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From the bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best, comes a new kind of love story, about the bad decisions we sometimes make... and the people who help get us back on the right path. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston and What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli. Just days before spring break, Neil Kearney is set to fly across the country with his childhood friend (and current friend-with-benefits) Josh, to attend his brother's wedding—until Josh tells Neil that he's in love with him and Neil doesn't return the sentiment. With Josh still attending the wedding, Neil needs to find a new date to bring along. And, almost against his will, roommate Wyatt is drafted. At first, Wyatt (correctly) thinks Neil is acting like a jerk. But when they get to LA, Wyatt sees a little more of where it's coming from. Slowly, Neil and Wyatt begin to understand one another… and maybe, just maybe, fall in love for the first time…
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This book really exceeded my expectations in so many ways because i thought it was just going to be your average romance, but in my opinion i thought it was a lot more than that because of Neil's character development and Wyatt's gender identity journey.
The way Neil started immediately using Wyatt's correct pronouns was so heart warming to me, and i wish that there's more people in the world like him who'd respect others pronoun's no questions asked.
Neil's character development was very important as well because at the start he was rude and mean to everyone around him, and i'm glad that he's been able to realise that his actions have really hurt those that he cares about, and that he is making an active effort to change his mistakes. I found his mindset interesting when talking about Wyatt after they actually "got together", specifically when he was thinking that he doesn't deserve Wyatt because that's when i really thought that he had truly changed his ways, and i do understand where he's coming from because it is really easy to feel undeserving of people's care. I want to applaud Mason Deaver's writing during this because I could feel Neil's anxiety - also during his breakdown at/ after the rehearsal dinner - so i think they did a great job portraying this.
I think personally Wyatt was my favourite character because they were really relatable, not only because they use they/them pronouns but also because their interests are similar to mine - i think this is the only book in which i enjoyed the pop culture references. They were such a great character in general because they were so kind and understanding of Neil when other people might not have helped him at all. I also loved their family as well, especially Lana because she was so sweet.
I liked that when Neil had to use the incorrect pronouns for Wyatt that it was addressed in the book because yes, Neil respects them and their pronouns but that doesn't mean that Wyatt would like everyone to know just yet - from my experience just telling one or two people about your gender identity can be really scary so it will take a while to be comfortable enough to tell everyone else.
During one of the parties - i think maybe during photos actually - it's mentioned that Wyatt and Lindsay were discussing who each other's favourite Stray Kids member was and I'm really curious as to who each other's would be. :)
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