don't get me wrong, the author tries to convince you of this but I don't agree.
He fell in love very quickly and hated other people just as quickly for no particular reason. I read YA often and it's fine if main characters are a bit immature because they're literal teenagers but not to this extent. I'm sure there are teens like this but it honestly felt like an insult to young people, that this is how the author views them.
It felt like e was trying to say something with Noah's friendship with Becca, but it just didn't work. Half of the time you didn't even know which one of them was in the wrong, probably because they both were.
And then my main issue: Drew. Fucking Drew.
If this book wanted to keep it a surprise that Drew is a manipulative asshole, that's really not okay in my opinion. Nowhere in the synopsis or the book pitch does it mention that the cutesy little relationship on the cover isn't actually a good one. Which *sigh* I guess was the point. But it's not something I can appreciate.
The synopsis doesn't set you up for the right expectations. You will go into this book thinking it'll be a cute fake dating story but you end up with having read about a toxic relationship for the majority of the time. That's not what I was looking for and I don't think that is what most people are looking for either.
I'm not hiding this review for spoilers because I think people should know what this book is actually about. Sure, it's not 100% toxic scenes from page 1 to the end, but it's literally most of the book.
The writing wasn't the best either. The author would make the main character hate someone for no reason, only to later reveal that they've been a good/bad person all along and this is why the main character can grow from this. It really read like a debut and like it needed an extra year for the author to figure out what e was actually trying to say with this book.
The whole Meet Cute Diary also didn't make any sense?? If Noah was making up stories about trans meet cutes, why would he make them all take place in the same town? How did this blog get so popular before someone pointed that out?
Also the fake dating?? I'm tired of authors shoving that trope in their books when they can't commit. Sure, the fake dating in this case was with a person we should not like but that should really not be a part of this book's pitch.
The only thing I can appreciate is that this is the first book I've read that has included neopronouns and the (albeit little) discussion around that. And it's always good to see queer/poc representation in young adult literature.
Overall, this was a trainwreck. The reading experience is extremely uncomfortable because of the main character being blind to the manipulation of Drew and this book is in desperate need of a new synopsis.
YA AUTHORS, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE WRITING ABOUT TEENAGERS DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO MAKE THEM THIS FRUSTRATING.
Noah was honestly unbearable and he doesn't grow from his mistakes or bad attitude in any significant way. Don't get me wrong, the author tries to convince you of this but I don't agree.
He fell in love very quickly and hated other people just as quickly for no particular reason. I read YA often and it's fine if main characters are a bit immature because they're literal teenagers but not to this extent. I'm sure there are teens like this but it honestly felt like an insult to young people, that this is how the author views them.
It felt like e was trying to say something with Noah's friendship with Becca, but it just didn't work. Half of the time you didn't even know which one of them was in the wrong, probably because they both were.
And then my main issue: Drew. Fucking Drew.
If this book wanted to keep it a surprise that Drew is a manipulative asshole, that's really not okay in my opinion. Nowhere in the synopsis or the book pitch does it mention that the cutesy little relationship on the cover isn't actually a good one. Which *sigh* I guess was the point. But it's not something I can appreciate.
The synopsis doesn't set you up for the right expectations. You will go into this book thinking it'll be a cute fake dating story but you end up with having read about a toxic relationship for the majority of the time. That's not what I was looking for and I don't think that is what most people are looking for either.
I'm not hiding this review for spoilers because I think people should know what this book is actually about. Sure, it's not 100% toxic scenes from page 1 to the end, but it's literally most of the book.
The writing wasn't the best either. The author would make the main character hate someone for no reason, only to later reveal that they've been a good/bad person all along and this is why the main character can grow from this. It really read like a debut and like it needed an extra year for the author to figure out what e was actually trying to say with this book.
The whole Meet Cute Diary also didn't make any sense?? If Noah was making up stories about trans meet cutes, why would he make them all take place in the same town? How did this blog get so popular before someone pointed that out?
Also the fake dating?? I'm tired of authors shoving that trope in their books when they can't commit. Sure, the fake dating in this case was with a person we should not like but that should really not be a part of this book's pitch.
The only thing I can appreciate is that this is the first book I've read that has included neopronouns and the (albeit little) discussion around that. And it's always good to see queer/poc representation in young adult literature.
Overall, this was a trainwreck. The reading experience is extremely uncomfortable because of the main character being blind to the manipulation of Drew and this book is in desperate need of a new synopsis.
This book is getting a very generous 3 stars. As I’m getting older, it’s becoming more evident that I’m aging out of YA literature. Parts of this felt like some of the bad fanfics that I read back in middle school
The idea of this book is really cute and unique, the rest of it is unrealistic (which is okay), and the main character is INSUFFERABLE.
The idea of this book is really cute and unique, the rest of it is unrealistic (which is okay), and the main character is INSUFFERABLE.
Rating: 3.5
Format: Audiobook
Themes / Representation:
Blog
Meet Cutes
Fake Dating
Neo Pronoun user (Love Interest)
Trans Male MC
Summer Camp
The first thing you need to know about this book is that Noah, our main character, is incredibly unlike-able. If you’re not a fan of unlikeable characters, give this one a miss. This won’t be for you.
The entire story revolves around Noah, a young trans writer who started a blog, sharing stories about trans people having ‘meet cute’s’. Once it’s gained quite a following, it’s discovered that the stories are fake and Noah faces the consequences of his own actions.
Noah is sixteen, and for lack of a better term, a ‘dumb teenager’. He’s selfish, doesn’t care about his friends, lazy and struggling to navigate life. This story revolves mainly around Noah growing as a person and learning life lessons that most of us learnt around the same age.
As someone who’s quite older than a teenager now, I sighed reading this. But also, as someone who was a teenager at some point; I understood exactly what it’s like being a teen and navigating the world on your own for the first time.
After seeing the author blurb this book and mentioned in the acknowledgements, I wasn’t surprised to see Becky Albertalli was an inspiration for this novel. Albertalli’s books were ones I loved as a teen, but having read one recently - not something I connect to as much anymore. I think the characters are quite similar (namely Leah in Leah on the Offbeat) to in this book so I would gladly place this book in the hands of teens who also love that author.
Read for the Trans Rights Readathon 2024
Format: Audiobook
Themes / Representation:
Blog
Meet Cutes
Fake Dating
Neo Pronoun user (Love Interest)
Trans Male MC
Summer Camp
The first thing you need to know about this book is that Noah, our main character, is incredibly unlike-able. If you’re not a fan of unlikeable characters, give this one a miss. This won’t be for you.
The entire story revolves around Noah, a young trans writer who started a blog, sharing stories about trans people having ‘meet cute’s’. Once it’s gained quite a following, it’s discovered that the stories are fake and Noah faces the consequences of his own actions.
Noah is sixteen, and for lack of a better term, a ‘dumb teenager’. He’s selfish, doesn’t care about his friends, lazy and struggling to navigate life. This story revolves mainly around Noah growing as a person and learning life lessons that most of us learnt around the same age.
As someone who’s quite older than a teenager now, I sighed reading this. But also, as someone who was a teenager at some point; I understood exactly what it’s like being a teen and navigating the world on your own for the first time.
After seeing the author blurb this book and mentioned in the acknowledgements, I wasn’t surprised to see Becky Albertalli was an inspiration for this novel. Albertalli’s books were ones I loved as a teen, but having read one recently - not something I connect to as much anymore. I think the characters are quite similar (namely Leah in Leah on the Offbeat) to in this book so I would gladly place this book in the hands of teens who also love that author.
Read for the Trans Rights Readathon 2024
The main character was just soooo insufferable. He just kept saying stuff like “he’s totally going to fall in love with me” and it rlly pmo
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This was a cute, sweet read. I loved the idea of the Meet Cute Diary blog and how devoted Noah was to the queer and trans community through the blog. I also loved the organization of the romance through Noah’s steps for falling in love and building a relationship. It all made such a fun concept. However, I struggled a bit with Noah. He felt very naive yet headstrong. He eventually had good character development learning to listen more to his friend and prioritize relationships other than romantic, but in the meantime I kind of just wanted to shake him. I didn’t like his relationship with Drew either, and wish Noah had seen the red flags sooner since everyone else did. In contrast, I really did like Becca, Brian, and especially Devin. Becca was the best friend Noah could have asked for, and Brian was so incredibly supportive. Devin was so sweet and I loved em and Noah together, as friends and as more. As for the ending, I didn’t love it, as it felt a bit too perfect and undermined Noah’s development slightly. But overall this was a cute read.
I had high hopes for this but was slightly disappointed with the immaturity of the main character. It was a cute story I just know it could have been more.