This book was..... Fine. I received an ARC from netgalley at the recommendation of my friend, who was super excited about this. I think this book was something 15 year old me would have LOVED. However, at 23, I just couldnt get into it. Micah's actions felt stalkery all through the book, and his interactions with grant felt forced and cringe. You could tell from the very beginning he was going to end up with Elliot, so I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop for most of it. And I still cant tell for the life of me whether Grant was manipulating Micah and trying to use him for his social media or if he ACTUALLY liked him. Still cant tell. Too many grand gestures for me to feel comfortable though. If youre into this, its not bad. Its just a little too childish for me

Somebody hold me while I screech about how absolutely cute and wholesome this book was!!

In The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers we follow Micah, a teenage boy who loves drawing and is absolutely enamoured with the idea of finding his fairytale happily ever after - a quest he digitalizes and puts on his Instaloves Instagram account, where you can find his 99 ALMOSTs aka boys he almost got a chance with, immortalised in a fairytale drawing. When he meets a sweet and gorgeous Grant on the subway and the two get tragically separated, his quest to find the ONE aka boy 100 begins. He deputizes his best friend Hannah and her friend Elliot for the mission and now the fairy tale can begin! But sometimes what's right under your nose can be much sweeter than any possible HEA with a beautiful stranger.

I got into this book expecting a sort of What If It's Us-like story and while it does start with this far-fetched search for the missed boy, it quickly transforms into a sweet summer romance story with Grant. I fell absolutely in love with their love story, how it started, how they clicked, but I think it was pretty obvious from the start that while the two did share something special, it was maybe not something that was meant to last. Which is where the OTHER boy comes into play and let me tell you, I was so on board with that. Because the other boy aka Elliot was so, so sweet I am sure he could make your teeth ache (in the best way!!). Be it dirty chais, his absolutely dream-like love for fairy tales and belief that Micah can do whatever he sets his mind to, to his general kindness to everything and everyone. He's just one of those characters you can't help but love from the get-go.

I think Micah Summers reads like a lot of YA contemporaries/romcoms we adore BUT it's also full of unexpected twists and turns. I think I had this idea of how this book is gonna go in mind from the start simply based on the description and the first few chapters and, well, I was wrong. It did of course include all the sweetness and the drama and angst, but it also managed to surprise me in some tiny and some big ways.

The writing was beautiful and so easy to read, I really flew through this one. I adored all the characters, from Micah and Elliot to Maggie and her girlfriend, Hannah, and Grant! There were no villains (well, maybe there was - social media ahh), no terrible betrayals, just plain old realities of love - sometimes it lasts, sometimes it ends, but that doesn't take away from the beauty of the time it lasted.

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is a beautiful and sweet YA summer romcom, filled with happiness, hope, and a dash of dreaming, and is perfect for anyone who is looking for a wholesome read. I highly recommend to people who adore books by Becky Albertalli, Sophie Gonzales, Julian Winters, Mason Deaver - basically writers of happy YA romcoms that sometimes hit a bit harder.

4.25 ⭐️ rounded down. I have been on the hunt for male-male romance written by a queer or gay male author for ages and this one certainly does not disappoint. If you want to have a gay fairy tale romance full of mess, RuPaul and Gaga references, and a TON of heart you should definitely check this one out. The ending got me a little misty eyed…I loved it. My only real complaint is there were some parts in the middle that felt a little cliche, but if that’s my only complaint you know this one is great.

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is so different from a lot of what I have been reading lately - but I am so glad I picked it up! It was such a cute and heartwarming read! Micah is looking for his happiness and a fairytale ends and his journey is so fun to follow. Sometimes you pick up a book that just works, and this is one of those. Everything in this book works so well together to give you the perfect story - this was one of those books!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded

“But fate had decided Boy 100 is still out there, waiting for me like I’m waiting for him.”

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

It didn’t feel right to give this book 3 stars or 4, so we’re sitting in the middle.

Out of all the books and ARCs I had to read, I was in the mood for something light-hearted and possibly funny, so I picked this one based on the vibes I got from the gorgeous cover.

I’ll start with more pros: it was hilarious and easy to read. I didn’t have to think so much which I respected given the reason I picked up this book. I also loved the sketches. I don’t blame Micah for having crushes on them because they’re beautiful. His ability to connect fairytales, queer identity, love, and his illustrations was woven so beautifully. I enjoyed reading how important all those mean to him and how he uses those to express himself.

However, and this may be just me, but there were too many pop culture references for my liking. And his relationship with Grant moved really fast. Maybe that was the point, but I would’ve loved more development aside from the initial “love at first sight” and then some. I feel the same way with the Eliot events. With that, the book actually started to lose me at the end. However, this was a great coming-of-age contemporary story and I mostly enjoyed it.

I may not have been the target audience of this book, but I still enjoyed it! I did not immediately fall in love with Micah Summers, but that was partly because he lived a privileged and sheltered life, and he didn't really understand that. But he was a caring young man who wore his heart on his sleeve, but who also didn't like the spotlight. I grew up in Chicago, so I loved the setting and I also loved that he was an artist. I loved that this story explored different kinds of relationships, including familial, but it also showed the different ways romantic relationships can work (or not), and that just because two people probably don't belong to each other long term, it doesn't mean that they didn't love each other.

This felt like a contemporary retelling of a mishmash of fairy tales and I loved the lessons that Micah learned about what love means for him, but I also love that his growing pains helped him see that his sister's relationship with her girlfriend was a lot more solid than he thought and that he had a lot to learn about real relationships in real life.

And yes, I love the ending as well as the epilogue. This story is perfect for fans of romcoms.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book will be published on September 20.

This was such a heartwarming and sweet read!

Micah was a lovely main character. He was desperately searching for his fairy tale ending and it was amazing to go on this journey with him. He really grew a lot throughout the story. I just adored stories with such great character development.

All of the other characters were really well fleshed out and felt really realistic and believable. I wish I could jump into the story and be friends with them.

The story progressed with a great pace. It was exciting to know what was going to happen next, even if some parts were a little predictable.

This was a super cute, easy read. I really recommend!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass is a modern day fairytale that puts a queer spin on Cinderella. I loved the idea of an Instagram account filled with sketches of imaginary boyfriends, and the main character is relatable as he sets off on a quest to find his first real love. This is an uplifting story about falling in love, and it is sure to leave readers with a smile.

On his popular Instagram account, Micah draws imaginary boyfriends–99 of them to be exact. However, while he spends his time dreaming of romance, Micah has never had a boyfriend before and is determined to make boy 100 the one he’s actually going to ask out. Luck is on his side one day on the train, where he meets a cute boy, but when they’re suddenly separated, Micah must track him down with only his embroidered jacket as a clue. However, when their relationship goes viral and things between them start to shift, Micah must confront the reality of relationships and realize that true love is closer than he originally thought.

❀ ENJOYABLE MAIN CHARACTER

I enjoyed Micah’s character, and he learns a lot throughout the book. He dreams of his own fairytale romance and wants the same for his friends, and throughout the book, he gains the confidence to be in a relationship. Micah’s experiences are realistic and relatable, and I enjoyed watching him slowly learn that relationships can be messy and don’t always align with his romanticized visions. I have to admit, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the love triangle, but I still enjoyed the story as a whole.

❀ HEARTWARMING

Where this book really shines is in its take on fairytales. The reason why Micah runs his Instagram account is to create his own magical stories that he doesn’t see reflected in the world around him, and I loved the way the book itself reflects this as a modern, queer fairytale. It’s heartwarming to see Micah slowly start to find the true love he has been searching for–and to see the way this changes as he discovers more about himself along the way.

❀ A CHARMING ROMCOM

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass is a charming romcom about the kind of love we see in fairytales. I loved the idea of a modern quest to find true love, and the main character’s vision of romance changes throughout the book as he tries to make his fairytale ending come true. This is the perfect read for those looking for something that feels cinematic and sweet.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this delightful book!

This is a fun book about first love, discovering yourself, and confronting life changes that affect friendships. The book chronicles Micah’s summer as he begins a relationship with a boy he meets during a chance train encounter. He learns a lot this summer, including the important concept that intent is not nearly as powerful as impact when it comes to the feelings of his loved ones. The side characters are all pretty great as well, making this a really enjoyable read. The fairy tale theme is delightful as well.

Honestly not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this book.

I enjoyed Micah's voice, it felt very realistic for a teenager, and his sense of humor was enjoyable. I liked the portrayal of young, over-romaticized love, and the idea of reality being very different. However, I don't like that Micah didn't communicate with Grant, and then blamed him for not reading his mind. Yes, Grant was toxic in some ways, but you can't expect a partner to read your mind. I don't know. If this romance was supposed to make me believe in love again it failed.

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers kept my interest throughout reading and will definitely keep my student’s interests as well. This book is one that I will definitely look into adding to my classroom shelves in the near future.

Micah wants the fairytale kiss, the fairytale date, the fairytale boyfriend. Sadly, he hasn’t found this perfect meet cute yet but rather has come up with fake boyfriends through his Instagram account, 99 so far to be exact. Currently, he’s on a mission to find that perfect boyfriend, number 100. When Micah believes he has met 100 on the bus and then misses his opportunity to date, he quickly goes on the scavenger hunt of his life.

Filled with clues throughout the city, a pumpkin-embroidered jacket and fun side characters, The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is a fun young adult read. I instantly connected with Micah’s want to instagram his adventures and his creative mindsets. Adam Sass hits the mark with wanting to express oneself and take risks to find love/adventure. I look forward to reading through this author’s backlist at some point.

Thank you Viking Books for Young Readers and Negalley for my earc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers pops into bookstores next Tuesday, September 20.

[Insert anything] but make it gay feeds my soul. I particularly love fairy tale retellings, especially when they're queer. The good part of being shoved to the margins of society is not having to follow the rules. And The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers author Adam Sass knows that because this novel plays at pushing boundaries. It reaches right up to their edges and then, unfortunately, says, "Haha. JK."

The beginning and end of the book are delightful, but the middle is a bit of a slog. It's clear by then where it's all headed, and you kinda just wanna hurry up and get there. I'll admit I had difficulty relating to Micah because he comes by everything so easily. On a surface level, I understood his second-hand fame has scarred him, but I never felt it. Perhaps if this book had been from one of Micah's potential suitors' point of view, it would have more of an edge and would have felt less cotton candy. Maybe more like bubblegum -- a little something to chew on.  

I always find it interesting when books deal with fame and wealth in the modern world. I appreciated the attempt here, but it didn't work for me. The money/fame issue is such a big elephant left in the room it threatens to derail Micah's fairy tale HEA. So, it's just swept under (Cinderella's) rug. The inherent power imbalance in Micah's relationships and his tendency to throw money at problems hangs there. 

Throughout the book, Micah repeats that gay people must make their own stories. (Speaking about the US  ... ) While that will always be true to some extent, things aren't how they used to be. The breadth of queer stories out there is growing rapidly, and the normalization of queer culture is too -- even while queer lives are being legislated back into the closet.

We're reaching a point in queer storytelling where we can be picky, where I finally feel comfortably criticizing queer work. That's certainly something to celebrate. It does make me wonder if I've reached a point where I expect too much from queer media. 

(Also, maybe I'm wrong and will get roasted for this, but do the youngsters care about Barbara Streisand or Cher anymore?)

Ten years ago, The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers would have been revolutionary -- today, it's a quick vacation read. Because the novel seems to be written with queer readers in mind (though the cisheteros would enjoy it as well), the simplicity of the story makes it feel slight.

You'll read and enjoy it, but ultimately you won't remember it. And maybe that's OK. (P.S. The artwork throughout the book is super cute.)


Content warnings: Emotional cheating, classicism, less-than-healthy relationships.

I had such high hopes and thought I'd love this one. Beautiful cover, the synopsis of a cinderella but make it gay retelling?? It sounded so good. Unfortunately this had some tropes I hated including emotional cheating. Ugh. I hated the whole love triangle thing going on in this book it would've been so much better just without it.

DNF’d at 25% (WARNING: Spoilers below while I explain why)

I went into Micah Summers really hoping to love this book. The blurb sounded exciting to me and I hoped it would become a cherished YA I could reread again and again. Unfortunately, I was not a good match for The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers.

To start, I feel as though the age range could have been marketed better. Micah Summers was put on NetGalley as a Young Adult book which is how I found it. And, to be fair, the main cast of characters are all about 17 years old, so they fit in the YA category. But there was something about the way they were written that felt less like actual 17 year-old characters and more like what a 13 year old would imagine being 17 is. If Micah Summers is YA, then it is on the “young” emphasized range of the genre. I love reading across character ages, but in this case, Micah and his friends were just too young for me to really enjoy. At 17, you’re still a kid but do start to have a bit of a mature worldview. I didn’t get that with the characters in this book. Maybe it was just their privilege but I found them so unrealistic and unrelatable that they seemed written towards a younger audience not yet the same age.

The next disconnect I felt from the story was the main romance storyline. Micah is looking for his Boy 100 to be special. When he comes across a guy on the train and they have a great conversation, Micah is convinced he’s found his prince. However, in a true Cinderella twist, Micah is separated from Boy 100 without learning his name. To help his quest to be reunited, though, Micah has Boy 100’s handmade pumpkin embroidered leather jacket with leads like receipts and a library card in its pockets. Helping him on this quest are his best friend Hannah and Hannah’s other gay best friend Elliot. Once Elliot was introduced, and Micah mentioned how Hannah had tried setting them up several times, I knew that Boy 100 was a red herring and that Elliot would be his true love. Once I decided to DNF, I skipped ahead to the final chapter and- sure enough- it was Elliot Micah was waiting for to kiss. This fake-out wouldn’t really be an issue if I already wasn’t so uninterested in finding out how Micah goes from Boy 100 to Elliot. Much like a lackluster side to a disappointing entree, it’s not the main problem, but it also doesn’t really help redeem it either.

Lastly, the biggest reason I ended up DNF’ing, was that the point of view and voice of this book are very train of thought. When reading, the reader feels as though they see and hear everything Micah does at the exact moment he sees or hears it. There is no mystery. There is no build up to revealing a hidden motivation. Even the thoughts and feelings that are subconscious are brought up prematurely. This writing style was just the straw that broke my resolve.

At the end of the day, I’m still going to give The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers 2 stars because I can tell it’s not a bad book, it’s just not for me.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


**I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

<i>*Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review*</i>

1 star and a flat, tired stare.

I went from “I’m excited to read something cute and light” to “huh maybe I’ve just outgrown YA contemporary” to “oh no, I just don’t like any part of this book because it’s either really predictable, underdeveloped, or nonsensical”. I made it halfway and then skimmed to the end just to see what happened to Elliot.

This book had potential, but it fell horrendously flat. I guess so I don’t lose myself in all my thoughts on the plot/themes, I’ll start with the characters.

They were… fine. They existed.

Micah started off as an interesting and kind of endearing character. His deeply-rooted beliefs about what relationships should be like really reminded me of myself before I started dating, and even in the early months/years of my relationship. It made me feel a nice mix of nostalgia and sorrow, and I was genuinely invested in how he was going to learn not to expect perfection from himself or his partner, that relationships take work and thrive in the small, quiet moments.

Aaaaaand at the end of the book he’s rushing to the train station to stop his crush, who he’s also objectified quite a bit, from leaving a genuinely bad situation for an arguably much better situation, because he just doesn’t want to be left alone. I also could not believe that his motivation behind helping Brandon and Elliot stay together wasn't to help Elliot, but was ultimately to keep Elliot from moving away from HIM.

What was this kid supposed to have learned again?

I also had a hard time understanding his motivation to get into the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He’s apparently able to fling money around on anything and everything, and he’s had private art tutors in the past. Is he only interested in the school so that he can be involved in the art community? I mean, that’s fair I guess. But then why does it seem like he’s not following other artists online?? It’s not mentioned even once. It felt really weak to me that he’s looking for *inspiration* solely from his crushes and not from fellow artists in an online community, which is how online artists actually thrive.

Grant was boringly perfect for the first quarter of the book, and because I knew he wasn’t the endgame I was just waiting for something to go wrong, but there was really nothing to him aside from his inferiority complex and the fact that he was just as selfish as Micah was. Honestly, they made a great couple. They deserved each other.

Elliot…. Elliot Elliot Elliot. The overworked and stressed poor kid who was constantly harassed by customers and abused by his manager and stuck in a crappy living situation- y’know, just that real world food service life- but who absolutely NEVER let it get him down. Never. Not once. Who never stood up for himself to mean customers but had to have other people come in and help him or just give stuff away for free until they calmed down (which he totally would have gotten in trouble for btw). In the end, he was so complacent he didn’t even quit his terrible job on his own, didn’t make any kind of stand or statement, he just got fired cuz he stopped showing up cuz he was sad. The ONE time he got mad was when Micah posted on Insta that they weren’t romantically involved.

Please gag me. Please stop representing the overworked and underpaid masses as toothless and polite. This is SO not the time.

At the end of the book, when he and Micah are confessing their love to each other, he tells Micah that he has flaws, that their relationship isn’t going to be perfect, but lol, we know that’s not true. He’s only ever been described as NICE and PATIENT and POSITIVE and being PERFECT at making other people (Micah most importantly) feel good.

Hannah was cool. Micah’s dad was really obsessed with time management for a single scene and then it never came up again. Micha’s sister was mean until Micah complained about it once and then the problem was solved.

Okay moving on to PLOT and THEMES. Aka, a rant about how unrealistically being an artist on social media was portrayed, and a rant about half-baked social commentary.

The portrayal of online vs. real life fame for artists was wholly unrealistic. An artist with 50k followers posts a face reveal and gets a million more followers and likes from celebrities and has people following him around in real life snapping candids?? Even if he was piggybacking off the dubious fame of his washed-up hockey player turned failed reality TV star turned local radio talk show host father, I could not suspend my disbelief even half so far.

Not to mention the way the book handles art and networking. Look, for artists, networking is literally EVERYTHING. We are fighting constantly to beat the algorithms just to get our stuff SEEN, much less engaged with. Half of being an artist online now is swallowing your pride enough to beg people to interact with your stuff by reposting it over and over, by asking people to like, share, leave a comment, by reminding people you have a ko-fi and a patreon and commission slots still unfilled. And part of being in an online artist community is hyping up your fellow artists. Doing all of the above all the time. Liking, sharing, commenting commenting commenting. And that’s just if we want to keep a relatively casual relationship between our art and our income. If we want to do art as a JOB?! We have GOT to have connections in the industry. Networking, whether online or in person, is everything.

Grant asking for Micah to promote an art project that, at that point, they are COLLABORATING on, from which they both mutually benefit by getting the attention of the art college they BOTH want to go to?!

Hot take incoming: not a bad thing.

He was trying to drum up interest in an art show that could get him into one of the most prestigious art colleges in the U.S. Obviously he could have started his own Insta after the face reveal happened and they suddenly became irl celebrities for no reason, sure, but Micah already had the followers, already had the engagement, already had the favor of the almighty and fickle algorithm. Either way, he would have been “using” Micah’s fame in order to get attention for his own work. So would it have been better or worse for Grant to start his own account, which *realistically* would grow pretty slowly on its own, and then constantly ask Micah to share his posts in his stories or interact with them in some other way that points people toward it?

What makes this whole situation awkward and frustrating for me is that Micah has a lot of privilege, and that is never really addressed in a substantial way. He gets lucky on social media by making it to 50k followers (thousands and thousands of artists will never see that number, and not for lack of trying or lack of talent), but behind that is the fact that he’s very well off financially (his family has a YACHT), with real world clout that can apparently make or break people’s social situations (see Elliot). He’s in a position to help Grant, but instead it’s portrayed as Grant using him to climb ladders. And again, they were COLLABORATING on this art project, and they both stood to benefit from it. So why play it like Micah is being used, when it would be way more realistic for him to also be excited to use his account to promote the project? It made the problems in their relationship feel very manufactured, when all you really needed to do was have Micah and Grant get to know each other and realize they just don’t vibe. Have Micah realize that he can’t objectify total strangers. Because… obviously.

And what’s with the different levels of charity Micah was willing to engage with between Grant and Elliot? Grant asked for help promoting his art show, so that’s bad? Elliot didn’t ask for any help with his poor situations, so it’s fine for Micah to throw a bunch of his dad’s money at him? Maybe it just felt better to Micah to help Elliot, because that at least was his own idea, done out of the goodness of his heart, so he can feel (and we can believe) that he’s actually a Nice and Generous rich boy?

Idk y’all, the socio-economic dynamics of the relationships between these three boys was REALLY wack. And before you tell me to shut up and not look that deeply because it’s just supposed to be some cute fluffy ya contemporary, these dynamics were literally the whole plot of the novel. It keeps getting brought up that Micah is oh-so-rich and has to be careful in public because people are watching him, can recognize him on the street, and I’m supposed to think that that doesn’t have any bearing on the situation?? Instead, it’s all about his ever elusive cReAtIvItY and how Grant asking him to use his account for promo somehow oppresses that. Really??

There’s even a moment where Elliot’s boyfriend teases Micah for being rich, but he does it in a ‘mean’ way, a ‘bitter’ way, so it’s bad. But then Elliot does it in a ‘nice’ way, (aka, in a way that doesn’t actually force Micah to think and feel bad about the difference in status and opportunity between him and his friend), and that’s just fine. In fact, it’s so cute. Micah LOVES being teased (NICELY) about how rich he is by a kid who works overtime every week and lives in a building with no AC and can’t afford vet school and gets harassed on the daily by entitled customers and gets exploited by a manager who should really be reported to OSHA. It makes him feel so… understood.

If I wasn’t supposed to think about any of these issues, which are real world problems that affect real world people, then why bring them up a thousand and one times? Yes, Micah is a kid, and his wealth isn’t any of his doing. But that would have just made it all the more interesting and powerful to have him challenge his family’s privilege, or look into ways he can use that privilege to help others. What was the point of him being wealthy at all? What was the point of it constantly being beaten into our heads that he’s wealthy?

I have… no idea.

In the end, the best way I can describe this book is out of touch. The plot didn’t feel plausible, the important character interactions were pretty contrived, and there were social themes that were brought up that were never resolved. I skimmed, and was kind of relieved when I was done.

The 99 boyfriends of micah summers describes itself as a gay fairytale and it's truly a wonderful little book. It reminded me a bit of meet cute diary and I really loved elliot! he's such a wonderful little guy and I really liked him!!

Thank you to netgalley for my advanced reader e-copy.

I liked the cover art.

The beginning had so much potential, but…

I don’t know what to rate this because:
- Grant is toxic and I don’t know what Micah sees in him apart from just wanting him so badly to be the boyfriend/person that Micah wants him to be.
- Elliot I’ve been cheering for THE ENTIRE BOOK but Micah literally used him so I feel like he still 100% deserves WAY better. He was definitely the best character in the novel 🥺
- I think Micah was way more infatuated in the idea of finding his person than actually realizing (Elliot) someone that was there all along could’ve been better for him than the fantasy he has in his head.

I also got bored in the middle of the book. I feel like the plot was lackluster.

“How could I want someone else but still feel awful about losing the one I’m with?” Clearly (85% into the book) this has been the situation the whole story because I feel like it’s way more about Elliot and Micah’s relationship then Micah’s actual boyfriend.

Anyways, this could’ve been executed way better.

A really cute and sweet YA romance that I think will serve as great representation for LGBTQIA+ teens. Elliott is such a lovable character and so easy to root for - Micah a little bit less so. Grant was almost cartoonishly a bad boyfriend, but I do appreciate that Sass attempted to tie it up in a more nuanced way. I think this suffers a bit from trying to be TOO contemporary, which is a problem I've seen with YA more than once. Overall, not perfect, but still pretty enjoyable!

I knew that this was going to be a cute time going in, and coming out of it, I definitely got a cute time. I liked the characters well enough. As a person that grew up in a weird time for YA fiction it always feels a little weird to say that this is a book that I would have eagerly devoured, because I doubt that it would have even been something that was on my radar. Had I known about it though, I would have enjoyed it, and it's the kind of book that teens today will get more out of it.

In the first half of the narrative I liked the slight tweak on the Cinderella motif. I wouldn't call this a retelling by any stretch, but of the fairytale romances that are alluded to, it's the one that you could make fit if you wanted. I liked following the more well off character in the set up, I've read about one too many plucky down on their luck protagonists that it was just nice to see the dynamic reconfigured from the other side. Micah's family were easily some of my favorite parts of the book.

Maybe it was just the bitter cynic in me, but I was kind of rooting for the romance to just not work out in this one. Which at the time was a bit of a surprise because the first third of the book wherein Micah was trying to find the mysterious jacket boy after their chance encounter on the train had completely stolen my heart. I am a big fan of books where the romance is between two people that don't have any prior history that's been established before the start of the book and so moments like that are always going to get me

While the romance is easily the central focus in this, alongside some other more character related motivations, I can't say that the romance really compelled me. Something about my age and having read so many books you can clearly pick up where the book is going to end up by around the 45% mark, which was such a different experience from what I had reading Sass' debut novel just a few days before I picked this one up.

Again, this wasn't even a bad book. In fact I think that it makes for a fun read. Like so many other books I've picked up recently part of me feels it might work better as a movie, something about this one in particular really lends itself to adaptation and getting to see it in a more cinematic context might boost my personal enjoyment, but overall a fun time.

I loved this story! The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers was such a heart-warming, sweet story about a boy just trying to find another boy to love. I thought the Cinderella references were so fun and I definitely recommend this book.