Book review: May the Best Man Win by Z.R. EllorLet me preface this review by saying that I really, r

Book review: May the Best Man Win by Z.R. EllorLet me preface this review by saying that I really, really wanted to like this book. May the Best Man Win is a queer contemporary romance in which a newly-out trans boy challenges his ex-boyfriend for the title of Homecoming King - only for old feelings to re-emerge as their rivalry spins out of control.Summarised like that, this book sounds pretty perfect. Which makes the experience of reading May the Best Man Win that much more disappointing.My main gripe with this novel was the lack of likeable characters. Both protagonists were arseholes to each other and everyone around them; they were even willing to get their “friends” expelled to cover their own backs. I’m usually all for flawed protagonists and enemies-to-lovers storylines, but there was no character growth. Even while admitting that they’d been self-centered, awful friends, both Jeremy and Lukas continued to be self-centered, awful friends. If this book had been written from the perspective of any other character, Jeremy and Lukas would have been the clear villains of the story. Maybe it’s because I’m not American, but I also didn’t really feel connected with the Homecoming event storyline. Honestly, I’m still not sure what ‘Homecoming’ is, even though it’s all anyone talks about for the entire book - to the extent that it started to seem farcical. Winning a school popularity contest is such a big deal that at multiple times the main characters bemoan the fact their future university places depend on them being crowned, which… seems like a stretch. The one saving grace is that Jeremy and Lukas both have legitimate reasons for acting out and both boys are aware that their actions are shitty. The bad part is that the secondary characters all forgive them far too easily and the narrative tries to make us root for them as a couple even after they’ve been awful to each other.Many thanks to Roaring Brook Press for providing a copy of May the Best Man Win. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.Publisher: Roaring Brook PressRating: 1 star | ★✰✰✰✰Review cross-posted to GoodreadsBuy on Amazon: US | UK -- source link
Tumblr Blog : paperbackd.tumblr.com

More pics about