A review by longlost
May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This. This sure was a book.

I really wanted to like this book. Autistic rep AND queer rep ?? All I want in life. Unfortunately I just could not vibe with the book or its characters. 

Lukas and Jeremy's relationship was not enjoyable to read about during most points of the book. It came off as TOO mean-spirited so so often and I genuinely don't see why
they ended up getting back together.
Jeremy treated Lukas like shit, and while I understand that
Jeremy was hurt by Lukas's comment on the day they broke up he also uses it as an excuse to vilify Lukas when like. There is no reasonable way he could have known how to respond to Jeremy at that point. Also he KNOWS Lukas is autistic and therefore has trouble w/ social shit, and yet it never occurs to him to say "hey, I broke up with you because of that comment you made, not because you somehow did a bunch of things wrong in our three years of dating" which we see Lukas is worried about from the chapters in his POV.
Naomi and Sol were fun however. I liked them. 

I DID enjoy the queer power message in this book, and while I didn't enjoy the shitty school system it also reflects reality unfortunately so. I wish I could have liked this book more because I'm 100% behind Jeremy's fight to change the Code so that the harassment he's facing is Actually Acknowledged but I couldn't stand the main plot of fighting over the Homecoming crown even if I could sympathize with both character's motivations. The actions they took against each other just felt too mean-spirited. 
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