This is hard to rate because while I really like some elements, some others were incredibly frustrating.

First with the good points: I really really enjoyed the dynamics between characters. They were complex, and even secondary characters had developed personalities. Everyone is different without the frequent feeling of checking diverse identities out of a list.

I think Sol was a highlight. They were funny and earnest but also snappy and down-to-earth. I was also really happy to see them portrayed beyond the weird-otaku-and-computer-wiz stereotype. If the writer wrote a spin-off about them I'd read it.

The romance also worked well for me. They were annoying and bitchy, but I was also vibrating with every interaction. Their rivalry was stupid and honestly their struggle to understand each other a little baffling, but I also love drama. so.

There are a lot of scenes of groups just Being Friends and Doing Teen Stuff. And they were incredible fun. It shows how even clichés like costume photoshoot montages can be cool when the characters are very lively and different.

Now. The annoying part: the main character is very close to insufferable. On one hand, I can let some of it slide. Jeremy is already suffering of Being Seventeen, and on top of that, three weeks in HRT therapy and dealing with home and school (and self) pressure about his identity. So ok, I get it, it would make no sense for this character to be calm and reasonable all the time. But. He is just so impulsively selfish. And then after he calms down he justifies his mistakes! He refuses to see he's on the wrong, and even by the end his apologies are really half-assed!

Lukas is also quite self-centred and incredibly dumb at some points. I don't know if it was supposed to be part of the whole "has a hard time understanding people because of the autism" but bro. Use two braincells, please. But I liked him way better, and his reasoning for The Dramatics made way more sense.

And I think I'd be ok with both of these if everyone else was acting accordingly. They do some insane shit with their friends and then. They're just very easily forgiven. Some of their fights were silly and I'm happy this was recognised, but I wanted our main couple to work harder after everything they put other people through.

So my biggest problem, both on character development and plot, is that everything was resolved too easily. It was even kinda cheesy. Some plot points (specially regarding their parents) didn't really get a good conclusion, and while this lacks a pay-off, it's also how life works sometimes and I really appreciated it.

I read May the Best Man Win in a single day. It's easy, it's interesting, and goes deeper on The Issues than I'd have expected from its page count. It isn't perfect, but I could easily see the fun story beyond it's problems, so I'm really excited for what the author puts out next.