Oh, this story was wonderful. For fans of Benjamin Alire Saenz or Adam Silvera. Honestly this is a book I'm going to handsell like mad (and already have because I'm late getting this review in!). Jo and Kurl are total opposite brought together by a class assignment and find they have more in common than expected. The love that grows between them is sweet and complicated. I recommend people pick up a book poetry by Whitman since he's referenced between the dual narrative. Such a good read.

Adam "Kurl" Kurlansky is a super senior; Jonathon "Jo" Hopkirk is a sophomore. The two are paired as pen pals in English class, and so begins a beautifully sweet romance and friendship. At first glance, it appear Kurl and Jo will have nothing in common: Kurl is an ex-football player who has a rough home life while Jo is a Walt Whitman super-fan, plays the mandolin, and is super gay. But as the two start trading sentences, stories, and ideas, romance emerges. They initially keep their attraction a secret, but it comes out, which causes a lot of trouble for Kurl. And still Jo is bullied at school. But truths come out, poor choices are made, growing-up happens. Are Kurl and Jo destined to be endgame?

This is a beautifully sweet romance, and I love how it illustrates we are all complicated, multidimensional individuals. Kurl is so much more than the meaty football player; Jo is more than the bullied victim. The only qualm I have is that did Henstra have to choose Walt Whitman as Jo's (and therefore Kurl's) idol? Couldn't it have been someone more diverse-- maybe a woman or someone not Euro-American?

Beautiful writing. The integration of Walt Whitman poetry into the story really makes the writing and characters richer. I love the letters Adam and Kurl write to each other and the slow way their friendship unfolds as the year progresses. Both characters are struggling with family issues and how each helps the other and realizes and deal with their issues is well crafted and believable. Highly recommend for every secondary library.

I quite enjoyed this book. It took some time to get into initially, but once I did, I was in. I liked the letter writing and seeing the events from the two points of view.

Parts of this book were difficult to read, due to the graphic nature, but at the same time, I appreciate the author not shying away from the topics that are put forth.

3.5 stars

While this story had an interesting hook, the appeal might not reach its intended audience. The language and voice of both Kurl and Jo do not match their ages. The letter format of the book is an interesting approach to telling a story; however, with characters having to recount events in which they are both present did not feel natural. There would be no need for them to write each other about what they both experienced, so many parts felt unnecessary and somewhat forced. I think a different format would have helped the appeal overall. Recommended for fans of John Green.

I fell in love with the characters in this book right from the spot, especially Jo. There's just something so charming about him--with his kooky old-fashioned clothes and his love for Walt Witman. I also appreciated that even though Jo is the smaller, "weaker" guy, he's the one who knows who he is and what he wants and has a stronger set of convictions. There are some scenes in the book that are truly horrible and powerful. Unfortunately the format of the book kept getting in the way for me. The whole book is written in letters between Jo and Kurl and they describe moments that they were together in great detail (Things like, You came in and said hi to my dad and then I said ...)---it's acknowledged that it's weird, but I honestly had a hard time suspending disbelief and going with it. It made the letters feel unnatural to me and made it harder for me to connect to the story. There were also a few scenes that I wish had been handled differently. Still, the book tackles some tough topics and will surely resonate with many readers.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

In this epistolary YA novel, Jonathan (Jo) Hopkirk and Adam (Kurl) Kurlansky are assigned as pen pals. With each letter exchanged, an unlikely friendship develops between openly and proudly gay Jo and bad boy football player Kurl that eventually grows into love. However, as the vicious bullying of Jo escalates and devastating family secrets are revealed, will their love be strong enough to survive? Henstra has gifted us with a gut-wrenching, heart-warming, and ultimately hopeful story about the challenges gay teens face and the scars and wounds they carry that can either strength or destroy love. It is a love letter to the last art of letter writing and to Walt Whitman’s poetry which is the thread that binds their relationship. Kurt’s affirming journey from a taciturn, angry young man to a thoughtful and expressive writer is noteworthy.

As an advocate for LGBTQ+ teens, it warms my heart to read so many new YA romance titles with queer protagonists. At a time when the queer community is fighting to protect its rights and vulnerable teens are dealing with increased depression, bullying, and suicide, they desperately need to have books that provide assurance that they are not alone and that their love is honored and celebrated. I encourage all librarians and others working with teens to share this book and use it as a vehicle to spark conversation between queer and straight kids because, with knowledge comes understanding and acceptance.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I like the idea of two disparate personalities communicating via letters, finding common ground in the process. And we shouldn't be surprised to find that both families are a mess, full of secrets. As the secrets are revealed both protagonists are broken apart so they can be rebuilt, stronger. Add in questions of sexuality and gender expression and you have a pleasant, mildly challenging read.

Two boys, polar opposites in many ways, exchange letters as part of a high school English class project. I loved getting to know Jo and Kurl through their letters, and watching them slowly develop a friendship. I found the shift to a relationship less convincing, but the emotions involved were just as gut-wrenchingly honest. Even if I didn't believe it entirely, I felt it all. Overall the story is darker than I'd hoped in a lot of ways, but that's pretty clear even from the stories of Jo's bullying at the beginning. I was just hoping for more lightness than Henstra chose to give us, which is not a shortcoming of the book at all. Overall, an emotionally raw and honest look at LGBTQIA students in high school.

What a beautifully written novel about hatred and acceptance, self-discovery and self-knowledge, and truth and forgiveness. When given a pen pal assignment by their high school grammar teacher, senior Adam Kurlansky and sophomore Jonathan Hopkirk become unlikely friends. What begins as awkward and stilted correspondence unfolds into the story of two broken boys from two broken families.

Sarah Henstra does a fantastic job of communicating the way teenagers talk to each other while also capturing the difficult situations that some teens find themselves (and their differing coping mechanisms). Her characters are mostly likable and relatable (I had the least patience for the plight of Shayna, Jo's sister). After reading the first 2 or 3 letters I found myself compelled forward. I rooted for the friendship growing between Jo and Kurl just as I felt badly for the relationship problems between Jo's sister and father, and I cried for Kurl.

Also, did I mention Prince. The Purple One himself appears in this novel, and it made me love it even more!

This book took me a little bit of time to get into (I liked Jonathan immediately; Kurl took a little longer) but I ended up liking it.

This is so hard to discuss because, while you can clearly guess where the book is going, the way that it gets there is a surprise. This is a sweet, funny, sexy, devastating book. It's a quiet book, but worth the time to learn its secrets.

This is such a heartfelt and wonderfully told account of high school. It's nitty gritty and real. I love the correspondence between Adam and Jonathan, and the growth of strength and character as the book and school year go on. This is real life.

I think that this book will be extremely meaningful for a certain reader, and I was truly drawn in by the characters. It tackles a lot of significant issues with a fair amount of grace, and occasional loveliness. I loved reading about the growth of Kurl's relationships with his brothers. I also appreciated that while Jo and Kurl were different in terms of personality, family life, and social standing within the school, this isn't a case of a gay character falling for their bully, a trope I find really troubling. And while I'm generally a happy-ending type reader, I didn't mind that there was some jaggedness to certain storylines.

But while I enjoyed it overall, I found several choices quite questionable. The use of the letters became awkward as the friendship between the two moved into real life - no amount of conversational and behavioral analysis can smooth over writing a letter to someone about an incident that you were both present for, and quite a lot of those passages were simple recounting regardless. (It also seems pretty unrealistic that a deeply emotional, honest, and loving relationship between two incredibly different high schoolers could arise from a letter writing assignment, but that's certainly not a trope that was invented here.) I did wish there were more complication or discussion of parental weed usage (especially in light of a scene where it's offered to a minor, and considering the revelation about Jo and Shayna's mother) and felt somewhat discomfited by the purely heroic military portrayal set against Kurl's deep knowledge of Middle Eastern terrorist tactics.

I think my main issue, though, was my disconnect with the relationship itself. I tend not to like stories which are about one character making all the mistakes and the other being an ultra confident and aware bastion of forgiveness, and this fell into that category HARD, even as it tried to shift things a bit at the end. I also think I might be past the point where someone having a pretentious attachment to a Classic Author is charming or impressive; I found Jo irritating quite often, and so the idea that Kurl would fall so quickly for and begin a relationship with him so abruptly didn't quite track for me. I was also pretty disturbed by the way Kurl's anger issues were excused. While I appreciated the contextualization and the inclusion of teen PTSD/psychiatric problems brought up in a male-on-male abuse/domestic violence situation, the descriptions of Kurl's outbursts were incredibly scary. I wanted just one character to say to the two of them, "Maybe you should stay friends for now and leave the potential for a relationship open down the road, but wait until after some therapy because someone who has a tendency to lash out with such sudden and aggressive physicality might not be ready to be a healthy partner." (Unfortunately the responsible adult network had fallen apart a bit by the end, everyone having other issues to deal with.)

Like I said, I really can see this hitting a sweet spot for some readers. It just didn't quite do it for me.

I wasn't really sure about this book at the beginning. I didn't really like Kurl, but I liked Jonathan. I liked how they slowly opened up to each other through their letters. I liked that the book was written in letters back and forth between them. They grew on me as the book went on and I loved the underlying poetry and how it shaped them as characters.

You guys, I'm still in shock by how much I loved this book. I knew it was going to be something right up my alley, but I didn't think I would love it THAT much.
This is an episotolary LGBTQ+ YA novel following Jonathan and Adam, two boys who are parnered in English class in order to write letters to each other. They could not be more different from one another even if they tried, though: Jonathan is confident in himself, loves poetry, dresses like a Walt Whitman cosplay and more importantly he's out and proud. Adam is in the football team, has a lot of family issues, and he doesn't even know who he is or what he wants to be. He's only 18 after all.

This book is a declaration of love for poetry, and a declaration of love in general. Love in all of its forms. The purest, kindest and most youthful love, but also the darkest, most obscure and personal kind of love. This book celebrates even those parts of love and I think it's honestly amazing.
I think that this is a novel that will divide the public opinion a lot. If you're not into dark feelings and dark stuff and you want a lovey-dovey fluffy romance, I'm sorry to say, but this book is definitely not for you. It deals with heavy topics, and the relationship in it is very far from perfect, and that's what I loved the most. Sometimes the lines about what is right and wrong is honestly very blurred and I have to admit that I, at times, really cringed in front of certain scenes. I think, though, that the author did a really good job in making the reader empathize with her characters, in order to make you understand why they were thinking and acting in certain ways.
The only character I honestly could not stand was Shayna, Jonathan's sister. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but she's selfish, at times mean, and she comes across as the worst person ever. She can't apologize even if she tries, and even though I can see where she comes from, I really think that your inner anger can't justify your behaviour, most of the times (I'm not talking about PTSD or mental health cause that is serious stuff).

Jonathan and Adam were honestly the most wonderful characters I've read in a while. They were so true to themselves and with who they are and they are really mature for their age (we're talking about 16 and 18 year old teens, they're REALLY mature kids, I wish I had that kind of intelligence and strenght at their age, and even an ounce of their ability to forgive and forget and accept even the darkest parts of who they are).

Like I said, I'm in awe of this book, please give it a chance, I promise it is so very worth it. You guys won't regret it. I'll surely buy my own physical copy when it comes out in order to snuggle it and adore it in the way it deserves.
All the stars to this book, really. All of them

This book was amazing! The development between Jonathan and Kurl blossoms so naturally and you spend the entire novel rooting for them. It reminded me some of Aristotle and Dante from Benjamin Alire Saenz's novel or something by David Levithan. This will be one of those rare novels I read again after it releases and will probably end up in my personal collection as well.

Easily the best book I've read this year. I loved these characters, and I couldn't put the book down--I read it in less than a day.

Loved this book. I thought it was going to be more like Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda but it was much darker. Perfect for fans of realistic fiction that tackles tough issues.

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this one, except to say that this is probably one of the most romantic novels I've ever read in my whole life. I'm almost sad that I read this because I'll never get that first time reading experience back and this is one of those books that just makes your heart explode throughout that entire initial read. While some of the thematic elements aren't really anything new and I can see why Kurl and Jo have been compared to Ari and Dante . . . there's still something about this book that just tore at my heart. I think ultimately, those feelings come from the fact that the author decided to write this novel in letters. There is something inherently intimate about reading some one else's letter, especially when they do such an exquisite job of unraveling one of the most breathtakingly beautiful love stories I've ever read. Jo and Kurl will stay with me for a long time and I have a feeling I'm not alone in that sentiment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.

Jo and Kurl are paired up by their English teacher to be penpals for a school assignment. A few grades apart, they don't really know each other but do know of each other. Kurl is one of the football stars of the school, eerily calm, but has the reputation for getting into fights. Jo dresses like he's from another time, loves to reference Walt Whitman, and is openly gay. So naturally they start out their assignment only being aware of the differences between them. But soon they become friends, and then more than that. When each faces personal dilemmas, they will have to fight to hold on to each other... or they will have to let go.

This book wasn't perfect, but it was sweet and beautifully written. The way both Jo and Kurl make references to Walt Whitman and various musicians and describe the way they feel about different situations and each other is lovely, even when lovely stuff isn't happening in the book (and I will warn you, spoiler free, there is some drama in the book that I didn't love but man is it well-written). I think that this is going to become one of those LGBT contemporary books that YA readers are really going to like.