It’s the summer before senior year and 17-year-old Micah Summers wants to find a boyfriend. He’s the “Prince” of Chicago, being the only son of the media-annointed King of Chicago, former hockey star, Jeremy Summers. Micah grew up in a media spotlight, which is why he likes to keep on the down-low with his own pet projects, like his anonymous Insta profile, Instaloves. Here, Micah has cataloged fairytale-esque pencil sketches and vignettes of 99 boys he met in his everyday life who maybe could have been his first date—if only he had the courage to ask. Now, his multitude of fans are clamoring for Boy 100 to be The One. And basically, Micah is ready to actually date someone for a change. He’s 17 and never been kissed—or anything else.

Micah meets the perfect boy on the L train, but doesn’t get his name or number due to a late departure. They had connection though, and this person is clearly an artist, like Micah aspires to be. So, Micah enlists his bestie, Hannah, and her other gay bestie, Elliot, to help him track what meager clues were left behind in the one-of-a-kind vegan leather pumpkin jacket Boy 100 left on the train.

Hannah, though, has bigger plans: meeting with her clandestine boyfriend. So Elliot, the ever-cheerful and overworked barista, accompanies Micah on this epic scavenger hunt for romance. And they find Boy 100—he’s a summer design student at Micah’s #1 dream school, The Art Institute. Grant is fun and friendly, but also fearful of relationships as his heart’s been broken many times. Micah charms him, though, and even reveals his identity on Instaloves in a moment of sheer bliss. However, now he’s being hounded by fans who want more content on Micah and Grant’s fairytale romance.

But, is it a fairytale? At first, they mesh so beautifully, working on Grant’s entry for the design showcase and being supportive art and love partners. Unfortunately, Micah’s creativity wanes, with the increased anxiety over his publicly identified art becoming more highly scrutinized. Added to this, Grant’s overbearing moments, where he’s acting like a clout-chaser using Micah (and his father) to promote the end of summer fashion show. Micah becomes bitter, especially when he sets up a hugely romantic date for Elliot and his busy boyfriend and Grant messes the whole thing up.

During this time, Micah is recognizing the goodness in Elliot, and how badly he wants uber-busy Elliot to remain in his life. It makes Micah confront some rather ugly truths about himself and his fairytale dreams. Sometimes, Micah gets it right, and sometimes he’s way wrong—hurting those he loves to save the fragile feelings of others less worthy.

This is a fast-paced, awesome, young adult romance with a twist. I really wasn’t a huge Micah fan for good parts of the book, because his decision-making was so poor. Then, I had to remember: he’s a 17-year-old boy experiencing his first love ever, and that character will make big, bad mistakes. Micah’s actually really relatable, despite being so wealthy, because he acknowledges his privilege, and accounts for his questionable actions. He’s so emotionally present, I was honestly shaking in the climax, biting back my own sobs as his relationships morphed in both good and bad ways. As a longtime resident of the Chicago area, I also really respected the author’s knowledge of Chicago, without taking too much license regarding setting. (Claiming amnesia regarding the Pizzeria Uno scene, because that’s tourist pizza.) Still, the setting was largely accurate, and fully fleshed enough that I could imagine running the streets with Micah and his gang of lovesick friends. I even giggled when Hannah complained about having to take a train all the way to, gasp, Orland Park. Because that IS a long ride…

I appreciated the incorporation of social media, and the anxieties that it can provoke in youth content creators, as well. Micah suffers for his art, but he also suffers over the perception of his art by strangers. That’s a real phenomenon for folks who count their subscribers in the tens of thousands. The fairytale premise was expertly woven throughout and the payoff with the pumpkin rescue couldn’t have been sweeter.

If you are a fan of YA gay romance, this book should join your TBR pile.

This was a super cute read!! Micah and Elliot were
absolutely adorable.
I am sad that I couldn't get into the books and characters
as much as I though I would, but I still loved the
Cinderella retelling aspect. Even though it was not one of
my favorite reads ever I still recommend reading it and I
thought that the writing was done
really well. I thought that the story was written very well
and I felt that the story wasn't too fast or slow paced at
any part of the book. I suggest picking this up if you're
looking for a YA Cinderella retelling with a twist!

This book has a lot of heart that I absolutely loved it.

Micah wants his own fairytale in life. He runs a popular Instagram post, where he draws his numerous imaginary boyfriends. Everyone who follows love his work, all 99 of these fake boys, and they anticipate number 100, but Micah wants 100 to be different.. and real. When he flirts with a boy on the subway, he’s sure he’s number 100, but he learns a lesson that all real relationships aren’t fairytales.

This story was humorous and tender hearted. It’s definitely what anyone who’s looking for the real thing would encounter. There’s a whole Cinderella “happily after” aspect to it. It was also humours in all the right ways.

If you’re looking for a sweet, swoon worthy story, look no further!

I really enjoyed this story! It was utterly cute and heartwarming and all the characters were adorable! Micah wasn't perfect by any means but I enjoyed reading his journey to true love and I really liked he was an artist!! At first I thought the book and tone were a bit too happy for my taste hahah but I ended up really liking it and flying through the pages wanting to know what's next! Absolutely recommend it to anyone that wants a light cute romantic read with all the diversity!

This was such a cute story! A queer romance written like a modern day fairytale. Micah is so clueless for most of the book, but I suppose most of us were when we were 17. Elliot is such a sweetheart and despite all his hardships he still continues to search for his happily ever after. The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers was a unique YA with lots of sweet moments, tons of queer repsentation, and lots and lots of Chai. A great read for any fans of the YA genre, or for anyone looking a light-hearted, easy read, with a guarantee HEA!

On the surface, this one is nothing but the fairytale sweetness of instalove and keeping the hope that things will be perfect, but it goes deeper into the fact that reality is harsher and that facing up to that is what makes relationships worth it.
Micah Summers lives in a fairytale world facilitated by a loving family and two parents with highly successful careers, so it's a great little detail by Sass to show that he can sometimes be out of touch and insensitive in his expectations. It makes him somewhat unlikeable at the beginning but he grows on you as the story progresses and you get to know him more and see him grow.
One of my main peeves is that side characters are mostly there to just shore up Micah and his love interests. All the girls are basically interchangeable and hard to keep track of. I mean, Micah's best friend fades into the background even when she's the focus of the scene. It really accentuates how selfish Micah can be as he makes everything about himself, which is something he does realize and try to fix in the end but maybe a bit too much towards the end.
Overall, it's a quick read with sweet moments and some good messaging.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for the sweet read!

“The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers” hooks you in pretty quick. Micah is a seventeen-year-old artist who hasn’t experienced any real life romance of his own. Being semi-famous, he has an anonymous-yet-popular Instagram account that details past crushes in the form of artwork and narratives he creates for each person. He doesn’t include their names, but assigns each a number.

Love always happens unexpectedly, and for Micah it’s a meet-cute on the L-train. Before him and his dream guy can exchange any relevant contact information, the doors close and Micah’s left standing alone with this person’s handmade vegan leather pumpkin jacket in his hand. That’s when the adventure starts; the hunt for Boy #100. Micah seeks help from his best friend Hannah and her other gay pal, Elliot, as they search the city looking for clues.

Micah and Eliott track down the man of mystery at the Art Institute, Micah’s dream school, which he correlates to fate. The two lock eyes and start a whirlwind romance… but is he actually the one? While things start hot and heavy, there are a lot of red flags along the way. This just helps build up the drama for the rest of the book, creating that need to keep reading to find out what happens next.

It’s a fun story, and once you get into it, you can pretty much predict how things will turn out. Luckily the author knows how to create some good drama so that the build-up is worth it in the end.

i honestly don't have too many thoughts on this one. mainly, i found micah to be a little too far gone into his own fairytale fantasies. rich, spoiled, and unable to understand other peoples' points-of-view but gets irritated when they don't understand his, though. it made it him just a tad too insufferable to follow if i'm being honest. ...and basically, elliot deserved better.

I wanted to like this more than I did, but it's hard to find a reason to. Micah has a secret Instagram account where he posts sketches of his crushes, 99 so far (and not really boyfriends). It's a take on Cinderella, with a lot of references to other fairy tales.

The characters are fine, even though not as much effort was put into giving the women defined personalities as was put into the men. That said, I was not a fan of Micah. Very much into living a fairy tale romance, he became pretty stalkerish and toxic in his relationship and at the end of the book, showed no growth. This was made so clear when he wanted to stay friends with Grant despite almost physically cheating on him, still calling Grant his prince, and just not understanding boundaries. The story is pretty simple and straightforward, with no surprises. As an LGBTQIA+ YA romance novel, this one is okay, though there are better ones out there.

Oh well.
Definitely not for me 🤷‍♀️

To be completely honest, I only asked for the arc of this book because:
1. The cover is very pretty.
2. The title sounded interesting enough.
3. It's gay.
I should've noticed that it's marked as YA, but honestly that wouldn't have deterred me from reading it because I still enjoy YA as a subgenre, but this one felt like the more juvenile and childish side of YA which is why I didn't end up enjoying it.
Do I still feel bad for giving it a two and a half star rating? Of course, but I'm always going to be honest when it comes to books so let's get into this review.

I want to start with the things and aspects I actually enjoyed about it before getting into the bad:
. I really enjoyed the setting of Chicago, as NYC is almost always the setting in these kinds of books, it felt refreshing to NOT be in NYC for once.
. The whole scene on the train and the encounter between Micah and Grant was very, very well done. It had me enjoying the whole thing while also sweating in dread because of course motherfucker isn't going to have the chance to ask for his contact info. Simply a really great scene.
. The early plot of Micah and his friends going on a slightly stalkery scavenger hunt in order to locate Grant was also very enjoyable, but then it ended around the 30% mark of the book so it didn't last long, unfortunately.
. I strongly enjoyed Elliot's character, especially once we actually started getting to know him and witness his development from background to main character. Like he's one of the few saving graces this book had.
. Micah and Elliot's friends to lovers storyline was very enjoyable and well-done.
. I guess I liked how big of a roll art played in this book? Idk for sure, but it did feel like a pleasant enough element in the book.
. The ending was charming and quite enjoyable.

That's basically it, if I'm being completely honest.
Now, on to the negatives:
. I didn't enjoy how ridiculously quick things developed between Micah and Grant. I understand that young love can happen quickly but there was very little angst, very little drama until they got together and once they did... Things just happened unnaturally fast, in my opinion, and it wasn't very enjoyable.
. Grant's character was... Sketchy at best, unbelievably (and I don't mean that in the good way) sexy. He was always described as this hulking muscular guy when he's just 17?! Like it just didn't sound like he had a realistic body figure for someone his age, more like the physique of a 30 year old adult romance hero and that irked me a bit.
After a while, it just seemed like he started taking advantage of Micah's status and Instagram following to fuel his own desires and shit, and he just stopped trying to be Micah's supportive boyfriend which obviously made me dislike him.
His behavior wasn't even addressed at the end which was bizarre to me because how could you break up with this guy and not have a scene where you tell him how he's been using you?!
. Micah's character was also not very enjoyable.
Rich, privilege, childish, selfish, egotistical and with a savior complex. Those are not the attributes you want to hear about the main character in your story.
. The entire vibe of the book, the fairytale shit, felt very juvenile and childish to me but maybe that's a me thing since I'm 24.
. I didn't like how much Micah put up with, not uttering a word, when it came to Grant.

That's about it, to be honest.
I can't say I recommend this one so do with that what you will.

I could see this getting better, but I just wasn’t feeling it and put it down. I decided to dnf. The characters seem cute so far and it could be interesting 🤷🏻‍♀️

from what i read (abojt 20%), this is easily a 5 star read. but my arc had some formatting issues after that and i’ll be reading the finished edition because of how much i liked it! very excited to read the finished copy

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is a joyful and exuberant fairy tale. It is a perfect young adult summer romance read, as Micah races through the streets of Chicago to find the elusive “Boy 100.” Micah has fallen in love with strangers on his travels through the city and memorializes them on his instagram account in fantasy-inspired sketches that obscure their true identity. He has promised himself that he will actually ask out the next boy he meets- Boy 100. As Micah’s world expands with sudden fame, new friendships, and a real boyfriend- what does it mean to stay true to yourself?

This is a beautiful, queer, contemporary fairy tale of a book; I would highly recommend it to anyone. Readers looking for young adult books with queer joy NEED this book! I couldn’t put it down! Micah is hilarious and genuine, caring deeply for his friends and going to incredible lengths to find his Boy 100. Micah’s family was supportive and loving; I particularly enjoyed the scenes with his older sister and her girlfriend. The details of Chicago were beautifully descriptive and accurate- always maintaining a sense of adventure during summer in the city! Micah learns about what happily ever after truly means, who he can’t live without, and what great friendships he has. The supporting cast is distinct and entertaining to watch as they complete their own quests for love. I can’t wait to see what Adam Sass writes next! Thank you to Adam Sass, Viking Group for Young Readers, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, Wordpress blog, and Barnes & Noble etc

A little bit of Cinderella and a little bit of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Micah is a celebrities son and definitely of the internet generation. Micah is an artist and posts pics of his crushes on his instagram, so far 99 - but he's a die hard for "real" love. He's looking for the full ticket! He finally meet #100 but a twist of fate leaves him with nothing but a jacket and his longing.

Entertaining, vague retelling of Cinderella... but it's much more than that. The characters are great, the story solid and it's not your average "love" story. Check it out!

What's going on Write Voicers?

I know I promised an interview with Adam Sass and the book review of The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers for 30 August, but I just couldn't make it.

Last month was a whirlwind of busyness, and this month is too; but I couldn't back down on my promises. So, I somehow found a way to add in the interview AND the book review (with another interview and book review coming at the end of this month!) in such a short time.

I don't have a date for the interview with Adam yet, but I'm hoping to be able to post it soon.

In the meantime, and despite all the craziness, I'm super excited to take this time to go ahead with this book review. So, let's talk about The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass!

But be careful if you proceed because there are SPOILERS in this review. Also, because I almost always forget to mention it, I want ya'll to know that I was offered an Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Just wanted you to know.

Okay, that's it. Let's dive in!


What's the novel about?
The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is about, well, Micah Summers. Also known as The Prince of Chicago (he's the son of a celebrity radio host known as The King of Chicago), Micah is an artist who shares his crushes on Instagram—all 99 of them. But Micah wants the real thing, so when he meets the guy he believes to be Boy 100 on the L train, he braces himself to do the impossible: ask the mystery guy out on a date. But, before he can, train doors close on his face, and all he's left with is a pumpkin jacket. With the help of his friends, Micah goes on a quest to find Boy 100. Along the way, he learns about himself, relationships, and what he's willing to do for love.


What is the main theme in the book?
I had a hard time deciding on what theme was most prevalent in this book. But, by the end of the day, I believe the main theme of this novel is that romantic relationships are hard work.

There are many romantic relationships shown in this novel, including Elliot and Brandon; Maggie and Manda; Hannah and Jackson; Micah's parents; and—of course—Grant and Micah. Each of these couples has its own unique set of challenges and/or wins; but, what makes their challenges interesting is that they're all filtered through Micah's lens.

For instance, from Micah's perspective, the relationship between Elliot and Brandon is tumultuous because Brandon spends more time training than he does spending time with Elliot. And whenever Elliot tries to do something special with Brandon, with the exception of meeting The King of Chicago, it turns into an argument between the two of them.

When it comes to Maggie and Manda, Micah sees them arguing on a constant basis about whether they should go out and do activities or go to events instead of staying in the house all the time. It's implied that he thinks that the two of them are always on the verge of breaking up because they argue so much. However, that's not the case. Maggie explains to her brother that arguing is just a normal part of relationships and that it can even be healthy in most cases.

In terms of couples interacting, we don't see a lot of Hannah and Jackson because Hannah keeps him a secret from Micah throughout the majority of the book. But, when we do see them together, they are the cutest thing. By this point in the book, Micah has learned a thing or two about relationships and uses Brandon and Elliot as a cautionary tale to warn Hannah that she should spend more time being in the moment as opposed to planning out her future.

I wanted to talk about Micah's parents toward the end because they are an example of a relationship that stood the test of time. When Micah finds Grant and they become #wishgranted, Micah's mom explains that it can be difficult to balance fame with a relationship and that Micah shouldn't take it lightly. That said, the relationship between Micah's mom and dad is one of mutual respect and, while it's not perfect, it is a good example of a healthy relationship between two people.

All of these pairings depict the ups and downs of relationships and we as the audience are able to look at these and compare them to our own lives. But, just because the novel shows that relationships are hard, it doesn't mean that they're not worth the amount of effort that you put into it. And I think that's the point. Relationships are supposed to be HARD WORK because when you find a person who's worth arguments, and grand gestures, and your time, the work is worth it.


What did you like?
There was a lot to love about this book; but, since there's not enough room in this blog for me to list them all, I'll settle for the best three things: the cover and the illustrations, the relationships between the characters, and how realistic Micah is as a character.


The Cover and Other Illustrations
I LOVED the cover of this book, and the illustrations were so freaking adorable. The colors of the cover drew me in and were one of the reasons I wanted to review this book. The font for the title is also unique, at least to me. Coupled together with the cover it is perfection.

I also loved that there are illustrations throughout the book. Since Micah is an artist, including the drawings from his Instagram page allows the reader to get an idea of the types of crushes Micah had before meeting Grant on the L train. It also reinforces Micah's love of fairytales which adds a bit of surrealness to his "Cinderella" moment.


The Relationships Between the Characters
I already went into the types of romantic relationships between the characters when discussing the themes, so I won't repeat all that here. For this section, I wanted to focus more so on the friendship aspect of the book. Micah has really great friends and I don't think the story would have turned out the way it did if not for them. It isn't often that I come across rom-com novels that have a good balance of friendship and romance, but Sass does this well.

For instance, Maggie (who is both his sister and friend) and Hannah both lay into Micah about how crappy Grant is being when it comes to #wishgranted being more important than their actual relationship. They also tell him that he's being a horrible friend to Elliot by throwing him under the bus when the photos of their almost kiss were leaked on the internet. Moments like these are spread throughout the novel and show that Maggie and Hannah aren't just placeholder characters, but characters with a lot of depth that are instrumental in shaping Micah and his decisions throughout the book.


How Realistic Micah Is As a Character
So, it's kind of hard to put this into words, but one of my favorite things about this book was how realistic Micah is as a character. And, what I mean by that is that Micah's anxiety about asking someone out for the first time is something that I believe many people can relate to, especially when it comes to someone you've had a huge crush on and even more so with someone that you've built up in your head.

I think that a lot of people struggle with asking out that first someone because they're insecure about themselves, or think they're not good enough. I think that seeing that portrayed in a novel is a good thing because so many stories out there are more focused on a confident person asking someone else out. Or, they might show that someone is nervous about asking another person on a date, but not necessarily go into the character's head of why they're nervous about asking someone out.

I also thought that it was interesting that Sass showed how being rich can affect your worldview of people who have less in the world. The contrast between Micah's and Elliot's living situations was a breath of fresh air for me. I also loved that Sass took the time to have Micah check his privilege when it came to him ordering the fan for Elliot (not the scene when he gives it to him, but the one when he considers how Elliot might consider the fan to be a handout instead of a gift). Just like with Micah's anxiousness, it's not often that I read a book that has a rich character who realizes just how lucky they are to be in the position that they're in. I think the fact that Sass added this is amazing.


What, if anything, did you dislike or wish the author would've done differently?
This is a hard question to answer because I both liked and disliked one aspect of the novel. And, what I'm talking about is the fact that I knew from the beginning who Micah would end up with. That said, I recognize that sometimes it's not about whether or not you know who the true love interest is. Instead, it's about the journey to how they ended up with that person. So, would I have done it differently? No. Not at all. But it does make me wonder how I would have felt if I'd been wrong.


How many stars would you give this book and why?
I'm a huge fan of rom-coms and this one was just SO FUN! The characters were well developed and, though I'm older than the characters, I could still relate to them. I also loved all the fairytale references (though there could have been more, you can never have enough). For reasons I won't say, reading this book made me feel like I was back in high school, which was both enlightening and a bit weird. All that said, at the end of the day, this book gets five out of five stars.


More Information
Adam Sass is the author of The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers, Surrender Your Sons, The Search for Drew Schreiber ( a prequel to Surrender Your Sons), and the short story "Reshadow" in Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder.

Next fall, he'll be releasing Your Lonely Nights Are Over, a new YA thriller about two gay best friends (and queen bees of their school) who try to stop the masked killer who's been stalking their LGBTQ club. If you're a fan of Scream and Clueless, you're not going to want to miss this mashup!

For an update on 99 Boyfriends and Your Lonely Nights, check out Adam's website.

If you enjoyed this review and want to know more about him, keep an eye out for the interview I'll be posting. In the meantime, check out this book review of Lioness of Punjab by Anita Kharbanda.

Are you looking for someone to review your YA or Middle Grades book? Then I'm your girl! Just shoot me an email and I'll be happy to do it.

Otherwise, comment on this post and tell me if you think The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is the book for you. And don't forget to like this post and subscribe to my website so you can get the latest book reviews and interviews!

Ciao!

As someone who has flirted with the ace/aro spectrum for years, I can’t relate to having 99 crushes or fake boyfriends. But what I can relate to is the genuine heart of Micah’s character, 99 mistakes and all. The book does a really good job of talking about the idea that no one person in this book is a bad person because of the things they’ve done, but that they aren’t good for each other. It’s a love story that isn’t linear and doesn’t go exactly like all the fairytales do, but has a happy ending nonetheless. This book is a ride in itself (perhaps one in a pumpkin carriage?), and sometimes I wanted to shake our main character, but it’s a fun one and it’s worth checking out!

Micah Summers has drawn 99 boyfriends, anonymously posted fictionalised fairy tales based on guys he’s had crushes on. But he’s ready for Boy 100 to be real. When he meets the perfect Boy 100 on a train, only to lose him, he’ll have to chase after him, find him, and find himself along the way.

There are so many classic aspects of YA romance with a healthy helping of coming-of-age in THE 99 BOYFRIENDS, in a way that just makes it fun. There’s a level of unrealism that isn’t widely relatable, his fame for one, and yet I can picture the book happening on the streets of Chicago. And there is something so real about being 17 and trying so hard yet failing anyway. It doesn’t make Micah or anyone else in the book a bad person, but a human one. The characters in this are all so endearing (though my favourite might have to be himbo boyfriend Jackson), and feel genuine overall even if I can’t relate to some of the types that they fall into.

While I began to guess at where this book was going from the beginning, it still surprised me in some ways. Queerness is centered and celebrated, from Micah and his quest for a prince or his sister and Manda’s relationship. The love story doesn’t go exactly where you’d expect, although I would have enjoyed even more time with it. Most of all, Micah’s growth as a character and as an artist don’t exactly happen in a fairytale perfect way. Even if they don’t start on the technically correct path, they get there regardless. The happy ending might not be forever, but it’s more than enough for now.

Thank you to Negalley and Penguin Teen for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a timely book to read—there’s so much at play here (the internet, shipping culture, etc.) that really threw Micah Sunmers into a true “modern fairytale”, it’s incredibly sweet and relatable, and had so many whimsical rom com elements that it made my heart melt. I loved it.

Thanks for the free book, Penguin Random House

When I started this book, I was looking for a cute, light romance and this YA romcom had a very cute premise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be.

The story is about a boy who believes in fairytale-like love stories but just when he thinks he’s found the one, reality starts to hit and he realizes that he might’ve idealized fairytales too much and that the one is maybe someone else.

It’s not a bad story, it has its cute moments, but it‘s definitely more appealing to its target audience, which is much younger than me.
Personally, I found it too cheesy in some moments and it all felt quite rushed. The main character is very young and naive, and at that age you tend to fall in and out of love more easily, but if the story had had more time to breathe, the protagonist might’ve felt less childish and self-centred. His relationship with his first love interest is rushed on purpose, but the one with his second and real love interest needed more time to not feel forced and kinda hard-to-root-for, considered how things went down towards the end.

There was also a potentially interesting theme about the disparity between the rich and the poor, but it was never properly explored and ended up feeling like a Cinderella-trope thrown in there for the sake of it.

Teenagers might like this book I think, but personally I would not particularly recommend it as I believe there are better YA queer stories than this one.

I'd like to take a second and praise Adam Sass' range bc holy frijole. could this book have been any different from Surrender Your Sons??? I don't think so. and yet, I loved Surrender Your Sons and The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers. they are definitely completely competing vibes (SYS deals with some really heavy themes, 99 Boyfriends is literally a fairy tale happy ending) but they are also both incredible books.

99 Boyfriends is a really fast and easy read and mostly that's bc Micah is such an interesting protagonist. I liked that he was allowed to fall in love fast and hard and that, even though he'd been continuously rejected (or rejected himself preemptively to curb the embarrassment) he kept getting up and trying again. frankly I liked that Micah wasn't perfect; he messes up kind of a lot in this book lmao but his friends and family gather around him and help him back up every time.

social media is a p looming presence in this book which I know some people really don't like, but I loved the little Instagram picture breaks! the art was really cute and tbh I felt like it gave me more insight into Micah and Grant's relationship. there's something about seeing the 'public' side of a relationship and the private one too that really helps flesh it out. also, I'm sorry but the hashtag Wish Granted is truly adorable 😍

overall this was a really cheerful and feel-good read. if you're looking for a book that has genuine queer joy I'd like you to try this one. if you like to sit somewhere and daydream about your own happy ending, please try this one!!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Adam Sass, and the publisher of this book for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Micah Summers runs a famous Instagram account where he sketches imaginary boyfriends (boys he sees in public), he's at 99 and none of them have been his boyfriend yet. Then a meeting with boy 100 goes wrong and Micah is sent on a whirlwind trip trying to find him. When Micah finds him, boy 100 is not all he seemed. Will Micah's let down make him realize his Prince Charming is a lot closer than he thinks?
I enjoyed this cute YA rom-com, but I wish Micah would've had a little more confidence in himself and also not looked so needy and desperate. I did love how the ending though and would recommend it to others.