I absolutely love this book. It is one of those books that I know I love because I really want to read it again. It was delicate and gentle and loving. It was a new perspective, a strong romance, a slow burn, friends to lovers, good representation and fantastic writing.

It has all the moments and all the little pieces of dialogue that make your heart flutter and that you just have to read again and again and again. Because it’s just so good. While also standing for something more, showing adversity and showing those overcoming it. Looking at the complexity of religion and identity, family and life.

It is a fantastic novel and for any person looking for a queer narrative I highly highly recommend this book. I feel as if just writing this review I have to read it again. The five stars I have given it, it very very well earned, and I appreciate this story.

Listened to the audiobook, which the narrators did a great job!

I think this was my first Christina Lauren YA, and I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy it as much as their adult romances, but I was pleasantly surprised!
I liked the tension that was rife and present in practically every page, both sexual tension and also just general plot and life tensions.
It was just steamy enough to be real to life but also not explicit. Somehow those physical moments were both tantalizing and really tender/romantic too, which is a super tough line to walk!


Alright, so while I'm pleased with the ending because it was so cute and how could they not end up together when it's a love story, I was also a little bummed. I super appreciated how long their struggles lasted and how they broke up but kept both having feelings and these painful moments where they see each other again. I totally understood both guys' perspectives and it felt excruciatingly real to push through their painful days.
But I would have actually liked to have seen Sebastian's discussion with his parents, whether he really came out, and more of this side of how he would try to reconcile his parental relationship and also how this did/didn't affect his religious beliefs and church acceptance.
The authors were great in laying it all out and showing what problems they would face and the many many reasons why their relationship was going to struggle/why other people would be not okay. But then it didn't really deliver on how to deal with any of those problems. I'd have liked an epilogue of maybe Tanner and Sebastian together at college; we'd see a tender moment between them and also see how Sebastian is struggling with his faith and with his parents, even see Tanner struggling to understand Sebastian and to figure out how to be sympathetic and supportive.
Maybe that's too real-life.