Thank you so much to @james_um_acker, @epicreads, @inkyardpress, and @storygramtours for the copy of the book & having me on this tour!!

This book is OUT NOW.

If you have not read James Acker’s debut - GO DO IT NOW.
It was one of my favorite books of 2023 and such a refreshing YA that is laugh out loud funny. And this one was just has refreshing & realistic. This did not make me belly laugh and pull at my heartstrings as much as the debut but it still was a fun read!

Throughout the book we see Phil and Jackson's friendship before, how it ended and see how they reenter in each other lives and the aftermath. They had such a love for one another before they could even label it as such and it just developed more.

Where I thought James really shined is the confusing, complicated feelings of being a teenager and figuring out themselves. And also how the process for coming out is never linear. Some are ready young and some will never be able to. There was a moment towards the end where Jackson says "I don't know why I can't say it. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me. I have...I have such a good life. I have such nice parents. I know they love me. I know they'd love me no matter what. I know they probably know." and it just had hit me in the feels.

There were a lot of characters in this so that made it sometimes confusing as I occasionally would switch between the reading with my eyes and ears. I love that we got more of Ronny in this one as I do remember her from the first book. She is such a spitfire! And we even got a brief appearance by the lovable Sandro Miceli.

James just has this way of writing characters that give you such realistic characters and how complex teens and their feelings are. He writes about the pressures of being a teenager, how desperately you want to belong & be loved and the difficulties of family life. I also love that he continued the dual, 1st person POV in this book. I felt that the chapters were just the right amount length. I also love how he broke the book up into different sides of the mixtape and each POV had different songs (all gems).

I paired my reading with the audio (thank you hoopla!) and I adored the narrators Max Meyers and Lee Osorio. They also narrated Acker's debut and it makes me want to go back and reread via audio because I enjoyed them so much!

I pretty much will read whatever James write so I am looking forward to this next YA (though I am craving to see what he can do in the new adult/adult space).

If you are looking for a cast of characters centered around friendship & ultimate revenge against an ex - check this out!