The apocalyptic romance novel I didn’t know I needed!

This was super sweet and kept me guessing until the end, which is what I’d expected having read and loved When You Reach Me years ago. It’s about anxiety and how we cope with it and connection and friendship, and I wish I could have spent a little longer in Brooklyn with Georges and Safer.

I came across this when looking for more queer ya lit; I’m not familiar with the play or any of the other context around the book. The homophobia was VERY blatant throughout the first 2/3 of the book, and I think it’s important to know that it’s not all sparkles and rainbows. That said, I do feel like the overall tone of the novel is hopeful, and even though a lot of that doesn’t feel realistic, it’s uplifting in a way that I really wanted to read, especially in a f/f ya romance. There isn’t always a lot of great f/f rep in romance generally, so having that means a whole lot!

There’s such fantastic representation: the main character, Julie, is a fat Latinx lesbian werewolf, and her friends include a non-binary centaur and a fat Black lesbian werewolf. I thought the story was cute, although I found some of the later dynamics between Julie and Selena a little stressful (though the conclusion promises some resolution). Would have loved to see more character development, but overall enjoyed!

I expected this to be a sweet and fluffy queer YA romance, and it’s clear eight chapters in that Ridley’s dad is an emotionally abusive alcoholic, and that Ridley’s anxiety disorder is really severe. I’d be okay with those plot points if I hadn’t been planning on fluff, so maybe I’ll pick this up again another time.

I love that we got more backstory on the rest of the team in this second volume. So fun, so queer, and a freaking joy to read.

Cute, charming, so queer, and I love the art!

I skimmed the second half, just wasn’t feeling it.