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A review by rebelbooks101
The Blueprint by S.E. Harmon
lighthearted
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
3.5
This book follows Kelly and Blue who have been best friends since childhood. At the start of the story, Kelly rejects a proposal from his boyfriend because he’s been hopelessly in love with his straight best friend for forever. While things seem hopeless for him, things take a turn when Blue starts to show an interest in him.
I would say overall I liked this book but it wasn’t my favourite book ever or anything. I’ve read a lot of books like this before so in ways I’d just felt like I’d read this book already.
I’m such a sucker for friends to lovers so it was easy to win me over in that regard. My main gripe with the trope is a lot of times because the characters already know each other, authors forget to show and convince the reader that these two characters were friends. I think I was definitely convinced they were friends, however their romantic development from friends into lovers was where this book lost me.
When it came to their emotional relationship development, I think that came much later in the story than I would’ve liked and even then what we got was little. A lot of it was rooted in jealousy of not wanting the other person to sleep with someone else and while I think jealousy can definitely show a character is interested in someone, it never really went past that.
“So this is another jealousy thing.”
“No. Well, yes. But no.”
“That’s clear as mud.”
I feel like the characters needed more of a reason to want to be together at the end of the book rather than just not wanting the person with somebody else. Because of that, the characters acted out of pure selfish need, rather than actually showing that they loved each other. This book seemed to focus more on the fact that these characters wanted to sleep together rather than developing them romantically.
I’m all for stories where characters are figuring out their sexuality and all, but the way Blue went about all of it rubbed me the wrong way. It’s one thing to want to experiment, but it’s a whole other thing to continuously sleep with your best friend who you’re fully aware is in love with you when you want to remain just friends. While you know they’ll end up together in the end, I didn’t like the intentional way Blue was hurting Kelly because he wanted to have sex with him.
Overall, I would say I liked this book. While I definitely had issues with it, I would still consider it an enjoyable read. I definitely had higher expectations at the beginning of the book that were not met but maybe that’s just because this book was a little smuttier than I would’ve liked it.
I would say overall I liked this book but it wasn’t my favourite book ever or anything. I’ve read a lot of books like this before so in ways I’d just felt like I’d read this book already.
I’m such a sucker for friends to lovers so it was easy to win me over in that regard. My main gripe with the trope is a lot of times because the characters already know each other, authors forget to show and convince the reader that these two characters were friends. I think I was definitely convinced they were friends, however their romantic development from friends into lovers was where this book lost me.
When it came to their emotional relationship development, I think that came much later in the story than I would’ve liked and even then what we got was little. A lot of it was rooted in jealousy of not wanting the other person to sleep with someone else and while I think jealousy can definitely show a character is interested in someone, it never really went past that.
“So this is another jealousy thing.”
“No. Well, yes. But no.”
“That’s clear as mud.”
I feel like the characters needed more of a reason to want to be together at the end of the book rather than just not wanting the person with somebody else. Because of that, the characters acted out of pure selfish need, rather than actually showing that they loved each other. This book seemed to focus more on the fact that these characters wanted to sleep together rather than developing them romantically.
I’m all for stories where characters are figuring out their sexuality and all, but the way Blue went about all of it rubbed me the wrong way. It’s one thing to want to experiment, but it’s a whole other thing to continuously sleep with your best friend who you’re fully aware is in love with you when you want to remain just friends. While you know they’ll end up together in the end, I didn’t like the intentional way Blue was hurting Kelly because he wanted to have sex with him.
Overall, I would say I liked this book. While I definitely had issues with it, I would still consider it an enjoyable read. I definitely had higher expectations at the beginning of the book that were not met but maybe that’s just because this book was a little smuttier than I would’ve liked it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia