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A review by astravars
You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I'm normally not very fond of christmas. I am very fond of this book.
I'll start with my (only?) complaint and the reason this is 4,75 instead of 5 stars: the beginning
I don't think it was written badly and looking back on it now it makes a lot of sense why the book starts out this way. However, I almost dnfed it because I could not stand the main character. He comes off entitled, rich and a proper dickhead.
But that's where we get to what I loved so much about the book. Matthew's character development is so well done and it is exactly about the fact how he's not just this entitled rich kid but someone who cares deeply about the people around him, struggles with an anxiety disorder and feels the need to put up this act to protect himself. I don't want to say too much because that might take away from your reading experience but let me just say the GAD representation in this made me feel so seen! It might be my favourite thing about it.
Of course, this book is a queer romance. There's our main character Matthew who gets sent off to spent the holidays in a small town with his grandparents and Hector who lives with those grandparents of his in exchange for helping them with chores so he can go to college despite not being able to afford a flat in town. The two really don't get along in the beginning because Hector has the same impression of Matthew that I had and Matthew is already annoyed he has to stay with his grandparents in the first place and even more so when he realises he'll have to share a room (and a bunk bed) with Hector.
They get themselves in a decent amount of trouble for fighting the whole time and end up planning the town's charity gala together to make up for it, this year dedicated to helping small business and therefore possibly saving Matthew's grandma's bookshop.
Due to this forced proximity they start opening up to each other and I thought their love story turned out incredibly cute. I was fully invested pretty quickly and that inevitable spike of drama that always happens when everyone is happy but there are still 100 pages left made me very emotional. I was screaming at my phone. (I listened to the audiobook)
I even found out I apparently don't mind gay sex scenes in books (only the straight ones apparently... probably because i'm gay, huh?) or at least not in this one because there wasn't anything too explicit and it was mostly very sweet.
Something else I adored was the conversation about family and friendship and the love and care you give to the people around you. Very fitting for a christmas book. I enjoyed the overall winter theme as well because as little as I might like christmas I love winter.
There's a small found family in here as well, featuring a sapphic couple so that was definitely something I appreciated!
Overall I think this book talks about some very important topics and does so very well. I had such a fun time reading this because of course there are a lot of funny moments included and I'd definitely recommend this if you enjoy queer romcoms!
I'll start with my (only?) complaint and the reason this is 4,75 instead of 5 stars: the beginning
I don't think it was written badly and looking back on it now it makes a lot of sense why the book starts out this way. However, I almost dnfed it because I could not stand the main character. He comes off entitled, rich and a proper dickhead.
But that's where we get to what I loved so much about the book. Matthew's character development is so well done and it is exactly about the fact how he's not just this entitled rich kid but someone who cares deeply about the people around him, struggles with an anxiety disorder and feels the need to put up this act to protect himself. I don't want to say too much because that might take away from your reading experience but let me just say the GAD representation in this made me feel so seen! It might be my favourite thing about it.
Of course, this book is a queer romance. There's our main character Matthew who gets sent off to spent the holidays in a small town with his grandparents and Hector who lives with those grandparents of his in exchange for helping them with chores so he can go to college despite not being able to afford a flat in town. The two really don't get along in the beginning because Hector has the same impression of Matthew that I had and Matthew is already annoyed he has to stay with his grandparents in the first place and even more so when he realises he'll have to share a room (and a bunk bed) with Hector.
They get themselves in a decent amount of trouble for fighting the whole time and end up planning the town's charity gala together to make up for it, this year dedicated to helping small business and therefore possibly saving Matthew's grandma's bookshop.
Due to this forced proximity they start opening up to each other and I thought their love story turned out incredibly cute. I was fully invested pretty quickly and that inevitable spike of drama that always happens when everyone is happy but there are still 100 pages left made me very emotional. I was screaming at my phone. (I listened to the audiobook)
I even found out I apparently don't mind gay sex scenes in books (only the straight ones apparently... probably because i'm gay, huh?) or at least not in this one because there wasn't anything too explicit and it was mostly very sweet.
Something else I adored was the conversation about family and friendship and the love and care you give to the people around you. Very fitting for a christmas book. I enjoyed the overall winter theme as well because as little as I might like christmas I love winter.
There's a small found family in here as well, featuring a sapphic couple so that was definitely something I appreciated!
Overall I think this book talks about some very important topics and does so very well. I had such a fun time reading this because of course there are a lot of funny moments included and I'd definitely recommend this if you enjoy queer romcoms!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders