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taratearex's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
I'm glad this book exists for the teens and tweens, I really think I would have loved this as a teenager. It has great mental health representation and does a great job exploring that teenage feelings of not really knowing how to be yourself, people pleasing, feeling lost, fears of coming out, and feeling like you just want to grow up already. I really loved the Palestinian rep in the best friend character, it was really well done.
As an adult reading this one, it's hard to rate. There is a lot of sexual conversations and teens exploring their sexuality, which is great rep for the teens, but was definitely too much for me and not something I want to read as an adult, but I'm not the target audience here! The humor didn't always land for me either, but I think it was just because a lot of it was sexual or I just am not a teen, so again, I'm not the target audience for all of that to land.
As an adult reading this one, it's hard to rate. There is a lot of sexual conversations and teens exploring their sexuality, which is great rep for the teens, but was definitely too much for me and not something I want to read as an adult, but I'm not the target audience here! The humor didn't always land for me either, but I think it was just because a lot of it was sexual or I just am not a teen, so again, I'm not the target audience for all of that to land.
rhidingrainbow's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
I cannot believe this is Aceves' debut novel!! what a gem- I can't wait to read whatever's next.
things I loved:
-frank conversations about Palestine, islamophobia, biphobia, and cross-cultural relationships
-teens navigating friendships, sexuality, queerness
-mental health rep & therapy scenes that feel tender & realistic
-friends to lovers, ofc
-found family alongside loving first family doing their best
5✨
things I loved:
-frank conversations about Palestine, islamophobia, biphobia, and cross-cultural relationships
-teens navigating friendships, sexuality, queerness
-mental health rep & therapy scenes that feel tender & realistic
-friends to lovers, ofc
-found family alongside loving first family doing their best
5✨
hannahrogers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Islamophobia
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content
mtownreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
em_justalittleguy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
4.5
agent_bex's review against another edition
hopeful
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
2.75
This book had such potential and I was very excited for it, but I feel the author tried to talk about a lot of things instead of focusing on a specific few important details. I found this book on TikTok, where it was very heavily pushed as a queer Palestinian romance, and the main Palestinian character was barely even in the story. There were portions of the story I found wonderful - the mentorship between Enrique and his teacher, the highlight on mental health, and Enrique's relationship with his parents (which was so well done I wished they were more the focus of the story). The ending, while predictable, was sweet, and I enjoyed the overall premise of the book and majority of the authors writing. I just felt it fell flat in a lot of ways, and wasn't the story advertised on social media.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual content
profoundpondering's review against another edition
5.0
I love Enrique and Saleem so so much my dears (in my head & heart 10 years from now theyre happily married with a dog or two living their best life)
I really enjoyed this book sm it was just so Real…
I really enjoyed this book sm it was just so Real…
brinipor'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was both incredibly sweet and incredibly stressful. I was 👌🏽 this much too ace for this book. In high school, I thought everyone was exaggerating about how horny they were, lying to seem cool. It wasn't until college when I learned about asexuality, that I realized EYE was the odd one. And still to this day, I forget how horny teenagers are so supposed to be. All of this to say, Quique had me clutching my pearls a bit. He was very committed to being a chaotic bisexual, but that's my son, so I'll ride with him. But I had to walk away from this multiple times so I could regroup bc why is he like that?? Great book though, highly recommend
aabaileyauthor's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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
4.5
Effortlessly entertaining writing, strong characters that don’t fall into tropes and an excellent depiction of mental illness.