The Most Diverse Book I Ever Read

Kate in Waiting is a fabulously diverse YA coming of age romance novel. It is an engaging page-turner that will keep you entertained from the opening right through to the curtain call.

The Opening

I found the opening prologue a little confusing. At first, I didn’t know who the narrator was, so it was difficult to care what was happening. I also kept wondering whether Andy was a boy or a girl. It wasn’t clarified until we’re three pages in when Matt addresses him as “my dude”.

Anderson sounded like a surname, and their actions and conversations meant he could be either. There were zero hints about Andy’s ethnicity, either, so that caused me a double-take in the next scene when he finally gets described.

The Characters

This is the most diverse coming-of-age, YA romance I’ve ever read. I’ve enjoyed other diverse novels, such as John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines, but this novel really goes the extra mile.

Like “Katherines”, this romance has a Jewish protagonist with an ethnic minority best friend. However, this time the best friend is gay. The novel also includes a transexual and a young lady in a wheelchair within the close friend group. And just to make sure the diversity message gets across, the main adult authority figure is Asian American.

This did give me one small concern as the story developed. Until we get near to the resolution close to the end of the novel, every adult in this novel is extremely supportive. I mean, not one “authority adult” in the school is shown to have prejudices against any group. Not one parent objects to their children’s lifestyle or cross-religious relationship choices.

In contrast to this, Hassan in “Katherines” has to jump through hoops to get his parents to accept his ideas and dreams, while Colin’s plans are often thwarted by his parents’ views (e.g. the speed of his studies).

When we came across a single problematic parent toward the end, I was quite relieved. It’s not that I want there to be prejudice, but the novel didn’t feel realistic without any social conflict of that kind. I mean, even the “mean jocks” are unusually accepting of every member of this diverse group, hugging them at parties.

The parents’ ground rules are also a little confusing. Mom has the strict six-inch rule and yet doesn’t object when the kids disappear to a party where she knows underage drinking will take place. She’s also happy to leave Kate alone in the house with a 16-year-old boy when the six-inch rule could be broken without her even knowing.

Kate is a nicely sympathetic character with a strong character development arc. She has prejudices at the start of the story (ironic given the diversity) but her views are challenged as the story progresses.

Andy is a fabulous best friend, and I loved their interaction. I especially liked the depth of their characters as we came to know them over time. They are very three-dimensional.

Matt and Noah are great characters. I really enjoyed their character arcs as this story unfolded. However, I did become concerned over just how many kids in this school from every group are taking AP classes. At times, it began to feel like an episode of Eureka.

The Plot

The main plot was introduced in the very beginning. Both Kate and Andy are crushing on the same guy, so how can they proceed? This is a great conflict that is handled well as the story progresses.

I don’t want to bring in any spoilers, but I can say that I enjoyed the resolution with one reservation. The resolution was well foreshadowed, but it felt too neat. I was concerned that an important part of the resolution might come across as a second-best situation. You’ll know what I mean when you get there.

The Setting

The high school and Kate’s house are both well described as the story develops, especially the area where the theater crowd hangs out and the BTF.

The Prose

This author has a strong voice. After the confusing prologue, the present tense, first-person narration quickly immersed me in the story.

The only objection I had was to the overuse of one naughty word. When you read the story, you’ll soon pick up on which word I mean. I felt that by using that word, the friends within Kate’s inner circle were offensive toward other members of the student body.

My Opinion

Overall, I loved this “first love” story. It had a nice twist ending (if a little heavily foreshadowed) and the relationship arc between the two best friends was just as important, if not more so than the romantic relationship arc.

I had a few reservations, so I’m going to rate this as 9 out of 10. That will translate to 5 out of 5 on Goodreads and Amazon.

Notice:

I received this book to read and review as part of the @The_WriteReads tours team Kate in Waiting Ultimate Blog Tour. All opinions are my own, unbiased, and honest.

Kate and Anderson are the best of friends. They are practically attached at the hip. Inseparable is what one can safely vouch for these two. But everything is not hunky dory in their lives when the most unexpected thing happen in their life.

On one camp that Kate and Anderson take, they both land up falling for the same guy. Both of them fall for Matt and then on nothing seems to be the same in their lives after that.

Does Kate and Anderson’s friendship survive?
Who wins over Matt?
Is it difficult to maintain their friendship?
What drama unfolds?

Rating – 4/5 Stars
Recommendation – High

I loved the drama that takes place in this book. All the characters have been developed well and the plot is really interesting and to the point that it notches one’s curiosity levels a lot. I enjoyed reading this book a lot.

This wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't for me. This was the kind of young adult book that makes me think maybe I'm too old for young adult. The main character (Kate, duh) and her best friend Andy have a crush on the same guy. This has happened to them before, but because neither of them has ever done anything about these crushes, it's never caused any problems. But now Kate, Andy, and their communal crush are all trying out for the same musical.

And it's all fine, really. A lot of readers are really going to love this and I would happily recommend it. In fact, I think 14-Year-Old me would have loved this. But nearly 31 year old me found Kate to be immature and naive to the point of cringy...which, well, made it hard to connect with the story.

Kate in waiting

This book is about Kate and her best friend Anderson who are both crushing on Matt. It's all fine until Matt ends up moving to their school, and their perfect friendship gets tipped upside down...

As a 12 year old, I loved this book. I could relate to practically everything, and could really feel what the characters were feeling. I also loved the characters themselves, since they were all extremely well written and felt very real. I also loved how diverse they were, with members of the LGBTQ+ community and trans characters. I could barely put this book down because I wanted to see their relationships and friendships work out so badly, and I was so glad when everything was resolved. I can't wait to see more of this author- this was a great read.

I think it’s official, I love everything that comes out from Becky Albertalli. Even if she publishes her grocery shopping, I would read it and I would love it (and I would buy it). I loved Kate In Waiting, it was such a lovely, sweet story.

Taking place in Roswell, Georgia, Becky tells us a story of Kate and Andy, who are like super BFFs and often end up sharing the same crush. When they both start having feeling for the new guy, Matt, their friendship is tested and Kate and Andy have to find a way to protect their precious relationship. But, when the three of them are all cast in the school musical, things get super complicated. Who will Matt choose? Will Kate and Andy still remain friends at the end of the musical? Well… you need to read this story to find out.

Once again, music and musical are a pivotal elements to Albertalli’s storytelling and you can tell how much research she did on Once Upon A Mattress, which I didn’t even know is actually a real musical. And once again, she is so good at depicting life as a teenager with their crush and fixation on a school production. And this is why, even if the plot was predictable, it was still a lovely and sweet rom-com to read, which I devoured.

Everything is told completely from Kate’s POV, which sometimes can come across as a bit annoying or selfish, and around her, you have this fantastic diverse cast of characters. I think sometimes I wanted to slap her, because how can she not realise her actions were hurting others, but I sort of still get that, I think I was the same as Kate at her age, not so delicate. The best character, I think, was Noah, it was impossible not to love him from the very beginning. But again, because of the first-person narrative, you don’t get to understand fully why Kate and Andy would both fall for Matt or you don’t get a clear picture of Andy’s perspective.

I still think it was a reflection on how sometimes we just tend to categorise people under certain stereotypes and we just judge them accordingly. Again, while some people may find the whole “f-boy” talks repetitive or disturbing, I still think that this is something we all do during high school.

In the end, the plot was not perfect, but the writing is just simply so worth it. Becky Albertalli has this talent in describing the realism of teenage crushes, when you spend hours examining every single eye movement, word, gesture… who didn’t do that? It is a sweet light story about discovering love and platonic relationships. I simply love it and if you loved her previous works, you will need to get a copy of this book.

3 stars | Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kate in Waiting follows Kate, who frequently has “communal crushes” with her best friend since childhood, Anderson. However, this time their communal crush gets complicated, when Matt – who they met during the summer, but thought they’d never see again – shows up at their school, and leaves them both falling for him even further.

Kate as a character was fairly well developed, though to me she felt slightly immature and naive at times. Her friend group was fun and I loved many of the side characters, but I did find it extremely annoying how whenever they were together, all they seemed to do was insult and be judgemental about fuckboys, or f-boys, as they are referred to in the novel. It just felt somewhat unnecessary.

Overall the plot was interesting, if slightly predictable and occasionally repetitive (the way Kate and Andy constantly fell in and out of being happy for one another and jealous of one another got annoying, in my opinion), and the ending was satisfying. Albertalli’s writing style is easy to read, though it felt a little cheesy at times (I’ll admit this is just a matter of taste though).

I think my main issue with this book was the character development and how it varied from character to character – there were a couple of well-developed characters and many other side characters which felt somewhat neglected, the main love interest included. Considering that Kate and Anderson’s crush on him was a major feature of the book, I would’ve appreciated it if he had been developed a bit more as a character, and the reasons for them liking him (aside from his appearance) to have been explored further.

That aside this was a cute and fun read, the kind of thing that would be great for getting someone out of a reading slump, as Albertalli’s books often are.

This book was cute, very cute, sickeningly cute in a delightful way. But that's all I really have to say about it. It was well written, the characters were cute but the story was overly predictable and fore me there wasn't really enough character growth to call it a character driven novel. While the theatre aspects were super fun, for me they just didn't dive deep enough. We just sort of skimmed the surface of Kate's life and never really dug deep into any aspect.

The best this was the yoyo of emotions Kate feels when dealing with her best friend and her feelings for the new guy. These felt very realistic and leant some real authenticity to the the story. However, I still feel we jumped too quickly between them to full get a grasp of how Kate was feeling and how she worked through those feelings. I kind of wanted more from some of the other relationships too. Kate and her brother Ryan had such a sweet relationship and I really would have loved to read more about that. I would have liked a little more development of the romances too. Again, they are so sweet but we only really get a little scratch at the surface.

While it had amazing amounts of rep, it started to feel a little bit like diversity bingo, especially when characters would be mentioned to shoehorn in one of these diverse characters and then never appear again. I also wasn't sure quite who the references and there for age range of the reader this book was aiming at. There were a lot of references to mid 2000, when I was a teen and I am in my 30s so it felt a bit off if the target market is current teens.

Overall, this is a cute fun and fast paced read. Its a nice palate cleanser read especially if you have had yourself buried in some darker reads like I have. For me it wasn't a bad book, I was very entertained. It just isn't up there with the best of them for me. Some time you just need a quick cute read and this was it.

I read this book for a blog tour, so thank you to the blog tour organiser, author and publisher and NetGalley for letting me be part of the tour and for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Trigger Warnings: divorced parents, a lot of swearing, mentions of fairly graphic bullying.

In this book, we meet Kate our main character as she and her best friend Anderson are talking about the crush they had this summer – because of course they have communal crushes – and lo and behold, he turns up at their school. This was just a bunch of laughs, cuteness, feelings and just a great, quick read.

What I loved the most about the setting was the auditorium and theatre room in the school. I was a theatre kid for 9 years so it’s all ingrained into me and I dearly miss it, so this book was especially nostalgic to me and I just couldn’t help but adore it. I had never heard of this musical before, but I will definitely be doing so in the future because it sounded so fun.

Overall, this was a great book that had me going through so many emotions in just a few pages. It was cute, like really, really cute, especially at the end and my heart was honestly just so happy. The mix of friendship, crushes, theatre and high school was really well done and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all these things.

The one thing I do want to mention, and is entirely subjective, is that I found there to be a massive amount of swearing which kind of shocked me. I swear like a sailor myself and usually never notice swearing in books, but I did here and I will admit that it bothered me a little bit. There maybe weren’t that many and I may be exaggerating a tad, but it felt like there was an f-bomb a couple times on each page, which kind of felt off for me considering this is YA, but that’s the only little issue I had with this book.

I gave Kate in Waiting 4 stars and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn’t as funny as some other YA contemporaries I have read lately, but there was a nice amount of humour to cut through some of the harder subjects that were spoken about. The writing style was really nice and fluid and I read this book very quickly, even though it’s 400-pages long (which is long for a contemporary right?).

If you love funny, cute, and quick reads with a bunch of amazing, caring, complex and believable characters, a unique plot set in a high school and theatre, then this is definitely the book for you!

Title – Kate in Waiting

Author – Becky Albertalli

Genre – YA Romance

My very first encounter with Becky Albertalli and her books was when ‘Simon vs The Homosapien Agenda’ was one of the most talked books when I entered Bookstagram. The book felt like a warm glow in cold winters and I was pretty intrigued everytime the author came out with other books. Kate in Waiting is Becky’s latest offering which deals with not so unique but eventful plotline – Two bestfriends falling for the same guy!! Juicy!!

Making it a bit short, Kate and Anderson are best friends who love to discuss camp crush boys. So it turns out, that their latest camp crush is the new student in their school and both are in dilemma on how to go about getting to know someone they love and also saving their friendship.

One thing I love about the YA authors these days is how they have been so easily inclusive of LGBT+ characters over the previous generation ones. There is never any explicit mentions or stereotype of people from the spectrum and thats one of the reason why these books will surely pave a better way for the generations to come. Coming down to the story, the premise is pretty straightforward and juicy to be honest. The characters are quite likeable but the book is mediocre at its best.

This could be mainly due to me not being a huge fan of romance genre or maybe the story did not steer away much from the usual predictable plot. Especially the main character felt more annoying and this is where the book tends to be a bit unlikeable. Honestly, there were times where I did put down the book never to pick up again but I kept going on especially because of other characters that were more fun to read.

Pick it up if you are a huge fan of the author or I would suggest give it a skip if not. Though it stands average on my ratings, there are better ratings out there and this could be a reason why you might be compelled to pick this one up.

My Ratings – 🌟🌟🌟 (3 out of 5 stars)

Thank you so much The Write Reads and Penguin India for giving me the opportunity for this tour.

I rarely read contemporary, even less books about romance, because that's just not my cup of tea. Therefore, despite Becky Albertalli being a bit of a Juggernaut in YA, KATE IN WAITING was my first book by her. It was an absolute ball.

It's a very funny story. The situation itself could go either all tragic pining and drama (which would probably have made me roll my eyes) or the way of melodramatic to the point of giggles. The book choses the second path, without losing any heart. I kept smothering snorts of laughter at the conversations and not so smooth attempts at romance.

I love the theatre group of friends, all their in jokes and having each others' backs. It absolutely felt like they were a real group of friends, tight knit and with their own rituals. They were such a wholesome group, not internal tensions or "not quite friends" issues. Other than the one romance issue at the heart of the book, they were just really lovely friend. AND I loved that Kate and Andy were consistently trying to ensure they were friends first.

Given the book was in first person, a lot of the in jokes couldn't be explained without breaking POV, but it didn't matter. In fact, not knowing the exact reason but instead seeing it as a long past that was too complicated to explain and that it wouldn't make sense unless you'd been along for the whole 6+ years only made it feel more authentic. I certainly would struggle to explain my friendship group's references, and it still wouldn't make sense to anyone else.

This is a book stuffed full of reference, most of which I only caught because my sister loves musical theatre and has coerced the family into watching more than I would ever choose (sorry, but it's just not my thing). To my surprise, the play the school is putting on is actually a real one - I thought it would me made up (nope, just a really old one that's out of copyright). Despite not being keen on musicals, the book has actually made me curious to watch it, quite an impressive feat!

I’ve only previously read one book by Becky Albertalli which was What If It’s Us and having liked it I couldn’t wait to give this one a go.

This is a well written book but did feel that the writing to be a bit repetitive especially when it came to the constant use of the F-boys. At first I didn’t mind but then it seriously started to get annoying. At one point I it was appeared over 10 times on one page. The plot started off really fun but as the book progressed I started to lose interest and only just made it to the end. Personally, I feel like there was something missing in the plot, and just didn’t end up loving it as much as I thought I would after reading the premises before starting the book.

I didn’t really connect to the main character Kate. I actually found her to be annoying, it felt like her character was all for show. Personally, I wanted to know about her true self, I wanted to know more about her family. My favorite was definitely Noah. He was the all-round good guy and would love to have him as a friend.

Kate In Waiting is a quick to read YA contemporary that is perfect for the younger readers, unfortunately I feel I may be a little too old to have apricated its full potential.But I can definitely see many Albertalli fans and younger readers embracing this book with open arms and loving it. So, if you’re looking for a fun, cute, YA contemporary then this is a book for you!!

This was such a cute, fun YA contemporary read, where ultimately the true focus is on the power of friendship. Honestly, just a heart-warming, funny and relatable story. However, it felt a bit middle of the road. The characters were lovable and I really enjoyed the homage to musical theatre.

Kate in Waiting was the perfect bank holiday read - I finished it all in one day! The thing I love most about Becky's books is how well she gets the messy teenage girl voice just right. I end up cringing for the character but half of that is because I remember feeling that exact way myself when I was sixteen. Definitely one of my auto-buy authors!

Who doesn't love a YA read with teenage angst, a few humorous scenes and a gay best friend?

I read this book in one sitting, it was cute and funny. The characters are going to be relatable to those of that age and I can definitely see this being made into a Netflix film.

You have Kate, she is best friends with Anderson Walker - they do everything together they even have crushes on the same guys. They have been best friends for years and are each others cheerleaders but things come ahead when they return to school after the summer break. They start to drift apart due to Anderson being able to take the theatre class when Kate doesn't. It also involves a senior who they both fell for at summer camp problem is he likes on of them back but which one is it?

This is definitely a fun YA contemporary read. I love that Queer representation in this book and feel that Becky Albertalli does it well in all of her books. I found the book at times funny but also (and this is purely as I am an older reader) that Kate was at time annoying BUT I feel that she was meant to be portrayed this way. It has all the teenage angst I remember feeling at that age with the self-doubt and not knowing where you fit in.

I loved that the book was centred round the school theatre and that they were putting on a musical. I liked the close knit group of friends and how they all supported one another. There is great rep in this book.

The only downside I have for this book was the constant use of the term Fuck-boy or F-boy. It didn't need to be used half as much as it should. I got it from the first two references and the continuous use of it was quite off putting. Overall though it was a fun quick read.

This was definitely a cute and light-hearted book, but not my favourite Becky unfortunately 🙈 At first I really loved it but as the book went on I kinda lost interest 😅 The constant use of the word f-boys and other similar words, and the (kind of) love triangle began to annoy me a bit. The end was for sure cute and I think people who love theater will also like reading this book, but there were just some things about it that I personally just wasn’t loving.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House Children’s Books and Netgalley for the earc to read and review.

So much drama within the pages of this book.

Kate and Anderson, best friends, each other’s confidants and inseparable with their own langue with each other go through the first big challenge in their friendship when they both fall in love with Matt at camp and suddenly find him thrust into their everyday life as he moves to their school and their street. Everything changes from that point on.

I loved that it was all centred around musical theatre that’s what really drew me to the book In the first place. It was also about Kate and Anderson’s relationship which was both incredibly sweet and incredibly weird both at the exact same time.

There was a lot of drama around Matt, both really liking him and both slowly falling for him made it difficult for them to stay as connected as they had always been. Whilst reading it all I kept thinking was wow this drama could be all over if they take three minutes to go up to him and ask ‘hey Matt are you straight or gay and do you like like either of us.’ But that would have been way too simple and taken the drama away from the whole story.

I did love reading their relationships forming with Matt individually and how he was with both. I also loved reading about Kate and Noah’s relationship forming throughout the story. I loved their friends Raina and Brandie they were great additions to the story. There were so many great characters that each played a great part in making the story come together.

I must admit that I found so much predictable about this book. I didn’t predict everything but personally so much of what was going to happen I kind of guessed very early on. That was okay though as sometimes predictable is fun, because you got it right and it can make you happy. In my case that’s how I viewed it, yes I knew it was coming but I loved it all the same.

This was a very drama filled read, but I enjoyed getting to read it and be in the world of teen theatre kids and the relationship drama they go through. It was funny, and makes you gush with the characters, draws you into their lives and makes you ship couples so hard it’s unbelievable. This was such a great Teen/YA Contemporary.

I am obsessed with this cover. It's just so pretty and I adore it.

'Kate In Waiting' was such a fun read, which I read in one sitting because I could not put it down. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and Becky Albertalli did not disappoint!!

'Kate In Waiting' follows Kate, who always ends up crushing on the same guy her best friend Anderson crushes on, and this time they both end up crushing on new boy Matt. They all get roles in the school production of 'Once Upon A Mattress' and the book follows them over the course of the rehearsals for the show.

I loved all the different relationships in this book between Kate and her friends; her family and Noah. I loved seeing her grow throughout the novel and seeing her realise that her friendships are the most important things. I also loved Kate's relationship with Noah and seeing them grow closer throughout the book.

I loved that Kate was not a perfect person and she made mistakes throughout, but she was able to grow and realise she was in the wrong and was able to own up to her mistakes and apologise to the people she had hurt.

The book was a bit predictable but there is nothing wrong with that when I enjoyed reading it so much. I loved all the little references to different musicals and young adult books throughout.

If you love any of Becky Albertalli's books, you should check this one out because you will love this one just as much. If you are looking for a good book about friendship and love set during a high school production of 'Once Upon A Mattress' then this is the book for you!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded.

Best friends Kate and Anderson do everything together and they almost-exclusively always crush on the same guy. Joking about their “communal crushes” is fun until it isn’t.

When Matt, their crush from summer camp they thought they would never see again, shows up at their high school, shit gets real. Kate and Anderson make a pact, regardless of what happens their friendship is more important than anything else, and they have to be completely honest with each other about any potential romance with Matt.

This is further complicated when Kate and Matt are cast as lovers in the school musical, and the friendship between Kate and Anderson is threatened like never before.

//

I’m a huge fan of musical theatre, Becky Albertalli’s previous books and anything LGBTQ+ so I expected to enjoy this book a lot more than I did. I didn’t particularly care for the main characters or the drama between them. However that’s not to say Kate In Waiting is not a good book but rather that I’m just too old for this story. I can only imagine I would’ve loved it more as a teenager.

I wish we saw more of Kate and Ryan’s relationship, they had such a special sibling bond but the ending when we find out why he was “clingier” than usual felt rushed. Ultimately the highlight of this book for me was Noah Kaplan, what an all-round good guy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to get to read Kate in Waiting because I’ve read and loved all of Becky’s other books, Simon Vs being my favourite, and this one definitely did not dissapoint!

So let me start off by saying I absolutely loved so many things about this book:

• Theatre/musical setting - I’m a sucker for anything that takes place in or around a show so I loved this aspect of the book.
• Strong friendship group
• Tangled references - I loved all the tangled references because I too think tangled is one of the best movies of all time and don’t we all just want our own rapunzel/flynn floating lights scene?
• Matt - was a total sweetheart
• Noah - he came across as such a lovable guy, I was really rooting for him!

Spoiler: So I kind of guessed where this was going to go with Andy and Matt before it happened but the part when Andy told Kate he was dating Matt kind of broke my heart. I’m sure most people have been in a situation where they are totally crushed because they realise the person they like doesn’t like them back, but I can imagine it being 10x worse when it’s because they’re dating your best friend instead because that’s a double blow!
I’ve read a lot of books where this kind of thing has happened but something about this one in particular just got me right in the heart, I had to stop reading for a few minutes and gather myself because Kate’s emotions felt so raw.

The only thing that I got a bit tired of was the constant references to f-boys, it was just never ending and got on my nerves after a while!

I have to say though that I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, and even though the characters where younger (16/17) it didn’t make me enjoy the story any less than if they were more my own age.

I definitely recommend this is you like a book about musicals/theatre, friendship and crushes!

Like most people I loved Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda/Love Simon which was a great coming out story, so I was pretty excited to read Kate In Waiting.
Kate is a typical theatre geek; yes I can relate, along with her squad; Anderson who plays the role to gay best friend, Raina who is trans and Brandi who nobody is really sure about, her school life revolves around the upcoming musical and her low key anxiety about the auditions. To top it all off, Kate and Anderson’s summer camp crush; Matt, just turned up at school after moving to Roswell.
Kate and Anderson have always had the same crushes on boys, to the point that if Kate fancied somebody who Anderson didn’t she assumed it must have been wrong. It’s never been an issue before because they’ve never had the faintest chance with the objects of their affection, but when Matt is cast as Kate’s on stage lover, a relationship begins to blossom and Kate is worried how Anderson will take it.
I literally read this book in two sittings. It was such an easy read but also had me hooked. I loved the diversity of Albertalli’s characters without focusing too much on their protected characteristics; literally didn’t have a clue that Raina was trans until there was an explanation of her picking her name. The acceptance of all of the characters was literally lovely to read and I think it was pretty respresentative of how open and welcoming ‘theatre crews’ generally are. I also loved that the ‘f-boys’; what the squad titles the jocks, yet to be nicer guys than they’re stereotypically made out to be too; although the girls don’t get that chance.
All in all a lovely quietly diverse read, which reminded me that sometimes you just have to go with the flow and trust those you love. I gave it 4.5/5