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cookiebabbus 's review for:
May the Best Man Win
by Z.R. Ellor
May the best man - good reads
Score: 5/10
This was a very disappointing and dissatisfying read. I think there's a lot of good points but this story suffers from an absolutely infuriating protagonist who doesn't learn anything in the end.
Jeremy's feelings on gender and feeling a lack of support even when he was allowed to transition is so viscerally relatable and real that some parts made me genuinely feel tense and nauseous. But it was this realness that had this in my mind that this was written with a real trans perspective in mind.
However Jeremy is a very messy person emotionally and mentally. This makes him selfish rude and other things. He's well aware of this at the start of the book. But he still continues to act like a dick and only cares about how he's gonna be alone and upset because of his actions rather than changing them. Especially hearing about the reason he broke up with Lukas made me infuriated that he was so selfish and only cared about himself when Lukas was going through really tough stuff and even told Jeremy straight up that he loved him and would love him through it all. Obviously Lukas wouldn't use the right gendered language how the hell was he supposed to know when no one else did? Jeremy continues to never really learn and in the end it's just swept up in oh well it's over now and I've got Lukas. I don't think Jeremy deserves Lukas even with Lukas's own fuck ups.
Admittedly first person perspective is not really my thing, it always reads as childish to me, so that was a barrier I had to get past to enjoy the book in full. I do like and appreciate changing povs so that was a plus.
It's cool seeing an autistic main character! Especially one treated with a lot of respect by others (for the most part). He's never babbied by the narrative even by his ex. Lukas was honestly the best part of this book. Him and the supporting cast members made this book bearable to finish.
The story is very much from a white perspective and that does make certain things grating for me. You can feel that these kids have a lot of privilege and the only thing holding them back is one's gender and the others disability. The story doesn't hide from this but it does make certain things grating for me as a poc reader.
The ending was pretty awful. I loved Sol winning homecoming king and of course Phillip getting kicked out was great but Jeremy and Lukas our actual protagonists don't get a satisfying ending. Jeremy even notes that he and Lukas are simply footnotes and it truly feels like that. Jeremy doesn't learn from his mistakes and changes. Lukas at least learns that he can't fix his family and moves to finding a new path I'm happy for him but honestly I don't want him with Jeremy. Lukas is madly in love with him but I can't really get why. There's nothing good that Jeremy does for him instead it's always Lukas giving and helping him.
Wouldn't recommend this book even though it's got a great amount of diversity and it's great seeing a trans mlm story. This is something I wish I didn't waste my time in finding and finishing so I wouldn't wish it on anyone else.
Score: 5/10
This was a very disappointing and dissatisfying read. I think there's a lot of good points but this story suffers from an absolutely infuriating protagonist who doesn't learn anything in the end.
Jeremy's feelings on gender and feeling a lack of support even when he was allowed to transition is so viscerally relatable and real that some parts made me genuinely feel tense and nauseous. But it was this realness that had this in my mind that this was written with a real trans perspective in mind.
However Jeremy is a very messy person emotionally and mentally. This makes him selfish rude and other things. He's well aware of this at the start of the book. But he still continues to act like a dick and only cares about how he's gonna be alone and upset because of his actions rather than changing them. Especially hearing about the reason he broke up with Lukas made me infuriated that he was so selfish and only cared about himself when Lukas was going through really tough stuff and even told Jeremy straight up that he loved him and would love him through it all. Obviously Lukas wouldn't use the right gendered language how the hell was he supposed to know when no one else did? Jeremy continues to never really learn and in the end it's just swept up in oh well it's over now and I've got Lukas. I don't think Jeremy deserves Lukas even with Lukas's own fuck ups.
Admittedly first person perspective is not really my thing, it always reads as childish to me, so that was a barrier I had to get past to enjoy the book in full. I do like and appreciate changing povs so that was a plus.
It's cool seeing an autistic main character! Especially one treated with a lot of respect by others (for the most part). He's never babbied by the narrative even by his ex. Lukas was honestly the best part of this book. Him and the supporting cast members made this book bearable to finish.
The story is very much from a white perspective and that does make certain things grating for me. You can feel that these kids have a lot of privilege and the only thing holding them back is one's gender and the others disability. The story doesn't hide from this but it does make certain things grating for me as a poc reader.
The ending was pretty awful. I loved Sol winning homecoming king and of course Phillip getting kicked out was great but Jeremy and Lukas our actual protagonists don't get a satisfying ending. Jeremy even notes that he and Lukas are simply footnotes and it truly feels like that. Jeremy doesn't learn from his mistakes and changes. Lukas at least learns that he can't fix his family and moves to finding a new path I'm happy for him but honestly I don't want him with Jeremy. Lukas is madly in love with him but I can't really get why. There's nothing good that Jeremy does for him instead it's always Lukas giving and helping him.
Wouldn't recommend this book even though it's got a great amount of diversity and it's great seeing a trans mlm story. This is something I wish I didn't waste my time in finding and finishing so I wouldn't wish it on anyone else.