I think that it shows how flawed us humans can be and how, especially when young, we learn through living. As for the writing, I thought it was pretty good not just in its storytelling, but also in its character writing. All the characters added something to the story, which I loved.

I found this book a quick and easy read. The cast of characters were entertaining, and while I was pretty sure I knew how the romance was going to go (and I did) it still was an interesting journey to take.

Omg this book!!! It ticked me off a whole lot… I’m going to be whipping out some spoilers, so watch out for that. The main character, Thomas is such a terrible person. He loves this dude, Gabe, who was in a solid relationship with someone else. So basically Thomas tries everything he can to get Gabe to fall for him, obviously the whole time Gabe is in a relationship. And that’s effed up!!!! I cannot condone cheating, especially willful cheating. Ugh!!!!

And then, Thomas doesn’t listen or support his friends. He doesn’t listen when Brad obviously wants to tell him something. He’s shitty to Ava and basically everyone. Then as he’s fighting with Gabe, he chops a couple of his fingers off. Like was that necessary? So then everyone forgives him because he’s seriously injured and has a “change of heart”. Yeah, I was not into any of that shit. The cheating thing is just lingering in my mind and I can’t let it go.

So yeah, of course I don’t recommend this one. Unless you’re into cheating a-holes, then by all means, read this. Smh

I have an automatic affinity for this book because the first job I ever had was also working as a server at a retirement community.

"I needed to loooose you to find meee!" 🎶
While I looove the song by a certain Ms. Gomez, this story almost lost me briefly. Let me say, I really enjoyed the author's writing style. He certainly has chops!
I was a little nervous about this premise/trope. Probably because the thought of this happening to me just makes me cringe. Imagine, the person you credit as the impetus to your gay awakening reappearing in your life years later (looking devastatingly handsome) and not remembering you at all! When done well, we groan along with the character. When done weakly, just falls flat.
In this book's case, Brown did a great job.
The slow burn hit right, but it almost felt a tad too...slow? Either way, this was majorly cute and I really enjoyed it!

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.

The queer romance I wish I had to read growing up. At it's core this is a coming of age tale of Tommy Dees as he navigates college applications, a day job, and a budding romance with a long-lost flame. Tommy is a character you can root for the entire way. Even as he falters, you know he'll make the right choice in the end. This is a book that is void of the usual queer coming of age stories of the past, and instead this narrative chooses to focus on learning to accept who you are as a person long after you've accepted your sexuality. An enjoyable and satisfying read from beginning to end! The only thing missing for me was more elements early on to better indicate that this is a narrative of learning to love yourself, regardless of what sexuality you may be. A book for all ages, nonetheless.

I don’t mean to compare works, but going into Lose You to Find Me after reading Erik J. Brown’s post-apocalyptic debut All That’s Left in the World, was a real shock to the system in the best possible way. I knew that Brown was able to capture the heavier elements in his writing, but this one? Hilarious and charming and wonderful.

Lose You To Find Me tells the story of Tommy, a teenager with culinary dreams who finds himself needing to train his first crush from years earlier at his job and learning how to navigate all the parts of growing up in the meantime.

This book was an absolute delight. I found the characters and writing to be fun and lovely. A lot of this has stuck with me after having read it, especially the culinary parts. In fact, I think about this book now whenever I’m making dinner and cutting up ingredients!

Between both of his published books so far, Brown has demonstrated his talent and skill at writing across the genres and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

4 stars

5 / 5 ⭐️'ˢ

“Lose You to Find Me” By Erik J. Brown @erikjb

📕 Edition: Audiobook 🎧 & eBook

This book is an absolute gem! 😍 It took me on an emotional rollercoaster that I never wanted to get off. The characters are wonderfull, and the story is brimming with authenticity and heart. 💖

Tommy Dees, the overwhelmed server on a mission, stole my heart with his determination and vulnerability. The reunion with his childhood crush, Gabe, is filled with nostalgia and surprises. The way their relationship unfolds is both heartwarming and sad, making it a perfect queer coming-of-age tale. 🏳️‍🌈

And without any spoilers… The 🍋 scene… 😱

I love the way this ended… I need more to Tommy’s story!

Brown's writing style is a delight, and his ability to weave humor, romance, and self-discovery into a captivating narrative is perfect. 🌟 I just couldn't stop listening to this one!

@narratorkirt narration is absolute perfection as always!

Thank you @NetGalley, @erikjb and @harperaudio for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lose You to Find Me is a beautiful YA contemporary about finding yourself; about figuring out who you are and where you want your dreams to lead you.

In Lose You To Find Me we follow Tommy, who works as a server at Sunset Estates retirement community to get the experience he needs to attend one of the best culinary schools in the world. When his first crush, Gabe, starts working at the retirement community as well, it seems that the stars are telling Tommy this is his chance to get everything he ever wanted. But are things really as straightforward as they seem or should Tommy follow a different recipe to get what he really dreams of?

Not gonna lie, I was squinting really hard for the last 50% of the book, hoping that the book wouldn't end in a certain way - I honestly never should've doubted Erik J. Brown cause he doesn't disappoint. Those little clues and hints peppered throughout the book were leading to the actual ending and I am SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT! Cause sometimes what looks dreamy at the first glance is actually just a stepping stone for what is better and healthier for you. I really loved Tommy's journey - from him developing as a character massively to him letting his dreams change and going with it. I loved the side characters and their stories as well and I think I could easily read five more books about their shenanigans. Every single character contributed to the story and Tommy's arc (also hockey players RULE okay. At least fictional ones.).

All in all Lose You to Find Me is a beautiful YA contemporary, full of romance drama but NOT necessarily a romance; cause while we did follow Tommy's love drama, the book's title rings true - he needed to lose somebody to find himself and that is *chef's kiss*.

This was a cute childhood best friends kind of will-they-won’t-they. The characters were realistic in their wants and desires in comparison to their ages and their interactions were fun. They each had their own learning curves and lessons, some a little more graphic than others! Overall it was a cute story and I’d definitely recommend it!

Tommy Dees didn't expect his first crush, Gabe, the boy that started it all, to show up at his workplace and be his new trainee but here we are. And it feels like fate, like it was always meant to happen like that. No matter that Gabe doesn't remember him or that he has a boyfriend, Tommy knows they're meant to be...

This started pretty well and cute. I liked Tommy's friends and the retirement home setting was fun. But, then, the romance got into it and hello cheating central. I really can't stand cheating storylines and despite how this book ended, I was so put off by the behavior of the main character throughout most of the book, I couldn't get back into it even after he got his head on straight. Talks of competing with the boyfriend, acting like he knows what Gabe wants better than Gabe and just overall shitty behavior. And let me tell you about the boyfriend too, a 22 yo dating someone in high school? Pass.
Overall, this truly just wasn't for me, but I'll still read this author's first book. It probably just was a one-off.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an e-ARC of this book to review. I really appreciate lighthearted queer stories, particularly in this time of increasing censorship. This book had a lot of wonderful humorous moments but at its core was a nicely heartfelt story.

Tommy’s known for years exactly what he wants to do after high school – follow in his father’s footsteps and get into one of the best culinary schools in the world. He’s laser focused and determined to succeed. Enter Gabe, the boy Tommy crushed on at summer camp when they were ten years old and hasn’t seen since. As an experienced server at Sunset Estates retirement community, Tommy is assigned to train new hire Gabe. Let the games begin!

Tommy is such an easy character to root for. After losing his father unexpectedly, Tommy and his mother are alone and their relationship is done beautifully. He also has a fantastic group of supportive and funny friends by his side. But my favorite friends of his were Al and Willa, residents at the retirement community. Scene stealer Al insists on sneaking Tommy envelopes of cash because tips aren’t allowed, and he can’t take it with him, right? I loved the banter between him and Tommy.

Gabe and Tommy’s friendship begins almost immediately, with aspiring film director Gabe educating Tommy on movies, and Tommy introducing Gabe to cooking shows. Tommy hopes for more than friendship, but Gabe is giving mixed signals. Advice is offered from several friends, but in the end Tommy has to decide what’s important and what’s right for him.

This is a true coming-of-age story with realistically flawed characters and believable dialogue. It’s a lesson about how people change and not everyone’s future looks the same – and it shouldn’t. One size doesn’t fit all.

Read this if you enjoy flawed, humorous characters (especially those who enjoy cooking), messy relationships, and coming-of-age stories. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

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

So this is my first read by Erik J. Brown! A lot of friends of mine had read All That's Left in the World and really loved it, so I was interested in this since it's by the same author. I'll definitely be reading All That's Left in the World after reading this, because this was such a nice book with good surprises in it. I loved the MC, Tommy. He was a messy character, but what I felt in all this was that these characters felt so real and authentic, it was kind of wild how well Erik J. Brown was able to capture the woes of being a teenager. That was probably my favorite aspect of this entire book. The teenagers felt like teenagers. Tommy was stupid at times and made really bad decisions, same for Gabe. Sometimes, I wanted to shake Tommy and plead for him to stop this nonsense and attempts on getting someone to like him. But I feel like that's kinda what having an unrequited crush as a teenager feels like? I remember feeling the exact same way as him and I can't applaud the author enough for capturing such complex feelings so authentically. Not only that, but all the characters felt very authentic to me in their motivations and reactions. And I liked that this book will show teenagers there's not one, correct path to take after high school.

My main critique for this is that I felt like some scenes/plotlines went on longer than they needed and some should've been longer. Also, I would've liked to have seen more scenes with Brad (for reasons more obvious once you finish the book). He stole every scene he was in and I liked his growth a lot, but I needed like 2 scenes more with him haha. But, those are small gripes. The ending was exactly how I wanted it to be and it made me smile so big. This book is really great and I will be recommending it to many. I'm so happy Erik J. Brown wrote it.

I really enjoyed Lose You to Find Me. It is a sweet coming of age story of Tommy going through his final year of high school and trying to sort out his college plans and his relationship issues. I was cheering for him the entire book and the ending was a good way to wrap things up.

When Tommy's childhood friend, who also caused him the realization that he liked boys, comes back from the past, trouble ensues for Tommy. Tommy struggles with his identity between his liking for the same sex and his identity with regard to his father, as his father passed away when he was young. It was an interesting and entertaining coming-of-age story set around the kitchen of an upper-scale retirement home. The witty banter and inside jokes made this one extra enjoyable.

This was not what I was expecting at all. The first half of the novel began to fall flat for me, specifically for the tropes that the novel seemed to be following, closeted queer hockey player “fling” , out and proud main character, and falling for someone who is already in a relationship. all tropes seen and done before, never enjoyed them because of how cringy and unrealistic it seemed to a colorless story thats supposed to be different because its “queer.” What was really pushing me through was the passion Tommy had for cooking, but even that seemed overshadowed by the “following in his fathers footsteps to go to a prestigious school” trope.
Then about three quarters of the way in, all of the tropes were flipped in an entirely unique and real life feeling endings to these tropes, which led to twists I didn’t even see coming. Although the dialogue was cringy at times and many of the characters besides a few were not fleshed out, this was still a solid coming of age story, that hides itself behind being a cheesy rom- com book. I can tell the author put a-lot of personal experience into this story to follow a solid theme that cannot be realized until the end of the story.
All in all, 3.5/5.

This was a really good book. I liked all of the different levels of the story. The parent - child expectations. Our own expectations. Our sometimes myopic view of our world. Our growth in seeing different paths. It all works together in this story.
The characters are all real, flawed, and funny. I was vested in all of their stories. I loved the fact that the teens came together because they all worked together in a restaurant at a retirement community. Even though you always have main characters, I would say that in this book, you have many of them and I enjoyed all of their unique personalities.
I don’t generally notice the title but this one is so appropriate for the story that I kept coming back to it and appreciating the thought that went into it.
Enjoy!

I thought this was a cute book. I liked the characters and the story. I would read more from this author in the future.