Once you get over the creeping in the first few chapters it picks up! Very high school, but in the end I really did enjoy it.

This was a cute story, very current in references and technology (probably will read as dated in 5 years).
While I liked the characters and general story, there were some elements that didn't work for me. It was a bit too eager and cute-sy, which when I started reading felt like the authors' voice and style, but over time became something that was annoying to me. I'm not even sure how to express what I'm talking about--maybe the tone of the writing? It somehow distanced me from the characters.

The guys were cute but it was hard to remember they were 16/17, and it wasn't adult level of steamy but I wanted just a little more sexual tension?

They went between delusionally giddy hand holding to ultimately having sex? If they were going all the way, I think the readers deserved more than the flowery fade to black paragraph regarding details. And I think a blow job would have been a more realistic intermediate step, as well as excessive groping sessions and short-circuiting brains.


My favorite part was actually the epilogue.

I loved that they were apart but still in such good contact and as far as I could tell still had strong feelings for each other. Keeping two 17/18 year old guys in a long distance romantic relationship where their feelings 'just deepened over time' would have been unrealistic and basically this felt so cool and chill and supported the lessons that each of the guys learned over the course of the book.

Well…

I hate giving in to reading hyped up books. They always ket me down somewhat.

Now the book was good, the romance was cute, but it just seemed to stereotypical. The romance was too rushed and the endless talking about musicals was insane.

Now, I love a good musical. I do not think they are represented enough in books. I listen to the Hamilton soundtrack every time I make the 2 hour drive from college to my home.

But I felt like Hamilton refrences were being shoved down my throat the ENTIRE book.

And it is cute to have a thing. I like when books have a thing so you can remind yourself of these books. Sometimes I think books dont show the romance’s “thing” enough.

BUT GODD*MN I have never been more annoyed in my life.

That being said this book was good. Lots of people enjoy it and I also enjoyed it. It just was too much sometimes.

I loved that the romance was relatable. Like it modelled a modern day romance (in the middle). It showed how people are flawed. I liked that it showed both sides of the story, but the end and the beginning just seemed too much. Like okay, I am going to try and say this in a way that does not spoil anything. The beginning goes WAY too fast. Like the authors could have played around with this a bit more. Led the chase on a bit longer than it did. And the end, wasn’t unrealistic enough for me to like it. And it wasn’t realistic enough for me to like it. If you have read it and want to know what I mean, go o my contact page. But seriously, the end was like a moderate ending. I did not like it. Part of why we like books is because they are unrealistic. They are our fantasies. And this did not play out that fantasy, But, it did not play out how real-life would have taken the relationship (if they were any normal 16-year-old couple). So I did not like that aspect.

Saying that I did not like the romance of a romance novel pretty much means the book was bad. But it wasmt. I liked it a lot. But it just was inconsistent.

I loved the characters though. Arthur and Ben were amazing. I loved Dylan. Ethan and Jessie were too predictable but it was a cute trope that they had going on.

Anyways I do not want to talk about this book anymore. I am glad I finished one more book of my shelf.

As always, thanks for reading

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.4