Miles Jacobson is a trans boy trying to win his classical music regional, adjust to being newly out, and also win back over his ex-bf. Eric Mendez is the new boy in the town who draws cartoon cats and laughing waffles. They were both great characters - fleshed out and well rounded and real - and I loved reading about their blossoming relationship.

My one issue with this book was Miles' ongoing obsession with his ex. For whilst I enjoy the conclusion him and the ex got to in the end, the getting there was a bit excruciating.

Overall though, a lovely contemporary YA romance that had me invested in its characters and their relationship. (And also more invested in a fictional music competition than I ever thought I would be!)

First time author Edward Underhill delivers a rebuke to the notion that trans fiction for teens needs to be gritty and depressing, or that trans romance for teens always ends in disappointment and disaster. It isn’t always a perfect romance, but as a portrait of one trans boy’s experience, it succeeds more often than not. In the annals of trans fiction, it’s definitely not the kind of book I would have expected to see on the shelves ten years ago.

Always the Almost is a great book in many ways. It has great queer representation, it managed to convey all the feelings and dramas of teenage lives without portraying them as just winning children, and it also brings good supportive characters. This book brought a lot of the light of YA literature to life. And even though I got irritated in quite a few occasions with Miles trying to win his ex-boyfriend back, who broke up with him when he came out as a trans boy, I do understand that to the eyes of a teen, that might be a reasonable thing to go after. So, I guess that’s alright.

However, one thing that I definitely didn’t like about this book was the infidelity/cheating aspect. I don’t think that portraying anyone, but especially teens, in this light should be done without proper content warning. Also, infidelity shouldn’t be treated as a write of passage. My rating of this book was greatly impacted by this aspect. Always the Almost is well written and bring up many topics that should be discussed in a queer YA book and has the potential to inspire and help many kids out there.

So, I recommend this book with some reservations as it should be, and still is for the most part, a great addition to YA literature, but it could’ve done better with the infidelity aspect of the book.

Such an adorable read about navigating queerness and finding the ability to define yourself on your own terms. I loved Miles as a main character. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a heartwarming, queer, YA story.

Always the Almost was an easy and quick read. I love books with Queer joy and this was one. I was eager to read this one just off the gorgeous cover alone. I’m obsessed.

I liked our MC Miles for the most part. I will say I adored Eric! He was perfect in my eyes. I loved their relationship and wish we could have gotten more of them together.

My only negative part of this entire book for me was the cheating storyline. I'm not a fan for this trope. It usually ruins books for me and it definitely brings down the rating on this one.

If you're looking for a book that deals with identity, relationships, coming of age and music, you found the one for you.

10000% yes! This story was very much needed and more stories should come about because of this story. It wasn't just about a trans main character. This book was about identity.

I can't say enough good things about this book! This was such a fantastic debut book, it is beautifully written and has a wonderful plot. There was definitely a bit more depth in the second half of the book than the first but even with that the entire book still flowed quite nicely. I think I almost liked Eric a bit more than Miles as a character but I loved seeing the growth that Miles had throughout the book. Also the piano teacher was an absolutely fantastic character, who gave some great lessons (in more ways than one). I thought the ending was well done and everything came to a close really nicely.

*3.5 stars* Always the Almost was an easy and quick read. I was really surprised at how quickly I fell in love with this book, but unfortunately after being halfway through it lost some of my interest.

Focusing on the good parts of the story (for now), Miles was an easy character to love. His feelings about his identity were realistic. Overall, that’s what this story was about. The side characters and the love interest were great and I really wish that we were given more background at the beginning of the story about them. We don’t really get to know these characters until nearing the end of the book. Eric was my favorite and he deserves the world. The piano competitions were great and really interesting to read about!

Now onto the worst. The cheating. I feel as though this story would’ve been fine without this part. I also hate how the characters tried to justify what they were doing. It just felt unnecessary to add.

So happy to see this wave of queer joy and uplifting stories being published, especially with so many attacks against trans people in todays political landscape.

4.25/5
its been a while (months) since i first read this (i kept putting off writing my reviews, oops) so i dont remember some parts of it as clearly but here goes!

i absolutely **loved** this book, itll probably make it up to my list of favorite books of the year. i loved the relationship that miles and eric formed together, they were so cute and wholesome. i loved that they had a little queer found family group with each other, its something ive always loved to see in books and i think it was done quite well! i loved the piano and music aspect and exploring your identity through it and think that was also done beautifully (i forgot her names since its been a while but i also loved miles’s piano teacher!!). i loved that we got to see miles struggle with his identity and how hes perceived by the world. i really liked seeing that miles was **not** a perfect character, as what i feel is the case with many ya protagonists. looking through some reviews, i can see that this was a big problem for many people but i personally think it added to the relatability. i dont think people understand that its not as easy to make the right decisions when youre a teenager trying to understand yourself and the world, and not an adult reading a book where you can clearly see what the right and wrong choices are, i think it made sense to make miles a character that also does wrong things sometimes. i think miles was strong for trying to make up for his wrongs, i remember being anxious when i thought of myself in the same situation as him and thinking “id just stay in bed all day and never talk to anyone again.”. i do however think that things were resolved a bit too quickly, i wouldve liked the book to maybe be a bit longer so that we could see how he managed to rebuild trust with his friends. i sadly cannot say i enjoyed the relationship paige and rachel had as much as i did miles and eric’s, i personally just didnt understand why it was necessary to further the plot of the novel other than to get miles to be even more tangled up in everything, even so i feel like it definitely couldve been done in a much better way. overall, i really did enjoy this book and would recommend it!

This book looks very generic based on the cover, but the premise is very fresh. This is so much more than the tired rom-com cover would suggest.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great YA book. I was eager to read this one just based on the cover alone because it is absolutely stunning, but the content was great as well. This book has great rep, but make sure to check your trigger warnings, just to ensure you take care of yourselves, friends! If you're looking for a book that deals with identity, relationships, learning to love, and also has a trans mc then this is definitely the book for you! Also the side characters? So great.

This book definitely reminded me why I still read YA romance. The feels I had while reading can't be topped by regular romance (imo). Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

This book was such a delightful read that explores what it means to always be almost good or whole enough. I loved the exploration of non-binary/trans identities between the main characters while also helping it seem normal in their world/society. The music plot line was also an interesting touch and something that propelled me through the book. I think this is a great teen read and can't wait to put it in the hands of library patrons.

This book just didn't work for me, in any way shape, or form. I can understand why other people like it, it just wasn't for me. I mean, this does deal with some important topics, and it does it pretty well. I also think that if I were younger I might have liked this a bit more. However, I read it now and it irked me quite a bit. The main character was just really selfish, and overdramatic. His ability to make every small thing massive, and every single thing completely about himself is truly something special. So because of that I just didn't connect with our main character, and because so much of this book is about his personal struggles, I also just didn't connect with anything in the book. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the friendships in this book. They seemed just the slightest bit toxic, and it didn't get adressed AT ALL. The romance also wasn't my favourite. I just think it was really underdeveloped. The main character was just WAY too stuck up on his ex, and I also felt like the only reason he got together with the love interest was because he didn't care he was trans. So yeah, this just didn't work for me but I didn't hate it either.

A beautiful story of first love that should be in every library in America. Queer, empowering, tender, real. Loved it so much.

This was truly one of the most special books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I laughed, I cried, but most importantly I learned something. Such an amazing story.

a thoughtful coming of age story about knowing who you are, falling in love, friendship and family!. my favorite part of the book was miles and his piano teacher, who is not only super supportive and wise but hilarious. there's a lot going on here and the romance drama felt pretty forced, but i understood the character's motivations. overall a fun read with well-developed characters.

This is a sweet and heartfelt LBGTQIA+ YA romance. The representation(specifically Trans) Was well written and there was such Trans joy and self-discovery throughout the entire books.
I loved the chemistry between Miles and Eric. You could feel it and were automatically "shipping" them and rooting them on. Both characters we likeable, funny, and quirky.
The characters were also relatable and interesting.
Even the side characters were written well and accurately.
My only negative remark or off putting part of this entire book for me was the cheating storyline. I'm not much a fan for this trope or plot type, especially not in a YA book.
Otherwise i found this book wholesome and engaging.


Thank you Wednesday books and NetGalley for the Advanced Copy.

This was such a cute yet really thoughtful read! I loved the characters and the side characters. The cover caught me attention but the story kept me engaged. I can't wait to see what else the author writes in the future.

The former competitive musician in me had a field day over this book. Trans teen Miles wants to win back his ex who he lost after transitioning. He fake dates new student Eric to try and make the ex jealous, all while getting ready to compete in an annual classical piano competition.

There was a ton of queer and trans joy in this. Miles is such a gem of a person who constantly feels like he isn’t enough. The title is something that I think a lot of queer people understand on a fundamental level. The feeling of almost being enough, of almost being good enough. You’re always “the almost” but never the one. Even if you’re not a classical pianist, you still see yourself in Miles’s story.

The answer at the end of this is a resounding, “You are good enough and you’re not the almost.”

It was a message that resonated with me. Can’t wait for Underhill’s next one.

4 stars