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A review by keysmashhh
Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Plot: 3.5/5
Character: 4/5
Relationships: 4.5/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 4.5/5
thing i liked
- reading this book as an ebook on my phone was less of a jarring experience than i expected - I think the similarities the writing style had to fanfiction and the simplicity of the plot and romance made it a quick and easy read that was totally fine to read on my phone
- romance. romance. romance. awwwwww. this was such a feel-good romance (if you remove the plot and just look at the actual romance) - not only was it kind of insta-love (in terms of it happening over a week) but you have fake dating that very quickly turns into real dating, lots of cute fluffy happy moments and just a general feeling of queer joy to their relationship.
- I appreciate this book didn't do what a lot of other fake dating books do which is only getting the main couple together in the last 50 pages and then not show them together, there was some really cute tension between them before the reveal but lots more cute moments after which really solidified them as a great relationship.
- characterisation!!! there was a real sense that by the end of this book, I really knew these characters inside and out. Even the side characters like Donny and Priya and Yazz all felt strong enough to stand on their own (with the exception of the slightly trope-like nature of some aspects of their characterisation)
- Yazz especially had a really lovely sense of presence in the book, she didn't fall into any one idea of what the supportive little sister should be like. She gave good advice and her moment of defiance against her parents was genuinely unexpected but really heartwarming to read about.
- representation matters and in this book it was more than just LGBTQ+ representation which added another layer of meaning to the stories of each character. Not just sexuality but the relationship characters had to their race, religion and even Bryson's family situation all probably resonated with someone who was reading it.
things i was meh on
- on the whole, the writing of this was pretty good, but there were some moments of dialogue and description that just felt a little jarring/disruptive to the reading experience. Sometimes the author went for more lyrical/symbolic lines and they worked (eg. the idea of him being like the photo strip "crumpled but in tact" that felt like they were trying a bit too hard to be meaningful.
- the parents in this book, specifically Kai's. There was definitely some well thought nuance that went into the portrayal of their characters but i felt like a little extra something could have been put into the moment of reconciliation for Kai and his mum. Specifically the way his mum reconceilled her faith with her son - I loved Yazz's point in the letter she wrote to her parents about how no one was asking them to give up their faith in order to support their son but I felt like the rest of this battle for the parents wasn't really shown.
- i was 50/50 on the amount of pop culture references there were in this book, on the one hand, i loved the reliability of the characters, and their little quirks and obsessions definitely added to this sense of knowing them really well but on the other hand, sometimes it took me out of the story a little and some moments (like both of them fanboying over the band they liked which felt a little more like a parody of fan culture than an accurate representation.
things i didn't like
- the "villains" of the book (Dustin, that girl who ran the newspaper, Isaac) deserved so much more punishment in the book. I know the book is a mirror of reality but my god those guys got away with what they did wayyyy to easily. Sometimes, I don't want realism but instead, fiction where the people who outed Kai and bullied him and Bryson to actually get punished for what they did - I was seething when that girl didn't' immediately get suspended for what she did to Kai and then she had the audacity to try and talk to him, no thank you
Character: 4/5
Relationships: 4.5/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 4.5/5
thing i liked
- reading this book as an ebook on my phone was less of a jarring experience than i expected - I think the similarities the writing style had to fanfiction and the simplicity of the plot and romance made it a quick and easy read that was totally fine to read on my phone
- romance. romance. romance. awwwwww. this was such a feel-good romance (if you remove the plot and just look at the actual romance) - not only was it kind of insta-love (in terms of it happening over a week) but you have fake dating that very quickly turns into real dating, lots of cute fluffy happy moments and just a general feeling of queer joy to their relationship.
- I appreciate this book didn't do what a lot of other fake dating books do which is only getting the main couple together in the last 50 pages and then not show them together, there was some really cute tension between them before the reveal but lots more cute moments after which really solidified them as a great relationship.
- characterisation!!! there was a real sense that by the end of this book, I really knew these characters inside and out. Even the side characters like Donny and Priya and Yazz all felt strong enough to stand on their own (with the exception of the slightly trope-like nature of some aspects of their characterisation)
- Yazz especially had a really lovely sense of presence in the book, she didn't fall into any one idea of what the supportive little sister should be like. She gave good advice and her moment of defiance against her parents was genuinely unexpected but really heartwarming to read about.
- representation matters and in this book it was more than just LGBTQ+ representation which added another layer of meaning to the stories of each character. Not just sexuality but the relationship characters had to their race, religion and even Bryson's family situation all probably resonated with someone who was reading it.
things i was meh on
- on the whole, the writing of this was pretty good, but there were some moments of dialogue and description that just felt a little jarring/disruptive to the reading experience. Sometimes the author went for more lyrical/symbolic lines and they worked (eg. the idea of him being like the photo strip "crumpled but in tact" that felt like they were trying a bit too hard to be meaningful.
- the parents in this book, specifically Kai's. There was definitely some well thought nuance that went into the portrayal of their characters but i felt like a little extra something could have been put into the moment of reconciliation for Kai and his mum. Specifically the way his mum reconceilled her faith with her son - I loved Yazz's point in the letter she wrote to her parents about how no one was asking them to give up their faith in order to support their son but I felt like the rest of this battle for the parents wasn't really shown.
- i was 50/50 on the amount of pop culture references there were in this book, on the one hand, i loved the reliability of the characters, and their little quirks and obsessions definitely added to this sense of knowing them really well but on the other hand, sometimes it took me out of the story a little and some moments (like both of them fanboying over the band they liked which felt a little more like a parody of fan culture than an accurate representation.
things i didn't like
- the "villains" of the book (Dustin, that girl who ran the newspaper, Isaac) deserved so much more punishment in the book. I know the book is a mirror of reality but my god those guys got away with what they did wayyyy to easily. Sometimes, I don't want realism but instead, fiction where the people who outed Kai and bullied him and Bryson to actually get punished for what they did - I was seething when that girl didn't' immediately get suspended for what she did to Kai and then she had the audacity to try and talk to him, no thank you