May the Best Man Win

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I related so much to this book, it hit so many parts of my own experiences. I cried several times. I loved it and will be recommending it to the trans teens I work with! Since my freshman year, I’ve watched glittering seniors in formal wear sweep onto the football field during the Homecoming halftime, crowned by Principal Meehan as the crowd cheered them on. I’ve dreamed of ascending that same stage in glory, on my boyfriend’s arm, all of Cresswell chanting my name. Only now it’s the king’s crown I’m after—and it still hovers before me, bright and shiny as a spotlight.

Anyway. Based off the cover and synopsis this seems like exes from enemies to possible lovers but there’s not really any romance. I don’t care if there’s romance or not necessarily but I thought that that was such a great idea. I wanted a light hearted rom-com with trans rep!! Plus, Lukas is autistic and coping with grief so there was representation there too. After both Edwin and Jasper propose to Olivia, they discover that a young boy, Teddy Armstrong, has fallen into a well. When the two bachelor's approach the well, Edwin refuses to put himself in harms way to save the boy. Jasper, proving he's the better man, helps Teddy from the well. CWs: sibling death; ableism and internal ableism; misgendering, deadnaming, and transphobia; homophobia; bullying; racism; references to sexual harassment/assault; references to abusive parents and divorce; underage drinking; infidelity; graphic physical assault lukas' video with photos of him and jeremy pre transition and how he didn't even realize it was wrong. like your ex breaks up with you, comes out as trans and you don't even get educated on that? one thing i definitely couldn't wrap my head around was how much they cared about each other before all the shit hit the fan. because one moment the things i read sounded so horrible the whole relationship before felt bad and other moment it was "we were in love all along." like. what? Overall this book was beautiful and fantastic and it made me cry so much! *remembers* I couldn't have asked for anything more...well maybe a less annoying Jeremy? But even Jeremy himself changed and I was really satisfied! Thank you Z.R. Ellor for writing this magnificent fantastic book! This will always stay in my heart ( ´◡‿ゝ◡`)What cis people don’t get is that it’s not the wrong clothes, the wrong name, the wrong pronoun. It’s the strangling feeling, like you’ve been buried alive and are struggling to breathe, like you don’t exist. That the most important part of you is invisible and, thus, unreal. If people don’t see me as a boy, then they don’t see me at all. When Joseph O’Connor edited, he poked at the idea a little. “If you’re Irish enough to qualify for the Republic of Ireland football team, under the one-grandparent rule, or to cheer for it, even ironically, when it’s playing against our friends in England, you’re eligible for a seat on the squad bus.” I Just Want to Be Normal: Jeremy wants to be seen as just a regular boy rather than as a trans boy.

In this same chapter, we learn that the "dream woman" is Alice Reade, who arrived in Carlisle to teach music. The series representative of Jasper's early love interest was named Addy McNiel, and described in "The Story Girl Earns Her Name."When Jase and Emily are continually thrown together as wedding attendants, long-buried resentments, miscommunications, and attraction bubble up until a one-night stand becomes a red-hot affair that cools considerably once they actually face their painful shared past. an utterly fresh romance with messy queer teens falling in and out of love, finding their community, and fighting to be seen. ZR Ellor’s debut puts him on the map as a new, exciting voice.” —Molly Knox Ostertag, author of The Witch Boy A trans boy enters a throw-down battle for the title of Homecoming King with the boy he dumped last summer in ZR Ellor’s contemporary YA debut. Jeremy Harkiss is a cheer captain, student body president, and an overall role model for many people. He came out as transgender, which was a hard decision overall but with his all-star-ex-boyfriend Lukas running for the title of Homecoming King that he has worked so hard to get, he has had enough. He won't let anything get in his way between him and his crown. after all that, having multiple chapters of friendship, love, power of community, butterfly and roses was just so messed up. the whole book y'all were the worst to each other, all characters, and now suddenly it's all peace and quiet among each other? how?

Don’t let the cover deceive you, this book is not a cute, lighthearted romance. It’s messy and can be brutal at times, but some of the representation was so important in this book that I feel people should give this one a shot if it sounds interesting. I’m very torn on how to rate this book because I have a love hate relationship with it, but my star rating reflects how much I genuinely enjoyed it. My mom’s bringing my outfit, don’t worry,” I say. “I found this adorable salmon dress shirt and a tie covered in silk rosettes.” I don’t mention that I went to six different stores to find the XXS size, and I bought the super-skinny tie online. Years of practice mean I know my way around the mall, but even I could barely find formal clothes that don’t make me look like a kid playing dress-up in his dad’s suit. we don't see a lot of jeremy's emotions because he feels like he should all hide it, which is fair and realistic. but what i personally don't get is how we as readers didn't get some kind if exclusive look into his brain. i don't know; i already didn't like him and his reasoning was hard to follow if you didn't really knew how he felt... This is my first time seeing a feminine trans boy in a book, and I relate so much of his inner struggle with that. The fear of people doubting who he is and using his femininity against him. And his mom, seeing his feminine parts as signs of detransitioning,,,, ow,,, that was too relatable. This is something I’m still working to overcome, just a few days ago I was told I needed to take off my nail polish to be taken seriously. And now Im working up to wearing skirts out and piercing my ears. Neither Jeremy’s, nor mines, gayness and femininity negates our maleness.And perhaps a work like this is not for readers at all, but writers. Why not, when there’s so many on this island of ours; when, as Kevin Barry points out in the introduction to his edition: “at any given moment […]there are ten thousand maniacs battering their laptops with caffeinated fingers”. what i can actually talk about is the way jeremy threatened to tell the entire school lukas is autistic when he damn well knows lukas isn't ready for that yet. if you didn't know, i myself am autistic and i was in no way okay with this. not because i think being autistic is something someone should hide or be ashamed for, BUT it should always be your own choice to tell that. your choice to decide when, where, how, and even if. jeremy just crossed too many lines here and i would never forgive someone for even thinking of threatening with something like that...