Q U I C K S T A T S
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// Content Warning: Alcohol consumption / Bullying / Car accident (past) / Death of a parent (past) / Drug use / Emesis / Homophobia / Islamophobia / Parental abandonment / Racism / Religious-based hate / Slurs (F-slur, R-slur) //
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Age group: Young Adult
Genre(s): Contemporary
Pub date: April 6th 2021
Sky’s small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, heartfelt, and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it’s Us? and I Wish You All the Best.
P R E M I S E
Sky Baker may be openly gay, but in his small, insular town, making sure he was invisible has always been easier than being himself. Determined not to let anything ruin his senior year, Sky decides to make a splash at his high school’s annual beach bum party by asking his crush, Ali, to prom—and he has thirty days to do it.
What better way to start living loud and proud than by pulling off the gayest promposal Rock Ledge, Michigan, has ever seen?
Then, Sky’s plans are leaked by an anonymous hacker in a deeply homophobic e-blast that quickly goes viral. He’s fully prepared to drop out and skip town altogether—until his classmates give him a reason to fight back by turning his thirty-day promposal countdown into a school-wide hunt to expose the e-blast perpetrator.
M Y R E V I E W
I might be in a reading slump, but I can tell when a good book comes up every now and then! And this book was beyond amazing.
Robbie Couch has created likeable characters with whom you can't help but form emotional connections with. I particularly liked the narrator, Sky, whose personality was as unique as his name and what I think made him stand out was his determination to not let the whole situation dampen his high spirits. Another unforgettable character would be his best friend, Bree (and her family), who literally gave him a home when he was kicked out of his for being gay. Marshall and Ali are not to be forgotten and of course, Teddy. Although Teddy didn't play a massive part in the beginning, his involvement in the middle-ish (leaning more toward the end) made me like him too.
I loved that instead of sobbing over his failed promposal, Sky gathered all his friends and made a small team of detectives to hunt down the hacker who sent out a huge, and very homophobic, e-blast. Even though they had a hunch about the hacker's identity and it was more of a get-evidence-against-him rather than solving the entire mystery, it was loads of fun and I enjoyed it so much.
T R O P E S
Found family
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
Gay main and side characters
MLM love interest
Black side character
Iraqi side character
Autistic side character
Trans male side character
S I M I L A R B O O K S
Heartstopper (series) by Alice Oseman (graphic novel)
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz [there had been quite a lot of comments claiming the author is transphobic and has misgendered several people multiple times but I'm not up-to-date with this to explain what exactly happened so just a heads up!]
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