I was tempted to give this only one star, but I did like the way this book (briefly) talked about the fluidity of sexuality. Other than that, there was nothing else in this book that stood out for me.

The story just felt unoriginal and cliche. I feel like I've read a lot of stories like this already. The characters are a bit interesting, but they're uninspiring. They had the potential to be awesome characters for me, characters that will affect me and move me. Sad to say that didn't happen. Also, Jordan bothered me quite a few times when he kept implying/saying that he'll make Elliot realize he's gay. Uhm?? Maybe let the guy come to terms with it himself? It seemed so off and pushy. Oh and, at the start of the story, Elliot was having some inner problems about his future/college plans and his family. I would have loved to see that get resolved, but it was like Eli forgot about those the minute the love story presented itself in the story. The minor character Holiday was pretty awesome, though, but that was it. At the end, I was only left unsatisfied.

CW: Bullying, homophobia

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

Had I realized this was a WattPad novel, I probably would not have requested it. It HEAVILY needs an editor. Great concept, but just FAR too long.

Elliot is the classically written high school misfit who through no fault of his own hasn’t found a click to fall in to or realized his own true identity. He’s unmotivated due to his familial circumstance and clueless about most interpersonal relationships. He doesn’t admit when he is being bullied but recognizes it happening to others. He has an extremely uncomfortable and unwarranted exchange with a teacher who uses derogatory language towards herself. There is no flow and no causality in this book. No story arch. Elliot (Eli) and Jordan’s love story was sweet, a very tentative high school romance. Honestly, their interactions saved the last half of this book. I was only able to connect to the characters after they begin to open up about themselves. This book needed another go around or more beta’ing before being published.

unfortunately had to DNF Lab Partners by Mora Montgomery very early on, despite the cute premise. There was a lot of stilted writing, too many unnecessary details, and other reviews made me very skeptical that I would enjoy the rest of it. Also not into the trope of LGBTQ people being forced to come out, and try to avoid reading it when I can.

Ok so I give this a 3.5 because I really do like this book a lot, but I also felt like we needed more and need somethings taken out. This book is a simple cute quick read and follows very similar formats you see pertaining to love, bullying, high school, etc. but that didn’t bother me. I was still surprised when Elliot and Jordan liked each other and I was surprised that his friend had so much dirt on Cole and the boys, but some scenes were just unnecessary. I also wish we had more interaction with him talking to his parents and him and Jordan being more of a couple. I feel like it lightly touch on depression, bullying, and being gay and didn’t really give more then “this is happening” oh and Holiday is the best.


I do really like Jordan, but I didn't like the way he pushed Elliott. I feel like he was convincing him to be gay and didn’t give Elliott the time and space for him to think and decide. But he was there to get him out of him comfortable zone and to feel safe and loved. I wish the school and Elliott's parents would have intervened sooner before things got worse. I don’t understand why they just let it go and act like nothing is going on. I mean I know there are some parents who do that but it’s crazy.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to this. The cover is cute and the premise sounded interesting. However it fell flat.

The characters were flat and most, especially the bullies, stereotypical. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between Elliot and Jordan but they had some really cute moments.

This is a prime example of telling and now showing. Everything was over described - there was a full page to making spaghetti. There were so many descriptions for every little thing.

I’m not a fan of how the bullying was handled at all. There was so much bullying and yet no teacher or parent did anything? Why? And the way Eliot was discovering his sexuality, not a fan. I loved Holly for most of the book, until she completely changed my opinion.

I have to admit I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover and the synopsis but found parts of it problematic.

Elliot is a senior at Pinecrest who gets randomly paired up with the new student Jordan in AP Chemistry. What follows is a tale of bullying, self-acceptance, and discovering your sexuality.

One of the main things i have an issue with is how Jordan got Elliot to confront and admit his sexuality. Without giving spoilers I feel like it could have been handled more delicately.

The second issue is with how adults in this book handle bullying. Everyone basically turns a blind eye even when it is obvious there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

This was a cute read that I finished in less than a day. I just wish it focused more on the getting to know each phase of the friendship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for this ARC, which will be available for purchase March 10, 2020

I got about 15% through Lab Partners and unfortunately had to put it down. The writing is so clunky - extremely simple structure and 100% tell 0% show, and the characters and their dialogue are so flat. It read like a 5th grader's report of what they did over summer break. I'm sorry that I couldn't finish this one and didn't like it, as the premise did sound interesting.

I really liked the cover of this book, I'm all about original art on covers. Sadly, I didn't feel the same. about the book. The writing was a bit stilted for me; often reading more like a list of actions than a novel. It did improve a bit as the novel went on.

I didn't mind the story at first, but it became clear to me that everyone in the book who was LGBTQIA was being bullied or pressured in some way. I recognize that some people have challenging lives but it was really depressing to read soul about negative experiences.

Bullying is a very difficult subject to cover. I may not be the intended audience for this book because this subject certainly wasn't covered in a way that worked for me. To begin with, there was a lot of bullying going on for poor Elliot and yet no one around - in particular the adults - seemed to have anything constructive to say or provided any assistance. For the most part, he was on his own. I also don't think the resolution was good in terms of - let's get "revenge' on the bullies. It's a personal opinion but I don't think that's the way to deal with anything.

I was also uncomfortable about the way Jordan was "convincing" Elliot to be gay. That felt a bit too much like pressure and coercion to me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Book contains bullying and homophobia

This is the most average book I have ever read. From the over-explained scenes about making spaghetti. How much water is needed. How much boiling the water needed. I got the impression that a specific word count was the goal and because this was a bare bones story that had a lot of filler before it started lab partnering.

Elliot is a young man battling depression, denial and bullying... lmao no. This book didn't have the guts to explore that. Elliot is just a young man. He thinks he is boring. He can cook, he has a badass best friend, a twin sister wunderkind and soon, a lab partner that he falls in love with. Elliot does have three bullies that torment him but they also were cardboard cutout stereotypical bullies from every generic American high school movie ever made. Jordan wasn't special either.

The one character that I was intrigued by is Cole. He is one of Elliot's bullies but he had "a secret". He seemed more complex and more meaty as a story than Elliot. This is only the second Wattpad book I've ever read and I won't lie, it will be the last.

2.5/5

I really thought this book was going to be cute, touching and comforting. And it was not. Some parts did though. 

Let me explain. 

I felt really connected to the main character, Elliott Goldman, and I dove into his world and his head quite easily. I loved the set up especially this quite little country town. Members of his family were really enjoyable especially his twin-sister Eleanor who has a special place in my heart for all her thoughtful and clever lines about sexuality. And of course Jordan Hughes was the ultimate perfect boyfriend material with his brain, his humor and his kindness.

That plus all the « fall-in-love » parts were utterly enjoyable and cute and I really liked it.

Elliott is struggling a lot about his identity and he has to face the bullying. It’s real, it’s a real issue today all over the world, and I liked that the author wanted to point out the blindness of the teachers and the school in general. She was not afraid to show that when you close your eyes to that - whether you’re an adult or a student - you ultimately become a complice of the bullying. On one hand, those scenes were violent and can hurt a numerous number of people who has suffered from it. But in other hand, it is necessary to show what’s bullying like and how school has the tendency to be part of the problem by not taking any measure.

In the end, the writing was pleasant, the relationship absolutely adorable and the message quite necessary.

In other notes, I think it would be great to put some trigger warnings at the beginning of the book.

Oh! I loved the book from start to finish. i didn't like the comments Eli made about some people, but his character grew within the book. So this was a mix of adorable, cute -grin ear to ear type of book. It was some drama and we see alot what Eli go through, bullying, homophobia and more. But i'm glad i got to read this!

DNF'ed at 30%. Skimmed further, and I agree with previous reviewers about how the issue of bullying is handled, ie poorly.

It's written as if it were a list instead of a story - conversations with Jordan are given the same weight as Elliot searching for the other end of his phone charger to plug it in, or looking for the right size lid to put on a pan of pasta.

I had high hopes for this as the synopsis and cover were cute, but the execution left me disappointed.

Thanks to netgalley and Wattpad books for giving me the opportunity to review this e-arc

What happened here? There is barely anything about being lab partners or science class. Almost all of the book takes place elsewhere. Why are Elliot's parents so oblivious to his violent bullies. The story was supposed to be realistic and required too much suspension of disbelief. sorry. I wanted to like it.

3.5 stars!

Main Thoughts/Things I Loved
Overall, I enjoyed this book! It was a short read that followed a well-loved story queer story arc ... one character thinks they're straight, meets a queer person, falls in love with said person, discovers their sexuality, etc. Not the most original storyline - but one which I love - and one which is so popular for a reason! Montgomery also did a great job of creating a strong setting - the book only takes place in a few different environments (school, home, etc.) and I felt like I could very clearly envision all of the character's environments.

Things I Didn't Love
There were moments when I questioned some of the book's choices. I didn't love the way that Jordan came on to Elliott about his sexuality - he was a bit forceful. The bullying scenes were also painful to read - and even more painful were the ways in which the other characters reacted. That being said - I completely understand that both of these things happen in real life and need to be discussed (and written about). I felt, however, that the author didn't always address the issues in a way which truly denounced them. In other words, sometimes it felt like the author was normalizing these painful situations as a "part' of being queer - but failed to make it clear that none of the situations which happened in the book should be a part of the queer experience.

I was provided with an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

The cover and synopsis initially attracted me to this story but unfortunately, Lab Partners was a struggle for me to finish (I did, because I wanted so badly to like this book, but... Oof.) and I had a few key issues with it.

Firstly, the writing style through this novel, while very easy to read, is extremely tedious and filled with descriptions and lists of mundane actions and objects. For example, during a lab that Elliot and Jordan do, every single step of their experiment is listed and described. This made the book extremely difficult to get through and I ended up skimming over large portions at a time just to get to the next part. Additionally, although this could have been a formatting issue in my digital copy (a lot of the spacing was messed up), it was hard to tell at times who was talking, and I often lost track of the plot due to the rambling nature of the writing.

Next, the romance between Elliot and Jordan seemed to come out of nowhere - perhaps to mirror Elliot's confusion over discovering his sexuality? Although I was expecting it given the summary, it was still surprising when Jordan kissed Elliot seemingly out of the blue. Jordan's character is one that I found rather sweet and charming at the beginning of the book, but I felt a little uncomfortable at how he was "convincing" Elliot of their relationship. <spoiler>One other minor thing: At the end of the book, he starts calling Elliot 'kitten', and personally, this pet name just made me want to cringe.</spoiler>

Finally, as several other reviewers have mentioned, the resolution of the bullying in this story was extremely uncomfortable to me. <spoiler>After an incident in which Elliot is cornered in the school bathroom and violently beaten by three bullies, his childhood friend Holly comes to his defense by revealing the bullies' darkest secrets and publicly shaming them. One bully, Cole, is forced out in front of the entire school, while Holly reveals that another bully is struggling with his step-father's alcoholism. The message here that "bullying, as long as it's done to the bullies, is ok" is extremely problematic.</spoiler> Additionally, throughout the book, Elliot is constantly tormented and physically assaulted by the bullies, but other than one teacher pulling him aside for the "you're safe here, you can tell me anything" talk, absolutely nothing is done about it. Ultimately, this issue is what brought the overall rating down to 1* and will also keep me back from recommending this book.

A few things I enjoyed: Elliot's character is very sweet and his parents seemed like nice, if not extremely oblivious, characters as well. <spoiler>I also have an issue with parents betting on their kids' sexuality, so that part was a little 'oof' for me.</spoiler> Holly was a great side character until the incident mentioned above. For the most part, Jordan and Elliot's relationship was cute and innocent, and Elliot's struggles with his sexuality were relatable.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fast read, I don't know what the real page count would be on a printed version because reading an eBook doesn't show in this way; so it may have read quickly because of length or the flow of the story. I enjoyed a majority of this but found few flaws along the way, but would still recommend it to friends if they were looking for a light hearted contemporary.

TW: homophobia, assault, bullying

I was a little skeptical about this one but I ended up honestly really enjoying it. We follow a high school senior, Elliot, as he navigates a small town high school. Elliot is bullied relentlessly and is physically assaulted more than once throughout the course of the story. He gets paired with the new kid, Jordan, as his lab partner and a really lovely friendship (and more) follows from there.

While the writing in this one isn't the most sophisticated, the author definitely has a clear voice and an important message. This is an LGBTQ+ novel with ace rep and I'm excited to see where the author goes from here. Lots of promise for the future from this author.

This was a cute story of a boy’s self discovery.

Elliot is a young high school senior with no friends. He isn’t the typical “nerd” or characteristically ugly, but because of his loner status, he is bullied relenting this group of three boys. When new kid Jordan arrives at school, he befriends Eli quickly, after being assigned as his new lab partner. Things are starting to look up now that Elliot has a friend, but Jordan blows all of that up with a single kiss. This puts into question Elliot’s sexuality. He must decide what he wants, which is difficult because on one hand, he never even gave any thought to being gay, but on the other hand, he cannot stop thinking about the boy with the greenish-blue eyes.

Not only was this a coming of age (of sorts) story, this was a serious tale of bullying in high school. Even before the rumors of Eli being gay surface, he is bullied to the point of being seriously hurt. This does a good job of representing “why” bullies become bullies. Typically, they have aspects of their own lives in which they have no control over and that causes them to lash out and TAKE that control by lording it over other people. A lot of the times, bullies are bullies because they are afraid of something themselves.

The one thing that I didn’t like about this book was the extremely descriptive parts. The author goes on to tell in detail basic processes. After a while I got used to it and didn’t seem to notice anymore. But in the beginning it was an issue for me.

Elliot and Jordan were cute. They found friendship in one another, which came at a very important time for both of them. The other character I liked was Holly (Holiday). Her revenge at the end was great. I was worried that it would be problematic for me, but ultimately her revenge she served was well deserved.

Lab partners is a short and sweet gay romance which deals with homophobia , bullying , hate crime and harassment.

Lab partners follows Elliot Goldman , the student who gets bullied the most. I saw Lab partners as Elliot's journey for a couple of months where he accepts himself and the help of others while forming bonds.

Elliot doesn't have friends. He is lonely and feels lost most of the time. Once he's paired up with Jordan Hughes , the new kid in high school , Elli's life dramatically changes .

The book is short. And the conversations and the scenes were swoonworthy. (This is coming from a person who has had a rough patch with YA contemps recently)

The side characters weren't much explored , but I loved them nonetheless. Especially Holiday (yes , that's her name) , Elliot's sister's friend. She's badass.

Overall , I would definitely recommend Lab Partners to you ,

If you're looking for
🌟Beach read
🌟Summer romance
🌟Books with small town romance
🌟Fluff with heavy themes.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for granting me with the e-ARC for my honest opinions.