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A review by charles_rowland
And They Were Roommates by Page Powars
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
5.0
i received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review
This was so good. So, so good. I’ve been savoring it, drawing out my reading of it to last as long as possible.
Firstly, semi-sharing a name with the MC was sometimes a jumpscare, but it also made the book so much dearer to me. Reading Charlie’s inner monologue and fully understanding where he was coming from, but sometimes feeling as if he needed to see things in a different light, was so enlightening for me in general. It reminded me of how important it is to remember that everyone has shit going on too. Not everything is exactly how it seems at face value.
I really loved how the characters were always accepting of Charlie’s gender. There was, essentially, 0 transphobia (besides his mother a tad) and although it isn’t entirely realistic, it was nice. It was nice to fall into a world where that would happen.
The characters were all incredibly written and fleshed out as well. I loved learning about all of them, how they connected. Blaze was such a silly little guy and left me with so many questions, but in a good way! More so ‘what’s up with this guy??’ nothing that feels unanswered in a negative way.
I really, really loved how Charlie and Jasper’s relationship bloomed. Jasper having a crisis BEFORE finding out was SO important and I’m so glad it was written that way. Jasper was such a fun character to read, every time he was mentioned I was SAT. I particularly loved seeing him grow very quietly. Although it wasn’t entirely on the page, by the end of the book it was very prevalent he had don’t a lot of self-work. And it paid off majorly. Him seeing what he did was wrong but also standing up for himself and his feelings was perfect.
As a trans-man, this book hit close to home a fair amount. Never went to an all-boy or all-girl school, but I did go to a very private, small, Catholic school. This book healed some part of me that was still wounded by my time there, imagining that a private school could be so accommodating to queer students.
I loved this book. So much. I can not wait to get a physical copy to reread and re-find all of my favorite parts
This was so good. So, so good. I’ve been savoring it, drawing out my reading of it to last as long as possible.
Firstly, semi-sharing a name with the MC was sometimes a jumpscare, but it also made the book so much dearer to me. Reading Charlie’s inner monologue and fully understanding where he was coming from, but sometimes feeling as if he needed to see things in a different light, was so enlightening for me in general. It reminded me of how important it is to remember that everyone has shit going on too. Not everything is exactly how it seems at face value.
I really loved how the characters were always accepting of Charlie’s gender. There was, essentially, 0 transphobia (besides his mother a tad) and although it isn’t entirely realistic, it was nice. It was nice to fall into a world where that would happen.
The characters were all incredibly written and fleshed out as well. I loved learning about all of them, how they connected. Blaze was such a silly little guy and left me with so many questions, but in a good way! More so ‘what’s up with this guy??’ nothing that feels unanswered in a negative way.
I really, really loved how Charlie and Jasper’s relationship bloomed. Jasper having a crisis BEFORE finding out was SO important and I’m so glad it was written that way. Jasper was such a fun character to read, every time he was mentioned I was SAT. I particularly loved seeing him grow very quietly. Although it wasn’t entirely on the page, by the end of the book it was very prevalent he had don’t a lot of self-work. And it paid off majorly. Him seeing what he did was wrong but also standing up for himself and his feelings was perfect.
As a trans-man, this book hit close to home a fair amount. Never went to an all-boy or all-girl school, but I did go to a very private, small, Catholic school. This book healed some part of me that was still wounded by my time there, imagining that a private school could be so accommodating to queer students.
I loved this book. So much. I can not wait to get a physical copy to reread and re-find all of my favorite parts