I am not really familiar with books written in verse, and maybe that's why I felt this one took me longer to make my way through. I really felt like I had to concentrate while reading, and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had listened on audiobook. I really enjoyed Black Flamingo though, so I wanted to push through this one. While I did enjoy it, it fell a little flat for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Dean Atta is a beautiful writer. I am usually not a person who likes a love-torn heart. (I don’t live the term “love triangle” because it’s rarely an actual triangle and usually just a person who likes two people.) But Atta has a way of capturing the very real experience of being in the middle of attraction.

In Only on the Weekends, Mack has had a crush on Karim for forever. When his father begins shooting a film in Scotland, Mack joins and meets Finlay, someone who he didn’t expect to capture his attention (or affection) as much as he does. Which leads to the age old question: who do you choose?

This is a *long* book and there were absolutely points where I felt it. It’s a slow unraveling of plot and the changing of Mack’s relationships with Karim and Finlay and doing some time jumps would have helped.

But overall, this was a strong showing for Atta. I can’t wait for what’s next.

4 stars

This book isn't super memorable. I think we all expected more from Dean Atta. Very generic. Also very long for what the story is.

Black Flamingo, Dean Atta's debut novel was magnificent. Only on the Weekends had a lot to live up to and it didn't disappoint. Atta's lyrical verse is heartfelt and heart wrenching. Mack, Finlay, and Karim and their tangled path to acceptance and self-discovery is realistic and nuanced. I don't find love triangles particularly compelling as a source of conflict and while Atta does an admirable job, I was never entirely sold. However, I appreciated how Atta captured the way people come out differently, how their choices and situations impact their ability to fully be themselves. I can't wait to read what he writes next.

I can't say I've read many books written in verse, and maybe that's why I felt this one took me longer to make my way through as I really felt like I had to concentrate while reading - which isn't my favourite feeling. All in all, I really enjoyed the story. I love how Atta shows the raw messiness of teenagers years, coming to terms with your emotions and first love. Despite being written in verse, nothing is taken away from the narration and emotional impact on the reader - if anything, the verse, soft and lyrical, only enhanced the storytelling once you got into the flow of reading it. I did feel that the book ended kind of abruptly, but that could just be because I wanted to know more of the fallout from Mack’s decisions. Overall, the book was good. It had some points that were very cute and moved the story along. It had enjoyable characters and an easy to follow premise. Can definitely see myself recommending.

I love novels in verse. I love Atta's book, The Black Flamingo. But my goodness I could not get into this book. I'm also frustrated that every novel in verse coming out seems to get the tag: "perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo". I love Elizabeth Acevedo and she writes unparalleled novels in verse. But she does more than that, and not every novel in verse can be as incredible and impactful as hers.

Mack was borderline unlikeable and I felt myself trudging through this book and just resenting him for how he treated those around him while having the nerve to complain about how he's being treated. It just felt off and wrong and lacked the emotional connection that I found with The Black Flamingo.

*2.5 stars
This experience was disappointing for me because I absolutely adore The Black Flamingo by this author, so I was hoping for another hit, but unfortunately, this missed most marks for me. The writing didn't hit in an effective way with the verse in a lot of moments, and at times, it felt cheesy. It also felt really annoying for me to be inside Mack's head because while I appreciate a lot of the issues he's dealing with, and I'm glad they're being written about, he's just an obnoxious person a lot of the time. Some of the relationships were interesting, and like I said, I do think a lot of the themes discussed in here are important and were done well, but the story itself, and its characters, fell mostly flat for me.

Only on the Weekends is about gay Black teen boy named Mack going through some of the typical feelings one might in high school. He has crushes and acts silly with his crew. Mack befriends a classmate named Maz who happens to be the cousin of Mack’s crush, “K” (Karim). Mack and K grow closer and admit their feelings for one another but their bond is put to the test when Mack’s dad insists that his son join him in Scotland as he directs his latest film. On top of these usual challenges, Mack is immediately attracted to the star of the project, an actor named Fin (Finlay). Fin is generous and open with his affection towards Mack, unlike K. Mack is unsure of how to handle this new development after he thought he was happy with K.

Review:
I gave this book 3 stars because I can see how the representation on the page may positively impact queer teens today. Unfortunately, the plot dragged quite a bit and couldn’t keep my attention. It took me quite some time to finish this book despite it being in verse. While I can remember making dumb mistakes like Mack as a teen, reading about it was a bit annoying because I couldn’t connect with Mack. It seemed like his entire personality was focused on crushes, his dad/parents, and his friends. He didn’t have anything he really liked aside from wearing make up from time to time. It would have been nice to see him have something he’s passionate about. If that was make-up, maybe writing about Mack watching tutorials online a lot or doing his own. It just seemed like everyone else had a hobby or passion aside from him.

This book was just okay.

Interesting elements here - romance and second hand fame. Really, its a lot about privilege and personal responsibility. Our protagonist is a people pleaser and hapless but not especially likeable. Not an objectionable read but not especially likable either.

I was pretty excited to read this book since I loved The Black Flamingo, Dean's first book, but Only On the Weekends fell pretty flat for me. I didn't love the love triangle situation between Mack, K, and Finlay. I thought Mack and K getting together was really sweet and fun to read, but it all started to go south when Finlay entered the picture and Mack started to fall for him, too. I really dislike cheating in books whether that's physical or intellectual cheating. It just doesn't sit right with me, so in turn this book didn't sit right with me either because of how Mack handled his new feelings for Finlay.

In addition to that, having this book be written in verse didn't really work for this story in my opinion. It would have worked much better as a regular short YA novel. Maybe in that format the story could have been expanded on in more meaningful ways. It was sometimes hard to connect to Mack and the other characters when only given snippets of his life told in short sentences.

Overall this wasn't a bad book, I just don't think it was the right one for me. I think many people will find this book fun if they're into simple books about teenage drama and aren't looking for much more. Despite this book not quite doing it for me though, I look forward to Dean Atta's next books and hope I connect to them in the same way I did with The Black Flamingo.

Thank you for this review copy!

Dean Atta can do no wrong. Dean is just so talented, the way they can weave together words and tell such a beautiful story is always so captivating. I cannot recommend anything Dead Atta writes enough

Only on the Weekends is a story where I just allowed myself to be swept away. So many times I wasn't sure where it was going, but Atta always lead us in the right direction. It's one of those books where the messiness of life, mistakes, and love are on display. For Mack, he has these expectations of what love will be like. What it will feel like for his crush to notice him. That when it happens, things don't feel real or like he expected. And that's the thing with expectations. They never happen like what we suspect.

In this world, for a black gay teen it is dangerous for them to exist. To have the racism of people following their movements in stores, or the homophobia which haunts their decisions. And everyone is at different stages of their own journey. Of life altering decisions we make and things about us we didn't want to see. We can think we are being honest, and we can be trying to, but when we hide things also from ourselves, transparency becomes clouded.

*thank you to hccfrenzy for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I read 25% of this arc, and man did I love it!! I never got around to finishing the arc, but I bought a finished copy the week of its release because the arc was so good. This is a book that I love the writing style of. Books written in prose are so good and this is no exception.

I will eventually get around to finishing the finished copy, but I can tell this will be a 4 or 5 star read!

This book wasn't the YA romance I expected and I loved that — this digs into different types of love, what we need out of different relationships at different periods in our lives, and what we owe to those close to us. It touches on regret and grief in unexpected, thoughtful ways that resonated well with me. There was of course a cast of wonderful queer characters, many fully realized in their identities which is fantastic to see in YA where coming out narratives are super common. The MC’s friend groups and friendship dynamics felt so real, and if you love reading about messy teen choices and having to live with those (and who doesn't? they're relatable), you'll enjoy this! Also a note on form: if you've never given a novel in verse a try, you absolutely should. This wasn't my first (I was hesitant on them a few years back) but it would be an excellent first one to try.

There are a lot of things I loved about this book: the cultural and queer representation, the friendships, the complicated family dynamics, the first loves, and the self-discovery/character growth. At the start of the book, Mack is lonely and feels distant from his dad and his two best friends. He seeks validation and needs overt displays of love to feel accepted, which makes his relationship with K - a closeted and not overtly affection guy - a source of both joy and anxiety. As the story unfolds and new people - Finlay and his friends - come into Mack's life, he starts to dig into unresolved issues and have tough conversations. He makes mistakes and lets people down; he also apologizes and takes responsibility for his actions. In the end, Mack learns more about himself, his father, and how to have healthy relationships. He also finds confidence to love and express his true self. All in all, a wonderful coming of age story told in gorgeous verse.

Fifteen year old Mack is ecstatic when his crush Karim returns his feelings, but when his film director dad moves them to Scotland while filming a new project, Mack and Karim try to keep their relationship going long distance. In Scotland, Mack befriends Finlay, the star of his dad’s project, and soon starts crushing on him too.

I really loved this author’s first book, The Black Flamingo, that came out last year, so I wanted to give this one a try too, but I have mixed feelings about this book. First of all, there’s a love triangle, which I really can’t stand. If I had read the blurb more closely I would have realized it and skipped this one. Someone always gets hurt and it’s so painful! One kid gets his heart broken by the behavior and choices of the main character and that’s just tough for me to be okay with. Secondly, it’s written in verse, which didn’t bother me with The Black Flamingo, but that’s probably because I listened to the audiobook so it was less obvious. Reading a book written in verse is a different experience and I’m not really sure it’s for me. I’d rather get lost in a story than think about how poetic a book seems while I’m reading. What I did like about this story was reading about the experience of the main character and his father being Black in the UK. Mack also has the experience of being the son of a famous director who doesn’t always have time for him, being in the media occasionally, and being wealthy. Reading about how all those different experiences shape his upbringing and affect his relationships with his friends and family was super interesting. The characters were all very well-written too. All of that kept me interested even though the feeling of dread from the love triangle made it not so fun. I’m not sure I can say if I recommend this or not. I guess if you don’t mind reading about a love triangle, then go for it!

The first novel in verse that I read was Dean Atta’s debut, so I can’t say that this review is entirely unbiased. This story was just as queer, just as vibrant, and just as wonderful as you want it to be!

Only on the Weekends follows fifteen-year-old Mack, a hopeless romantic who has had a crush on Karim for as long as he can remember and can’t believe his luck when Karim seems to return those feelings. Thanks to his father’s job as a film maker, Mack’s expectations for his first relationship are high. But when Mack’s father takes on a new directing project in Scotland right when Mack and Karim seem to be getting somewhere, Mack has to move away and discovers how painful long-distance relationships can be. Karim can be so hard to read and the longer they spend apart, the more Mack feels like he’s just getting strung along. Then Mack meets actor Finlay on set, and everything changes. With fearless Finlay, Mack feels confident, appreciated, seen. The more time he spends with Finlay and the more elusive Karim becomes, the more Mack will ask himself what he wants out of life—and love—and what will truly make him happy.

Atta beautifully captures the messy ups and downs of first love in Only on the Weekends. From intense explorations of body image, difficult familial relationships, what it means to be a friend and the fine line between joking and ridiculing all the way to pursuing the love you want and deserve, this novel packs an emotional punch.

What struck me in this novel was the realness of the characters—neither Mack nor Karim or Finlay are perfect, they are deeply flawed, complex individuals who sometimes make choices that hurt others and even more so themselves. Bad actions aren’t swept away or excused, instead they come with consequences that are at times utterly heartbreaking. Mack, especially, felt so relatable in his struggles—his anxieties about not fitting in, being ridiculed “all in good fun” by his friends or even hidden away by his boyfriend made my heart break for him. While you obviously can’t help but feel for him, you’re also left emotionally scarred by what he has to endure to feel like he belongs. Really, while all of the characters have different motivations for how they’re acting, you can tell they often just make stuff up as it comes along and that definitely felt very true to the teenage experience. There were so many moments where I absolutely hated some actions by the characters and felt frustrated with how they seemed to be going round in circles only to, a few pages later, feel gutted when small gestures or unanswered text messages made them feel irrelevant. This back and forth really captured what it means to be young and in love and most of all, wanting and needing things you can’t put into words yet and feel almost callous to ask for when you do find them.

I also loved how Atta subtly discussed expectations in romantic relationships—not just the milestones you yourself might feel desperate to tick off but the ways in which trying to live up to your partner’s expectations (even when they’re not explicitly stated) can sometimes feel like slipping off a cliff—if you give more public affection, you’re immediately expected to do the same time and again. On top of that, familial relationships and what it means to be a true friend and ally are also discussed and intersections of body image, gender identity and race also play a huge role in how Mack, Finlay and Karim see themselves and others.

While this story might not be for everyone because of the love triangle and the messy relationships (which are supposed to be unlikable at times, it feels like), I think those elements are what made Only on the Weekends so riveting—it truly showcased that making mistakes is a part of growing up (and even life in general) and that even when everything seems like it’s falling apart, it’s never too late to pick up the pieces and try to do better this time around. I think that alone will make readers fall a little bit in love with Mack.

Full of heart, messy, real characters and complicated relationships, Only on the Weekends is a nuanced exploration of first love and growing up and into your own. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Kacen Callender.

This was a beautiful read, as always with Dean Atta. The writing is incredible and the characters are lovely. I didn't connect as much with the story as I did with Black flamingo, and I didn't really liked the relationships, even though I think this was the goal of the book. I still liked this story and recommand it!

Ce livre était une lecture magnifique, comme toujours avec Dean Atta. L'écriture est incroyable, et les personnages attachants. Je n'ai toutefois pas autant connecté avec l'histoire comme ça avait été le cas avec Black Flamingo, et je n'ai pas vraiment aimé les relations amoureuses, bien que je pense que cela était un peu le but du livre. J'ai tout de même aimé l'histoire et je la recommande!

Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to review this book!