Daniel, Deconstructed

Daniel, Deconstructed

James Ramos

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

A nerdy high schooler learns to embrace his main-character energy in this witty and heart-healing ode to movie tropes, meet-cutes, and LGBTQ+ love. Photographer and film buff Daniel Sanchez learned a long time ago that the only way to get by in an allistic world is to mask his autism and follow the script. Which means he knows that boisterous, buff, and beautiful soccer superstars like his best friend, Mona Sinclair, shouldn’t be wasting time hanging out with introverts who prefer being behind the camera. So when Daniel meets a new classmate, Gabe Mendes, who is tall, mysterious, nonbinary, and—somehow—as cool as Mona, Daniel knows exactly how this is going to play out. Mona and Gabe will meet cute, win their nominations for Homecoming Court, and ride off into the sunset together. Daniel just needs to do a little behind-the-scenes directing. But matchmaking means stepping into the mystifying and illogical world of love, dating, and relationships, where nothing is as it seems and no one knows their lines. And when Daniel finds himself playing a starring role in this romance, he’ll question everything he thought he knew about himself and his place in the world.


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  • booksgamesvinyl
    Jan 03, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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  • Christinereads
    Mar 26, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

    This is so cute??? Autistic MC who is LARPing in a dystopian world meets his love interest while doing it? Heck yeah! I was not excepting this to be such and fun a cute read about best friends and dealing with relationships.

    "Damn." "Reverse Damn" was probably the funniest joke of my life

    Maybe it's my own tism just happy to read a book that's not only about but is written like someone who is autistic made me enjoy this book so much! (I have ADHD confirmed but never the other but do share a lot of the commonalities)

    I felt the ending was a little stunted with there needing to be a bit more oomph at the end to keep people interested. I feel like the prom night should've happened at the end or the Mona situation should've been a bit more dramatic but that's just a suggestion and was okay without it.

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  • greenghost.reviews
    Dec 31, 2024
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

    Thank you so much to Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

    Never have I read a book where so many of my intersecting identities were all present, I am Autistic, Non Binary, A-romantic (and also ace haha).  

    I felt through all these characters a sense of belonging in seeing myself within the pages of this book, and that was a truly special experience. 

    Thank you James Ramos for writing this book, I’m truly grateful it exists ❤️

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