And They Were Roommates was beyond adorable and I fell head over heels for the entire cast of characters. I love when the supporting cast is so memorable that you can’t imagine the story without them and their charm and shenanigans.

Charlie was an incredibly relatable character - I mean who didn’t feel awkward or struggled to find their place and people in high school - and his journey to finding community and a sense of belonging is something I think will resonate with every single reader. I did not envy the immense academic standards and pressure these students had to navigate at boarding school one bit, but I really loved how they rallied around each other.

The romance was sweet, but for me the real star of the book was the friendships that were forged. And!! This a true YA story where teens are being their authentic teenage selves and exploring their independence, feelings about leaving home and familial expectations, and simply embracing the drama, miscommunication, and angst that comes with that stage of life. Teens need books where they can be seen too and I really believe so many readers will find a home and community within these pages.

And They Were Roommates follows Charlie as he moves into the prestigious boarding school of Valentine's academy. After deferring his Excellence scholarship for a year while figuring out some personal business, he thought he'd lost the chance to attend the academy his mother attended. There's only one problem, he's moving into the all- boy campus and will have to hide that he's trans.
Roommates follows Charlie's inner struggles to make himself feel like he's passing, achieve a top 5 ranking to maintain his scholarship, and keep everyone else at a distance so they don't discover his secret. All of which is hindered by his roommate being his ex from poetry camp.
This was such a refreshing read. It was fast paced, relatable, and at times funny. I love the complexity of the side characters truly showing us to never judge a book by its cover. There's elements of found family and finding yourself in the most wholesome way.
Above all else, I love that this book was achieved without ever deadnaming or misgendering Charlie. I was tense the whole time, waiting for someone to slip up, and it never happened. Much needed and so affirming. A much needed table for any youth who feel they need to hide their true selves.

a very good very cute lgbt romance! the pacing was good and i thought the romance was easy to root for with some very interesting challenges. i would recommend this!

title alone, i knew i was going to love this. it has the same energy Page brings to his books: quick, energetic, and hilarious. i was really glad to see all the humor and banter from Build a Boyfriend carry over into this one.

the pacing and plotting were great, and Page does an excellent job with world building. what i'm very impressed with is how he built this community Charlie finds. the entire cast of characters are charismatic and memorable and it made for the group scenes to be fun. special shoutout to Blaze, who made me laugh every single time.

and the romance is warm and full of pining, even when both boys didn't know what was fully going on. Charlie's arc of finding a community and learning to take it easy on himself was great. and i loved everything about how melodramatic and over the top Jasper was about everything. these characters felt alive.

great book. it's like if Dead Poets Society left you feeling loved, safe, and warm instead of emotionally devastated.

Page Powers’s “And They Were Roommates” is the heartwarming YA romance we all need right now. In this poignant second-chance love story, we meet Charlie, the only trans student at Valentine Academy for Boys, who is determined to keep his identity under wraps. But his carefully laid plan is quickly derailed when his private dorm room is suddenly turned into a double — and his new roommate is none other than Jasper Grimes, the boy who shattered Charlie's heart before he transitioned. The catch? Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie.

What begins as a reluctant partnership to write love letters for their classmates soon blossoms into something deeper, with Charlie hoping the arrangement will earn him his much-needed solo room. But, of course, spending long nights talking about love and relationships stirs up emotions neither of them expected.

With sweet, low-stakes moments and a feel-good ending, this story is brimming with charm. Sure, there are a few tropey elements, like characters not communicating when they should, but that’s what to expect with a YA romance. Big thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC!

This was such a cute story! I really fell for Charlie and all his awkward teenaged angsting. I did find some of the characters to be a bit pretentious but they are at a prestigious boarding school so I guess it made sense. Jasper took some time to win me over because he is very stuffy and dramatic and I didn't see why he was a good match for Charlie. By the end we got to know him more and I felt for him more. This is definitely a very YA story so if teenagers being angsty and dramatic isn't for you then maybe pass on this one. All the angsting really worked for me though and I related to Charlie's desire to be find a community (while worrying that no one will understand his queerness). These teenagers aren't your normal teenagers but they were perfect for each other and I found it adorable to watch Charlie find a place where he belongs.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This was very cute and wholesome. It’s probably one of my favorite YA romances that I’ve read recently. I enjoyed how the main characters interacted and their past, as well as the representation the book had! The one thing that I wasn’t the biggest fan of was the repetitiveness of the sister school storyline but it didn’t take much away enjoyment-wise

This had me second guessing if it was even a romance. Trust me I love a slow burn but after a while this had me thinking we didn’t have any flint.

Okay but really I feel so bad giving this two stars. This was one of those books where I was having a lot of fun until I just wasn’t. It took a bit for me to really get into the beginning, around the middle I liked, but then the latter half was a massive miss for me.

This book ends up leaning more into contemporary than romance. Majority of the plot surrounds the letter writing, maintaining grades, tutoring, and gym training. I am aware I am not the target audience for this being a 23 year old who’s long since graduated, but a lot of it was just kind of boring. I did however enjoy the idea of the letter writing! I thought the interview bits for the letters were quite funny as well as Jasper attempting to teach Charlie the art of writing them.
I think Powars did a great job encapsulating the stressful high school experience especially with Charlie. I would be ill if the school I went to had a ranking system posted on the wall every single week and my scholarship hinged on making the top five. Also the trans representation felt genuine and very insightful. I appreciate that it didn’t take a traumatic route.

Jasper’s character gives me some mixed feelings. If you really squint he kind of reminded me of Adrien Agreste from Miraculous Ladybug in his clueless nature while also being borderline worshipped by the school. I didn’t mind his massive ego and actually found it quite endearing. But, his main personality trait is that he’s this outstanding poet, when I found his writing to be extremely underwhelming.

The relationship between Charlie and Jasper is a sort of second chance romance situation because they originally met at a summer camp two years prior. However, now that Charlie has transitioned Jasper doesn’t recognize him. I thought this was an exciting premise and kept you on edge waiting for the big reveal but I don’t think it served enough for the romance set up. Quite frankly they didn’t really have any chemistry. There were maybe a couple scenes here and there where I was eagerly waiting for something to progress but then it would just sort of fizzle out. Then towards the end the romance starts to feel extremely rushed… like not them already saying the L word to each other after barely even establishing mutual feelings.

At the end it was fun to finally see the plan with the letters fleshed out but it still just felt overall lackluster. So much work was put into those letters and then it’s all just done and over with in like five pages. Suddenly everyone is all coupled up and happy and that’s it.

I’m so so sad this didn’t work for me because it truly had some great concepts, I just wish certain sections were reworked a bit.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for providing me with this arc.

Funny, witty, absolutely corny in all the ways promised by the premise.

Jasper was so funny constantly, and Blaze left me laughing so hard sometimes. Like just the language choices across this book that centers so heavily on poetry made it riotous.

Charlie felt so near and dear to me, I could feel his stress over everything coming through in the pages. I also wanted to wrap him in an ambrosia decorated blanket, he deserves it!

It’s everything it promises to be, it’s goofy and awkward and funny and feels like exactly the kind of romcom my teen self would’ve obsessed over.

I loved the tension in this book and the learning to love oneself and another. I think that having the element of learning to write love letters and for him to find his own way to do it was an important step in Charlie's journey to love another.
Jasper was a character, he was hard to like but I think that was the point. Charlie had so much frustration towards him and I felt the same way and when Charlie started letting his walls down for Jasper I think as a reader I did as well.
I kind of wish there was a bit more about how the school was impacted after Charlie told the headmaster that he was trans because I felt as though this was a huge step in his coming out journey.

I was really excited to read this because I liked the last book written by Page Powars. However, everything concerning the plot and characters were just fine. It tried to entertain me, and I didn’t care as much as I wanted too. On a more positive note: very good writing, and lgbt+ rep

I was really looking forward to this, but it ended up just being okay for me. It was a bit over the top and the characters were more like caricatures. If you're in the mood for a goofy, lighthearted YA read, this is the move. It's just not what I was expecting or wanting. It didn't help that I didn't really care for the two leads or feel the romance between them at all either. I didn't hate this, but I definitely wouldn't read it again either

"A hilarious, unputdownable second-chance-romance about the most unlikely, gay roommate mishap. Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston."

Summary: "Romance is the last thing on Charlie’s mind. On his first day at Valentine Academy for Boys, Charlie’s carefully crafted plan to hide his identity as the school’s only trans student is set in motion. Only to be immediately destroyed. Charlie has been assigned the worst roommate in the world (possibly the universe): Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke Charlie’s heart the year before he transitioned. Except, Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie. Who knows how long until Jasper realizes the truth? Charlie has one shot at freedom and a dorm room all to himself, but only if he helps Jasper write love letters on behalf of their fellow students first. No problem. Charlie can help Jasper with some silly letters. Surely, no unintended consequences will arise…"

This book is just comforting, fun, queer YA. Which is must needed! It was so good! and it made me smile so many times. I really liked that it gave me both ends of a trans journey: at times being scared or hiding, but also the joy of acceptance, confidence and love.
Powars touched on subjects like economic disadvantages in academic settings and the toxic competitiveness of academia while also showing healthy "male friendships" and dynamics. It truly was a fresh easy read and I would 100% recommended to friends.

This was such a fun read! Did it give me anxiety over this poor boy stressing himself out to an unhealthy level over getting kicked out of his prestigious all-boys school for a variety of reasons that, while seemingly ridiculous, were valid because people are terrible? Yes! Did I feel kinda bad for the sweet gnome/love obsessed receptionist that he kept lying to? Also yes! Were there a couple of things that felt like plot devices that made me a little annoyed? I mean, yeah kinda. But! The characters were freaking awesome! The pace of the story felt really good too. I just loved how genuinely nice everyone was! The romance was also very sweet and the end was satisfying.

3.5 Stars Rounded Up-

This book was so fun! Romance is a genre I love and hate. Especially teen romance, however queer teen romance is something I will never ever pass up. This story felt like a warm hug. Yes it is predictable, and yes sometimes the characters can feel flat, however I do think that is because is from Charlie's POV and let's be honest... he admitted he wasn't being the best friend. He's a little self absorbed but that does come with the territory of living in fear of being found out, potentially being kicked out for not good enough grades, someone who feels he is carrying the weight of expectation and potential disappointment, and well, always self analyzing to control how you are being perceived.

The ending went as expected without much room for development but I knew because this is that kind of story. I will assume he put in the work to be a better friend and overcome his fears. However that does not discount the story of getting to that point.

The writing was good! It was funny and cringe but that is how these stories go I think. You just have to embrace it and I had a good time going in without much expectations. It was a really sweet story and I am so thankful it skipped the whole transgender trauma tropes (though it did not escape some YA romance tropes). As much as I had a fun time reading this, my stars are relative to not only how well I enjoyed this book but how it made me feel and overall how well constructed it is.

Thank you as always to Netgalley for the EARC and the chance to read this book early!

However campy you think this book is, think campier. No, seriously. There's a twelve-year-old who calls himself Blaze Alpha Destroyer (Of Worlds) and speaks with the cadence and vocabulary of a medieval knight in shining armor in this book, and he's not even close to being the protagonist. I had a splendid (and, at some points, bizarre) time reading this book, and I can't wait to see what Page cooks up next.

4 /5 ★
↳ Definitely teetering between 4 and 4.5 for sure. 4.25? Guess so! But also ∞ /5 because everyone needs to read and share this book and uplift trans kids and their stories and voices!

Date Finished ~ 03.25.2025
★ 𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖊 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊 - 𝖒𝖞 𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖎𝖑𝖊𝖗𝖘 ★

"𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚅𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞."
"𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚘𝚗?"
"'𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑' - 𝙸 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 - '𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸'𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞.'"

𝑻𝑹𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑺 + 𝑺𝑷𝑰𝑪𝑬 ~
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ FTM MMC
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ Forced Proximity
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ Miscommunication
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ❌🌶️

𝑴𝒀 𝑩𝑰𝑮𝑮𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑨𝑾𝑨𝒀𝑺 ~
╰┈➤ And they were roommates? Oh my god, they were roommates.
╰┈➤ This is my first time reading one of Page's books, however I really enjoyed his writing style, and felt his motivation as an author was always clear and consistent throughout the story. I also enjoyed that his characters felt youthful and true to their ages. More often than not, many HS setting books still sound "adult" - but there was an overlying innocence and simplicity to these boys that I believe helped sell the overall messages of acceptance and friendship/found family.
╰┈➤ I absolutely adored the tone of this book, and the banter between the characters. I found myself often laughing to the dry, witty comments the characters made, and absolutely loved Charlie. The book is light-hearted and fast paced, and is definitely going to put a smile on your face.
╰┈➤ Something I appreciated throughout the book was that every student was insecure in their own way, and to the point that popularity is only a perception - and everyone has their own quirks. I think in it's own way too, this shows that hatred is taught, that you aren't born with it. All of these boys found solace in their differences, because they had one another to lean on.
╰┈➤ Something I would love to see explored more is Jasper's supposed animosity to P.M. I felt it was a little blurry between just plain success rivalry or if it was something deeper besides just him leaving out of the blue (which may have been intentional) but I often was lead to believe that Jasper had a crush on P.M. - which I do feel like may have watered down the betrayal he felt and pining he has done for the past 2 years over Charlie. I would also love to see more of Delilah and Charlies friendship, as I felt like we didn't get enough of their relationship before she kind of blew up on Charlie. I LOVED Blaze, Robby, and Xavier though, and love the full scope of diversity shared in this book.

𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫 ~
I recommend everyone read this book, as it is proof that all trans kids want is to be accepted. To be seen and heard, without biases and judgement. I will definitely be reading Page's other published book, and look forward to what he writes in the future!

A fun second chance romance between a trans guy finally going to the boarding school of his dreams, only to be forced to be roommates with the guy who gave him his his first kiss before breaking his heart, a year before his transition.

This is a tricky book to review because I genuinely enjoyed the first half, but as I kept reading, I realized I found it increasingly ridiculous, to the point of becoming annoying.
It’s a fun, fast-paced story, but the same qualities that make it entertaining also make it feel over-the-top and unbelievable. You have to be in the right mood to embrace these exaggerated, caricature-like characters doing absurd things. For me, the novelty wore off, and the exaggerated nature of the story ultimately overpowered my initial enjoyment.

Had to DNF, the main character's roommate was simply to extreme, it felt like reading a cartoon character everytime he was on page. Loved the concept and the main character, but this secondary character completely ruined it for me.

while charlie is trying to keep jasper at arms length and hoping he goes away as soon as possible, he discovers things about jasper that makes him rethink everything. could this lead to their second chance?

this books main focus (to me) is the growth of charlie and finding his place within an all boys boarding school being trans. while he tries his hardest to keep a distance from all males, he ends up developing long lasting friendships and they prove that he fits in perfect and he has his people that like him for him no matter what.