Beautiful book that I think a lot of teenagers will enjoy, perfect for fans of T.J. Klune. I did think the characters fell a bit flat, and a lot of the fantasy elements weren't explained very well, but it was a cute book that I would recommend as a light read.

THE TEMPERATURE OF ME AND YOU by Brian Zepka is the story of what happens when Dylan, an average gay teenage boy in suburban Pennsylvania, meets Jordan, a cute new boy with an internal body temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit. With a series of arsons plaguing the town and a mysterious organization that seems to be on the hunt for Jordan, Dylan soon finds himself in over his head in more ways than one.

This book has a really cool idea and a lot of fun characters. The friendship between Dylan, Perry, and Kirsten is so sweet and hilarious. I liked how the mean girl, Savanna, has some hidden depths as well. The book is strongest when focusing on the group of teenagers and their various friendships, romances, and happenings at school. The author does a nice job of connecting the external plot with Dylan's internal growth, using smart images and metaphors.

Meanwhile, the romance and Jordan's whole situation with the super powers and HydroPro could have been more developed. The writing style is also overly simple in short, choppy sentences, so I couldn't connect to the characters and had a hard time following the sequence of events.

Thank you to NetGalley, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and Hyperion for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book because I had heard so much about it and thought the book description was really interesting. That being said, I was somewhat let down with the result.

I wished Jordan was in the book more for a character who is supposed to be the love interest. Although the author did a good job of showing Dylan as the main character, it felt that Jordan was more of an afterthought at some points. Jordan is who mainly carries the plot along, and when he isn’t there it feels like the characters are just wasting time until he returns.

That being said, I did enjoy Dylan’s friendships and his interactions with other school peers. I thought some of these relationships were really strong and enjoyed reading these parts more than I did those of Jordan and Dylan.

I am rating this book 3/5 because the characters were cute together and I did enjoy the majority of the story line, I just wish the romance between Jordan and Dylan was stronger.

This book was a DNF for me. I was so excited for it, but it was so disappointing. It took entirely too long for any real build up, and the way it was written was really difficult to enjoy. The way it was constantly telling us what was going on instead of telling us. I really do not know how to put into words the amount of issues I had with this story and its writing and its pace.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in this book. The premise was interesting, and I was excited to start it, but fairly early on in the book I could tell that the writing style just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the story because of it.

The characters didn't feel very real to me. They often sounded very child-like, especially in the beginning. I knew from the premise that they were around 16 years old, but sometimes they read more like 13-year-olds and it really threw me off. I also found their reactions to the plot to be very unrealistic. They glossed over things fairly quickly or focused on the wrong elements. I had this concern when I first read the summary for the book, but I was hoping the author would have found a way to work around this.

There were some nicely written passages here and there, moments that I could relate to as a queer person, but it wasn't enough for me. I'm an emotional person and I tear up at most books I read, but I didn't connect with the characters in this story at all. Even the saddest, most emotional chapters left me relatively unaffected.

A younger audience of readers might enjoy this book, but I wouldn't know to whom to recommend it. The characters are too underdeveloped for people who like character-centered stories; the plot was far too convoluted and yet far too easily resolved for people who like plot-heavy novels; the description was too lackluster and the writing left too much to be desired for people who focus on the writing style of a book.

The general idea was okay, but sadly not well executed.

Source: NetGalley

DNF at 57%. I really liked the premise of this book, but I just was not enjoying reading it. The plot should have felt high stakes but everyone was entirely too calm about everything. Overall the characters and writing style didn’t work for my taste. The romance is nice and may work for younger readers.

tend to judge a book by it's cover and let me tell you, this cover is gorgeous and the synopsis really pulled me in! This book was cute and the pacing was fine up until the ending. There is A LOT going on in the book and honestly is toes the line of nearly having too much going on.

(Spoiler alert from this point)

However I think the most frustrating aspect is not getting to know more of what Jordan did while they were apart and where he went. The ending is kind of sudden, not that it leaves you with many questions, just that Jordan returns and they kiss and thats the end, kind of similar to how sudden some Hallmark movies end.

Thank you to Netgalley, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and Hyperion for providing me an eARC for review

Thank you Disney Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

I really wanted to like this book since I heard so many good reviews about it, but something was just off for me. 20% through and had to DNF cause I wasn’t feeling the characters nor the writing style.
It is a YA that definitely reads like a YA. The MC felt 2-Dimensional and was more about quirky one liners and pop culture references than actual characterizations.
The second meeting between the boys was awkward and uncomfortable to read and was incredibly mentally unhealthy. A kidnapping? Really? And Jordan just spouting out all this information because Dylan came to find him ONCE? And that was enough? I get that Jordan wanted to tell someone, but that feels like a stretch to me after everything, presumably, Jordan has already been through. It felt underwhelmed and unnecessary for the backstory to be given in the way that it did. And the mystery of it all? Like Dylan said, “why tell him if it was dangerous?”. Maybe these answers are in the book, but I was so frustrated with how it was introduced that I don’t even want the answers.
And then there’s the friendships, granted, I know more about Kirsten and Perry as characters (and I do generally like them!) but the amount of times they gaslit their friend and just pushed away the outright brutal bullying from Savanna was heart breaking. Again, there’s probably answers further on, but the anger and/or indifference I felt with the characters and story was so intense that I just couldn’t force myself to read on.

I really did want to like this one more, and maybe I’ll give it another shot later on. But right now? Just not feeling it.

The Temperature of Me and You follows sixteen-year-old Dylan Highmark, as he meets an unusual boy, Jordan, one night while working at Dairy Queen. He’s drawn to the boy, despite the fact that he literally makes a Blizzard explode, and running at 110 degrees, he scorches Dylan when he touches him. After learning about Jordan’s history and why he is the way he is, Dylan realizes that Jordan might have affected him in more ways than just being his biggest crush ever. Dylan begins to push away his friends and family as he grapples with his new reality—and new abilities. He ultimately finds friends—and love—in the most unexpected of places.

First of all, this cover is absolutely STUNNING! Second, the romance was adorable. Though the boys were inexplicably drawn to each other from chapter one, they quickly connected as Dylan became Jordan’s ear to listen and shoulder to lean on. The story was super unique and while Dylan’s situation was stressful, the story was fast-paced and fun. Can’t wait to see what Brian writes next. :)

i wanted so badly to love this book. but everything i wanted to know more about (how jordan got his powers, how they transferred to dylan, what each of their powers *did*) was just glossed right over. i also really hate the “homophobic bully is just secretly gay” trope. it being a mean girl this time around doesn’t make it any different. the ending was too neat and i feel like there were also opportunities for more interesting twists than how it ended up. the romance was… fine. i dont think it developed super well, just kinda went from a crush to big epic love very quickly, and i still feel like i don’t know jordan *at all*, even just as a love interest without his POV in the story. dylan’s best friends kirsten and perry were the true MVPs of this story, i would absolutely read another book in this ‘verse if it was about them.

This is a contemporary light science fiction novel, and when I say “light” I mean _really light_ - it feels like it has barely any substance. The pacing of this book is exhausting; it feels at various points like it’s going too slow or too fast, but you know what? The gay scene deserves some mediocre mildly sci-fi YA romances too. Also, the characters in this book are 16, but I would recommend the age range as being 13+ — perfectly acceptable for middle-graders as well as young adults. It’s fine! I wouldn’t write home about it! Three stars.

It took only three chapters before I realized this wasn't the book for me. It reads like the first draft of a novel someone submitted for high school English class, not a polished book fit for publishing. I didn't click with the writing style. It's quick and abrupt, with almost no emotion interspersed between the dialogue. Maybe it gets better, but I'm not willing to spend more time reading to find out. DNF at chapter three, which is disappointing as the premise sounded great and the cover is beautiful, but sadly, I couldn't get into the story or the one-dimensional characters.

ARC review!
Book #186
Strong 5 ⭐️

Release date: Jan 25 2022!

Thank you netgalley!

This book was fucking amazing omg. Literally the strongest 5 stars this was such a perfect YA gay fantasy sci fi thriller EVERYTHING..

It wasn't predictable at all and it had so many thriller and so many fantasy moments this book seriously was perfect and i love that gay teens in highschool etc can read books like these it makes my heart happy.

Strong leads

So much suspense... at times i didnt know what was going to happen and i kept reading it was such a page turner and i just loved how it had so many genres in one.

Also this cover? 😍

I loved the concept of this book it was such a smart concept and the writing was perfect. This authors should be so proud of this book because this book was 🔥 literally.

This author should be so proud of his debut novel because this book was AMAZING!!

🏳️‍🌈🌈🏳️‍🌈🌈🏳️‍🌈🌈

Lots of twists and turns and great ending! Strong book overall! Cant say one bad thing about it!

Review of The Temperature of Me and You by Brian Zepka
Thank you NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for giving me the chance to review The Temperature of Me and You by Brian Zepka! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I want to start by saying that I don’t think it was a bad book, there were just things I personally didn’t love. I really wanted to like this one because it was an interesting concept: a superhero-esque romance between two guys when historically these romances have been between guys and girls. While I like that the book took a common trope and turned it on its head a little by making it about queer characters, I didn’t love the execution of the book as a whole. It’s not bad; there were just things I didn’t like. For instance, there’s a bit of an insta-love situation between the main character and his romantic interest. I wish the two could’ve had a few more conversations before falling head-over-heels for each other, but that’s a personal preference and not a genuine critique.

There were a lot of good moments in this book. I really love the lifelong friendships Dylan has and I also enjoyed reading about the development of friendships he makes throughout the book. Readers see a lot of growth in Dylan as the story progresses. He has a hard time putting himself out there socially and he finds himself doing that quite a bit throughout the novel. It wasn’t done in a flawless way by any means, it was difficult for him which I thought was very realistic. In addition to the fascinating friendships, there’s also a lot of humor in this story which kept me reading even in moments when I thought the story fell a little flat otherwise.

I think the book led a lot to be desired especially when it comes to world-building. I still have a lot of questions about the way that the powers were acquired and how long the solutions keeping the powered-up characters alive will last. I can’t tell if perhaps this was done to lead up to a sequel or if it was just an intentionally confusing landscape. I keep going back and forth on this because readers are meant to know only what Dylan knows, but the part of me that is nosy and desperate for more information is left frustrated by the lack of answers at the end. This is another thing that isn’t necessarily bad; I just didn’t like it.

I thought this concept was fun and it had some good moments, but ultimately, this wasn’t my favorite book. It’s not bad, it’s just something I didn’t enjoy that much which is why I’m giving it three stars.

Decide for yourself when The Temperature of Me and You by Brian Zepka comes out on January 25, 2022!

Hinging on the importance of self-acceptance and the acceptance of difference is a theme that makes this book a compelling read as it is done subtly enough at the beginning that the reader will be sucked into the plot only to see the theme become more apparent in the late stages of reading. The main characters are well developed. Some of the characters lack comparative depth and may leave the reader with a lot of unanswered questions. Likewise with the plot. There were some places where explanations about facets of characters and of the story itself were left out that left this reader wanting/wondering why. Parts of the ending felt rushed and almost to expected.

All that said, it was an entertaining read and there will be plenty of students who will appreciate this book as a read for pleasure. It will definitely find a home in my classroom.

As much as I wanted to love this book, I am DNFing for now. Especially with that premise. But I have no idea what's going on. It's a little confusing and slow and I'm not able to get drawn into the story.

Thank you for the review opportunity.

#Booktok led me to a fun, quick, and heated read with Brian Zepka's debut YA/teen novel! I wish this book was published while I was younger, so I could enjoy it even more. I did find this novel to be adorable nonetheless and cannot wait to see what Zepka has in store for the future. The relationship between Dylan and Jordan intertwined with fantasy/sci-fi powers had me hooked.

I received a copy from NetGalley for review.

I really enjoyed this debut novel. The main characters were well thought out and interesting. Dylan and Jordan's story starts off kind of slow, but heats up very quickly. I love the progression into finding out more about their powers.

Cons: some of the bullying seemed to be overly mean to the characters, however, I speak from a place of privilege never having been bullied. I also noticed there were some places that got kind of repetitive towards the middle of the story.

I really wish there had been some kind of explanation for anything that happened in this book. There is no answer to any "why" question I had while reading, making this seems like an ultimately pointless story. Jordan isn't on-page enough for us to get a real sense of him, so their relationship feels rote.

Just... not much worked for me here. This is an unnecessarily long story that doesn't know if it wants to be romance, sci-fi, soap, or mystery, so it becomes a mostly-unsuccessful combination of them all.

This sounded so good but in the middle of the book the story got confusing for some reason. The cover was so pretty, so i had high expectation. Action kicks up halfway throught the book and it takes a while to get interesting. Would suit a younger audience. Not bad for a debut novel.