THE FEELING OF FALLING IN LOVE

Emotionally shuttered 16-year-old trans boy Neil has his world shaken when he starts to fall for his fake boyfriend.

Neil wants to make it extremely clear to Josh, his heartbroken ex-friend-with-benefits, that they’re finished, so he enlists Wyatt, his roommate at their expensive boarding school, to be his date to his brother Michael’s weeklong Beverly Hills wedding celebration. They just have to pretend to be boyfriends in front of Josh, who’ll be attending because his brother is Michael’s best man, and then they can go back to hating and ignoring each other—or so Neil thinks. Aspiring musician Wyatt is lured in by Neil’s promise of an audition with recording studio executive Michael. Neil ultimately finds there is more to Wyatt than he realized. The book fully leans into the poor-little-rich-boy trope but fails to make readers actually feel that bad for Neil. Facing transphobia from his family and the world at large, he understandably has put up defenses; however, when it comes to awareness of his financial privilege and showing basic civility toward Wyatt, he is so unpleasant for so long that it is hard to get to the part where he learns his lesson. Conversely, Wyatt’s multiracial, two-mom family is financially poor but rich in love in ways that feel stereotypical. The fluttery romance that develops between the boys is not enough to make up for this lack of depth and nuance in characterization. Main characters are White.

A potentially tender romance limited by shallow character development.