gdesousa 's review for:

And They Were Roommates by Page Powars
3.75
emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Thank you to Page Powars, Macmillan, and Netgalley for the copy of this book! 

And They Were Roommates by Page Powars is a queer coming of age book set in a very exclusive boarding school in upstate New York. The main character, Charlie, is dealing with internal and external pressures that set him apart from his peers. Not only is he the Excellence Scholar for his year and needs to maintain a top five class rank to keep his scholarship, he is trying to keep his trans identity a secret from everyone for fear of expulsion from such an institution and because he desperately wants to be perceived by others as the boy he is. To make matters worse, he is having trouble adjusting to the rigor and intense nature of school, and the boy who broke his heart at camp pre-transition is his current roommate, who doesn’t recognize him. Filled with hijinks surrounding a love letter writing and delivery scheme run by a secret society in exchange for a single room, Charlie explores who he is as a person and how to become more comfortable with himself. Furthermore, the book is filled with other very wacky and diverse supporting characters that make Charlie’s first semester at Valentine Academy for Boys even more memorable. 

If you can’t tell, I enjoyed this book. The writing is phenomenal, and I love how all the characters were self-centered, imperfect, and annoying, albeit to differing degrees, because that is how actual teenagers are. My one issue is that it was assumed that a large part of why Charlie wanted a single room is because he wants to keep his being trans a secret from the school and the other students, for fear of being judged or treated differently. This makes complete sense. However, Charlie is also distraught that he is going to be kicked out of the academy if they find out that he is trans, which was simply stated as a fact. It is assumed that describing the academy as ‘traditional’ immediately means that they have outdated beliefs and prejudices, which I did not find to be the case, despite the bizarre grade-based ranking system and strict separation between the boys’ and girls’ schools. I think this nuance could have been better explained and explored, especially at the start of the book. That being said, this book got better and better the more I read, and I am looking forward to reading more from Powars as he has a meaningful perspective and a unique writing style that makes his books engaging and challenging in all the right ways.