A review by just_one_more_paige
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

 
Apparently, I am on a roll with choosing books that have some really high quality later-in-life bisexual realizations rep. (See my Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail review.) And I am not mad about it. But also, I actually picked up this book because between the one previous Sebastian romance I've read being great (The Queer Principles of Kitt Webb) and the fact that this one was blurbed a couple times as "for Newsies lovers" (which I *very very much* am), it seemed like a general winner. Let me spend this review trying to describe for you all the ways that that is *so* accurate. 
 
Nick Russo grew up in a rough Brooklyn neighborhood and worked hard to land himself a city reporter position with a big name newspaper. Andy Fleming is newspaper royalty, his late mother having won awards for her journalism, and his father is expecting him to take over running the newspaper he brought up from nothing. But Andy is a little bit lost and a whole lot of scattered, and struggles enough taking care of himself, much less an entire business. Despite Andy's near constant bumbling, and Nick's now-innate self-protective habit of never letting anyone close (being a gay man in the 1950s is unsafe in so many ways), they find themselves growing close in an unlikely friendship. When a personal-life situation ends with Nick offering Andy a place to stay for awhile, those feelings of friendship grow into something more, on both sides. Something beautiful and sweet, but also really fragile under the circumstances and climate. Can Nick and Andy take these feelings that they share in secret and let them exist, for real, in a shared future? 
 
Wow. I mean, I am into romance and queer romance and, obviously, Newsies, but I was still not expecting this book to go as hard as it did. I was invested. I *am* invested. I literally cannot stop thinking about these characters. I had some hesitation because, knowing this was a particularly hostile time for queer people in the US (not that current lawmakers aren't trying to take us back there or anything), but like, I feel like I need to be careful with that type of content, for my own mental health. And I generally dislike this time period anyways (like I might be the only person I know who thought Mad Men was terrible). But I am so, so glad that I went for it anyways, because I *loved* this romance. The newspaper coworker setting was a really cute starting place for this relationship. It's a realistic place for people to meet and, with the "travel" required for journalism, it gave space for a variety of locational interactions in a natural way. I thought the way Sebastian handled the situation that ended with Nick and Andy as roommates was also done really smoothly. It could have easily been forced or awkward, as far as plot development, but it wasn't at all. So good. 
 
OMG the slow burn build and tension in the relationship growth from friends to…more than friends...is exquisite. Oh my heart, and OH the emotional investment. The slow awakening Andy has, facilitated by how much easier it is to just focus on liking girls and ignoring the other part of a more fluid sexuality reality, is so perfectly developed and relatable (for me). I thought that Nick and Andy's "opposites attract" vibes were spot on too. Nick's tough exterior and sweet, protective inside (any other Newsies lovers out there read this and picture Spot Conlon, or just me?) combined fantastically with Andy's muddled exterior and internal strength (at least when it came to the people/things he cared about). Honestly, there were times where my heart almost couldn't stand the "fondness" that kept being highlighted between them. The contradictions of safety and vulnerability in relationships are perfectly portrayed here - clumsy but easy, rough but tender, exposed but safe - and the bone deep certainty they develop and hold on to in each other is everything.  
 
I want to take a moment to recognize the wonderful historical fiction depiction of queer life Sebastian built here. (Wonderful regarding her portrayal and writing, not wonderful as in "the reality was a good one.") It's an important reminder that queer people have always been here, always had to face the impossible decisions to be who they are/love who they love and safety/security. And it's also a gorgeous reminder that there’s also always been community and connection and (even if not widespread) recognition and acceptance and love and hope too. The ending does a perfect job bringing those two realities together, and allowing a circumstantial HEA for Nick and Andy, who deserve all that and more. Not everything is perfect and rosy (and there's a reminder in there that money can purchase certain levels of safety and not everyone has access to that), but the power of promise and anticipation for the potential of the future is strong. And that means something big. 
 
Look, I am devastatingly invested in this adorably hapless couple. Yes, historically the time period required haplessness (and carefully curated paranoia) for real safety reasons that are terrible. But this small fictional literary bubble burst my damn heart and I cannot. Came for the Newsies comparisons, stayed for soul-scorching friends to lovers romance. My god I could have read about these characters in a book three times this long. 
 
 
 “Even if he never does anything about it, he's still queer.” 
 
“The look is - it isn't anything Andy's ever seen before. It's almost a smile, if smiles were made of molten metal and bad intentions.” 
 
“Families might usually be bonded by blood, but maybe sometimes they're bonded by shared secrets, by a delicate mixture of caution and faith, by the conviction that hiding together is better in every way than hiding alone.” 
 
“Fear of exposure has been a constant in his life; he doesn't know how to stop being afraid any more than he knows how to stop his heart from beating. Sometimes he feels like the fear is crowding out everything else, though. He wants the good things in his life to take up the space they deserve, but he doesn't know how to go about doing that, even if it’s possible.” 
 
“Maybe the trick is to put fear in its place so it doesn't take over. [...] He can believe that the future they have is worth more than his fear, and he can do what it takes to make that future as safe and happy as possible.” 
 
 
 
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