Date Me, Bryson Keller
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Description
Everyone at Fairvale Academy knows Bryson Keller, the super-hot soccer captain who doesn't believe in high-school relationships. They also know about the dare Bryson accepted - each week he has to date the first person who asks him out.
A single school week is all anyone gets. There have been no exceptions to this. None.
Until me, that is.
Because brilliant Bryson Keller forgot one thing. He never said it could only be girls . . .
To All The Boys I've Loved Before meets Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this irresistible LGBTQ+ rom com perfect for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue.
'An adorable featherlight romance' - Guardian
Book Information
Posts
This was a more or less ok read. What bugged me was how fast the feelings developed (á la "I can't imagine doing this and that without him." after like two days of dating) and that the interactions went from cute to cringey. Almost all side characters felt like stage props and the conversations between Kai and his friends were awfully superficial. The writing style was choppy. So, what did I like ... well, I guess some topics like how important it is to be able to choose your coming out and how hard this can be.
Tolles Buch🫶.
Dieses Buch hat mich wirklich auf keiner Seite enttäuscht😍. Ich hatte keine Probleme mit der Sprache und habe in den lockeren, lustigen Schreibstil des Autors sofort hinein gefunden. Die Protagonisten waren toll und die Nebenfiguren waren genau richtig (oder eben auch nicht 🫣). Die Storyline war für mich von der Grundidee neu, interessant und an den richtigen Stellen überraschend. Neben den vielen lustigen, leichten, liebevollen Szenen schwang trotzdem immer ein gewisser Ernst bei Themen wie Outing und Homophobie mit, den der Autor gut und ehrlich getroffen hat. Das Buch hat mich wirklich berührt und auf ehrliche Art und Weise verzaubert 🫶.
This book follows Kai Sheridan, a closeted high school student who gets in on a dare by asking out the most popular boy in school, Bryson Keller. Every week, someone new has to ask out Bryson, and he has to say yes and date them for the whole week, or he loses the bet. Up until now, he's only dated girls.
Okayyy so I think I’m going to give this book 4 Stars. This book was really adorable !! It is pretty lighthearted but it approaches serious topics too. Kai is a 17 year old boy, he is a closeted gay and hasn’t told anybody. Then there’s Bryson, the most popular guy at school. To be honest I would even say that Bryson was just perfect😭 he literally had no flaws, was always kind, supportive, respectful and so much more; basically perfect LMAO. I love Priya and Donny, their relationship is so cute, especially where Donny supported her for her soccer game #cute. The three of them have a cute and precious friendship. Yazz (Yasmine, Kais sister) is thirteen but so fucking mature omg 😄 to be honest I loved her she was so sassy LOL and that letter she gave their Mom and Dad!!🥹 Sibling love is always a precious thing to have. I loved Kai’s Dad, he was so lovely and just generally a likeable character😙. I also like his mom,yes she acted kind of shitty at first but she came around pretty fast and Especially in real life that wouldn’t be a common thing (at least I think). If my parents would find out that I am a Bisexual 17 year-old girl.. 😭 I actually outed myself to only my mom once (my parents are divorced) but I think she forgot or doesn’t want to acknowledge it idk :/ and I’m scared to tell my dad side of the family cause they are also very religious so I can relate with Kai in this situation. So yeah enough about my life. I liked the writing style cause it is easy to read. This book didn’t left me speechless on the clouds but it was still very adorable so for me it was a 4 stars !! 😸
Great it’s almost 2 am and I have to school tomorrow but I just could and would not put this book down. I had some trouble reading the first 20 pages but I started it again a few hours ago and now I’m done. This was such a cute and heartwarming story , that was also kind of cliché and cringe but I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t secretly love that stuff. This book made my stomach explode with butterflies, and it definetly had me in the feels
Ich habe “Date Me, Bryson Keller” von Kevin Van Whye beendet und bin ehrlich gesagt, immer noch etwas zwiegespalten. Einerseits spricht es viele wichtige Themen wie Alltagsrassismus und Homophobie an, andererseits gibt es zwei große Punkte, die mich gestört haben. [TW: Bi Erasure, Eindringen in die Privatsphäre, Erpressung, Erzwungenes Coming Out, Gewalt, Homophobie, Rassismus] Anmerkung: HP Referenz auf S. 69 und S. 196. 2,5⭐ Ein Punkt ist folgender: das Grundgerüst der Geschichte wurde eins zu eins von dem Manga “Seven Days” (geschrieben von Venio Tachibana und illustriert von Rihito Takarai) übernommen. Beide Geschichten können so zusammengefasst werden: Der gutaussehende beliebte Oberstufenschüler Bryson/Seryo geht jeden Montag mit einer anderen Person aus. Immer die erste Person, die ihn am Montag fragt und diese “Beziehung” geht dann eine Woche lang. Es haben ihn nur Mädchen darum gebeten mit ihm auszugehen. Bis Kai/Yuzuru ihn spontan auch fragt. Es ist also ein Fake Dating Trope, der etwa zwei Tage anhält, denn dann wird es für die Charaktere verwirrend und sie sind sich unsicher, ob es noch gespielt ist oder ob da richtige Gefühle dabei sind. Meine Frage lautet: ist “Date Me, Bryson Keller” ein Plagiat oder nur von “Seven Days” inspiriert worden? Anfangs habe ich stark zu “Plagiat” tendiert, weil mich so vieles stark an “Seven Days” erinnert hat. Kais Freundeskreis besteht aus einem Jungen und einem Mädchen und er hat eine jüngere Schwester, genauso wie sein Gegenstück Yuzuru. Bryson/Seryo ist reich und hat eine ältere Schwester/einen älteren Bruder. Während der 1-Woche-Beziehung wird kein Händchen gehalten und sich auch nicht geküsst. Allerdings gibt es wichtige Unterschiede zwischen den Werken und es werden ganz andere Schwerpunkte gesetzt, weshalb ich nun eher zu “Inspiration” neige. Der Manga erzählt die Geschichte aus der Sicht des populären Jungen, der jede Woche ein neues Date hat. Im Manga steht die Romantik der Jungs im Fokus, wohingegen deren Coming Out und sexuelle Orientierung nicht weiter thematisiert wird. Im Roman wird die Geschichte aus der Sicht des fragenden Jungen geschrieben, der closeted gay und mixed race ist. Der Roman beschäftigt sich mehr mit dem Thema Coming Out, was andere darüber denken, die Verwirrung der eigenen sexuellen Orientierung des populären Jungen, da er immer dachte, dass er hetero sei. Dadurch, dass Kai mixed race ist, wird auch hin und wieder Rassismus thematisiert. Bspw. wird darauf eingegangen, dass man Schauspieler*innen casten sollte, die auch aus den Regionen kommen oder Wurzeln von dort haben, die sie darstellen. Genauso wird auch “Cultural Appropriation” angesprochen. Trotz dieser Unterschiede bin ich mir unsicher, ob es “nur” Inspiration ist, weil so viel übernommen wurde. Letztendlich hat Van Whye den Manga immerhin in seinen Author’s Notes erwähnt, aber reicht das? Ich finde es gut, dass er u.a. den Manga aufgezählt hat und geschrieben hat, dass er davon inspiriert wurde und er hat in einem Interview auch folgendes dazu gesagt: “[Dieses Werk ist] aus meiner eigenen Kritik an der Arbeit in Bezug auf die tatsächliche und realistische LGBT-Kultur, Menschen und Themen entstanden.“ Also wollte er “Seven Days” besser machen und hat u.a. deshalb “Date Me, Bryson Keller” geschrieben? Und “Seven Days” tut er einfach als unrealistisch ab, weil Menschen der LGBT+ Community bestimmte Erfahrungen gemacht haben müssen, um “realistisch zu sein”? Das wirkt auf mich sehr... herablassend und arrogant. Der zweite große Punkte, der mich gestört hat: Bi Erasure. Es geht immer nur darum, ob jemand um schwul oder heterosexuell ist. Andere sexuellen Orientierungen scheinen nicht infrage zu kommen. Sei es nun die Selbstfindung von Bryson oder die Gedanken von Kai über andere Jungs. Es wird sich nur gefragt, ob die Person schwul sein könnte. Wenn nicht, ist sie dann hetero. Nur in einem Satz, als Bryson vollkommen verwirrt und aufgelöst ist, wird das Wort “bi” eingeworfen. Das hätte man definitiv besser machen können. Dann ein letzter kleiner Kritikpunkt: die Eltern von Kai machen immer Witze oder ziehen ihn auf, wenn er bspw. mit ihnen frühstückt, weil er normalerweise nicht so früh aufsteht. Ich verstehe, dass das deren Humor ist und es sicherlich nicht böse gemeint ist, aber so ein Verhalten ist ziemlich toxisch. Die Eltern sehen gemeinsames Frühstücken als etwas Positives, aber das Verhalten wird nicht belohnt, sondern man macht sich darüber lustig. Das ist sehr kontraproduktiv und wird in dem Buch nicht kritisiert, sondern normalisiert. Gut hingegen finde ich die Charakterentwicklung der Eltern, nach dem Coming Out von Kai. Das sieht man relativ selten, weil Eltern oft entweder vollkommen ablehnend oder unterstützend reagieren.
Date Me, Bryson Keller is a cute love story between two boys who knew each other but who finally get to know each other over a dare. Both Kai and Bryson are two very likeable characters you like to read about. Their relationship was really sweet even though the speed of it was perplexing to me. My biggest issue with the book was the writing which was a bit too simplistic in some instances for me. I'm just not a fan of short sentences and repetition. But if you like sweet love stories, give this one a go! Trigger warnings: This books contains homophobia from characters and an unwilling public outing.
Date Me, Bryson Keller is a fun, diverse read, that I can recommend to anyone who just wants to have a good time. Even though the story takes place over quite a short time, the development of the relationship doesn't feel rushed and even natural. I enjoyed the banter and the friendships and it felt realistic all the way through. I actually read the manga Seven Days as well, to see if they really are as similar as many reviews make them out to be and I personally think that, yes the premise is the same, but they are very different stories that follow very different beats.
This book is absolutely brilliant! It is easy and fun to read, emotional, and honest. It is about friendship and about discovering yourself and just accept one another as the people we are. You easily fall in love with all the main characters. It is a book full of diversity and the story is the most reliable one that I have read in a long time. From the positive as well as down to the not so nice situation. Kai is the purest soul and so unsure until his brain paused for a second and then he had to face what he has done, asked out the famous boy at his school out of a dare that was going on. From that point on it is just the nicest roller coaster ride. God, words cannot describe how much I love every word of this fantastic book! Truly a gift!
"We deserve to be loved, supported, and accepted. We deserve to be happy. Always." I am just so happy right now. So full of joy and gratitude. I know there's people out there that don't need or even don't desire happy endings, but Van Whye and I agree on something here: While straight folks had several hundred years of literature and over 100 years of movie narratives of time to get sick of the happy ending for a story, queer people haven't. Us being written into them is a pretty recent development, but more often than not it's the story of our struggle that is being told. Which is important and I fully support that. But I also want to be able to grab a book and feel represented and not have my future painted as this very painful place in its pages. And that's what Date Me, Bryson Keller gave me and it is why I loved it so much. It does not gloss over the struggles and fears and anxieties Kai has, but in the end everything is going to be ok. And sometimes it even was toothrottingly cute, and I am so in love. With the main characters, with the flourish of our thespian queen, with the best sisters and the fact that I wanted to eat everything that was described :D I agree that its portrayal of the spectrum that is sexuality wasn't all that rich. And I totally get that the insta-love vibes are a thing you must get over, but also: High School. Today I know so much better, but back then I knew close to jackshit, so even though the discussion of bisexuality for example could've been present (well, at all) and even though the premise is kinda ludicrous, I'm not mad. I felt embraced by a love story in all its rom-com ridiculousness and for now that is enough. CW (=spoilers): homophobia, bullying, forced coming out, (initially) unsupportive parents, inacceptance to said coming out, physical abuse
*4.5 stars! rtc ________________ It’s all so unfair: because you’re so-called different, you need to stand up and say that you’re so-called different. What makes everyone else normal? Who gets to decide that? I just had to check out my reading challenge to find out which YA book I’ve enjoyed as much as this one (it’s probably been [b: Running with Lions|37830514|Running With Lions|Julian Winters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519415629l/37830514._SY75_.jpg|59512644] which I’ve read in January 2019!) It’s very lighthearted and fluffy and I’ve adored Bryson, he’s such a great love interest. He’s so supportive of everything Kai’s doing! Even though it is a quick and easy read, it still tackles serious topics. While Kai knew that he was gay, he remained in the closet and these were the parts which were just utterly relatable. I know that my family loves me, but I’m a puzzle that’s incomplete. If they ever see the full picture, will they feel the same way? The only thing that bothered me is the fact that the dramatic turn at the end reminded me too much of [b: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda|19547856|Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Simonverse, #1)|Becky Albertalli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402915678l/19547856._SY75_.jpg|27679579]. I also didn’t like it that Kai never thinks that Bryson might possibly be bisexual. He dated girls before and agreed to date Kai, so that means he’s gay, right? At least that’s what Kai’s thinking. I didn’t like the erasure of bisexuality at all, Kai considered sexuality as something binary. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it!
Description
Everyone at Fairvale Academy knows Bryson Keller, the super-hot soccer captain who doesn't believe in high-school relationships. They also know about the dare Bryson accepted - each week he has to date the first person who asks him out.
A single school week is all anyone gets. There have been no exceptions to this. None.
Until me, that is.
Because brilliant Bryson Keller forgot one thing. He never said it could only be girls . . .
To All The Boys I've Loved Before meets Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this irresistible LGBTQ+ rom com perfect for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue.
'An adorable featherlight romance' - Guardian
Book Information
Posts
This was a more or less ok read. What bugged me was how fast the feelings developed (á la "I can't imagine doing this and that without him." after like two days of dating) and that the interactions went from cute to cringey. Almost all side characters felt like stage props and the conversations between Kai and his friends were awfully superficial. The writing style was choppy. So, what did I like ... well, I guess some topics like how important it is to be able to choose your coming out and how hard this can be.
Tolles Buch🫶.
Dieses Buch hat mich wirklich auf keiner Seite enttäuscht😍. Ich hatte keine Probleme mit der Sprache und habe in den lockeren, lustigen Schreibstil des Autors sofort hinein gefunden. Die Protagonisten waren toll und die Nebenfiguren waren genau richtig (oder eben auch nicht 🫣). Die Storyline war für mich von der Grundidee neu, interessant und an den richtigen Stellen überraschend. Neben den vielen lustigen, leichten, liebevollen Szenen schwang trotzdem immer ein gewisser Ernst bei Themen wie Outing und Homophobie mit, den der Autor gut und ehrlich getroffen hat. Das Buch hat mich wirklich berührt und auf ehrliche Art und Weise verzaubert 🫶.
This book follows Kai Sheridan, a closeted high school student who gets in on a dare by asking out the most popular boy in school, Bryson Keller. Every week, someone new has to ask out Bryson, and he has to say yes and date them for the whole week, or he loses the bet. Up until now, he's only dated girls.
Okayyy so I think I’m going to give this book 4 Stars. This book was really adorable !! It is pretty lighthearted but it approaches serious topics too. Kai is a 17 year old boy, he is a closeted gay and hasn’t told anybody. Then there’s Bryson, the most popular guy at school. To be honest I would even say that Bryson was just perfect😭 he literally had no flaws, was always kind, supportive, respectful and so much more; basically perfect LMAO. I love Priya and Donny, their relationship is so cute, especially where Donny supported her for her soccer game #cute. The three of them have a cute and precious friendship. Yazz (Yasmine, Kais sister) is thirteen but so fucking mature omg 😄 to be honest I loved her she was so sassy LOL and that letter she gave their Mom and Dad!!🥹 Sibling love is always a precious thing to have. I loved Kai’s Dad, he was so lovely and just generally a likeable character😙. I also like his mom,yes she acted kind of shitty at first but she came around pretty fast and Especially in real life that wouldn’t be a common thing (at least I think). If my parents would find out that I am a Bisexual 17 year-old girl.. 😭 I actually outed myself to only my mom once (my parents are divorced) but I think she forgot or doesn’t want to acknowledge it idk :/ and I’m scared to tell my dad side of the family cause they are also very religious so I can relate with Kai in this situation. So yeah enough about my life. I liked the writing style cause it is easy to read. This book didn’t left me speechless on the clouds but it was still very adorable so for me it was a 4 stars !! 😸
Great it’s almost 2 am and I have to school tomorrow but I just could and would not put this book down. I had some trouble reading the first 20 pages but I started it again a few hours ago and now I’m done. This was such a cute and heartwarming story , that was also kind of cliché and cringe but I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t secretly love that stuff. This book made my stomach explode with butterflies, and it definetly had me in the feels
Ich habe “Date Me, Bryson Keller” von Kevin Van Whye beendet und bin ehrlich gesagt, immer noch etwas zwiegespalten. Einerseits spricht es viele wichtige Themen wie Alltagsrassismus und Homophobie an, andererseits gibt es zwei große Punkte, die mich gestört haben. [TW: Bi Erasure, Eindringen in die Privatsphäre, Erpressung, Erzwungenes Coming Out, Gewalt, Homophobie, Rassismus] Anmerkung: HP Referenz auf S. 69 und S. 196. 2,5⭐ Ein Punkt ist folgender: das Grundgerüst der Geschichte wurde eins zu eins von dem Manga “Seven Days” (geschrieben von Venio Tachibana und illustriert von Rihito Takarai) übernommen. Beide Geschichten können so zusammengefasst werden: Der gutaussehende beliebte Oberstufenschüler Bryson/Seryo geht jeden Montag mit einer anderen Person aus. Immer die erste Person, die ihn am Montag fragt und diese “Beziehung” geht dann eine Woche lang. Es haben ihn nur Mädchen darum gebeten mit ihm auszugehen. Bis Kai/Yuzuru ihn spontan auch fragt. Es ist also ein Fake Dating Trope, der etwa zwei Tage anhält, denn dann wird es für die Charaktere verwirrend und sie sind sich unsicher, ob es noch gespielt ist oder ob da richtige Gefühle dabei sind. Meine Frage lautet: ist “Date Me, Bryson Keller” ein Plagiat oder nur von “Seven Days” inspiriert worden? Anfangs habe ich stark zu “Plagiat” tendiert, weil mich so vieles stark an “Seven Days” erinnert hat. Kais Freundeskreis besteht aus einem Jungen und einem Mädchen und er hat eine jüngere Schwester, genauso wie sein Gegenstück Yuzuru. Bryson/Seryo ist reich und hat eine ältere Schwester/einen älteren Bruder. Während der 1-Woche-Beziehung wird kein Händchen gehalten und sich auch nicht geküsst. Allerdings gibt es wichtige Unterschiede zwischen den Werken und es werden ganz andere Schwerpunkte gesetzt, weshalb ich nun eher zu “Inspiration” neige. Der Manga erzählt die Geschichte aus der Sicht des populären Jungen, der jede Woche ein neues Date hat. Im Manga steht die Romantik der Jungs im Fokus, wohingegen deren Coming Out und sexuelle Orientierung nicht weiter thematisiert wird. Im Roman wird die Geschichte aus der Sicht des fragenden Jungen geschrieben, der closeted gay und mixed race ist. Der Roman beschäftigt sich mehr mit dem Thema Coming Out, was andere darüber denken, die Verwirrung der eigenen sexuellen Orientierung des populären Jungen, da er immer dachte, dass er hetero sei. Dadurch, dass Kai mixed race ist, wird auch hin und wieder Rassismus thematisiert. Bspw. wird darauf eingegangen, dass man Schauspieler*innen casten sollte, die auch aus den Regionen kommen oder Wurzeln von dort haben, die sie darstellen. Genauso wird auch “Cultural Appropriation” angesprochen. Trotz dieser Unterschiede bin ich mir unsicher, ob es “nur” Inspiration ist, weil so viel übernommen wurde. Letztendlich hat Van Whye den Manga immerhin in seinen Author’s Notes erwähnt, aber reicht das? Ich finde es gut, dass er u.a. den Manga aufgezählt hat und geschrieben hat, dass er davon inspiriert wurde und er hat in einem Interview auch folgendes dazu gesagt: “[Dieses Werk ist] aus meiner eigenen Kritik an der Arbeit in Bezug auf die tatsächliche und realistische LGBT-Kultur, Menschen und Themen entstanden.“ Also wollte er “Seven Days” besser machen und hat u.a. deshalb “Date Me, Bryson Keller” geschrieben? Und “Seven Days” tut er einfach als unrealistisch ab, weil Menschen der LGBT+ Community bestimmte Erfahrungen gemacht haben müssen, um “realistisch zu sein”? Das wirkt auf mich sehr... herablassend und arrogant. Der zweite große Punkte, der mich gestört hat: Bi Erasure. Es geht immer nur darum, ob jemand um schwul oder heterosexuell ist. Andere sexuellen Orientierungen scheinen nicht infrage zu kommen. Sei es nun die Selbstfindung von Bryson oder die Gedanken von Kai über andere Jungs. Es wird sich nur gefragt, ob die Person schwul sein könnte. Wenn nicht, ist sie dann hetero. Nur in einem Satz, als Bryson vollkommen verwirrt und aufgelöst ist, wird das Wort “bi” eingeworfen. Das hätte man definitiv besser machen können. Dann ein letzter kleiner Kritikpunkt: die Eltern von Kai machen immer Witze oder ziehen ihn auf, wenn er bspw. mit ihnen frühstückt, weil er normalerweise nicht so früh aufsteht. Ich verstehe, dass das deren Humor ist und es sicherlich nicht böse gemeint ist, aber so ein Verhalten ist ziemlich toxisch. Die Eltern sehen gemeinsames Frühstücken als etwas Positives, aber das Verhalten wird nicht belohnt, sondern man macht sich darüber lustig. Das ist sehr kontraproduktiv und wird in dem Buch nicht kritisiert, sondern normalisiert. Gut hingegen finde ich die Charakterentwicklung der Eltern, nach dem Coming Out von Kai. Das sieht man relativ selten, weil Eltern oft entweder vollkommen ablehnend oder unterstützend reagieren.
Date Me, Bryson Keller is a cute love story between two boys who knew each other but who finally get to know each other over a dare. Both Kai and Bryson are two very likeable characters you like to read about. Their relationship was really sweet even though the speed of it was perplexing to me. My biggest issue with the book was the writing which was a bit too simplistic in some instances for me. I'm just not a fan of short sentences and repetition. But if you like sweet love stories, give this one a go! Trigger warnings: This books contains homophobia from characters and an unwilling public outing.
Date Me, Bryson Keller is a fun, diverse read, that I can recommend to anyone who just wants to have a good time. Even though the story takes place over quite a short time, the development of the relationship doesn't feel rushed and even natural. I enjoyed the banter and the friendships and it felt realistic all the way through. I actually read the manga Seven Days as well, to see if they really are as similar as many reviews make them out to be and I personally think that, yes the premise is the same, but they are very different stories that follow very different beats.
This book is absolutely brilliant! It is easy and fun to read, emotional, and honest. It is about friendship and about discovering yourself and just accept one another as the people we are. You easily fall in love with all the main characters. It is a book full of diversity and the story is the most reliable one that I have read in a long time. From the positive as well as down to the not so nice situation. Kai is the purest soul and so unsure until his brain paused for a second and then he had to face what he has done, asked out the famous boy at his school out of a dare that was going on. From that point on it is just the nicest roller coaster ride. God, words cannot describe how much I love every word of this fantastic book! Truly a gift!
"We deserve to be loved, supported, and accepted. We deserve to be happy. Always." I am just so happy right now. So full of joy and gratitude. I know there's people out there that don't need or even don't desire happy endings, but Van Whye and I agree on something here: While straight folks had several hundred years of literature and over 100 years of movie narratives of time to get sick of the happy ending for a story, queer people haven't. Us being written into them is a pretty recent development, but more often than not it's the story of our struggle that is being told. Which is important and I fully support that. But I also want to be able to grab a book and feel represented and not have my future painted as this very painful place in its pages. And that's what Date Me, Bryson Keller gave me and it is why I loved it so much. It does not gloss over the struggles and fears and anxieties Kai has, but in the end everything is going to be ok. And sometimes it even was toothrottingly cute, and I am so in love. With the main characters, with the flourish of our thespian queen, with the best sisters and the fact that I wanted to eat everything that was described :D I agree that its portrayal of the spectrum that is sexuality wasn't all that rich. And I totally get that the insta-love vibes are a thing you must get over, but also: High School. Today I know so much better, but back then I knew close to jackshit, so even though the discussion of bisexuality for example could've been present (well, at all) and even though the premise is kinda ludicrous, I'm not mad. I felt embraced by a love story in all its rom-com ridiculousness and for now that is enough. CW (=spoilers): homophobia, bullying, forced coming out, (initially) unsupportive parents, inacceptance to said coming out, physical abuse
*4.5 stars! rtc ________________ It’s all so unfair: because you’re so-called different, you need to stand up and say that you’re so-called different. What makes everyone else normal? Who gets to decide that? I just had to check out my reading challenge to find out which YA book I’ve enjoyed as much as this one (it’s probably been [b: Running with Lions|37830514|Running With Lions|Julian Winters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519415629l/37830514._SY75_.jpg|59512644] which I’ve read in January 2019!) It’s very lighthearted and fluffy and I’ve adored Bryson, he’s such a great love interest. He’s so supportive of everything Kai’s doing! Even though it is a quick and easy read, it still tackles serious topics. While Kai knew that he was gay, he remained in the closet and these were the parts which were just utterly relatable. I know that my family loves me, but I’m a puzzle that’s incomplete. If they ever see the full picture, will they feel the same way? The only thing that bothered me is the fact that the dramatic turn at the end reminded me too much of [b: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda|19547856|Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Simonverse, #1)|Becky Albertalli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402915678l/19547856._SY75_.jpg|27679579]. I also didn’t like it that Kai never thinks that Bryson might possibly be bisexual. He dated girls before and agreed to date Kai, so that means he’s gay, right? At least that’s what Kai’s thinking. I didn’t like the erasure of bisexuality at all, Kai considered sexuality as something binary. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it!