• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2023 January #1
  *Starred Review* Valdes (Spin Me Right Round, 2021) calls his new novel "a love(s) story." And why not, for three 17-year-old hearts are involved. Consider: Jonas is head over heels for beautiful Shani, even though they have only met online and through texts and evening phone calls. Shani is intrigued by Jonas but uncertain of her own feelings. Then there is Ash, Shani's flamboyantly gay best friend, who is trans and, like Shani, mixed race. When Jonas finally finds enough courage to ask out Shani, she wonders if he is telling her the whole truth about himself, and so she turns to Ash to investigate. But when Ash meets Jonas, he falls hard for him and—what's this?—Jonas seems to reciprocate. To make things even more complicated, Ash then realizes he has feelings for Shani, too—feelings that she shares. Confusion reigns as the complexities pile up, but readers will be rewarded with a sweet solution. Decidedly modern in his handling of themes tied to love triangles and polyamory, Valdes handles his intensely romantic—and perhaps controversial—material well, and he creates principal characters in whom readers will be fully invested. The heart wants what the heart wants, and Valdes artfully gives all involved their heart's desire. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

David Valdes is the author of Spin Me Right Round, a New York Public Library Best Book for Teens, and the nonfiction books Homo Domesticus, The Rhinestone Sisterhood, and Today Show pick A Little Fruitcake, as well as a dozen produced plays. A former Boston Globe columnist and HuffPost blogger whose posts have received over a million hits, he currently writes an advice column for Medium, and was recently featured in the New York Times's Modern Love column. He also teaches writing at Boston Conservatory and Tufts. David lives in the Boston area with his daughter.

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