I absolutely loved the first part of the book: Justin and Wes meeting in Paris and falling for each other, the mixture of insta-love and mutual pining, the anxieties, the tenderness, the opening up. That part was an absolute five-star for me; something about the author’s style, slightly on the verbose side but also so poignant and hitting right where the feels are, really worked for me. That first part perfectly conveys that special vibe of first love while also sneaking in foreshadowing of future angst that’s bound to come when they eventually have to leave this fragile temporary personal paradise.

As the story progressed past that early part, I still felt engrossed in the story and the characters, but my impressions dimmed a little. The angst came in earlier than I expected, though the choices these guys made did make sense. It still felt, at times… excessive somehow? Everything was so dramatic all the time, and sometimes it felt appropriate to the overall situation and all the feels these characters had… but other times, I felt it crossed into the “over the top“ territory. I also kind of disliked how everything in their lives was so much about each other all the time. Yes, Wes had football, but his entire relationship with the sport quickly boiled down to “how can I have both this and Justin.“ All his interactions with his best friend were focused on whatever emotional turmoil he was going through. Justin’s reconnection with his father also felt like it was all about Wes's presence in his life, as did his dancing. 

That’s another thing I liked more about the beginning, I think: the characters were initially built up to be separate individuals with their own habits, flaws, and pre-existing inner conflicts, and it was very well done. I would have enjoyed seeing that continue with the love story adding to their lives, not consuming everything for the entire book. I would have liked seeing Wes bond with his teammates over things that are about them, not just about his feelings—I feel like that would make their reaction to him getting outted feel more personalized than just a solid wave of angst. And perhaps taking some time to get to know those guys and the relationships on the team would even provide for more nuanced reactions instead of

them just acting like a hivemind: “You owed us to come out on our terms! Because reasons!“

I would have also liked seeing Justin have to deal with his mother’s

prejudice and opinions and to confront the fact that while she’s very clearly in the wrong, there are also ways he may have contributed to reaffirming her beliefs in the past with the specific way he chose to come out—both things can be true. Instead, we just had his dad shield him from all of that and then tell him about it

.

Still a solid four-star read because of all the feels, and I’m definitely getting that sequel. The pairing in the blurb isn’t what I expected, I want to see how it plays out.