I'm always excited to read some diverse fiction and a French-Canadian boy of Haitian descent in the US sounded interesting. Unfortunately for me, a lot of this can be summed into Norris pops his gums and writes checks his butt can't cash.

I didn't care for any of the characters or the romance. Usually, I LOVE snarky/ sarcastic/"I'm so above you, plebians" characters (Big Nate and Artemis Fowl comes to mind), but I did not like Norris. It's sweet that he cares about his mom and loves hockey. He's his mother's #1 fan at her presentations, and his friendship with Maddie is sort of cute. But that's where it ends. He's just too snarky and mean-spirited. I definitely don't mind characters with bad attitudes but his mouth seems unwarranted at times.

The vast majority of the time Norris puts people in check for micro-aggressions (tho sometimes he handles Aarti with kitten gloves) and happily acknowledges his heritage. He also doesn't put up with any homophobia and calls it out despite making a few gay jokes.

Concerning the romance, I was indifferent. I get the snow globe thing. It's like getting a gas station charger for your birthday gift that you know the person just bought last minute. Okay. But why was this never properly voiced!? UGH, HIGHSCHOOLERS! COMMUNICATE! Also, I figured

the Norris/Maddie angle was going to happen or that she was gonna hook up with Liam.

I feel the highlights were Liam's backstory, Norris' mom's fear about police brutality and his safety conversation, and the ending. Parts of the family dinner was fun too.

" Put me in the family will and grant me your daughter's hand in marriage, bitches" pg (255).

Although the ending was much more interesting than the first 75% of the book, it's just too much high-school drama for me.

Overall, the book ends with a strong conclusion! I liked seeing Norris come to terms with himself and acknowledging his flaws

and that everything doesn't end happily-ever-after though it is optimistic

. A good look at not pre-judging people. I didn't love this book but so many others have, so you just gotta read it for yourself!

2.5!
2 for my enjoyment
3 for story