I want to say right off the bat that I did really enjoy this book and would recommend it. I was torn between three and four stars, but I think there were enough issues in the story and writing that kept it down at three.

I really enjoyed the main character. I thought Ben was really well developed and I was invested in their life, which is always half the battle in a book. I also loved the slow burn romance. It was killing me by the end because Ben and Nathan were so obviously into each other and the only ones who didn't see it. I love when a romance takes me on a ride like that and makes me care.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style, though. There's a specific kind of inner character dialogue that feels like their direct thoughts rather than the regular narration that's always jarring to me. It happens a lot in first person present tense, like this book is. There's nothing inherently wrong with that style, it's just not something I ever enjoy.

This book was also heavy on dialogue. There were a lot of sections that felt like constant dialogue for almost a whole page or so. I definitely prefer a higher ratio of narration to dialogue and this book just overall wasn't written in my style.

One thing I don't particularly think was handled well were all the relationships. Ben and Nathan's relationship was great, obviously, but it felt like some of the more minor relationships weren't developed as much as they needed to be or as much as was implied in the story. I think this was particularly obvious when it came to Ben's relationship with their art teacher. The first time they met, the art teacher said they knew Ben was special and gave them a key to the art room. When they finally said goodbye, the art teacher was crying and saying how great of a student Ben was and how attached she was to them. But it wasn't ever something I saw or felt in the story. Their relationship was never actually developed. We were told they had a meaningful relationship, but we didn't see it.

And I felt similarly about the parents. Ben is kicked out their parents' house early in the book and spends the rest of the book grappling with their feelings, whether they love them or hate them or could ever be in a relationship with them again. But by the time they came to a decision, it felt too easy. I've read books about toxic/abusive parents before and I don't believe that parents belong in your life just because they're your parents, but I don't think it was well enough developed here, so I didn't fully buy into Ben's thoughts on them. It felt a little too easy and too surface level.

But overall, this was a good book and I'm so glad I read it. Not every worthwhile book has to be fantastic or a new favorite. Would recommend for the slow burn romance alone, but I also want to note that I loved the nonbinary rep, although as a cis person I don't really think it's my place to discuss that aspect.