Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.
Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he's awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this "relationship" will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right? (Pub Date: May 19, 2020)
This was a very fun romantic comedy and I simply had to read it.
3.5, but deserving of a round-up to 4.
Kai is still in the closet and he intends to remain there until he's free in college due to an incident that led him to lose his best friend. But he's so upset one morning he's made late by Bryson Keller's fanclub, and all the hysteria of girls wanting to be his date of the week, that he ends up being the first to ask him out. And Bryson accepts.
I read a manga that had a similar theme, although it is a dare in this book for Bryson to date a different person every week. In any case, it is still among my favorite LGBT mangas, so I couldn't not read this book. Of course it's very different, in case you have also read that manga, but I do think you'll like the book as well.
Kai is in a very difficult place, coming from an ethnic and culture mix, so even if it weren't from the trauma, he's not safe at all to be himself. Plus, he is super shy. But he gradually shows himself to Bryson, and the two are uber cute together.
I really like how Bryson treats this all, although I would have liked even more to see better how he changes his mind, considering he starts the week-long relationship stating he's not gay—and we know he isn't lying. To be honest, I would have loved to spend more time with this couple. They're very, very cute. I think that more than the similar books the publisher mentions (What if it's us, and To all the boys), the feels I had reminded me a little of Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda.
We do have the trope of nerdy and shy guy falling for the popular, it boy, but Bryson is nice enough that you even forget his "social status" in school. Except to remember he is a dream boy, because he is.
The story itself had differentials in the details. Not only is Kai mixed, but his father is from South Africa, his mother is very religious, so we have diversity elements to discuss. However, when you look at the full picture, the plot itself wasn't anything new and the twists and turns are predictable. It is a pity but we know from the second chapter all that is going to go wrong.
So this is a good book, it's also well written and the story flows well. but I don't think it's one you'll remember much after you're done. The best thing about it, despite being a story a million other already told, is that it's an own's voice. To be honest, the majority of the good stories about homossexual boys in high school are written by het women (about grown-up gay men too, by the way), so it's always a gem to find a well-written book by a LGBT author.
This is fun, this is cute; go ahead and read it.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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