This Was Everything I Needed and More

filled star filled star filled star filled star filled star
permanently_booked Avatar

By

This was absolutely hilarious and I need more stars! Hell, I need a gold trophy bejeweled in all the bling for this one! I had the opportunity to receive this novel as an audiobook from Libro.FM and MacMillan. T.J. Klune and Michael Lesley make a phenomenal author/narrator team. Seriously, all the future audiobooks for this series needs to be done with Lesley. The emotion, the cadence, the little nuances that exist when you're speaking with someone in front of you, all exist in this narration.

Fair warning the novel opens on a fandom comic our MC is writing and if you're like me and go in blind it may throw you. I was this thrown and very confused listener and really wondered what the heck I got myself into. Just picture starting an audiobook and a very laughably accurate Batman like voice comes through your earbuds. Eyebrow raised, confused facial expression, I stood frozen in mid laundry fold as the fandom progresses and then... cue the MC; Nick is introduced. Epic book love ensues.

All of the characters are easy to love,fleshed out and relatably flawed. Nick has a unique form of ADHD that doesn't always allow him to keep his mile a minute thoughts to himself. Seth is the adorable best friend and possible love interest for Nick. Gibby and Jazz balance each other perfectly in their relationship and denounce the stereotypical cheerleader persona bringing a sense of reality and perfectly placed sarcasm to Nick's shenanigans. Lastly, there is Owen. Possible ex, possible friend. Debate is still out on that one. This is the circle of friends you wished you had growing up in school. This is the support system that every kid needs in life. It's not just about the laughs and the superheroes either. This read focuses on coping with the loss of a parent, ADHD and having a truly supporting family and group of friends who support life choices. If everyone had a dad like Nick's... could you imagine how awesome the world would be.

This may have just become my favorite LGBTQ young adult coming of age book I've read to date. I haven't laughed this much in a good bit. I may never look at a banana the same again either but it is so worth it. I highly recommend this to everyone.