lgbtrepinbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Trigger Warnings: Sex, teen pregnancy, cursing, underage drinking, panic attacks, separation anxiety, homophobia, parental rejection, masturbation, oral sex, past off-page death of aunt, past self-harm, depression, outed, panic attack, ambulance/hospital, coming out
Representation: POC: Indonesia, They/them pronouns, Non-binary, Autism, Vegetarian, Bisexual, Lesbian, Asexual, Gay
Forward March is the story of Harper and Margot who develop an unexpected relationship after Margot swipes right on Harper’s dating profile. The only problem is Harper never made a dating profile. The two girls become close while trying to figure out who made the profile with many twists and turns along the way!
This ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I love romance books, but they tend to be pretty predictable. This book had some predictable moments but there were quite a few that I didn’t see coming and I loved it! The story was cute and enjoyable. The dialogue is sincere and witty! I loved Harper and Margot, as well as all of the other side characters (minus Harper’s mom lol). I wish we had a chance to learn more about Christian. The students were also relatable and not as whiny as some teenage characters. I also loved the Easter egg! Overall, this was a great book and I highly recommend it for any queer romance fans!
Representation: POC: Indonesia, They/them pronouns, Non-binary, Autism, Vegetarian, Bisexual, Lesbian, Asexual, Gay
Forward March is the story of Harper and Margot who develop an unexpected relationship after Margot swipes right on Harper’s dating profile. The only problem is Harper never made a dating profile. The two girls become close while trying to figure out who made the profile with many twists and turns along the way!
This ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I love romance books, but they tend to be pretty predictable. This book had some predictable moments but there were quite a few that I didn’t see coming and I loved it! The story was cute and enjoyable. The dialogue is sincere and witty! I loved Harper and Margot, as well as all of the other side characters (minus Harper’s mom lol). I wish we had a chance to learn more about Christian. The students were also relatable and not as whiny as some teenage characters. I also loved the Easter egg! Overall, this was a great book and I highly recommend it for any queer romance fans!
averyconfusedhomosapiensbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lydiahephzibah's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Setting: Maryland
Rep: asexual lesbian MC; Black lesbian love interest; multiple queer side characters including a bisexual nonbinary character
This was a quick read at just under 300 pages and I enjoyed the political tension, though I do feel that it petered out a bit towards the end - I wanted a bit more resolution about the campaign. At times it's a tough read - Harper faces a lot of homophbia and she does get outed nationally way before she's ready (as her father is running for president) so read qitb caution.
Rep: asexual lesbian MC; Black lesbian love interest; multiple queer side characters including a bisexual nonbinary character
This was a quick read at just under 300 pages and I enjoyed the political tension, though I do feel that it petered out a bit towards the end - I wanted a bit more resolution about the campaign. At times it's a tough read - Harper faces a lot of homophbia and she does get outed nationally way before she's ready (as her father is running for president) so read qitb caution.
perilouspages's review against another edition
5.0
“your parents are who they are, harper. they dug their graves, and someday they’re going to have to lie in them. i’ll imagine they’ll have regrets when they do, but you don’t have to have this regrets. you are more than capable of learning from their mistakes, and knowing not to repeat them. to hell with all those articles, and just, forward march. because that’s not who are. don’t you ever let your parents hold you back.”
this book has heart!! reading is about love, all forms of it, and this book was completely that. platonic love, friendships that crack and tear but also friendships that are there for you. familial love, hatred for those who hurt you but love for those who will always be family. romantic love, and discovering what it means!! romantic love that only a canonically chaotic asexual lesbian could ever truly invent for herself. (sorry micah i’m stealing your brand of canonically chaotic bisexuals it’s canonically chaotic ace lesbians now.)
like most messy young adult books, this book is confusing and painful but so loving!! harper is a band geek, and daughter of not only the dean of her school, but also the republican presidential candidate: her dad. she is notoriously awkward, she loves music, she cares about her friends a lot, she lives life trying to not forget her inhaler, and just?? can i be her best friend? when margot, a punk lesbian from canada with a french accent and a family also involved in politics, catches her off guard, letting her know of a fake tinder profile someone made in harper’s name, harper is royally screwed. like i said, mess. but messes? they lead to margot.
this book isn’t purely romance but i loved margot! specifically read the audiobook for margot because of the accent the narrator does. the center of this story is harper and margot and friendship breakups and politics and music. the center of this story is happiness, and learning it and relearning it. it’s coming to terms with who you are. it’s breathing and cutting yourself off only to find yourself in somewhere new! i’m doing such a bad job at explaining it but. this book was beautiful. bookstagram needs to hop on this one!!
thank you for my two true loves naomi and meilin for reading this after me and loving it too. <3
content warnings: anxiety, depression, mentions of self-harm, alcoholism, being outed
this book has heart!! reading is about love, all forms of it, and this book was completely that. platonic love, friendships that crack and tear but also friendships that are there for you. familial love, hatred for those who hurt you but love for those who will always be family. romantic love, and discovering what it means!! romantic love that only a canonically chaotic asexual lesbian could ever truly invent for herself. (sorry micah i’m stealing your brand of canonically chaotic bisexuals it’s canonically chaotic ace lesbians now.)
like most messy young adult books, this book is confusing and painful but so loving!! harper is a band geek, and daughter of not only the dean of her school, but also the republican presidential candidate: her dad. she is notoriously awkward, she loves music, she cares about her friends a lot, she lives life trying to not forget her inhaler, and just?? can i be her best friend? when margot, a punk lesbian from canada with a french accent and a family also involved in politics, catches her off guard, letting her know of a fake tinder profile someone made in harper’s name, harper is royally screwed. like i said, mess. but messes? they lead to margot.
this book isn’t purely romance but i loved margot! specifically read the audiobook for margot because of the accent the narrator does. the center of this story is harper and margot and friendship breakups and politics and music. the center of this story is happiness, and learning it and relearning it. it’s coming to terms with who you are. it’s breathing and cutting yourself off only to find yourself in somewhere new! i’m doing such a bad job at explaining it but. this book was beautiful. bookstagram needs to hop on this one!!
thank you for my two true loves naomi and meilin for reading this after me and loving it too. <3
content warnings: anxiety, depression, mentions of self-harm, alcoholism, being outed
laurajeanne87's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
robinlikesreading's review against another edition
5.0
Damn, this book was amazing in so many ways.
This is a love story between Harper and Morgan. They meet after someone tried to catfish Morgan on Tinder by making a profile in Harper's name. Harper and Morgan hang out anyway and.... fall in love.
The LGBTQIA+ rep in this one was absolutely amazing. We have a non binary side character who's also bisexual, a lesbian love interest, a pansexual side character who's also poly, another sapphic character, a few gay characters and Harper has a whole journey where she's discovering herself and realizes she's a lesbian but also asexual.
The asexual rep was so good! I love seeing asexual rep, it's so needed.
Anyway, read this book if you wanna read a cute lesbian love story between two girls in a marching band and they both love Doctor Who and one of them is ace.
My Instagram
This is a love story between Harper and Morgan. They meet after someone tried to catfish Morgan on Tinder by making a profile in Harper's name. Harper and Morgan hang out anyway and.... fall in love.
The LGBTQIA+ rep in this one was absolutely amazing. We have a non binary side character who's also bisexual, a lesbian love interest, a pansexual side character who's also poly, another sapphic character, a few gay characters and Harper has a whole journey where she's discovering herself and realizes she's a lesbian but also asexual.
The asexual rep was so good! I love seeing asexual rep, it's so needed.
Anyway, read this book if you wanna read a cute lesbian love story between two girls in a marching band and they both love Doctor Who and one of them is ace.
My Instagram
debzemanlms's review against another edition
4.0
A book about marching band? Yes please. Being a certified Band Nerd, this book spoke to my heart. There were places I laughed out loud and places that made me sad and cringe. It was a interesting take on a young girl who’s father is in the running for the President of the United States. the pressure of being the daughter who cannot post on social media, needs to keep in line because of the brother who left long ago. The slow burn love story was sweet, Margot not pushing Harper into a relationship or outing herself until she is ready, only to have “friends” blow it all up. Learning from a teacher that she needs to forward march her own path truly brought the story home for me.
TW: bullying, asthmatic/panic attacks, dysfunctional family
TW: bullying, asthmatic/panic attacks, dysfunctional family
irasobrietate's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
bookishjanna's review against another edition
4.0
This novel beautifully captures the magic of YA contemporaries! The writing style is lovely and easy to understand, there's a focus on the main character's exploration of identity and there are many other characters and situations readers will be able to relate to.
There's asexual, lesbian, gay, bi, pansexual, poly and non-binary representation. I specifically loved one scene, in which Bellamy, a non-binary character, helps Harper make sense of her new feelings towards a girl. It's genuinely awesome to have queer people supporting other queer people!
I do have to mention though that there's a huge focus on homophobia, which is not inherently bad of course, but could be triggering. Harper's parents repeatedly show homophobic behaviour towards her and others and put their daughter under a lot of pressure.
Harper also has asthma and is allergic to seafood. There aren't really a lot of books that focus on characters with allergies and I think the descriptions in the book are super helpful to raise more awareness (if you're reading this right now and don't know what to do if someone has an allergic reaction - you should look it up!).
If you're a fan of marching bands, sapphic romances and characters exploring their queer idenities - you should read this book once it comes out on March 22.
content warnings (as included in the book): anxiety, depression, mentions of self-harm, alcoholism, being outed
➡️ e-ARC provided by Netgalley and Pagestreetya
i post about queer books here: instagram / tiktok /twitter
There's asexual, lesbian, gay, bi, pansexual, poly and non-binary representation. I specifically loved one scene, in which Bellamy, a non-binary character, helps Harper make sense of her new feelings towards a girl. It's genuinely awesome to have queer people supporting other queer people!
I do have to mention though that there's a huge focus on homophobia, which is not inherently bad of course, but could be triggering. Harper's parents repeatedly show homophobic behaviour towards her and others and put their daughter under a lot of pressure.
Harper also has asthma and is allergic to seafood. There aren't really a lot of books that focus on characters with allergies and I think the descriptions in the book are super helpful to raise more awareness (if you're reading this right now and don't know what to do if someone has an allergic reaction - you should look it up!).
If you're a fan of marching bands, sapphic romances and characters exploring their queer idenities - you should read this book once it comes out on March 22.
content warnings (as included in the book): anxiety, depression, mentions of self-harm, alcoholism, being outed
➡️ e-ARC provided by Netgalley and Pagestreetya
i post about queer books here: instagram / tiktok /twitter
caitiep92's review against another edition
emotional
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75