Teenage Abby is fashion-obsessed, plus-size, and gay. When she lands her dream internship at a local boutique, she wasn’t expecting the job to come with her dream girl. In THE SUMMER OF JORDI PEREZ (AND THE BEST BURGER IN LOS ANGELES), Abby learns how to navigate new friendships, new love, and being the star of her own story.

Y’all are gonna think I only write 😍😍 reviews, but I loved this book! If teen romance stories like SLOPPY FIRSTS or TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE were about gay teens, this is that book! It’s got a similar mix of sweetness, teenage anxiety, and letting the characters be their weirdo selves.

I love that this is a happy queer story. I love that it isn’t about gay pain or death or even about coming out. I love that Abby is femme and loves bright colors and lipstick and no one questions if she’s “really” gay (except her mom, but that rings true in a different way). As someone who doesn’t “look” queer, it literally made me cry to think about how great it would have been to read this book when I was younger. I’m so glad we are slowly diversifying the kinds of queer people we see in our stories.

Plus, this idea that you aren’t relegated to being the sidekick just because you don’t match mainstream beauty norms. This book is fully aware that it’s making these points and how important these stories are.

I enjoyed that this was a rare single-perspective YA novel. However, I do wish we could have seen more from Jordi. She remained an enigma for much of the book.

I loved Abby’s friendship with Jax - it captured that weird way it’s easy to be vulnerable with someone new. However, I think the conflict at the end of that storyline rushed by too fast.

In conclusion, MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE!