DID SAL WIN THE RACE?? DID HEATH AND REESE STAY TOGETHER? ARE SAL AND GABE BACK TOGETHER?? How is it that I have more questions at the end of the sequel than I did at the end of the first? Is a third coming? Am I just supposed to live with the unknown??

I would probably read many books about these 4 gay boys lives as they go about college and after. Even at 30 the challenges they face still feel relatable and the kids are so easy to root for. Cheers to Phil for creating the perfect boy band who aren't. I can only imagine living as a gay man in small town Ohio and dealing with the actions of others. The themes and messages in this duology are real important in real life too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

This was a sequel to the book Golden Boys. You will definitely need to read that first since this picked up where that left off. The four best friends were figuring out their next steps in life, college applications, life goals, proms, long distance relationships, and family goals. This book was read more easily for me since each person had their own story to tell that was clear and was presented well. I liked them all to be honest.

Gabe was growing more independent and strong willed. Reese was looking at branching outside his comfort zones, Heath was balancing his baseball with his relationship and Sal was figuring out his future. What I didn't like was Sal's mom that was narrow minded and a total witch for a bit. And the texting between the guys was a bit messy for me.

The ending was left up in the air for me. Which I'm not a big fan of. Otherwise, this was a cute and sweet book that was filled with hope and love. I’m hoping for a third book. Fingers crossed!! I totally recommend this book to anyone that loves a good romance.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my review.

I loved this so so much. I do prefer middle grade Stamper but overall this was still an amazing book. I loved it.

Afterglow is the follow-up to Phil Stamper’s Golden Boys. After a life-changing summer that they’ll never forget, the four best friends Gabriel, Heath, Reese, and Sal are ready to tackle their senior year. Gabriel can’t wait to create his school’s first LGBTQ+ advocacy group but is struggling to keep his long-distance relationship alive. Heath feels good about himself for the first time in years, but with his future riding on a baseball scholarship, his anxiety is through the roof. Reese, meanwhile, is set on making a career in fashion happen after senior year but is afraid to share in which unexpected direction his creativity is dragging him. And Sal wants nothing more than to be in politics but after a chat with his aunt, his plans might take an unexpected detour. As graduation nears and time is flying by, the boys can’t help but notice how much their lives are changing—and their friendships. Can they find a way to make most of senior year without forgetting to prepare for the real world?

Afterglow felt much more cohesive than its predecessor, which might be the case because, after a summer apart, we finally get to see the four boys back together and trying to preserve their friendship even as their individual lives are changing rapidly. For me, this was overall the highlight of the novel and where Stamper’s talent for evoking emotions really got its time to shine. We’ve probably all been in that situation where we desperately hold on to the way things were, trying to keep the status quo, only to realise that change is inevitable and just because certain things might not be the same than they were before, that doesn’t mean they aren’t still amazing. I really liked how we got to see all four boys interact and see what makes them such steadfast friends that would go to bat for each other. Really, the way Stamper here focused on the anxieties of growing up and growing apart is sure to hit a homerun with younger readers who are facing the same situations in their final years of school.

The only thing I still struggled with was distinguishing between the different characters. Though there are of course markers (e.g. the POV mentioning the other boys), the voices of all four sounded very similar and thus sometimes made it quite easy to get lost with who we were following. Alas, while I may have been confused at some points, I still saw a definite improvement to the voices from The Golden Boys.

All in all, while I can’t say much for the sake of spoilers since this is a sequel, I will say that I think readers will appreciate the conclusion to Gabe, Sal, Reese and Heath’s individual storylines (and goals for their future) as well as where they land on their friendship.

Offering a satisfying conclusion to the Golden Boys duology, Afterglow tackles relatable anxieties of growing up and growing apart and what it means to hold on to friendships without forfeiting the chance to transform into something even better. A fun romp with moments that tug at your heartstrings, this book is perfect for fans of Steven Salvatore and Robby Weber!

As a kid/young teen I was OBSESSED with the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books, and these books absolutely hit the same spot. I'm impressed at how fleshed out all four of these main characters and their storylines are. I really hope there will be another sequel following these boys through the next year of their lives, starting college and stuff.

I have liked everything by Phil Stamper and this was no exception!

If you want to read about some sweet anxious boys finding themselves, here you go! I found the four narrators in the first book to be a bit much, but I was happy to reconnect with them here and found it really helped form a cohesive story--even if the four voices do sound pretty similar!! I LOVED the queer rep here, it felt so natural. I also really liked the exploration of being HS seniors and big life decisions, especially for queer teens.

Overall, I liked it, but it is not a new fave. Honestly, I didn't love the first in the series, but I was glad to stick around and read this one!

the follow-up to a queer ya coming-of-age story i enjoyed last year, phil stamper's 'afterglow' felt very similar to its predecessor 'golden boys'. this book picks up right where the first left off, and chronicles the highs & lows of gabriel, reese, sal, and heath's senior year of high school. it sees many of them find love and realize what they want to do after high school, but also comes with the stresses of graduating, moving away, and the realities of long-distance dating. it was fun, it was quick, and i had a good time. easy reading that puts a smile on your face.

I have mixed feelings about this book! I do think overall I would've enjoyed it a lot more had I read it a couple years ago, both for my age at the time and the correlation to the release of Golden Boys. I really enjoyed Golden Boys, but I found this one was definitely harder to get into, and the characters didn't feel as magnetic to me as they once did, Still I'm a big fan of Phil Stamper's writing, and found the novel to be incredibly readable. I will likely be reviewing this book in my monthly wrap up. Thank you for the ARC!

When I saw this book up for request on NetGalley, I didn’t even read the description. I loved these boys so much from the first book in the duology that I had to see what happened to them.

First I have to comment on the cover. It’s perfect. Each graduation cap represents one of the characters and their interests. In Golden Boys, the characters were headed in different directions the summer before their senior year of high school and were worried about what the distance would do to their friendships. It was a life-changing summer for each of them, and they all grew and made decisions about their future. Now in their senior year, they have a laundry list of worries: Will we still see each other after graduation? What do I want to do with my life? How do I tell my mom I don’t want to go to college? Will I get my scholarship? Is our relationship strong enough to survive long distance? How will I afford college? Teens today experience more stress and anxiety that we think.

Each character has dreams for their future and, despite their individual full plates of problems, all are unconditionally supportive of each other. We all need friends like that. Reese and Heath are in a relationship together and, although they’re not sure what the future holds for them, neither wants the other to sacrifice their plans. A very mature outlook for high school seniors. Gabriel is busy with his LGBTQ+ advocacy group and getting to the bottom of why certain books have gone missing from the library shelves, while also trying to maintain a long distance relationship with the guy he met last summer. Sal’s mother has been planning for his college career since the day he was born – but he has to find a way to tell her he doesn’t want to attend college and has alternate life plans for himself.

I sure would love to see what happens to these boys, but the author indicated this is a duology. I’ll sure miss them. A nostalgic, bittersweet, hopeful, and humorous read focused on the bonds of friendship and family.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In my last year of high school, I felt like I was more than ready to blow that popsicle stand. It was almost a physical itch to get out of that school and out of my small town. In my mind, I was already gone and it was only my physical body that was stuck with these small minds and forked tongues. I always knew I was somehow mistakenly born in a small town when I was meant to live in big cities. I was not born to live in the small dairy town I was born and raised in. I hated every moment spent there.

So I completely identified with all of our four boys as we rejoin them in Afterglow after the events of Golden Boys (which was also a brilliant novel). After a summer away from one another, each of our main characters comes back to their hometown to find they feel even more out of place than they felt before the previous summer. Not only that, but their best laid plans may not be the best of plans after all, and isn’t senior year hard enough without having to worry about changing your life plan, too?

Just like Golden Boys, Stamper writes Afterglow as a bittersweet ode to those formative friendships that build and hold as fast as Urban Decay’s All Nighter Setting Spray (Ha! Makeup joke!). No matter how circumstances change, no matter how mad they get at one another, no matter how many times relationships form and then break, these four boys are tied together by years of laughing, crying, celebrating, making playlists, throwing parties, supporting each other at events, and comforting one another through yet another breakup.

See, I seem to have liked the first book better than Afterglow, but that’s because I have a great affection for yearning. Golden Boys had acres and acres of yearning. For home, for friendship, for love, for connection, for inspiration, for motivation, and more. Afterglow feels more like a combination of disillusionment, pressure, discovery, drifting, and time sneaking up on you.

And, of course, I want to thank Phil Stamper for writing not one, but two optimistic, lovely, realistic, relatable, non-toxic books about LGBTQ+ youth in middle America. I could just stop at saying, “Thanks for writing great LGBTQ+ books!”, but I think it’s important to acknowledge so many books in this genre are set on the coasts in the major metro cities, and yet Stamper chose to make the hometown setting in these books somewhere in the midwest, where queer representation in literature is not prolific; and, if there are queer characters in books set in the midwest, they usually aren’t shining stars who get the best representation. I may live on the west coast, but I can acknowledge this choice will probably give heart and hope to a lot of LGBTQIA+ folx in the midwest, no matter what the age.

I was provided with a copy of this book by NetGalley and the author. All views and opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: LGBTQ Fiction/LGBTQ Friendly Reads/LGBTQ Romance/YA Romance/Young Adult/YA Book Series/Coming of Age/High School/YA Drama/YA Fiction

This is a story about charting your future.  Gabriel, Sal, Heath, and Reese, four best friends from a small town in Ohio, all left their hometown for the summer after their junior year and each had profound experiences.  Having returned home for their senior year, they are not quite sure what to expect being back in a place that, in some ways, they feel they have outgrown.  

Gabriel, newly confident after his summer, is excited about creating his high school's LBGTQ+ club, but disappointed it does not have more members.  He also is struggling with a long-distance relationship with his summer romance.  Sal, after a disappointing experience in DC, is discovering that his interest in politics may be best explored at the local level -- and it may involve a path his mother does not support.  Heath is feeling the pressure of needing to do whatever it takes to get a baseball scholarship to achieve his dream of going to college.  And Reese finds his newfound interest in pursuing fashion design taking him in a surprising direction ... one that may put him and Heath on different paths just after the two of them started dating.  As each of the friends navigates the challenges of senior year and what the future holds, they must face that their lives -- and the friendships that have been their bedrocks for so long -- may soon go in new and unexpected directions.

This was a great book!  I really enjoyed the first book in this duology, and I was excited to see how the stories of the four Golden Boys wrapped up.  The author captured well the tensions so many experience at the end of high school, when they feel like they are outgrowing where they came from but are nervous about leaving the friends they relied upon for so long.  I appreciated the realistic way the book deals with several of the character's challenges, including Gabriel's long-distance relationship and Heath navigating the financial challenges facing his family, when it comes to paying for college or medical bills -- challenges that none of his friends needed to deal with.  This was a satisfying and heartwarming conclusion to the stories, individually and together, of the four friends.

Highly recommended!

Afterglow follows four seniors in high school as they gear up for graduation and the next steps of their lives. Reese and Heath are newly dating after being good friends for many years, trying to decide what different cities will mean for their relationship. Reese is exploring a new interest in being a drag queen, and Heath is worried that an injury will halt his baseball career and scholarship. Sal is becoming more interest in local politics than continuing to college, and Gabriel has been re-inventing himself as Gabe, while trying to navigate a long-distance relationship with his boyfriend.

The story switches between each character narrating, giving nice insight in to each of their personal struggles and dilemmas both small and large. I enjoyed each of their perspectives and the very real issues they were each facing. The pressures on seniors in high school are so big, and this book showed the weight of those well.

Phil Stamper did a great job of capturing how important and big every decision is at that age -- the weight that each decision has. There are also many sweet and tender moments between the characters -- both those in relationships and between friends.

I overall really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet coming-of-age story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

AFTERGLOW by Phil Stamper is a lovely sequel to GOLDEN BOYS! Having all the boys in a central location is nice after reading about their separate journeys in the previous installment, and the way their relationships develop is so realistic and fun to read. While the story contains no shortage of drama, each character remains pure-hearted, if flawed. I love the incorporation of book bans into the plot, and the wistful senior year vibes are spot on. I only wish the series were longer....I'm not ready to say goodbye!

I really enjoyed the overall optimism of this book, There are definitely some low points for the characters and they have some very realistic problems to overcome but overall there is the feeling that things will work out for the boys. While it's improving there are still far more books about queer adversity then queer joy so this duology makes me so happy. I also enjoy the mix of the narrative and their phone messages it works so well in both books, In Afterglow I really enjoyed seeing the continuation of their character development. It was so well done and I particularly enjoyed the realistic moments where they slipped up a little and caught themselves, Personal growth isn't particularly linear so it's such a great touch. I also just really enjoy the characters so seeing more of their friendship in person as well as their preparing to be more apart in the future was really compelling. All around these boys really drew me into the story,

What a perfect conclusion to Golden Boys.

From that book to this one, it just felt like the boys grew so much. They came into their own on an individual level as well as their security in their friendship.

Instead of a summer apart from one another, this book focuses on their senior year together. They are trying to each find the right path for their future. They are overcoming expectations out in them by others and figuring out what they want. Relationships are tested; dreams are realized; and love conquers.

This was a great way to follow up this duology.

I loved this so much. This was a big step forward from the first book. This book felt so much cohesive than the first. I really think each of the characters had more of a unique voice. I loved it

It's senior year, and Gabriel, Heath, Reese, and Sal are all trying to figure out what they want to do with their futures. After all four of them had unforgettable summers, they now feel like they have to decide the direction of the rest of their life.

Gabriel is excited about his school's first LGBTQ+ advocacy group, but his long distance relationship is harder than he expected. Heath knows where his furture is going, but his anxiety about succeeding in baseball could impact his future. Reese knows he wants to go into fashion design, but perhaps not in the way people expect. And Sal might not want to go to college, but he's not sure how to tell his mom. It's sure to be a year none of them will forget.

Thanks to Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Afterglow by Phil Stamper to review! This is the sequel to Golden Boys, which came out last year. And yes, you definitely need to read that one first because you will miss a lot of character development that is very important in this one!

I actually enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed Golden Boys. The story goes in a bit of a different direction than I was expecting, and we get to see more of the four friends interacting. We didn't get a lot of that in the first book because they all went different places for the summer. Overall, this book felt like a more cohesive story, even though it still had four different narrators. You'd think you'd get overwhelmed by that, but you don't really in this book.

A lot of teens will relate to the boys' fear that after they all graduate, they're going to lose touch with their high school friends. They'll relate to the anxieties of graduating high school, of feeling like you have to have it all figured out. Stamper hits the tone just right in this book, and with the four strong main characters, you'll be sucked right into each of their lives.

I did think that maybe the book was a tad longer than it needed to be, but other than that, this is a great follow up to the first book. If you enjoy Stamper's writing, you'll want to pick this one up!

Afterglow is the sequel to Golden Boys. It follows Gabriel, Heath, Resse, and Sal as they navigate senior year of high school and what comes next. As graduation comes closer the boys prepare to enter the real world, and they know their friendship is going to change. Will they find a way to stay friends while pursuing their dreams?

I loved Golden Boys and when I found out there was going to be a sequel I freaked out. This was the perfect follow up to Golden Boys. I love these characters so much and I was so happy to get more of them. I did not want this book to end. Honestly, I think that Phil Stamper should write a third one. I would love to see where these boys end up. I will say that you do have to read Golden Boys before reading this one. But I love how this book picked up right where that left off. This book was just so good. I also highly suggest Phil Stamper's books. Thank you so much Phil Stamper, NetGalley, and Bloomsbury YA for the ARC of this book.

More growth for the guys from Golden Boys. Why not? It's not like we don't stop growing and learning when we leave high school. It was a pleasure to revisit these characters. I have enjoyed all of Phi Stamper's books and this one was no exception.

Great for any YA collection. We will definitely get this for our Library!