A review by judeinthestars
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R. Shrum, Sara Waxelbaum

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Margo Zimmerman is the super cool kid others don’t know whether they want to be or be with. She aces all her classes, she’s part of the high school swim team, she’s gorgeous, and her family is wonderful. When she realises she’s a lesbian, she wants to learn everything about being gay, from the culture to meeting girls. One of her teammates is openly queer, so Margo asks her to teach her. Abbie Sokoloff, who is struggling in one of her classes, agrees, in exchange for some tutoring.

I love that for once, the autistic MC is the self-confident character, not the awkward one. Margo has zero issues with being on the spectrum. It’s who she is. Take it or leave it. At first, Abbie may seem rude and dismissive, but as the story unfolds, it’s easy to understand her initial behaviour. The person behind the persona is a lot more likable, as Margo will find out.

This audiobook kept me chuckling for most of the time I listened to it. I laughed aloud any time one of the Zimmerman’s family’s pets was mentioned because they all have such brilliant names. I loved Margo’s relationship with her brother, who is also queer, and a communist. He’s not the most helpful on her journey to understand how to act gay (spoiler: there’s no right way), but I loved the way he teases her lovingly and respectfully. Another thing I liked is that even though it’s a YA book, it’s spicy. Teens have sex in real life and while I don’t necessarily expect sex scenes in books aimed at teenagers, I like that there are, sometimes. Because, you know, life.

Dual narrations aren’t often convincing to me, but I rather enjoyed this one. I loved Kristen DiMercurio’s performance in Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series and I loved her in this too. Marli Watson was a new narrator to me, she’s great as well, and I hope to hear her in more sapphic stories. The whole narration is excellent but my favourite part was the first kiss, which sounds like spoken word poetry. 4.5⭐️