Bro this is the easiest 5 stars ever

Every so often, a book finds you at just the right moment and this was that book for me. From the very first page, I knew I was in for something special. The tone, the atmosphere, the vibes— they all whispered, “This one’s going to leave a mark.” And it did.

Francis captures teenage angst with a rawness and nuance that’s rare to find.

𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰... 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘺... 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

The struggle with identity, the desire to fit in, the quiet storm of being different— it was all so real, raw. Bridger and Gus weren’t just characters; they felt like living, breathing teenagers with fears, desires, and vulnerabilities that echoed truths I’ve known or seen.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴," 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, "𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹." 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯-
𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱.
"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴," 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯-
𝘶𝘦𝘥. "𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺."
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘎𝘶𝘴'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳, 𝘎𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.
𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.
"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦," 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥.
"𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

Their relationship, slow-burning and tender, unraveled in a way that made every glance, every conversation mean something.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸... 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶," 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.
𝘎𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥. "𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩," 𝘎𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦. "𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴... 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭."

But what really stunned me was the depth across the board— not just the leads, but the supporting cast too. Max, Tara, even Gus’s dad… each one was thoughtfully written, layered, and purposeful. Francis didn’t just give us a story; he gave us a world filled with characters who felt authentic, flawed, and whole.

There were moments in this book that moved me to tears, moments that made me smile, blush, ache, and think. The coming out scene especially hit home. It wasn’t dramatic for the sake of drama. It was intimate and full of heart. Gus’s father’s response wasn’t about gender; it was about embracing love in its fullness, in its wholeness, while you still can before a life of regret settles in.

This is more than a coming-of-age story. It’s a quiet, powerful exploration of love, friendship, identity, and the aching beauty of adolescence. Tbh I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait until I can read the next book by Matthew Francis. Five out of five stars from me and would be more if I could.

This book was incredible! I have never read anything like this before. It was so emotional and written so perfectly. I loved getting to know the MMC’s and the other side characters. Such a good romance read that makes you feel so many different emotions throughout. I enjoyed this book the entire time reading.