Forward March is a super fun and queer YA novel about marching band, friendship and being queer in a space that might not accept you. I laughed, I teared up, and I enjoyed every minute of it. First of all, the asexual representation in this is great and important. Second, the romance is super healthy and well-done, no third act breakup to be found. Third, the family dynamic in this is messy and real, and actually consumes most of the plot. I wish I knew more about our main character's dad and his political career before diving in, because it really took me by surprise. I think if most readers are aware of this, and the trigger warnings that come with it before reading, they can get a lot out of it. This leads to my favorite part of the book, our MC's relationship with her estranged brother. I wish he showed up earlier, but the healing and bonding we see from this is so sweet and touching. I adored it.

One issue I have with this book might just come from me being an adult reading YA, but I could not stand the friendships in this. Harper (the main character) has the worst best friends I've ever read. Not just in a messy, teen way, but in a life-ruining way. I was disappointed in how easily they were forgiven, but I do think its great for young readers to see that some friendships don't last and that's okay. Overall, this was super fun, sweet and at times hard-hitting. Young queer readers everywhere should have it on their radar.

I have a rule, which is not to ever trust a blurb that compares a book to Red, White & Royal Blue because it is a lie 99% of the time and will just disappoint you. However the comparison kind of works here! If you enjoy political scandal, secret dating, and queer realization then you're definitely getting the vibes you want from this book!
And, I have to say, those things are all done really well! The concept of this book was a good one, and it's executed in a way that really works. You feel all the tension and the confusion, you never forget the stakes, and yet there's so much room left for the soft.

I'm also personally a fan of secret dating, and I loved the secret dating in this so much! It's just the right levels of tense/dramatic and fully sweet.
Honesty, the romance as a whole is really nice. It's paced well, the characters are fleshed out prior to getting romantically entangled and their chemistry is good.

I also love so much that this book has an ace main character whose queer realization arc includes her realizing she's on the ace spectrum. And that rep manages to avoid all the problematic, exhausting, and just plain depressing pitfalls and cliches a lot of asexual representation doesn't! Plus, Harper is allowed to not particularly enjoy physical as a whole, which is rare in these books. Too often the ace-ness feels like it's attempting to be softened, or the characters get "fixed" in some way.

I will say, though I liked the plot concept, this book doesn't lean into the presidency stuff nearly as much as I expected. The politics and media are looming and used well, but I forgot the details a few times because it's kept pretty vague for most of it.

This book is also a bit "neat" for me, personally. Though there are heavy parts and themes and standard complications, I tend to like things complex and nuanced. This isn't a fluffy book, but it still keeps it light and a bit more surface level, which isn't my personal preference.

This is a cute secret dating romance of self exploration! I thought this book was a lot of fun.

This had promise, but it was really difficult for me to get past how unlikable I found most of the characters to be. I would give Quinlan's next book a chance because I did like her writing style and portions of this packed a good emotional punch, but it was just difficult to enjoy a book where so many of the characters were annoying and made wild, inexplicable choices!

This was a really heart warming and fun young adult book, with really great asexual and non binary representation. I couldn't put the book down and finished it within the same day I received the arc.

The rep was great, but I personally didn't like any of the main characters. Harper's best friends were horrible to her and constantly made digs or started arguments and chose to ignore her instead of resolving issues, which became a recurring theme and sometimes overshadowed the main plot, which I assumed when picking up the book, would be the fake dating profile, and the repercussions that would have on Harper's dad running for president.

Harper and Margot's relationship was very cute to read and see develop, especially after the bonfire scene at the beginning of the book, and just seeing how much they cared for each other. It was refreshing to see someone care about Harper, since her friends and parents weren't the most likeable or supportive characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and was happy to see more ace representation be discussed and will definitely be recommending this book to everyone in the new year when it is published.

This one was cute. I liked the look at Harper's life and how she deals with this fake profile while also having to deal with her parents and their public appearances.
I liked the relationship between Harper and Margot and how it developed.
I liked Nadia and Harper's friendship too.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a cute queer love story for all the band nerds out there. And music lovers. And anyone wanting a cute queer love story, even if it isn’t the most realistic of realistic fiction.

That said, it’s a book about the daughter of a Republican who is running for president. It gets wrapped up into some perfect endings more than is entirely reasonable, but it’s cute and happy with some drama throughout. (I would not have forgiven certain people as easily as Harper did.)

Also, there is ace representation, which is great.