elwirax's reviews
478 reviews

I hate to be so critical of this book due to how personal it is to the author, however, I just wasn't a fan of the writing style and the slow plot. 

I thought it strangely stereotypical in its portrayal of queer people despite trying to break down stereotypes and that many of the characters centred their personality around their queerness. This isn't inherently bad given the book's message of embracing differences and self acceptance. However, it did result in many characters who were likeable yet severely underdeveloped. Imogen and Gretchen were perhaps the most nuanced and it would've been great to see this in the other characters. In term of pacing, this all all happened in about the span of a week which just doesn't seem realistic to me at all. 

Nevertheless, I thought the themes were very important (queer gatekeeping, queerbaiting, etc) given some current examples of individuals effectively being forced to come out by "fans". I found Imogen's struggle with her identity and her thoughts of "not being queer enough" really relatable. I think the romance was sweet, well done and didn't overshadow the more serious discussions of the book which I find to be the case in most contemporary romances. 

Overall, this is definitely a example of me outgrowing certain writing styles and perhaps YA as a genre which is no fault of the book. I'm glad books like this are being written and I'm willing to bet that the target demographic will find it lovable and validating.