5 stars

There were so many tiny, poignant moments and deep, big moments.

Jay's relationship with his mom.
Jay's struggles as a child with ADHD and other kids unable to relate or understand him.
Jay's inner monologues. So well done! Fantastic ADHD rep.
Jay's drawings and graffiti, and finding perfect places in the city to bring Logan and put up new graffiti.

And then....low and behold, we have a dual POV, that caught me off guard. Double whammy with the feels.

Logan's family life. Ouch.
Logqn trying to hide his feelings for Jay, to protect Jay.
His admiration for Jay.
His awkwardness around Jay's mother at first, and then the hugs they shared, how he relaxed at their home
Logan's relationship with his best friend from childhood, she was a dynamic side character.

Skateboarding
Road trip to Boston
Sketching
Photography (the plethora of pictures of Jay....)

Vivancos really packed in so many details into this story. Dynamic.

It's more than a love story.

4.5. Cute with some cute quotes. I know it’s tough to stand up to parents, but Logan could be a bit much, he has options in this day and age. Wanted to shake him sometimes. Jay I just wanted to hug, what a sweetie. I also liked the epilogue (time span, etc.) and how they acknowledged there were struggles. Kudos including T-cup and “they.”

This woman has the ability to make me read something I really hate -rich boy/poor boy where rich boys parents refuse to let him live his own life and see the people he wants -and somehow even MORE, make me absolutely LOVE it.

I just wanted to bundle Jay up in a giant hug and squeeze the hell out of him for being just a good person. Just good. Sweet and kind, and how he just wanted to be loved for who he was and UGH. That hurt my heart.

4.5 stars, absolutely obsessed with the way Marina Vivancos writes such realistic characters, heartbreaking romances that are yet so very tender with a sweet hopeful ending. Nothing will ever surpass In This Iron Ground, because that book is a masterpiece, but I absolutely did not expect to love Paint Eater as much as I did. It’s a pretty short book, but it felt so full and complete, it had the sweet tenderness and the relatable angst, good side characters (love Sofia, Jay’s mom) and a great development. Also, this is the story of an anxious attachment boy (Jay) with an avoidant attachment boy (Logan), and as an anxious avoidant, I had the privilege to heavily relate to both character #LameFlex. I just love how genuine their connection is, how they bonded over art and their mutual vulnerability, they were so so soft and I absolutely loved it. Like not much actually happens, I guess, but I am coming to realise that I kind of really enjoy slower-paced books where not much is going on, as long as I like the characters, lol.

Absolutely beautiful prose. I highlighted so much about Jay's ADHD quirks, and Logan's poignant thoughts. This was almost a fairy tale.

So many feelings in such a short period of time. I thought the ADHD rep in this was great, and appreciated how Jay was secure with himself. Logan's family and internal struggles felt real, and not like a plot device. The art in this sounds so beautiful and I want to see it!!

3.5 ⭐'s

Read this one on a road trip yesterday and it was a quick, easy read with loads of cute moments. I just didn't love LOVE it.

Jay and Logan were adorable - albeit a little immature for their ages - and I did fall in love with Jay in the first 3 pages. That ADHD brain is something else. Whew. I thought Logan was a little too uptight even after he started falling for Jay. Sure, his mom was a piece of work, but he was too old to be controlled that much by her. I also felt like his mom's change of heart was a little too abrupt and HEA'esque. Anyway, Jay was the star of the book, and I was here for it.

He knew it was going to hurt, but that had never really stopped Jay. If he could have one more week with Logan, he would take it.

I adored this unique perspective on young love, even though Jay and Logan were very different than I expected. 

Everything about Jay, from his bright, open personality to his endless rambling, made me smile. He exuded a youthful, innocent energy that left me powerless to resist his charm. Logan, on the other hand, remained reserved and elusive for well over half of this book. It wasn't until the halfway mark that there were even any chapters from his perspective, so I was relying on Jay's memories and experiences to tide me over until then. The reality of Logan's situation, the pressures he was under and his less-than-ideal relationship with his parents made my heart ache for him. Every moment that I misunderstood as Logan rejecting Jay or not wanting anything serious with him finally made sense, and my revelation completely changed the way I approached the rest of the story. Suddenly the battle wasn't for Jay to get Logan to fall for him, it was about finding a way for Logan to be brave enough to break out of his regimented lifestyle. Seeing the freedom and unconditional affection that Jay provided for Logan was undeniably sweet, and I was rooting hard for these two to find a way to make things work long-term. 

While I so appreciated Jay and Logan's clumsy, slow-build to love, I also wish the rest of this story had been more fleshed out. Everything unconnected to the romance felt so nebulous throughout the entirety of the book, and then in the epilogue it felt like I was reading a biography of every significant thing that happened off-page for the next several years. I would have loved to experience some of those big moments with Jay and Logan, and it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to me. Looking back on this story as a whole, it reads very much like a young adult romance, with just enough extra steamy moments to bump the rating up to 18+.

**I voluntarily read an ARC of this book. This review expresses my honest thoughts and opinions.