Reviews with content warning for Dysphoria - May the Best Man Win

Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

41 reviews

bibliomania_express's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor is a YA contemporary romance between two exes competing to be homecoming king. Jeremy and Lukas are both dealing with a lot of emotions, both around identity and their families. So they both spend a lot of this book spiralling into chaos. The book does focus more on Jeremy trying to get everyone to accept he's a boy than it does on Lukas's struggles with autism, but they're both shaped by how they think people do/will perceive them.

This book is also about the shitty things people will do to each other, and the importance of learning and making amends. There's a wide span of friendship issues, family issues, and high school administration issues. I liked that the major subplot of fighting to amend the Code of Conduct to include verbal bullying and harrassment was given a lot of page time. I also love how the whole Homecoming Court vote shook out.

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dylansday_'s review against another edition

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emotional inspiring tense 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

4.5

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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

WOW.

A gripe I usually have with queer fiction - especially queer YA fiction - is that the queer characters are not allowed to be messy disasters. There is a very limited amount of disaster allowed for queer characters before they have to be consumed by guilt and apologies.

That is not a problem here! These guys - the two main characters, Jeremy and Lukas - are selfish and angry and hurting and think that ruling a high school via Homecoming Court can fix that. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that it obviously can't. There are some truly painful moments in here, but I loved that. I loved that they did awful things that I totally would've also done if I'd been in their scared and miserable positions when I was seventeen. This is not making excuses for them, though - they are completely in the wrong most of the time- just, it makes their character growth wayyy more satisfying than usual.

This author clearly has a very nuanced understanding of queerness, and he approached how transitioning goes from a number of angles, including an important one that I don't usually see - that trans people themselves need to grow into their genders and resist toxic behaviors for the sake of validity.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the autistic representation in Lukas, which I wasn't aware of before I started reading this. I appreciate that a trans gay guy and an autistic got to be assholes and not use their identities as an excuse, but that those identities were integral to how they process the world. That's a fine line to balance, and I think Ellor did a great job.

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sundaysunshine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

As is the case with the genre of high school romance books, the plot is a little predictable and not at all stand out. But that definitely doesn't mean this was any less of a satisfying read.

Teenage books rely on emotion and interesting relatable characters to really hit yk and Ellor definitely hits the mark with this one.

Practically every character in this book is wonderfully written and fleshed out and so are topics like transphobia, bullying, and sexism. What I liked is how Ellor managed to accurately demonstrate bigotry and the emotional and physical damage it causes to young teenagers without letting it down by becoming 2 dimensional or stereotypical.

Its portrayed in a range of ways and characters including in the MCs.

And the MCs.... messy af. But like in a Katniss Everdeen way like I'm shaking my head but also cheering you on, yk?
All of their flaws are like actual flaws, frustrating to read but so satisfying for them to manage in a healthy way.

Such a beautiful portrayal of trans identity, Ellor allows it to be celebrated and take centre stage and also to manifest in Jeremy's anger, bitterness and defensive (if not slightly misguided) survival mindset.

I finished the book with the feeling that there could've been more done with Lukas' brother storyline, idk maybe with the family realising how neglectful they've been to him. But I guess I like the message of it all being that it isn't his responsibility to fix it and leaving the parents' problem undealt with. Maybe its more accurate.

Anyways, #SOL4PRESIDENT2024

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