This book has a lot of good themes but some of the delivery didn’t land for me. Some of the messages about prioritizing yourself, not allowing people to use you and standing up for yourself are good, but at no point was I ever really rooting for any of the main characters. Every romantic and even friendship relationship seems toxic and like they were friends when they were younger but should have grown apart. It was a pretty fast read and some parts were laugh out loud funny so it feels like a good summer beach read with some queer rep.

This was a fun, charming and poignant read. Perfect for fans of The Guncle for the emotional layers, a priority purchase for most libraries.

The book was merely okay, but I wish there was more character development in the book that didn't feel too over the top.

Literal perfection! How often does a book make you both literally LOL and genuinely tear up? For me, almost never, but this one hit me in all my emotions while cracking me up in the process. After adoring Nicolas DiDomizio’s debut novel Burn It All Down, I was anxiously awaiting his follow up, and it was even better than his first. I loved the relationships between Dom and Patrick, Dom and Kate, and of course, Dom and Bucky. Much like Joey from BIAD, Dom has so much growth throughout the book, and I loved seeing how even a character in his thirties can still be figuring out who he is. While definitely not as wacky and wild as Burn It All Down (I still think about that decorative wagon sometimes!), you will love this if you enjoyed that one. And can someone please buy the film rights? I’m already casting it in my head!

I love queer romance and was so excited about this one. It has funny and touching parts all in all in was a good read. Enjoyed it.

I really wanted to like this book so much. I love a good rom-com and even better if it’s a fun-filled queer rom-com. However, I found the main character, Dom, so unlikeable that I just couldn’t read this book. Not only was Dom unlikeable, but the story was just…boring! I usually don’t care if characters are unlikeable, but in this case I’m making an exception. I kept waiting for the book to get better but at the 50% mark I just couldn’t anymore.

Now, this book was a miss for me but there were things about this book that would make me want to read more by this author. He was really funny and the banter was top notch! I am always willing to try more if I didn’t hate the writing – and that is the case here.

Just because this one didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I can definitely see how some people will just adore this one, and I am really sad that I wasn’t one of them.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for this honest review.

I will not be leaving reviews on social media for this one as I did DNF the book.

I absolutely loved this book! It was funny, sad, and a little bit scandalous! I devoured this book in one sitting it’s that good! I loved Domenic and all his quirkiness, especially his relationship with his friends. I love the journey the story takes Dom on, and that he truly finds himself in the end! Such a fun book and one you all should pick up as soon as it’s out! Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a copy of this book in return of a review!

Dom has been best friends with Patrick since elementary school. He's also now best friends with his wife to be Kate. Because Dom is gay, he feels that he has to straddle two different worlds with each. The gay bestie of Kate and the best-bro friend of Patrick. Because of his close relationship with both, he's of course invited to each individual bachelor and Bachelorette party. As expected, chaos ensues.

This book is so much more than a funny gay best friend rom com. Dom is going through a very recent breakup. Patrick and Kate are having relationship issues of their own, and their friendships with Dom are also experiencing issues of their own. And then there is Bucky, Patrick's in the closet groomsman. Everyone in this book is flawed, and that's such a testament to DiDomizios writing. You still love them! You watch them individually and together grow. And while not everyone gets a textbook HEA, it's truly the most perfect ending possible. I loved this one! Loved every single page.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicolas DiDomizio, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I adored Burn It All Down, and was thrilled to receive an early copy of The Gay Best Friend. Nic DiDomizio proves that no one can serve cheeky humor quite like him.

Dom is long time best friend of Patrick. He never feels as though he fully measures up to his rich. privileged best friend, though Patrick has been generous and kind since they were kids. Kate is Patrick’s fiancé, who has developed her own strong, separate friendship with Dom. When Dom is invited to both the bachelor and bachelorette party, chaos ensues.

If I had one critique of the story it would be the constant miscommunication. HOWEVER, the reason this is my critique is due to how invested I was with each character and their intertwined relationships. Kate, Patrick and Dom are all seriously flawed. They are also completely authentic

Keeping the friendships front and center was so refreshing. In adulthood we stop prioritizing our friends, and with Dom, Patrick and Kate are truly his found family. This made the highs so fun and the lows so heartbreaking.

Though this story focuses on friendship, where Dom’s story fully achieved its full character arc was with Bucky. Dom is unapologetically himself at all times, so having his love interest be closeted was clever. Their chemistry was immediately and the resolution of their journey brought me to tears.

5 big stars for The Gay Best Friend! Now please pardon me as I go listen to Firework by Katy Perry and do a victory dance for sweet, hilarious Dom.

I felt that the main character should have unfriended these best friends for using him. They seem toxic and so glad that the main character just focused on himself. However, he did not grow which was a shame because he should have despite everything that went down. I loved the dialogue and the character interactions. The plot was at a good pace at least.

The Gay Best Friend had the atmosphere of a TV rom-com, the accurate depiction of the problems miscommunication and bad influence friends cause to a couple, the vibe of an AITA Reddit post and a trying-hard-to-fit-in-my-stereotype main character in Dom!

It is both funny and relatable, you can see that things will go wrong for the characters and at the same time you feel bad for them but you also feel that it's their fault. It's a story dedicated to how secrets are never the answer, and being yourself will always be better than playing a role in the long term. Dom is the first one who needs this lesson, but so do his soon-to-be-married best friends Patrick and Kate.

As far as adult gay rom-coms go, The Gay Best Friend deserves a spot among the elite!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Dom starts the book on the terribly difficult position of recently canceling his own wedding while being stuck between his two best friends as they approach their wedding. He's neurotic and selfish, unwilling to take a stand with anyone in his life. But as the story goes on, he learns a ton about himself and the man he wants to be - rebuilding his relationships and his own sense of self along the way. His growth and ability to forgive made him such a wonderful main character for this story.

This book reminded me to take my anxiety medicine.

Dom's best friends are marrying each other and this book covers the time period from the bachelor party, to the bachelorette party, and the wedding. All of this is fine had the bride and groom kept their relationship drama between them and not involved Dom in all of it. He was so busy making everyone else feel comfortable in their relationships and lies that no one bothered to see if he was comfortable at all. Spoiler alert: he was not.

There is a romantic plot for Dom but I didn't feel like it was the central story for him in this book. He outed another character at least twice without his consent and I was kind of annoyed about that. That character was wildly clear that he had no interest in coming out publicly and then everything was out of his hands. It didn't feel good.

This book did go quick and it was kind of fun to see how much fun they poked at themselves as very wealthy WASP types. The wedding events all take place on the beach in Connecticut for goodness sakes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley , Sourcebook Casablanca and Nicolas DiDominizo for the eARC.

"You’re my two best friends. I can’t be taking sides! We’ll have to implement some kind of rule.”

I believe everyone that reads the book will feel that pain. We all pretty much had friends date friends.

Let me start. You have to read the book. I truly enjoyed it.

The story revolves around Domenic "the token gay friend" the one that is best friends with the bride and the groom.

A story about finding yourself throughout the chaos of being dumped feeling unloved and overlooked.

It's trying to be a peacemaker between complete chaos. You know you want to keep both friendships at peace but all it seems is like they just want to ask ask ask.

To start off with the good things, I found this book to be entertaining enough to finish and I did like the style of the author.
The bad: I did not like this book. Dom, the main character, fails to show any kind of character growth until the last 30 pages even if opportunity after opportunity presents itself and would add to the story . I struggle to find one likeable character in this novel, as all of them are so deeply unreasonable that it's infuriating to read and would probably make the average person put the book down. Also there are moments in the book that would be funny and clever if the jokes weren't explained in parenthesis in the next line. I also was not rooting for Dom and Bucky together. I felt like there was no chemistry. I felt like Bucky was a character that had no thought into him at all besides being a hot golfer.

Overall, I wanted more from this book. I loved the premise. But it just failed to deliver on all fronts.

It was a good book but nothing over that. Its writing is really good but the characters didn't do justice to the potencial of this book

Recently jilted by his fiancé, Domenic Marino must now put on a brave face for the festivities leading up to the wedding of his two best friends, Patrick and Kate. Patrick, the quintessential golden boy, has been Domenic's best friend since the third grade, and for most of Domenic's life, he's felt as if he has been following in Patrick's footsteps, aspiring to be like the beautiful rich boy who for some reason chose to be his friend. The two have been inseparable since childhood though Domenic feels they grew apart when he came out of the closet in college, Patrick joined a fraternity. Nonetheless, they remained friends, and their lives became more entwined with the arrival of Kate, Patrick's glamorous fiancée. When Patrick and Kate started dating, Dom and Kate became best friends in their own right, bonding over Sex and The City. Now in the lead-up to the nuptials of his best friends and still reeling in the demise of his own wedding, Patrick and Kate each burden him with impossible requests that test his loyalties to each of them. The Gay Best Friend is a heartwarming reflection on friendship and the roles we unconsciously accept even though no one asked us to.

Available : June 06, 2023

Disclosure: I received a free ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my review. My review is my honest opinion.

Gay Best Friend is a hilarious yet heartfelt book about love and friendships at its core. It follows Domenic, the classic character fitting the stereotypical title of gay best friend, as he navigates being the best man to his childhood friend and also the best friend to the bride. What should be a fun couple of weekends of celebrating quickly turns to chaos with Dom at the center of it. Without giving too much away, this book is straight up hilarious and fun. I loved Don’s inner monologue and pop culture references, many of which I’ve made with my own best friends. In the end, it felt like everything tied together very quickly, but I also can’t think of a better ending myself. The book argues against several stereotypes but then again leans into a few so that was somewhat conflicting - however the main character does kind of address this conflict in the book! Consider this a lighthearted book you should read this summer!

Whew this book had so much drama. Picture The Hangover, but with gay stuff. There was almost too much drama in it for me! I wanted to shake Dom and tell him to stop taking crap from everyone!! Overall, a fun, quick read with some depth, too.

If you frequent AITA threads on Reddit but also reread The Great Gatsby yearly, you'll want to read The Gay Best Friend.

Domenic's life implodes when his fiancé calls off their wedding. Theres no time though to process his own trauma because his best friends' wedding is still very much happening. At least he hopes so.

For the lifetime of their friendships, Domenic has been two versions of himself - one for each best friend. When the bachelor and bachelorette parties happen, each friend makes demands of him regarding loyalty. Domenic will have to either choose a side or compartmentalize or crumble under the pressure of being the perfect ideal of the gay best friend.

As he navigates the seven-layer dip of drama served up by the wedding party, Domenic has his self awareness challenged. What boundaries does he need to have healthy relationships? When does his needs come first? Can he value himself without comparison to his best friends' charmed life?

You're going to want to make The Gay Best Friend a buddy read or have a friend lined up to read it as soon as you're done. I wanted to throw my copy at my best friend, but instead I texted her a link to preorder followed by a eating popcorn gif. This read is juicy, messy, and wholesome if you can even imagine it.