Klune is the only writer whose characters can go on ridiculous lengthy outrageous rants/diatribes/plans - the like of which I usually skip - and make me enjoy them. It's a bizarre superpower that Sandy/Helena really puts to the test. Loved how this resolves, already reading book 3. :) ( )

//Re-read Jul 2020 - Picked this up (again) because I was feeling a little down and didn't feel like reading anything serious, and if there is one book that always gets me to laugh out loud it's this one.


//Re-read Apr 2019 - read again in preparation to Why We Fight coming out next month. I was worried I might have gotten over this style of humor over the years but nope. Still had me cackling out loud constantly.

//Re-read Jan 2017 - still as laugh out loud funny as the first time around!

i'm so fucking happy i found t j klune. i find the covers of his books offputting, which is the reason i didn't pick up his work sooner, but by god can he write. wolfsong made me cry ugly snotty tears and this one made me giggle and cackle and made my neighbors hate me while i read long into the night because i just could not put this down. this book was adorable, over the top, cracky, outrageus and over all hilarious. something about klune's way of writing characters and dialogue just clicks with my brain. ( )

Over the top. Equal parts tiring and hilarious. Made my heart hurt several times. ( )

4⭐

me slapping the back of this book: this bad boy can fit so much fanfiction tropes inside it 👌👌

➽let’s name those tropes then
the fake dating omg, the fake dating who doesn’t love some good fake dating content???
the enemies to friends to lovers i mean??? do i have to say anything more??? i have a lot of thoughts and i will say more, of course. but do i have to???
the pinning and were they pinning. they were pinning so. freaking. hard.
the everyone knows they’re in love but them i know they’re in love. you know they’re in love. that one person that saw them for like 30 seconds that one time knows. they’re. in. love. also their whole social circle
the opposites attract my fav opposites attract is when they’re oh so different on the surface but then are they really?? and, yep. we have that here.
the chosen family there’s some biological family as well included but mostly it’s just a bunch of random people stitched together. i mean, it’s part of the gay experience, right?

➽this was so freaking funny
this book gave me more endorphins than months of taking antidepressants. i was laughing pretty much from start to finish. and i was in public for part of that time. people were probably staring and i didn’t even care. scratch that. i didn’t even realise that i may look like a dweeb until hours later. i was that fucking entranced

➽this was one of the best love stories i’ve ever read
they just?? stole my heart?? i loved the pinning. the shyness. watching them getting closer. i loved their love
how are they so perfect for each other?? and then they manage to screw it up and circle around each other charging the air with their ust??

➽i loved the characters??
and not only main characters. i went and started with the book #2 with the thought that’ll be the only one i’ll read in this series but now i’m reading the other two (or three?) as well.
sanford stewart and darren mayne though. sanford fucking stewart and darren fucking mayne. i don’t even know what to say about them because it’s something you need to experience. how do you create characters that are so relatable and yet so unique?? and make it seem so effortless?? how??

➽drag queens!
i don’t really follow that part of the lgbtq culture but maybe i should. yep. who am i kidding?? i so don’t have time for another interest… but it’s still really entertaining. you do that for me, please the sass! the sex! the intimidation! i feel in love with that world

there were some minor things i didn’t like, hence 4 stars not 5, but my therapist told me to focus on the good things in my life and this is already long enough so it’s time to finish. read this and join the fun
( )

I just finished listening to the amazing Michael Lesley narrate. I am addicted to his narration and Klune provided the perfect story to show off his talents.

I've also decided I really need my very own Helena in my life, just to shake things up a bit. She's fabulous and I could listen to another ten hours of her and her Scooby Doo hijinks, especially when she tries to be inconspicuous while spying on someone.

Yes, an inconspicuous drag queen. It worked about as well as one would expect. ( )