Date Me, Bryson Keller was highly recommended from some of my favorite reviewers in YA/LGBTQ+ space. Fun with thoughtful moments, this sweet queer rom-com is a backlist title that should be read.

Kevin van Whye's romance is a fun read. The relationship that grows between Kai and Bryson, from blossoming friendship to something more, is sweet and relatable. This will be a perfect pick for young people who are still learning who they are and how they fit in the world.

I read this very quickly. I loved the story. It was very cute and good for someone looking for a meatier Heartstopper. Besides a few curse words, it was clean.

This sounded really cute and fun and like a perfect little escape of a YA romance, but seeing things about the inspiration about this and the idea that this would automatically be better than the manga with the same premise hits poorly because of sociocultural differences in Japan and surrounding shonen-ai stories versus English-language stories being published in the United States. Purely a case of “not for me.”

I purchased this book for my high school library. My students have enjoyed it. and it has circulated well.

I got this book from the publisher but now that I know the author was "heavily inspired" by a manga and didn't even deny the accusation. This was a good book still but my feelings towards it are now pretty mixed....

This was definitely not a book I would recommend as a top read or favourite book. It was run of the mill and predictable.

This book was so cute! It was like the perfect inverse of the fake-dating trope: the secret dating trope. I loved all of Kai and Bryson's interactions as they slowly got more comfortable with one another. Their romance was really sweet to read about, just like a cup of ice cream on a hot summer day.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cute, warm, fuzzy, sweet, all the things you want in a romance. Not a ton of depth in my opinion, but that’s not what I came here for, so it’s fine. Would definitely recommend to any students who like m/m romances!

This was such a cute book, like what!!! I really enjoyed it and thought it was such a cute story. It was so fun and light and such a quick read!! i’m giving it 3 stars because it wasn’t really for me, just a cute little read for me, but i think a lot of younger school-age adults (as it’s aimed for) would enjoy it more though! I think i’m just getting too old to really love these books. (25 is old??? *cried*)

Loved this book. Definitely for fans of Love, Simon and other YA romcoms with LGBT main characters. Pacing was excellent and the characters are relatable and loveable. Love that the author included experiences from his own life in the book.

This was a really cute book. I found the characters and relationships to be realistic and there was just enough teen angst. It makes me really happy to see the representation available these days. I'll date myself and say that books like this were not available when I was in my teen years and I can say how excited I would've been to find something like this. It's basically a sweet, romantic dramedy, but everyone deserves a sweet, romantic dramedy. So, I'm happy to see this book and others like being available to readers. I’m very grateful that I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

a charming YA romance for readers who liked Red White and Royal Blue, I think. LIkely to appeal to many readers of all ages.

How many ways can I call a book bad without hurting the authors feelings? It was just SO bad. And like . . . bad for no reason. I'm unsure of how this book even got published. Would rate zero starts if I could.

My first encounter with Date Me, Bryson Keller was through the Penguin Random House eGalley blast. It was a title I looked past when scrolling through the said list. I knew through the synopsis and cover that it would be a tropey YA romance and tried to avoid it. Things flipped when close friends at #Bookstagram started clocking in five-star reviews for it – color me intrigued!!! There was also quite a controversy surrounding this so I wanted to find out myself.

Bryson Keller is the “IT-uberjock” at Fairvale Academy who firmly believes that being in a relationship in highschool is pointless until he was challenged. He was dared to date someone new every week – the first one to ask him out every Monday, and completing this within three months without breaking set rules will guarantee him victory. The gears were set in motion when Kai Sheridan, a closeted gay from a religious family, asked to be his date for the week. Bryson agrees and Kai might have just outed himself. Will Bryson win this game? Will Kai emerge unscathed?

This novel, a large portion of it, stayed cutesy and fluffy without glossing over the realness of the issues that needed to be pinned down to the board. I hungered for this. I loved the portrayal of the highscool romance between two boys. It is not perfect for being “too perfect” or the cliché “love is love” narrative. I digress. I think it’s also time to tell stories for being what they simply are. Boys giving furtive glances at each other. Boys flirting with other boys. Boys kissing boys. Full stop.

My heart is just so full finishing this book it might just burst any time now. This story is a warm blanket on a freezing day. Although the foundation of the novel is ridden with secret dating tropes, I loved so many things the book went to. I love its being awkward and unapologetically optimistic. There are so many likeable characters sometimes it is too much. You may find the book preachy at certain junctures but it does not deviate from the fact that the discourses ladled in this story are truths for one or more persons and all stories should be told. It is not solely focused in the sexuality or the coming-out phase but it also swerved through discourses on race, religion, family, and friendship. This is an #ownvoices novel, inspired in part by another story, and I empathise with the author.

Who would have thought that an unassuming book would turn out to be something more personal than I have expected it to be? Kai Sheridan sees me eye-to-eye and he had me flayed. His shoes I have worn before – something heavy and familiar. It pains to relive moments when you are the center of the joke or when you are reduced to being “the gay guy” while your other qualities go down the drain. It’s frustrating to doubt, fear, or beat yourself even while others bask in the normalcy of their lives. I might have teared a couple of times reading this book. No! I bawled even in the lightest conversations between Bryson and Kai It’s sad that Kai has this “I give as good as it gets” attitude but seldom thinks fair for himself. It is often that Bryson becomes the voice of reason reminding him that he deserves to be happy like everyone else. The author, in my opinion, carefully punctuated these seemingly light-hearted dialogues with the issues that closeted teens tediously juggle about. If it called out to me, it might resonate with you, too.

If there was something that is left to be desired in this book, that is certainly giving more attention to the existence of the spectrum. Although there was a mention of characters being “bi’ or “figuring it out”, there were little to no discussion of other genders. Should I fault the narrative for this lack of spotlight? I think not. We were following the story through the eyes of a closeted teen and them having little knowledge of the spectrum is highly possible. I, for one, may have been ignorant when I was a teen and may have seen the world as just either “straight” or “gay”. Was this an opportunity missed? Well, yes. I wanted Kai to stays as he is but it should have not restricted the author to use other perspectives to explore this such as discussions with his friends or from here overly mature-thinking sister.

Final thoughts: Date Me, Bryson Keller is a capsule of what we should and shouldn’t with a reminder that race, gender, status and other social constructs are irrelevant when love is love is love. This book is a delightful, endearing, swoon-worthy read that rivals your most coveted sweets. I’d definitely take multiple servings any time of the day!

I received an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. Ideas and opinions in this review are all mine and are not influenced by neither publisher nor author. Thank you Penguin Random House for sending me an eARC.

This was the exact type of YA contemporary that just doesn't really work for me. I think I'm too far out of its target demographic. Still, I can see a lot of teenagers enjoying this! It's well done, just not for me.

It has come out that this book is severely similar to the manga Seven Days and could be plagiarized from it. This knowledge has tainted by experience in reading it.

I was having trouble getting into the story before learning of this, but now that it has come to my attention I don't feel so bad putting this one down.

I loved this very much! The characters, the actions and even the plot itself! Very inspiring for my own book too!

DNF
Given the plagiarism accusations, I will not be reading or reviewing this book. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Date Me, Bryson Keller is like the book equivalent of cotton candy, and I'm not mad at it. The set up is adorable, with Bryson agreeing to a challenge I'm pretty sure I've read in manga where he'll date someone every week from Monday to Friday, whoever asks him out first. One week, Kai asks him out, even though he's in the closet, and they build a friendship and more. There is some tension related to reactions to them being together and Kai being forced out of the closet, but otherwise it's entirely feel good. The dialog between Kai and Bryson runs a bit cheesy, but the book just made me happy so I didn't really mind. A great read for anyone looking to just feel happy for a few hours.