Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

I did not know I was capable of thoroughly disliking (hating?) a main character as much as I did Andrew, and still like the actual story. I was a spamming menace in the group chat, complaining while reading this book. I felt constantly torn between understanding Andrew’s feelings and motivations, and just wanting to yeet the whole man into the sun. His excuses were understandable for a while, but he just. kept. fucking. up. Every single time he had the opportunity to make the right choice, he did the opposite, and if there’s one thing I have zero patience for, it’s a dumb main character who chooses to hurt someone else to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions.

On the other hand, we have Justin. Andrew’s former bully. You’d expect that he’s the one you’d have trouble forgiving or liking, but Justin has been working on himself for years already, and is simply a beautiful person who has been working through trauma that made him into a person he didn’t like, and that he regrets being.

Actually, I’ll post some of the messages I sent the group chat down below, that way you can really feel how angry I got, lol. I did enjoy the ending and I was happy to see the MCs together and in love, but I certainly didn’t feel that way the whole way through. Spoilers galore ahead:
(view spoiler)
A very — in my humble opinion — generous 3 stars.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Bully redemption
‘He doesn’t remember me’
Nerd/jock
Neighbors
Cat dad
Past trauma
Closeted MC
Slow burn
Secrets and lies
First times

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Details of past physical and verbal bullying of MC (by other MC and other students)
Manipulation with money
Alcohol consumption
Details of past child abuse (emotional and verbal, mild physical)
Financial abuse (MC’s parent)
Homophobic parent (past, details)
Toxic masculinity (repeating comments made by abuser, past)
Explicit sexual content
Internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity (relatively mild)

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: Yes, sort of
POV: 1st person, dual
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
Main characters’ age: 27 and 27
Series: Interconnected standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 445
Happy ending: Yes, miraculously


There’s no simple if-then statement that can fix four years of systematic humiliation, no algorithm that can calculate the cost of learning to hate yourself before you’ve even figured out who you are.

If there was anyone I would want to be stuck in a dark pocket universe with, it would be Drew. I’ve never had this absolute craving to know everything I possibly can about someone.

His hands are trembling slightly against my skin, and that small tell of his nerves does more to turn me on than any confident touch could. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he whispers against my mouth.

And that anger forces me to steel myself when I see the devastation on Drew’s face. Because I want to comfort him, and that betrayal cuts deeper than any other. That he’s made me love him so much that I still want to ease his hurt even while he’s breaking my heart.

Ethically, morally, I can’t take this further with Justin, can I?
NO YOU FUCKING CAN’T