Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: Medium and stays medium throughout the book.

POV: 1st person (told from Wes’s POV)

Trigger Warnings: There are scenes of alcoholism (off and on page), alcohol (consumption/off and on page), bullying (graphic and on page), drug use (marijuana only/on page), panic attacks/disorders (on page), violence (on and off page), car accident (on page), domestic abuse (off page for actual assaults but on page with the aftermath—bruises, etc), homophobia (on page), injury/injury detail (on page), child abuse (off page/remembered through memories), and racism (on page). If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

Language: Graphic swearing is used in Skater Boy. There is also language used that could be offensive to some people.

Setting: Skater Boy is mainly set in Valentine, Ohio. Towards the end of the book, a chapter is set in New York City. Wes also remembers living in Louisiana.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Wes “Big Mac” Mackenzie is known for his anger, petty crimes, bullying, and rowdy friends. What people don’t understand about him is that he loves photography and musicals-and he is gay. On top of that, Wes is in danger of failing out of school. The day he receives that information, his mother makes him go to a local production of The Nutcracker with her obnoxious boyfriend and his daughter. He was expecting to be bored out of his mind, and he was until he got a look at who was playing the Nutcracker: Tristan Monroe. Tristian is everything Wes isn’t, including being comfortable in his skin.

As Wes meets and spends more time with Tristian, he starts falling head over heels for him. Wes begins to see a future that isn’t as grim as the school’s counselors and teachers have made it out to be. But when Wes’s friends find out that he is seeing Tristan, it sets off a chain of events that could ruin not only Wes and Tristian’s relationship but also Wes’s future. It is up to Wes to set everyone and everything straight. And if that means coming out, then he’ll do it. Can Wes make things right? Will he get his happily ever after? Or will everything crash and burn?

Characters:

The main character in Skater Boy is Wes. I will be brutally honest about him—Wes was not likable for more than half the book. But he was a sympathetic character. He had gone through a lot as a child, and that shaped him into the angry, violent teenager portrayed in the book. But, as the author peeled back Wes’s layers (surprisingly, there were many), a different person was revealed. This person was artistic, sweet, a little (who am I kidding, a lot) insecure, unsure, and an anxiety-ridden mess. I loved Wes and liked that the more he hung out with Tristian, the more that side of him came out.

I do want to talk about Tristian. While he technically wasn’t a main character (the book was more focused on Wes), he was a considerable part of Wes’s life and the driving force behind Wes doing certain things. I wasn’t a fan of his to begin with (the whole talking about Wes behind his back was crappy), but that didn’t last long. I could see his feelings for Wes growing and understood his impatience with Wes (who was in the closet) to go public with their relationship.

Other secondary characters in this book are fascinating and have backstories that pique my interest. The author was able to incorporate those backstories into Wes’s story without taking Wes’s story over (if that makes sense). The author also used them to show how much Wes grew during this book.

My review:

The main storyline of Skater Boy centers around Wes, his relationship with Tristian, his growth throughout the book, and how his past trauma shaped him into the person he was. It was an emotional read for me. There were times when I wanted to hug Wes and tell him it was OK. But mostly, I was a captivated bystander to Wes’s ups and downs and his character growth.

As I mentioned above, I enjoyed seeing Wes’s character growth. At the beginning of the book, Wes is miserable. He had this facade of a bad boy to maintain. That included doing petty crimes, ditching school, bullying people, and just being a jerk. Add in his massive panic attacks (as someone who suffers from those, I sympathized with him) and the fact that he was gay and hiding it, and I could understand why he was stressed all the time. By the middle of the book, a different Wes emerges after he starts seeing Tristian. I wished this Wes showed up more initially, but I understood why the author let this Wes gradually out.

Wes and Tristian’s relationship is interesting and cute. I say interesting because I didn’t think Tristian liked Wes (only tolerated him). It wasn’t until Wes started shooting Tristian’s headshot and other pictures (for his portfolio) that I think Tristian started to like Wes. However, their relationship is very rocky throughout the book. Wes was very closeted, and it did affect their relationship. The whole bridge scene made me mad. No one deserves to be treated like that, and Tristian had every right to be upset with Wes.

Interwoven with the main storyline are numerous secondary storylines. Each storyline added extra depth and understanding to Wes’s character. Some of them explained why he wanted to keep Tristian a secret. Others explained why he bullied people (and it wasn’t as black and white as the author made it to be). And still, other storylines explained his past.

The end of Skater Boy was interesting and sweet. Once Wes did something, he committed wholeheartedly to it. I was surprised at the music Tristian chose to dance to. Also, his reaction to Wes outside the audition was one of the sweetest ones I have ever read. And the last chapter warmed my heart!!

Many thanks to Soho Press, Soho Teens, NetGalley, and Anthony Nerada for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Skater Boy. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Overall I really loved Wes as a main character! I like how he admits to adapting to the role of a punk just because others saw him that way, and trying to break those barriers now. Overall, it was a really good story!

I saw one of the author's reels on Instagram and I was curious to know what this story was about. When I read the synopsis, I knew I had to read it. It was an emotional, mental, spiritual need, and everything in between. And boy did it live up to expectations. It is a light but solid, strong, and emotionally intense narrative. It left me speechless!

Full review to be published on February 12: https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2024/02/resena-review-skater-boy.html

Trigger warnings for Skater Boy include: explicit language, bullying, alcoholism, underage drinking, racism, past domestic abuse and childhood trauma.
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I'm not sure what to tell you about this book to be honest. And that seems to be a recurring theme at the moment. I did enjoy it so that's not the problem, I just don't know how to adequately put my thoughts about it into words to explain that.
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This book follows Wesley MacKenzie, otherwise known as Big Mac. He's a punk, and always in trouble for one thing or another. And he's gay.
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This tells the story of Big Mac and his friends. It goes into the idea of first impressions, and how image and assumptions can cause big problems for people. People see Wes and his punk image, and assume that he's going to cause trouble. And that isn't always the case. Sometimes he just needs someone to believe in the good inside him.
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There's more to this book than that, but I don't want to give any spoilers.
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Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

He was a boy, he was a boy, can I make it anymore obvious?
In September of 2022, I commented on the TikTok of an author describing their gay Sk8r Boi book, saying I would love to read an ARC once they were available. Flash forward sixteen months, I’ve been following this book through the steps of its publication, and NetGalley delivered an e-arc and audiobook into my inbox, and let me say—the wait was well worth it. This book is heartfelt, it’s angry, it’s soft, it’s engaging, and it’s a wonderful wonderful debut.
Watching Wes come to the realization that he wasn’t happy with who he was becoming, and the reputation that he had built—whether intentionally or not, then choosing to put in the steps to make changes to his life, I felt like a proud parent. I cried along with him as I watched him struggle and fight and communicate and grow. This book speaks to the power we have over our lives, and how the people around us can shape us, whether or not we are conscious of it.
I loved it, and I can’t wait to see what Anthony Nerada has in store for us next.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Teen for providing an advanced review copy.*

This book made me super nostalgic for like edgy 2010 teenage days. Definitely felt kinda old reading it. It was good though,

i really enjoyed this book! i feel like very rarely do i get to read from the perspective of the so called "bad boy" usually you only see those characters from the outside, it was fun to be inside of wes's head and see what life is actually like for him! his friends could honestly be dicks sometimes but i was happy they were all there for each other eventually. wes and tristan's relationship was adorable and real feeling! a true opposites attract vibe and they worked so well even if they had a few bumps in the road to get there.

overall this was a cute, queer, angsty, pop punk reference filled read and i enjoyed it a lot! if that sounds like your cup of tea i would very much recommended! (also very fun for me that anthony nerada is a local author! we're both from vancouver hehehe)

“Who would have thought? I was a punk. He did ballet. But together, we discovered there’s so much more to us than the labels we give ourselves.”

CALLING ALL POP PUNK EMOS FROM THE 2000’s! This one’s for you! From the cover, to the title, to the chapter headings, to Wes being a queer kid uncomfy in his predetermined role as TROUBLE, I knew Skater Boy was made for readers like me. Readers who grew up scream singing Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, Blink 182, Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance… the list goes on.

I especially loved the absolute punk rock aspect of not fitting in. Wes is punk, he gets in trouble, he skateboards, he cuts class, but all of that behavior belies greater issues and trauma, and as an educator, I can’t help but fixate on the role educators had in forming Wes’s negative opinion of himself. From that initial grade school teacher calling out Wes from his hair to the other adults who immediately write him off, I see the cracks and problems in our education system. Wes is also as “gay as it gets” but doesn’t feel like he belongs to any part of the community because he’s not effeminate enough. AH THERE is just SO MUCH to dig into here! There’s issues of class, race, abuse, substance abuse disorders, life after high school, being an outsider, found family…

All that to say, Skater Boy is 100% worth the read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I saw Anthony announce that Soho Teen had plans to publish this book, I KNEW I had to follow along so I could read this. And oh my god, it was WORTH THE WAIT!

I've read other reviews from people who didn't like Wes, and I think that it was intentional we weren't supposed to like him at first. I mean, if you take into account this book is inspired by the song Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne, it's clear who is the punk. Of course he's going to act like a dick. But the whole point of the story, in my opinion, is for Wes to *grow* as a person and realize "oh I don't have to act like a dick. I can act like myself and still be worthy of love."

Also, Wes just felt like a real teenager going through emotions and growing as a human being. Not every person is going to be nice their whole life. Some people need to grow before they turn out to have empathy. Wes was messy, but in the end, he grew as a person. That's what growing up is supposed to be! Not all sunshine and butterflies all the time!

I loved this book! And the nonbinary side character was a great surprise! I didn't expect it and I loved it!

I adored this book and couldn’t get through it fast enough. Wes’ journey was astoundingly honest and human while managing to be funny and hopeful all the same.

I can see what the author was trying to do here, and for me it just didn’t work.

I didn’t particularly like the MC, I didn’t buy the romance, and it just felt like everything came together into a nice happy ending too easily. Perhaps part of that is the fact it’s YA and I haven’t been reading as much YA lately. There is just this disconnect for me with a lot of YA these days, so it takes a lot more for me to enjoy YA than it probably used to.

So, basically, this book is written around the song Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne, but make it queer. It should have worked for me, but the MC was just too much of an asshole and also really inconsistent with certain things, that left me a bit confused. I understand he’s dealing with trauma, but he just treats everyone so badly that it’s really difficult to accept his redemption arc. I also didn’t like his group of friends, and again, they were terrible bullies, who also get a redemption arc, that I also didn’t believe. And the romance was very meh. It’s one of the few times when I’ve read a romance where I’m actually rooting for the couple to not end up together, because I don’t buy the romance and think they would be better off with other people.

So, overall, the story didn’t work for me this time.

Now in his senior year at Stonebridge High, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie is as likely to be found in the skate park as in class or taking pictures with his phone. When he is forced to attend a performance of The Nutcracker with his mom, he is dreading it until he sees Tristan Monroe, the ballet's star. Wes, who is not out to his mom or anyone else, finds himself draw to Tristan, who is about as opposite from Wes and his friends as anyone can be. Despite, or maybe because of, their differences, Wes and Tristan begin spending more and more time together, drawing the suspicion of Wes's two best friends. As the different parts of his life threaten to collide, Wes is finally forced to confront aspects of his past and how he navigates it that have held him back.

This was a touching and thoughtful story, exploring what it means, and what it takes, to fit in when one cannot be honest with those in their life or themselves.

Highly recommended!

Wesley 'Big Mac' Mackenzie accepted his role as 'the punk' of Stonebridge High a long time ago. Maybe his anger can get the best of him sometimes… and maybe he and his friends prefer to go skateboarding instead of going to classes, but despite what most people may see… That’s not the only truth about Wes.

After being dragged by his mother to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes will meet Tristan, a ballet dancer that will change his life in so many, many ways.

As someone who spent their teenage years listening to Fall Out Boy, Simple Plan, Green Day and other pop punk bands of the late 00s, I had the feeling that ‘Skater Boy’ could be a new favourite for me and I wasn’t wrong.

Inspired by Avril Lavigne’s song (but make it 1000% more queer), ‘Skater Boy’ tells a story about a disaster boy who carries way too much over his shoulders… a story about the roles people assign us and the ones that we accept ourselves (even if, sometimes, we don’t think they can fit us entirely) and the true power of embracing your truth and pursuing your dreams.

Wes Mackenzie is not a perfect main character. He’s a bit of a disaster really, but we are able to know him on a deep level, to know his truths, his fears and his hopes (the ones that he had kept really close to his chest) and how he grows and he changes throughout the story.

And this is not a linear journey, and maybe it’s riddled with mistakes and wrongdoings that are not glossed over. But maybe that’s the beauty of all this, seeing Wes take responsibility of his own actions and trying to make things better so he can move forward in a different path is truly everything.

And this whole journey wouldn’t be the same without those connections, especially the appearance of Tristan in Wes’ lives. Maybe he (Wes) was a punk and maybe he (Tristan) did ballet… What more can I say? When these two come together, their lives really change in so many different ways.

In the end, Skater Boy is a story full of magic (maybe it’s not the magic that we know from fantasy story, but a magic that is still there anyway, hidden in the heart of the story and the brilliant words written by Anthony Nerada.

It’s the magic of finally been seeing for who you are…
It’s the magic of finally been shown that there are futures beyond what you had first imagined…
It’s the magic, the messy and sometimes flawed magic of growing up and finding yourself and embracing the person that you want to be…

In the end, Skater Boy is a perfect story for all those young people who are still trying to find themselves… who are weighed down by their mistakes, or maybe anger, and who are still hidden bits and pieces (either for fear or for some other external circumstances).

This is the perfect story for those people who don’t usually find themselves on stories, those who need to hear that those futures that may seem impossible can happen in the end…

This is the perfect story for those people who need to hear that they are worth loving… that they deserve some happiness even when they don’t believe that themselves… All wrapped up in a leather jacket, a skateboard and some clever references to amazing pop punk hits.

In many ways I wish I could have this book when I was a teenager myself, because I feel like it could have helped me to have characters like Wes and Tristan in my life, but at least I’m glad that it exist now, and I can’t wait to recommend it to people that I know!

Everything about this book had me excited to dive in. The summary, cover and narrator all piqued my interest and I was absolutely not disappointed! This book was really great!

I think Wes is a fantastic main character. Through his eyes we get to live a very real life for someone that could easily have been your own classmate or friend. Someone who has past trauma, current hurt and struggles with identity and their place in the world. Wes was someone you easily want the best for- you want him to learn, grow and improve. You want him to find happiness within himself and with those around him and this book delivers on all of that and more!

The side characters were all great. They were diverse and layered in their backgrounds and personalities which kept the story moving and entertaining.

Overall i really enjoyed this one a lot. I loved all the characters and their individual growth and the plot was paced just right from A to B to keep me hook and interested. Would definitely recommend this title to anyone looking for this type of story!

ARC Book Review: Skater Boy by: Anthony Nerada - @anthonynerada
Releasing: February 6, 2024
Format: Paperback
The Low-Down: M/M. Young adult. Closeted skater-punk bad boy meets ambitious ballerino.

My gay little emo heart can't even express how much I loved Anthony Nerada's debut novel. I first saw this book from another creator (wish I could remember who) and I was desperate to get my hands on it. Skater punk vibes and 2000s emo song references? Sign me up! I was lucky enough to secure both a physical copy and a e-book, as an official #netgalley #arcreader. Did I end up reading the book twice because of the different formats? Heck yes. Did I annotate every favorite line of the book? Yep. Did I also pre-order the audiobook and hardcover signed copy for myself and one for a giveaway? Of course I did. Follow me for a future giveaway!

Skater Boy is a Young Adult M/M story, starring a "recovering bully" (seemed a fitting description) aka Wes "Big Mac" Mackenzie and the BIPOC ballerino, Tristan, that he falls for. This story is perfect for the teenagers just discovering themselves, but also for the adults still healing from their closeted teenage years.

While it is a story about first loves, the heart of this story is friendship (Tripod ftw) and family (Wes' mother 🥰.) This book proves that you can be who you are, without it being at the expense of others. It also proves that redemption is never too late.

It does tackle some hard issues (TW) such as underage drinking, physical a-use, tr@uma, ptsd, bu!lying, and anger management. However, most of these scenes are off page, but they are addressed beautifully in each of the characters' growth. I was emo and teary eyed over how the characters handled such hard situations.

This book was one of my top favorite reads of 2023 and I can't wait for you all to read it in 2024.

I'd love to see a continuation of this story with Wes being his authentic self in the adult world.

Drop a 🛹 in the comments below if you think we need more Big Mac.

Skater Boy is for fans of: Geography Club, What If It's Us, Here's to Us, Love Simon, A Little Bit Country, and My Fair Brady.

Right away I was drawn into this. I liked Wes's voice, even if he wasn't a nice guy and not someone you'd root for. Sometimes it's okay to have a character you don't like right away and I appreciated the switch up.

Wes was up and down for the whole book. Afraid to tell his loved ones that he's gay, afraid people won't think he lives up to their expectations, and afraid to want something for himself. Because of his insecurities, Wes did things I didn't agree with and hurt his friends and family. There were times I was pretty frustrated, but I mostly felt sad for him.

This sped by and was a bit of emotional roller coaster. Definitely one to check out!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Soho Teen, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the copy.

Thank you NetGalley, Anthony Nerada, and Soho Press for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This might be one of the most beautiful stories of defining positive masculinity that I've ever read.

On the outside, Wes had anger issues, he skips class and comes off as the problem kid. Inside, he's in the closet with his friends and family, struggling from trauma of an abusive father no longer in the picture, and dealing with the fear of abandonment. He's sweet, artistic, and a bit lost.

I connected with Wes on such a deep level, seeing a mirror of myself from high-school. I remembered feeling closed off, angry, explosive, pushing everyone away so they wouldn't leave me, and struggling to understand what I wanted to do with my life. This book made me cry so hard, but it felt so cathartic. It opened up feelings that I had worked through (with years of therapy) and told such a special coming of age story from a boy that isn't usually the main character. He's broody, the bad boy, and it's from his POV.

I wish I could give this 6 stars. It's perfect.

This book was such an enjoyable read and honestly hard to put down once I started reading it. I shouldn’t be surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it considering the books it’s comped to but I truly didn’t expect and loved so much the depth and heartfelt element of Wes’s story. I’m a big fan of the way that it seeks to dig into and deconstruct what being queer means and what it looks like, while being more broadly about a teenager figuring out where they’re headed in life. In an author’s note, Nerada says this isn’t a coming out story even if it does involve coming out, and I loved how he broadened the story into one about queerness while also being about so many other things. Wes is, in lots of ways, not the typical YA protagonist, but I think that there’s still so much to gain from his story and from a character who is labeled one way but also exists as a whole and passionate human being outside of those labels. SKATER BOY is absolutely worth the read (or listen!)

We’re introduced to Wes as a troublemaker (or punk) and his dislike of that (though not because he isn’t exactly doing some of the things he’s being told about). But as the story continues, that label unravels to reveal so many things about Wes’s character, of strong familial ties, a love for photography, complicated relationships with his friends and with himself, and a question about what the future holds. Nerada writes a complex and intrinsically human character outside of how society usually paints gay teenagers while also just being an interesting story. Wes is flawed, and so are those around him, but you still want to see how they succeed in the end.

This book is absolutely an homage to pop punk and its music, and to being a gay teenager who doesn’t quite fit in. It’s a joy to read and has fantastic human narratives enmeshed with the endearing and occasionally slightly cheesy song references throughout. I highly recommend reading it!

I think what I loved the most about this book was how much our main character Wes is… really just a normal teenager who’s confused and makes messy choices. He literally goes on a date to his place of employment and hopes no one there recognizes him!

And yet, it works in the story. It works because Anthony Nerada has crafted something great here. You feel for Wes and you want him to succeed. You want him to fall in love. You want him to stand up for himself with this friends. And you also want him to get his act together!

At the heart of this book is a beautiful story of accepting yourself and doing what scares you. I loved it deeply.

I enjoyed this for what it was: a quick, uncomplicated, trope-y queer romance (bad boy with a heart of gold gets the guy). There were parts that felt like the author trying too hard to make his characters unique and quirky (Wes's mom calling him "Stevia," for example, instead of "honey" or "sweetie") and others where the book felt like it was trying to teach some big Life Lessons rather than just being a rom-com, but Nerada makes it easy to fall for Wes in all of his messiness and trauma.

Simply written and told, a speedy read, and with the added touch of referencing music and culture that was relevant to me when I was the protagonist's age 20+ years ago.