*Spoiler free*
Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe. When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.
I mean, I heard this was about a trans boy who runs a trans romance blog who must concoct a fake dating scheme to prove a troll wrong and I was ready to read it. That sounds like an amazing book that sounds right up my alley. Plus, I’m pretty desperate for a trans romcom, and this is a romcom! I wanted to see it what it was all about, because it sounded like it would be amazing. Trigger warnings: anxiety, transphobia, panic attacks
This was a book that I grew to love, instead of falling hard and fast. But still, that means that I did end up loving it a whole lot.
I think the thing that made me it hard for me to fall head over heels as soon as I started the book was Noah. Yes, he’s the main character, but, I didn’t really like him that much. I know, that sounds horrible! But, there were things about him that rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t want to say he was obnoxious, because I feel like that’s too harsh a word, but he does seem to elevate his problems above those of his friends. I don’t want to call him rude, because I feel like that’s too harsh a word, but his inner dialogue seemed to lean that way. Maybe it was all teen angst that just didn’t work for me, and that’s totally fine! These are just my personal thoughts.
Though, I didn’t end up hating Noah the whole time. He did end up growing on me! He’s a little rough around the edges, but that’s the beauty in him. He doesn’t have it all figured out, but he is figuring out. He’s angsty, which I mean, so am I haha. He loves love, and he’s trying to see where it can fit into his own life. He’s an all around solid dude.
I did fall completely in love with the love interest. Just wow, what a sweet, kind, sensitive person. This person struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, and the way they’re talked through and are just something that happen to this person was amazing. Plus, this person is just the cutest and sweetest. Like, bringing coffee to coworkers because it would make them happy sweet. Yes, I am being purposely vague! I’m going off the synopsis with how much I reveal, but it will make sense once you read the book!
One thing this book did that I loved was flip everything about romcoms on its head. It follow the same formula, but it’s also its completely own thing, which I thought was awesome! It is a romcom to its core, but the way it is executed was just, amazing. It made me frustrated with it at times, but once I saw what it was going for and what I was trying to do, I was impressed, and I really enjoyed it.
Another thing I loved was the conversations regarding questioning gender. Pronouns are changed multiple times, and it was so great to see that change in that aspect is alright. It’s alright to try out different labels and pronouns. It made me feel all fuzzy inside.
Overall, it took a bit for me to warm up to this book. But, it ended up being great! There were times where I laughed out loud, where I felt like I was going to melt from the sweetness, and where I was frustrated with what was happening. So, a spectrum of emotions! Truly, I think this book is worth the read. It’s a romcom with a dash of angst, and it works really well!
Meet Cute Diary comes out May 4th! You can add it on Goodreads and pre-order a copy in the meantime!
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