I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I love that we’re getting more and more queer YA fiction with each passing year, but it does mean a few slip through the cracks when it comes to me learning about them. This was one of them, and it wasn’t even on my radar until I got an email inviting me to read an early copy. I’m honestly so glad for it, because I really ended up enjoying this.

This book was soft and sweet and so full of queer joy, even alongside the pain and hardship that often comes with belonging to a marginalized community. This is most present in Miles’ piano playing, where so much of it is centered in finding who he is and what music he wants to play, and how much joy can come from playing music that means something to you while fully being yourself. It led to some really beautiful moments, and I loved how his music blended with some other plots in the story.

I also really enjoyed how this book looked at Miles’ parents, and the parents of some of his queer friends, and seemed to show a range of varying levels of acceptance. Miles especially struggled with his parents, but in entirely different ways. It was interesting to see and led to some heartfelt moments at the end, and honestly some of these final scenes had me in tears.

This book also had a few plot lines that I almost always dislike, and I was worried when I first saw them appearing in this book. While I’m still not overall a fan, and it made me quite anxious at certain points, I do love the perspective that these plot lines brought to the story. It forced us to look at and analyze certain things about being queer/coming out that not many LGBTQ+ stories necessarily touch on, at least not to this extent. It made this book stand out a bit more for me, and I love that we’re getting more and more LGBTQ+ characters that sometimes make mistakes and make the wrong decisions, but grow from them and try to fix them.

Overall, this book was exactly what I wanted it to be, and what I needed right now. It was amazing, and a fantastic break from some of the heavier, more intense books I’ve been reading!