Do you want a great book about social anxiety? Well, Top Ten is that book you’re looking for. Katie Cotugno inserts her own social anxiety into her character, Gabby. Gabby is a homebody and finds it hard to easily make friends. She is constantly ridiculed by her older sister to stop sitting around every weekend and is forced to go to a party. If you know someone with social anxiety or you deal with it yourself, you will understand Gabby’s struggles.

This novel is set in dual POV and flashbacks. We see Gabby and her best friend, Ryan struggle through 4 years of high school and other serious issues. Ryan is a hockey player and he suffers numerous concussions. Through Ryan’s POV, the reader learns how serious concussions are especially if not treated correctly. Struggles of college acceptance and college decisions are also focused on for Gabby and Ryan.

I love the way Cotugno writes family dynamic, it’s complex yet realistic. Gabby comes from a family who tries different recipes and hosts family game night. She also has two sisters. However, for Ryan, he is in the middle of a divorce between his mother and father, also tight on money.

Cotugno also addresses romance in Top Ten. Gabby is bisexual and we see her relationship with a boy AND a girl. Gabby’s relationship with Shea made me melt and I want to have a Shea myself. The topic of “girls and boys can be friends” is also included and it’s AWESOME.

This book met all of the standards I look for in a book: mental illness rep, LGBTQIA+ and hockey. I knew from the beginning I would love this book but I didn’t know how much I would fall in love with it.

This is the most realistic book I have ever read and I loved that about it. We see all different angles of Gabby and Ryan’s lives. If you’re approaching senior year of high school, you will resonate with these characters.