Jackson really likes Liam, but Liam is straight, right? Besides, Jackson’s sister really likes Liam, too. So even though it hurts him to do it, Jackson nudges the two of them together. The fallout is not at all what he expects.

The good: So I enjoyed most of the first 75% of this book. One of my kiddos was always in theatre spaces, so a lot of this was familiar ground. I appreciated Khorram’s treatment of Jackson’s hearing disability and the way it was addressed in the book. I loved that there were nonbinary main/supporting characters. The premise was interesting, and the relationship that builds between Jackson and Liam is really cute.

The meh: There was a lot of gimmick. The breakup lists themselves felt very forced, but I could live with them. There were a lot of little things, though, that would crop up over and over – like how many times in one book can a person’s shirt tag get tucked in? This type of stylistic motif has never been my favorite thing, but it’s not bad, just not for me.

The part I really didn’t like: The last 25% really crashed apart for me. Bits of it felt highly unrealistic and way too easily resolved. But honestly, my dislike came down to the thing I struggle with the most in Little Women – easy forgiveness for family members when they don’t even TRY to redeem themselves for their horrific behavior. I’m not a fan of the myth of “blood is thicker than water” and I don’t think family ought to be forgiven for any transgression. When you blow up someone’s life and break everything they love, you shouldn’t get off with a “well I’m sorry it affected you and I’m sorry I behaved badly but you kinda deserved it because I was mad.” That’s just abuse, and fuck that. Rant over.

I have loved the other two books I’ve read by the author, but both of them were adult books. I think I’ll stick to his adult ones after this.