A nice, quick read, but I kept wishing it was a full-length novel because a bunch of plot points felt very rushed. I would have appreciated a longer period of enmity/rivalry between the leads and a more gradual switch from that to a mix of friendship and growing longing. I also wouldn’t have minded seeing more instances of Will trying to date through the apps, perhaps comparing and contrasting his experiences with it to his interactions with Ben. And maybe if this was a longer story, Em would have gotten her own arc or at least a personality other than being Will’s trusty sidekick, always putting her actual job on hold, getting out of long-awaited baths, and jolting awake whenever he had a crisis.

On the whole, I really liked Will and found his struggles super relatable. This was such a genuine portrayal of lingering dysphoria and trans-specific insecurities, and I was so happy for his happy ending with Ben. The comedy part of this romcom did fall kinda flat for me, because nearly all the funny scenes came at the cost of Will’s sincere distress and anxiety. Like I was supposed to laugh with him, not at him, and I just couldn’t bring myself to do so, because he’s such a likable and relatable protagonist. Every time, instead of focusing on the humor, I just wanted to take him out of the scene and give him a hug. 

The romance part, despite feeling a bit rushed due to the book’s short length, was pretty great, though. I enjoyed the way the dynamic between the characters evolved, how nice Ben turned out to be, their banter, the fact they’re both dog people, the almost kiss over the comic books, the evening at Ben’s with the tacos, and especially the wonderful Halloween date. They were just so cute together, but at the same time Will’s worries about Ben potentially not accepting him were still logical given his other experiences.

One thing that had me puzzled was the part of the book where

Will saw Ben with a female friend, misread their interaction, and convinced himself for a chapter that Ben was straight despite Ben having sent a bunch of very transparent signals his way already by that point. It was so weird to hear him vent about it to Em, who is openly bisexual, and neither of them even entertaining the possibility that Ben might be bi??? Which he turned out to be, in fact. Like, come on, even if he did have a romantic history with that friend, why would it invalidate all his flirting with Will, it’s not necessarily either/or! He had literally invited Will to kiss him by that point, is that what 100% straight people do?

Idk, something about that particular misunderstanding rubbed me the wrong way, and I generally didn’t feel like this story needed extra misunderstandings. 

Despite the above, I did like the book, and I think I’ll go explore what else the author might have written!