caelysium's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, and Death
Moderate: Hate crime and Medical content
Minor: Child abuse and Religious bigotry
mylovelybookstack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
julelaurine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Medical content, and Homophobia
mayajouy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Death
bruhbruh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Grief, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
fcg's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Alcohol, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Violence
jakemitton's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death
rondasue27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
🤔where did ya come from?🤷🏼♀️
- The publisher was kind enough to gift me an eARC of this book via NetGalley.
😍the good stuff😍
- This book is historical fiction for the gays and everyone who has ever cared about them. I don’t know what I was expecting going into this book, but I can’t believe the impact it’s left on me.
- Ben and Adam have such different stories and I enjoyed both of them. They both made me cry. They both left me with a hopeful feeling for them. I was frustrated at the beginning that they seemed to have nothing to do with each other, but after finishing, I really love how the author crafter the twin timelines.
- Gil. What a great brother.
- Rebecca. What a fantastic woman.
- Lily. Best. Just the best best.
- Jack and Victor. Gayfathers every kid deserves.
🫢my complaints🤫
- It takes a while to get into this book. Not because it isn’t good, but it’s just a little confusing at first with the different POVs that don’t interact for a while.
- Calling this YA is really impossible to encompass what this book really is. Historical fiction. A mini history lesson. A heartbroken man. There’s just so much in this book.
⚠️the warnings⚠️
- It’s YA so there’s no explicit sex at all, but there is discussion of AIDS and safe sex practices and grief/mourning and death.
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, and Death
minke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia
Moderate: Death
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
That being said, Shaw also includes a lot of details about the 90s in general, so much so that it sometimes overtakes the rest of the story. Both Ben and Adam didn't have disntinct enough voices for me, so their narratives often blurred together and I forgot who was who.
All in all, know this is a pretty heavy book going in, but still such an important story to tell.
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Homophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, and Medical content
Minor: Outing, Sexual content, and Alcohol