Wesley, known as big Mac to his friends, is a punk. He’s a punk on a skateboard. He’s got anger issues, rowdy friends and is struggling to find their place in the world. They also know they’re gay but is yet to come out of the closet. Around the holidays he’s forced to go see the Nutcracker with his soon to be stepsister and he can’t keep his eyes off the ballet dancer on stage. Tristan is out and proud. He spends his life dedicated to ballet but also to getting good grades, driving a Tesla, and everything Wesley is not. But opposites attract, and in this book, they attract, they clash, but they also cuddle. This book was very sweet. It’s about a teenage boy who has been told all his life by most everybody that he’s bad so he acts out as people expect. But he must find out for himself that he can beat people’s expectations. He must believe: I can do better I can be better and I want that. He also wants Tristan, which gives him some of what he needs to make the changes in his life. This book was fantastic. As an audiobook, it moves swiftly, your engaged with the story, and you really feel for Wesley. You’re cheering for him. “You can do it you can do it. You can be exactly who you want to be. You can be Better. Just say I need help.” I love this book. It’s Anthony Nerada and I will be reading whatever they write next. ( )

I really liked this book.
The main thing that stood out to me was that there is no romantication of the 'bad boy' persona. Rather, it is the complete opposite.
Wes isn't living a grueling, terrible life, he has a mom he loves and two rowdy friends, but trouble keeps following him and he is all too willing to ebrace it. He skips class, smokes joints and intimidates other kids and the entire story felt like an exploration of why he did these things and what made him tick.

I also liked that the negative stereotypes went both ways. Wes's skater friends did not think highly of Tristan or the photography club, and they in turn looked down on Wes and his friends as troublemakers. The best parts in my opinion were when Wes struggled with balancing all the different parts of his life that made it his. He did not want to lose his fellow punk friends, but feared their reaction to him coming out. He did not want his reputation to preceed him when with other people, but he did not want to change himself into a mold of 'good boy' either. It felt like there was no winning, matching Wes's own frustrations.

My only complaint would be about how quickly the romance went from meeting to being in love. Wes sees Tristan once and gets a huge crush. Once they talk and hang out, they have some meaningful conversations about biog questions in life, but I would have liked a little more development.

I read an ARC of this book and I am looking forward to when it gets published. ( )