This title is much more serious than the cover suggests. It deals with homophobia, especially in religion, toxic romantic and platonic relationships, and disordered eating. I was sort of ready for a romantic, fun contemporary, but what I got was a much more serious book that is a huge improvement on the debut. I will absolutely be recommending this one.

First of all I love the cover of this book, it's so colorful! London is one of my favorite places, so I wanted to read this as soon as I knew what it was about. The main character, Marty, is seventeen and moving to London for the summer to try and create a new life there. The situation he's escaping from becomes clear from diary entries in between the chapters.

I went into this expecting a light hearted travel drama, and it started that way, but then quickly became more serious. There are funny moments, but Marty deals with a lot of heavy things, including anxiety. I appreciated the mental illness rep and related to it myself. Marty's anxiety begins to manifest in panic attacks and later disordered eating. He is involved in a couple of toxic friendships that worsen his anxiety. This is not a romance. There is a romantic relationship, but it's not the only plot in the book and (spoiler) (view spoiler). I enjoy seeing more books for the "new adult" crowd. A lot of this reminded me of my late teens/early twenties when I was studying abroad and making things work on a shoestring. I also really liked how important music is in the book, and that aspect felt very true to life.

(Thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC)

TW: eating disorders, homophobia, toxic relationships

I'm probably gonna keep this short and sweet and just say I liked it. I really, really did. If Goodreads had point-stars, I'd give it a 4.25.

The Great:

>The writing really felt like a step up from The Gravity of Us (which I still really enjoyed). It settled into Marty's voice much quicker and I was able to get lost in his thoughts easier.
>The characters were wonderfully imperfect. Most of the characters Marty interacts with are musicians, and besides the butting of egos, they all are unique characters who add to the narrative with lives and personalities of their own. I also found Marty a fascinating character. He goes through so much, but the story never feels like the typical hero's arc. He has much to learn throughout the novel and I was really able to take on that journey.
>The complexities - I highly recommend reading through the trigger warnings before starting this book because there were a lot. AFAYTM was much darker than Gravity in a number of ways, but mainly because Marty was put through much more. Aside from his anxiety, which plays a prominent and thankfully fleshed-out role in the book, Marty has to deal with homophobic parents, the price of having a dream, and loneliness in a small town. I especially loved the part about growing up in a small town with parents who were homophobic but still supposedly loving. It was an interesting take because a lot of queer narratives that deal with homophobia at home have a more I Wish You All the Best take (where the queer kid is kicked out of their home because of unaccepting parents), which is still absolutely valid. But the more "subtle" (not really) homophobia under the guise of parental love was very powerful. It also deals with toxic friendships in a way I haven't seen much before in YA queer fiction, and I really appreciated that.

The meh:

>I really did not want to say this, but the romance wasn't my favorite part. It was still good, imperfect, but had its cute moments. I think it's just a personal thing, but I've never really liked the falling in love at first/second glance trope. That didn't mean the romance was bad, it definitely grew into a part of the story I really enjoyed, it just took a while to get there.
>The pacing - the sped up and slowed down in uneven parts, but overall I was still hooked from the beginning and really enjoyed the arc. However, I believe that is mostly because I largely prefer character-driven narratives. If you're looking for high stakes, blood-pounding contemporary, this isn't for you.

Overall, AFAYTM is an important story that needed to be told and an all-around good read. I can't wait to see more from Phil Stamper in the future! (

Thoughts and Themes: I knew that I had to read this one as soon as I saw that Phil Stamper came out with a new book since I really enjoyed The Gravity of Us. I winded up listening to this story on audiobook while following along with the e-book. I found that the audiobook of this story was great to listen to and easy to follow. This is one that I had to sit on before writing the review because there were so many different things going on in the story that I wanted to touch on.

Something that I really enjoyed about this book was the anxiety representation, I rarely get to read books that show anxiety as part of the story but not the center of it. I really liked that Marty’s personality isn’t just his anxiety but that is a large part of his life. I liked getting to see how anxiety manifests itself in his daily life and how it contributed to his ability to travel.

Something else that I enjoyed about this book but also found hard to read was Marty’s parent's homophobia and religious bigotry. I thought that this was done well and I know we would love to see them grow but I thought it was very real to include that they don’t grow. I liked that this book shows that sometimes people don’t change, and their views stay static.

Something that was unexpected and I had a hard time with was that Marty begins to develop body image issues and it leads to disordered eating. While I do think this is important to include and how it is something that needs to be brought up especially with the expectations for body types within the gay community, I do wish there had been some sort of warning.

One of the big things in this book that I really wanted to touch on was the forced outing that was done by Marty’s friend, Megan. I thought this was an important part of this story to include because of the impact it had on him. I thought it was well done because you get to see what Marty’s fears and concerns are about being out back home amongst people other than his close friends and family.

Characters: Through this story you are introduced to several characters through their interactions with Marty. I really enjoyed each of the characters that you get to meet throughout the interactions that Marty hash them.

I thought it was great to meet so many different characters and also get a chance to see how Marty’s relationship with each person differed. I thought it was great getting to see the contrast between Marty’s new friends and his old friends and how he changes through the development of these friendships.

I also really liked getting to see the contrast between the relationship that Marty has with his parents and his family in London. I thought it was great to see how either family reacted to his coming out and the difference that makes in his life. I really liked getting to know a little bit about the aunt and how she felt about the whole ordeal with Marty’s parents and him coming out. I thought it was important to show that he had some people who supported him regardless of his parent’s differing opinions.

Writing Style: This story is told in the first person through our main character, Marty’s perspective. The story goes back and forth between the present time and some diary entries that are a part of an assignment that Marty had to complete last summer.

As I listened to the audiobook, I also want to comment on the narrator of the story. The narrator does a great job with this story and is easy to listen to. I like the pace that this story keeps as it isn’t too quick but also not too slow. It’s something that you could listen to in a day while getting other things done.

This one was a slow read for me....but not because of the story, at least not directly. I loved Marty and his journey of self discovery and how he traveled to London and did things even if they were out of his comfort zone. I loved the side characters and would love to have learned more about them or to have companion stories. This was a slow read because the setting was just so real....and in these days of Covid-19 restrictions where I can't travel to my favorite places it just made this read a little bittersweet. Like I felt like I was in London and exploring my favorite city along with Marty....but since I can't be there now it made it hard for me to want to pick up and read as the memories of London trips past were hard. I can't wait for this pandemic to be over and I can return to my regular trips abroad..

But don't let my missing travel stop you from picking up this book! Marty is dealing with anxiety and learning to be comfortable being himself and learning what he wants in life (which is so very typical for 17). I liked how he didn't have all the answers and how he made mistakes but also held not just himself but other accountable for their actions. Marty is such a rich and amazing character and I just know you are going to love him when you meet him.

I was excited to see this book on Netgalley, after enjoying Stamper’s debut last year - and I’m going to be honest, I was disappointed by this one. The premise sounded great - gay kid from a small town moves to London to try and start over, meets news friends and a boy, tries to start his music career, travels ... but the story was SO disjointed. The main character, Marty, has anxiety, so maybe that’s what the author was trying to do in the book - make the readers feel how discombobulated & scattered he feels? I also had a very hard time liking, well, any of the characters ... and none of the relationships felt very deep and well-thought out.

Whatever the reason for the erratic writing, I tried to finish the book as quickly as possible because I honestly just wanted it to be over. I’m glad it exists - books with queer characters by queer authors are so important - but this one just wasn’t for me, at all.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Published February 9, 2021.

2.5 stars

To start off I want to thank NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with an e-arc for As Far As You'll Take Me in exchange for an honest review. I started reading this before the publishing date and honestly considered DNFing it more than a handful of times, but I kept pushing through and finally finished it. I do appreciate the number of own voice authors creating real-world queer stories but this wasn't one I'd personally recommend nor can I say will sit with me.

I had a lot of issues with the storytelling, this writing style just isn't for me. I've grown out of the YA contemporary phase but I do try to get my hands on lgbtq+ reads no matter the genre. I felt that the maturity level of this story could have been higher, Marty is a graduate of high school trying to find his place in the world as an adult. In my opinion, that should have led this story to have a more mature tone but it didn't. I know it was targeted for Young Adults but it just seemed so off.

Marty was a very irritating main character, and this book tried to tackle a lot of different issues including mental health, eating disorders, forced outing, and homophobia. As much as I love books that raise awareness of such things this book didn't do that for me, not on a positive note. I found a lot of the decisions from Marty to be very toxic and he was just very immature as I stated above.

It's disappointing because I did have high expectations for this book and I was let down. There were some good aspects just not enough to say this was an okay read for me.

I was really charmed by Phil Stamper's debut last year, and As Far As You'll Take Me was another wonderful story! It gave me such wanderlust in the midst of this pandemic though!

Phil Stamper's second novel, As Far As You'll Take Me, defies every expectation and theory about a "sophomore slump."
I don't know quite what I was expecting, but the cover projects a light-hearted, fun, wanderlust vibe, and while there is undoubtedly traveling incorporated into this novel, the very last word that I would use to describe it is lighthearted. AFAYTM brings you face to face with some of the more difficult and pressing issues facing LGBTQIA+ youth today. From stifling religion, unsupportive parents, toxic friendships, being outed, first relationships, moving to a new country, lying to your family, job hunting, and maybe most importantly: eating disorders and the quest to find yourself... this book has A LOT going on.
At times both painful to read and too painful to put down, AFAYTM perches readers firmly in the mind of Marty as he leaves his entire world of rural Kentucky behind to forge a new path in London. With the help of his cousin and a ruse worthy of a heist novel, Marty is determined to be his own person.
There are just a few problems:
1. He blew his audition into this prestigious music academy, and now he only has the summer to secure employment and lodgings, or it's back to the USA
2. Marty suffers intensely from debilitating anxiety; he cannot be in crowds without his anxiety triggering a full-blown panic attack
3. His parents refuse to accept his sexual identity and will not let him be out
4. He's been in London for 10 minutes and he's already falling for the mad cute and charismatic bad boy of the music scene

For me, the most painful part of this novel was Marty's development of an eating disorder to make himself more attractive to his love interest and the painful dissolution of his friendships back home. I could not believe how realistic Stamper crafted the inner monologuing of our Marty and the dialogue between this myriad of kids all struggling in some ways.

Clearly, there is much, much more in store from Stamper, and I, for one, cannot wait.

One of the most emotional books I've read. What made me engage on this story was the fact that I could identify withe main character with almost everything, and I hadn't felt that sensation from a long time, it was amazing and honestly surprising.
The story was full with friendship, love, future dreams and uncertainties. While reading the book I passed through all the ranges of emotion posible, and I would gladly read it over and over again.
Loved every single detail of it

This was a great contemporary read for teens and adults alike. I would absolutely recommend it to people and will add it to our library YA section.

Marty is a talented oboist, who also happens to be gay in a very small-minded Kentucky town. So when the opportunity arises to spend a summer abroad in England with his cousin Shane, who is also gay, Marty lies to his parents about getting into a summer music school and hops a flight to London.

Marty's not used to being on his own, and suffers with anxiety, so when his cousin is not waiting at the airport, but instead, Shane's friend Pierce, Marty isn't sure he's made the right decision. But Pierce is cute, and Marty goes sightseeing with him and finds himself crushing.

Through Pierce, Marty meets students in the music school he is supposed to be attending, and makes new friends, which shocks him. But he's homesick, he's lying to his parents, and he doesn't feel like he belongs.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age story by Phil Stamper. As the reader travels across the pond and across Europe with Marty, we get to experience his growing pains with him. Stamper gives such a strong character development for Marty that we can't help but root for him to find what it is he's looking for.

I very much enjoyed this book and would highly recommend. A lovely read by a lovely author!

I love Phil Stamper and this book did not disappoint! A cute story about love and acceptance of each other and oneself.

Loved this book so, so much! Thought it was better than Stampers first book, and I loved that book, too. Would have liked to have seen a content warning for eating disorders a the beginning.

4.5/5 stars
CW: anxiety, toxic friendship, toxic/manipulative romantic relationship, homophobia, use of religion to justify homophobia and other judgmental behaviors, outing someone without their consent, disordered eating

Thank you to Netgalley & Bloomsbury YA for providing me with a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Release date: February 9, 2021

This was definitely a heavier read that I had anticipated, which I personally really loved but I'm mentioning it right in the beginning of my review because I think it's important for people to be conscious of that before starting it.

To sum up the things I loved:
- Marty's character development. He really goes through an emotional journey throughout this book, and he does have incredibly low moments, but in the end he really came to terms with the fact that some things in his life were incredibly toxic for him and was able to leave those situations for the better. At the start of the book, despite his best friend Megan being very abusive to him, he made a lot of excuses for her behavior and didn't realize how toxic she was. But throughout the book, he makes new friends, learns to build healthy friendships and eventually comes to a point where he realizes he really needs to break off his friendship with Megan. Same goes for his relationship with Pierce. That relationship starts off with an instalove-y crush and Marty ignoring other people's warnings about Pierce, and Marty really goes through a lot of struggles because of that relationship but I was really proud of him for being able to realize the toxicity of it and break things off in the end.

- I also really loved that the story was partly focused on music. I don't play nearly as much anymore, but I played piano consistently for about eight or nine years and I really love music in general. Plus, I feel like we don't get a lot of stories that center on music that aren't about singing or like, teenage bands, and it was refreshing to have a story center on something we don't see a lot.

- It was really heartwarming to see Marty go from a pretty homophobic & close-minded environment to a new friend group where queerness was completely normalized. Plus, that whole friend group was really nice to read about. I would've liked to see a little bit more of the side characters, but I still really enjoyed what we did get to learn about them.

- I really liked the exploration of mental health issues. I related to a lot of elements of the portrayal of Marty's anxiety and felt like it was very realistic, though I don't currently have any kind of diagnosed anxiety disorder so I would definitely take the word of people who do over mine on this. As for his struggles with disordered eating, I really appreciated the discussion of that topic, though I don't feel that it's my place to judge if the portrayal was good & realistic.

The only small issue I had is that I would have liked to see the plotline about Marty's issues with disordered eating be brought up in some way in the conclusion of the book. Despite being a very important aspect of the book, after Marty's confrontation with Sophie and Shane about the topic, it wasn't talked about much more. He briefly mentions that he's started eating a little bit more, but says it's only to make sure he doesn't pass out again. I definitely understand his problem not being magically fixed by the end of the story, but I think at least some kind of follow-up would have been relevant, for example either some mention of a beginning of recovery or of getting treatment for it. (or both, those can obviously go together)

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 25%

Honestly, I wanted so badly to love this one. I read and enjoyed Phil Stampers debut book when it came out so I was excited to see what was coming out next but I just couldn't get into this one at all. I felt so disconnected from the main character and was so confused about the composition of the story. The story is supposed to be about Marty being in London for at least 3 months when he comes of age and plans to instead stay there and not go back home but at 25% we were still only on day 2. I feel like the overall balance of the story is thrown off with that much focus in that time frame.

Not only that but I felt confused by the events that happened during this 25% of the book. I take multiple trips a year typically and if I were to get off the plane and have the person picking me up insist that they were going to take me on a subway and do some touring while having to lug my luggage around I would be so upset. Not only that but I can't think of anyone who would do that either. It just felt so disconnected to reality. I also wasn't super impressed with the anxiety representation from what I had read. It seemed at times that it was over exaggerated even though there were moments I could connect to with my own anxiety.

Overall, I wasn't impressed and just felt like I was struggling to read. I'll probably still look into Phil Stampers next book as I did enjoy his first. I wish I could have connected more to the main character and the story he was trying to tell.

This is a tough book to review because while it got a lot right, I think it skimmed over some areas where it should have gone deeper which gave a bad impression. The main character, Marty, is escaping his life with religious parents and intense best friend in Kentucky to start over as an out and proud gay man in London, England with his cousin. He lied to his family to say he was accepted into a summer music program, but really he is moving there with no real plan other than to use his musical talent at playing the oboe to get jobs to be a professional musician. Right away, you can see how Marty's privileges allow him to make this life change with a better cushion than a lot of other people would have, yet there is never any acknowledgment of his sufficient funds in his bank account, family who already lives there to stay with, dual citizenship status because his mother is from Ireland, and musical ability that allows him to play in parks and immediately earn money. That lack of acknowledgment kept me at a bit of a distance when being asked to empathize with Marty.

However, his anxiety was so much like mine that I didn't have trouble relating to him as a character. I've had so many of his exact thought processes in new situations. Even though the author is from Ohio, I also liked how he described Kentucky as a place that can feel like home but have aspects that mean you have to leave it to fully be yourself. Being LGBTQ in Kentucky isn't easy or even always safe, and the religious community can push people out more than it brings them in. I knew exactly what the author was describing when Marty would talk about the state and his family.

The other big aspects of the book in addition to moving away to live in a new country were the travel once there, Marty's unhealthy relationship with food, and the new friendships, and even a first boyfriend. Though the travel was fun, this is not a road trip or travel story because the other issues of Marty's story go a lot deeper. The friendships and romantic relationship were done really really well. They felt like relationships teenagers would actually have, good and bad. The toxic aspects were handled well and I think would help teens identify the toxic behaviors in their own lives that might otherwise get excused or overlooked as Marty did at first. Marty also developed dangerous eating habits of skipping meals to always want to lose more weight. I thought this could have been handled better in the end when it seemed too much like a switch he just turned off to wrap up the ending. The ending overall felt this way and was too rushed to give the more complex understanding the author had been going for in the rest of the book. It was a good story with important discussions and representation, but it was also missing some additional focus and discussion that holds it back from being fully realized. (3.5 stars)

This was such an enjoyable read. While I think this book dealt with a lot of different topics, I am glad it did. Real life doesn't allow for people to only deal with one issue at a time. Life is messy and unstructured. That is what I liked about this book. There wasn't one big issue that Marty deals with in the story. There are multiple issues. Almost every single thing that Marty experienced in this book is relatable. I do wish there was more depth to the story. This book is a quick read and left me wanting more. I will continue to pick up Phil Stamper's books going forward and I am so excited for his middle grade books coming out.

I liked this one more than The Gravity of Us and I think it definitely shows improvement and a good idea of the trajectory that Phil Stamper's career might go in. That said, the marketing for it is pretty subpar. The cover and summary make it seem like a really heartwarming coming of age and doesn't really give any hint of how heavy a lot of the material is. Other readers I've talked to felt the same disconnect.

It definitely needs content warnings for toxic friendships, toxic relationships, religious trauma, and eating disorders. If you go in with that in mind, it's a good read, if perhaps sometimes a little rushed in tying up loose ends. But it's very jarring if you pick it up just going off the cover and synopsis.

The book centers around Marty, who has less than accepting parents. As far as they know, he's going to England for a summer trip for band. What they don't know is that the ticket is one way.

Honestly, my thoughts throughout this book were just "eh". None of the writing really resonated with me and the story in general was lackluster.

Overall, a decent coming of age book about friendships, family, and first love.

Trigger warnings: homophobia, getting outed, toxic romance