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patienceholmes's review against another edition
This book made me so miserable. Jeremy was so mean to literally everyone and it was honestly painful to see everyone getting hurt because he couldn’t get over himself. I agree with what other people have said that it’s important to portray lgbtq+ characters as being messy and flawed and not perfect but I felt like this portrayal went way too far. He literally didn’t have one single positive healthy relationship with anyone and it was exhausting.
I stopped when Jeremy started using Lukas’ autism to shit on him/expose his vulnerabilities. I don’t care if it’s a fictional character, as an autistic person I don’t wanna sit through ableism. I really regret spending money on this book. I’ve also seen from other reviews the book gets worse with the ableism and with some lesbophobia so I’m glad I didn’t continue.
I also didn’t like the depiction of Lukas’ autism. It felt like the author did a google search and chose two of the traits and that was it. Obviously it may have been expanded on further on but at 40% of the way through I expected more. It just wasn’t nuanced at all and though the internalised ableism was true of a lot of peoples experience it was also hard to read so please put yourself and mental health first and don’t read this one if that might negatively effect you.
I’m cis so can’t speak to the trans representation in the book so please look at some own voices reviews for that!
I stopped when Jeremy started using Lukas’ autism to shit on him/expose his vulnerabilities. I don’t care if it’s a fictional character, as an autistic person I don’t wanna sit through ableism. I really regret spending money on this book. I’ve also seen from other reviews the book gets worse with the ableism and with some lesbophobia so I’m glad I didn’t continue.
I also didn’t like the depiction of Lukas’ autism. It felt like the author did a google search and chose two of the traits and that was it. Obviously it may have been expanded on further on but at 40% of the way through I expected more. It just wasn’t nuanced at all and though the internalised ableism was true of a lot of peoples experience it was also hard to read so please put yourself and mental health first and don’t read this one if that might negatively effect you.
I’m cis so can’t speak to the trans representation in the book so please look at some own voices reviews for that!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
it was good for what it was, I know this isn't my genre of choice, and there were a bunch of characters that I did like. Unfortunately one of the two main characters really annoyed me, and I overall don't really enjoy the main couple together.
Also it was Very Not Escapist and sometimes the plot points that were Making A Point about being Trans and In High School felt condescending as someone who. Yknow. Was lol. And also just was sad for me to read. But that's a personal thing. Might work better for people who like the genre
Also it was Very Not Escapist and sometimes the plot points that were Making A Point about being Trans and In High School felt condescending as someone who. Yknow. Was lol. And also just was sad for me to read. But that's a personal thing. Might work better for people who like the genre
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment
hncamp's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
lazycycle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Dysphoria
Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, and Sexual violence
callmeluh's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Diving into this book, I thought I'd love it. I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, you don't always get what you want.
Jeremy's actions really pissed me off. One minute I'd empathize with his struggle, the next I'd want to punch him in the face for being this selfish and acting like a d*ck. Because it's what he does throughout the whole book: act like no one around him matters and like he's the only one whose feelings are valid. Spoiler alert Jeremy: you can be going through a rough time AND not act like an asshole to your friends.
Lukas really broke my heart. He has a lot going on, between his family basically imploding without him being able to do anything to prevent it, Jeremy breaking up with him, school and Homecoming It's a lot, and you can feel how he's slowly falling apart. I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be alright.
I would have liked for the side characters to have more exposure too. You can sense how important some of them are to the main characters, and I would have like to see them more. Also: less drama and more conversation would have been appreciated.
So yeah, May the Best Man Win wasn't IT for me… :/
Jeremy's actions really pissed me off. One minute I'd empathize with his struggle, the next I'd want to punch him in the face for being this selfish and acting like a d*ck. Because it's what he does throughout the whole book: act like no one around him matters and like he's the only one whose feelings are valid. Spoiler alert Jeremy: you can be going through a rough time AND not act like an asshole to your friends.
Lukas really broke my heart. He has a lot going on, between his family basically imploding without him being able to do anything to prevent it, Jeremy breaking up with him, school and Homecoming It's a lot, and you can feel how he's slowly falling apart. I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be alright.
I would have liked for the side characters to have more exposure too. You can sense how important some of them are to the main characters, and I would have like to see them more. Also: less drama and more conversation would have been appreciated.
So yeah, May the Best Man Win wasn't IT for me… :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault
softsuunshine's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
to be honest for most part of the book i thought jeremy was really annoying and selfish. lukas also had some questionable things but i felt like he wasn’t as bad. the miscommunication trope isn’t my fave so i didn’t enjoy that part, if they just talked to each other the book would’ve been 300 pages shorter. towards the end i started to enjoy things a lot more though, i recommend this to people who don’t want to pull there hair out when characters can’t communicate properly and like queer sport focused stories!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, and Dysphoria
toadscreams's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Transphobia
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Vomit
lunagirl_alice's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have mixed feelings so i thought i’d better get them out straight away. The start of the book was really really good, i was loving it so much and convinced it was going to be a high 4 star read or even a 5 star read. Then the middle really let the book down, i found it so difficult to keep reading because it was so unpleasant, the characters i know are supposed to be messy but some of the things they did were outright nasty and horrible and were way past “messy”. So that really disappointed me i think and that’s why i didn’t love it as much as i was hoping. The last third did pick up however and i really enjoyed it so i’ve finished with a nice feeling and i’m glad. I’ve seen people really hate how it ended and honestly to me the ending wasn’t bad. Obviously they wouldn’t fix all their problems and issues at the end…they’re kids.. literally 17&18 and if you expect then to have their life and personality ironed out and perfected then you need to really change your perspective because that’s unattainable for anyone at that age. I did like the ending, they both did some really crappy things and didn’t deserve to win the crown in my opinion so i’m glad that’s how it turned out.
Im not a trans reviewer (i’m Cis) so please listen to Trans OwnVoice reviewers about the rep, i’ve heard from other Trans reviewers that the rep was very realistic and good representation.
There was one line in relation to TERFs that i felt was unnecessary when talking about TERFs one character says “a lot of them are lesbians unfortunately, they hate trans people because they like to claim they’re the most oppressed queers in existence”. I am not trying to say that lesbians can not and are not TERFs, nor am i trying to erase the Transphobia within the lesbian community of which there is a disgusting amount, but that comment isn’t followed by any further explanation or rebuttals, no one challenges it or expands on it. If this was going to open a discussion about the transphobia in the lesbian community and highlight the issue this would’ve made more sense. But there’s nothing it just feels unnecessary to just villainies lesbians like that for no real gain. Especially as this may be some peoples first encounter with the term TERF and there was no need to the comment, it really served no purpose.
I am Autistic and i’ll share my opinions about the Autism representation in this book. Lukas one of our main characters is Autistic. I found the Autism representation actually pretty good, it’s not often we see any kind of realistic representation even in todays media for Autism so it was refreshing. Obviously I won’t relate 100%, i don’t think you’ll find many Autistics who will, if you know 1 Autistic person…you know exactly 1 Autistic person but also Lukas is a Cis Male, and i am a Cis Female and that does affect peoples experiences with Autism, but i will say it was good representation and i was happy to see it.
For anyone who wanted to know the author Z.R Ellor is an OwnVoices Author and is Trans & Autistic.
Im not a trans reviewer (i’m Cis) so please listen to Trans OwnVoice reviewers about the rep, i’ve heard from other Trans reviewers that the rep was very realistic and good representation.
There was one line in relation to TERFs that i felt was unnecessary when talking about TERFs one character says “a lot of them are lesbians unfortunately, they hate trans people because they like to claim they’re the most oppressed queers in existence”. I am not trying to say that lesbians can not and are not TERFs, nor am i trying to erase the Transphobia within the lesbian community of which there is a disgusting amount, but that comment isn’t followed by any further explanation or rebuttals, no one challenges it or expands on it. If this was going to open a discussion about the transphobia in the lesbian community and highlight the issue this would’ve made more sense. But there’s nothing it just feels unnecessary to just villainies lesbians like that for no real gain. Especially as this may be some peoples first encounter with the term TERF and there was no need to the comment, it really served no purpose.
I am Autistic and i’ll share my opinions about the Autism representation in this book. Lukas one of our main characters is Autistic. I found the Autism representation actually pretty good, it’s not often we see any kind of realistic representation even in todays media for Autism so it was refreshing. Obviously I won’t relate 100%, i don’t think you’ll find many Autistics who will, if you know 1 Autistic person…you know exactly 1 Autistic person but also Lukas is a Cis Male, and i am a Cis Female and that does affect peoples experiences with Autism, but i will say it was good representation and i was happy to see it.
For anyone who wanted to know the author Z.R Ellor is an OwnVoices Author and is Trans & Autistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse
paskendus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I am very glad I went into this book knowing that both main characters are a bit annoying. I guess one can expect that from teenagers.
It was an interesting read in a way, especially seeing teenagers showing anger and even being spiteful as a self preservation technique, but my oh my how they did not communicate. With each other or the adults. And the adults were... passive at best, so all around people just trying to survive on assumptions.
The writing felt repetitive at times and overly dramatic for my taste. I also did not feel a lot while reading the book, I got what the author wanted me to feel, but I just didn't. Characters made correct, good conclusions after something happening but I just did not see how they got there, that may be on me and lack of investment. I also think it was preachy and very on the nose at times.
And honestly I did not like the ending after all the messy things that happened everyone should have gotten some therapy to work through at least some of their personal stuff before being all lovie dovie. Or I at least would have loved to see the resolving their problems more.
It was an interesting read in a way, especially seeing teenagers showing anger and even being spiteful as a self preservation technique, but my oh my how they did not communicate. With each other or the adults. And the adults were... passive at best, so all around people just trying to survive on assumptions.
The writing felt repetitive at times and overly dramatic for my taste. I also did not feel a lot while reading the book, I got what the author wanted me to feel, but I just didn't. Characters made correct, good conclusions after something happening but I just did not see how they got there, that may be on me and lack of investment. I also think it was preachy and very on the nose at times.
And honestly I did not like the ending after all the messy things that happened everyone should have gotten some therapy to work through at least some of their personal stuff before being all lovie dovie. Or I at least would have loved to see the resolving their problems more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
nanatsai's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment