3.5

#ad I received this arc for free and the opinions are entirely my own, the review does contain some minor spoilers but only make sense if you have read or are reading this book.
I enjoyed this book for what it was a cheesy silly high school romance. At about 46% I saw a review from someone pointing out it was a fan fiction of the anime/manga ouran high school host club. And while I have never seen the anime it does kind of show with how silly, cartoony and eccentric some of the characters are especially Blaze. I don’t know how good a fic it is in that sense but from a quick Google I can kind of tell which character is which. The concept of the school wasn’t that outlandish for me because of the standards of upper class education. STRIP being completely free for other students is one part that’s hard to believe they’re doing all that work for free, I know Jasper is an artiste who is passionate about his craft but everyone else? For free? One plot hole I wish we saw completed was the bribe of the signature for gnomes in love, like how is he going to get around that one. I also wish that Charlie’s friendship with Delilah had more depth other than him using her as an emotional sponge.

this was a fun, quick read following charlie as he starts a new school year at valentine academy for boys & discovers he (unfortunately) has a roommate who (unfortunately) knew him in a previous life. page powars has an identifiable fluffiness and wit to their writing that makes their books very easy to get through, and i read this one in two sittings. i do think the book was a tad overwrought & trying too hard to be funny in places, at the expense of the wider story. however, i still enjoyed myself & liked seeing the natural conclusion of charlie & jasper's antagonism come to fruition.

I found the idea of this book interesting. A trans F2M teen navigating life at a single gender boarding school but so many things confused me. Firstly, how does the leadership of the school not know. As someone who works in education, I find that extremely unrealistic. I guess it was necessary for the plot though. Also, the idea that the children at the school are not allowed any contact with anyone else and that scholarship children have to score a specific number of points and these are publicly displayed every two weeks. But anyway... Charlie asks for a single room but their mother forgot to send off the money for the room and as a result, Charlie ends up sharing a room with Jasper. Jasper and Charlie had met before Charlie transitioned and Jasper had broken Charlie's heart so he is very anxious about the fact he has to share a room; Jasper is obsessed with being a published poet (and with the previous scholarship boy who is also a publish poet, but is apparently better). He is also a member of a secret society that is charged with writing love letters from the boys in the school and making sure they are delivered in secret to the girls boarding school next door (as they're not allowed any contact with anyone). Obviously, things go wrong, Charlie blames himself and want to fix it, Jasper starts to fall for Charlie but doesn't understand why. Cue confusion, drama, acceptance and friendship.

Overall, this was a fun read full of secret clubs, boarding school shenanigans, stress & panic, crazy schemes, poetry writing, new friends, trans representation, and teenage romance.

This book is witty and fun, it touches in important topic with tact and it's overall an amazing book.

I LOVED Powars' previous book 'Borrow A Boyfriend Club' so was ready to be all-in on this one but... this one is not for me, and that's fine! Really enjoyed the concept, just couldn't quite get the desire for Jasper [maybe if i got something from his POV he might seem more dimensional?].

BUT an absurd little queer pining boarding school romance has the names of at least three young people i work with written all over it, so I'm certain this will find it's audience.

Very cute ya boarding school, secret society, poetry and love letters story. Good representation in the characters and a super quick fun read.

(3.25) fun, queer, and a little bit nerdy. What more could you want?

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES follows trans student Charlie as he is assigned a roommate at his new school. The only problem being that that very roommate had broken Charlie’s heart during a summer fling—and before he had transitioned. As Charlie battles academics, he must also make sure Jasper doesn’t recognise him, an increasingly difficult task when Jasper is in Charlie’s periphery at all times….

I really loved the concept of AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES. The love-letter scheme and characters, not so much. It felt a bit forced in and didn’t really work with the pacing, with lots of things being told rather than shown. It often just felt like one event after another with little reflection, heightened by the fact that there is a large cast of characters, making it difficult to envision the characters as three-dimensional, let alone feel the chemistry between the boys.

I wish there was more pining and angst between the characters, leading up to the big reveal. Charlie being trans doesn’t seem to impact him at all even though he is at an all-boy’s school, and although I understand not wishing to focus on his “trans-ness”, it could have been a lovely way to explore his character. There is some struggling with academics, though again, this is told rather than shown, and Charlie’s struggles aren’t really felt. I also would have loved to seen more of an insight into Jasper. I get that Charlie is meant to be kind of oblivious, but Jasper often feels like a floating cardboard cut-out, saying lines but never really impacting anything.

Anyway. The concept was solid, and a great addition to diverse YA books, as well as being easy enough to read.

This review is chronological to my experience reading it.

And They Were Roommates by Page Powars is a witty, heartfelt novel that grabbed my attention right away. I had seen the US cover and that captured my interest in wanting to read the book. The title is also a witty nod to the beloved app Vine, may it rest in peace.

The writing style and tone immediately had me drawing comparisons to Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, so I knew I was going to have a great time with this.

When Charlie transfers to Valentine Academy for Boys, he is told that the application he made for a single room never went through; he has to share with someone else. The someone being his ex, Jasper Grimes. The foil reminded me of the film Wild Child (2008), where that main character goes through something similar, which really cemented the vibes for me.

The vibes were set, and I was ready to continue reading.

Unfortunately, I began running into formatting issues that were dampening my experience of the book. This is not the author’s fault by any means. I was just disappointed that this issue was pulling my focus away from the plot and characters. Everything was either block text and/or the indenting was wrong. Chapter Headings were following on from block text so there were no page breaks for new chapters and no hyperlinks in the table of contents. I appreciate that the ARC is the incomplete form of the ebook but it was difficult to focus.

Working to move past this, I really connected with Charlie and empathised with his experience as a transman avoiding discovery by his peers. The panic is palpable and at the forefront of all of his decisions. He’s also panicking because he needs to rank within the Top Five of his year to keep his scholarship and continue attending the academy.

This is where the fun-absurdity begins! Charlie brokers a deal with Jasper - that he will aid him in writing love-letters in exchange for Jasper asking the principal (his aunt) to assign them single rooms.

Jasper is such a caricature in the same way Tamaki Suoh is in Ouran High School Host Club. They are both over the top and earnest and their view of love is so specific that it cannot be challenged. They pride themselves on helping others that they’re oblivious to consequences about it in the process.

Side-tangent, “Equivalent Exchange” mention, oh Page Powars I know what animes you’ve watched.

I did not have access to the map that I know is going to be in the US copy of the book, so I was wading through locations while reading and I struggled to imagine those settings in the book look like as there wasn’t a vast amount of descriptions to make it unique and identifiable and so I just imagined generic “boarding school” places.

The side-cast of characters did kind-of blend together for me though and only when I was about 60% through could I recognise each distinct side-character. (The formatting had improved by some margin around this point too).

The casual flirting had me giddy though. I was indeed giggling. The tension that dances between them I find really captivating. This feeling builds until they’re at the precipice of admitting their feelings to one another. As they grow together, it blossoms into something so beautiful. They are so cute!

It’s earnest, sweet, absurd and fun. I really enjoyed myself. Thank you to Hachette Children's Group and Hodder Children's Books for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy to review.

a hilarious, heartwarming queer rom-com about two exes stuck as boarding school roommates. Charlie, a trans guy trying to stay under the radar at his elite new school, is horrified to discover his roommate is Jasper—his first kiss *and* the guy who broke his heart. The catch? Jasper doesn’t recognize him.

What follows is a perfect storm of pining, secret love letters, and fake-dating vibes (but make it poetic). The slow burn is agonizing (like, 80%-of-the-book agonizing), but the payoff is so worth it. Charlie is adorably awkward, Jasper is infuriatingly charming, and their chaotic dynamic had me grinning the whole time.

If you love Young Royals meets To All the Boys, boarding school drama, and queer joy with a side of angst, this one’s a must-read. 4.5/5 stars—only because I needed *even more* of these disaster roommates.

I want to thank netgalley for the e-arc, this had no influence on my opinion whatsoever.

Overall I liked the premise, but for my liking there was too much going on and to much little side plots I couldn’t keep up with - might also been me reading this while sick in bed so I will give it some grace.

The whole “oh we’ve know each other from before” stuff was mentioned not that much and honestly I kept forgetting about it lmao.

Overall this was a fun and quick read, but I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the physical book when it comes out.

Thank you for my ARC copy in exchange for my review:

4 stars! This book is exactly what it says! Its a hilarious, heartwarming, queer romcom that a bit silly but still manages to hit all the right emotional beats. Charlie is an easy character to root for and Jasper, aka Mr. Brooding Poet, was equally lovable and annoying in the best way.

The whole "mismatched roommates with secret history" trope was PERFECT and a bit unhinged.

I think it's really important to review this book within the space it occupies. Is it highbrow literature? No. Is it a wonderfully silly book focusing on queer awakening with a trans mc? Yes. I would have absolutely adored this book when I was a similar age to the MC's, when I too would have felt ruined for love over a silly misunderstanding, and I would have absolutely held a grudge over it. I would have loved to see someone that I recognised myself in, and I would have treasured the MCs and the book itself. It is silly, it is unrealistic, but I am a jaded and middle aged. This is the kind of book I want to be able to give to teenagers who feel a bit lost, and want a fun little romcom.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this book early via Netgalley!

Ever since I found out that Page Powars was coming out with another book, I was super excited for it! I absolutely loved The Borrow a Boyfriend Club, and I can say I really enjoyed And They Were Roommates too!

And They Were Roommates follows Charlie, who is a new Excellence Scholar at the prestigious Valentine Academy. Charlie is also trans and there’s been a mix up with rooming, he’s assigned a roommate he requested a single room. Enter Jasper, who doesn’t recognise Charlie, though they met at a camp two years ago.

I really loved all the characters, and the plot line. I liked the fact there was a “secret society” of a sort, as it’s a legit one but not for the purposes the school thinks. I liked the letter writing, and the high stakes that came with writing and delivering them to the Girls sister school, which there was supposed to be no contact with.

I loved seeing Charlie and Jasper’s relationship grow, despite certain things I will leave out of the review due to spoilers, but read the book to find out, I really enjoyed it!


I really enjoy Page Powars writing, and I can’t wait for next book! So far all the books I’ve read by Powars have been brilliant reads with great representation, and we need more books with trans characters!

I’m giving And They Were Roommates 4 stars!

Unfortunately this one is a DNF from me, I DNF'd around the 20% mark. This may be personal preference, but I was not a huge fan of the writing style, which felt a bit too simplistic for me to be immersed. Similarly, I wasn't a huge fan of how the dialogue (and therefore characters) were written. So very much down to personal preference - ymmv! It seems very cute though so if cute, very silly romances are your thing, it's still worth checking out.

When Charlie transfer to Valentine Academy for Boys the last thing he expects is to be rooming with his ex-summer fling – poet star boy Jasper. And suddenly his plans to get perfect grades while also hiding that he’s trans to his fellow students is threatened by the one person who could possibly recognise him. Miraculously, Jasper doesn’t recognise him but the only way Charlie can get his own boarding room if he helps Jasper deliver secret love letters between the boys at Valentine and their sister academy. Can learning the pursuit of love mean Charlie has a second chance?

What a hoot! Page Powars is really great at writing funny snappy romance stories that tug at the heart strings. I thought the plot sounded too similar to his debut, The Borrow a Boyfriend Club, with the whole secret romance club with the fear of getting caught by school faculty. But I think I enjoyed Roommates more than Boyfriend Club! I was a bit sceptic at the idea of a school that emphasises the strict separation of male and female students but none of the school staff, even the headmaster, knew Charlie was trans? But, eh, suspension of disbelief helps a lot here. It was still super fun and adorable!

"Poets are snobs." "You are a poet."

3.5 stars!

A fun romantic story following an determined scholarship student and dramatic lover boy. Focusing on the Valentine Academy boarding school for boys, the readers are brought on story through the focus of our trans lead and their journey to find their place in the school and themselves.

I think all the characters had fun personalities and they brought lots of humour and heart to the entire story. I loved following the development of the relationships between the top students in the academy, and I also enjoyed that we got to see lots of interactions between the main lead and lots of side characters - it really worked in giving the story a full and developed feeling with its characters.

I loved the concept of the story. The secret love letters were so cute and I loved it's importance to all the characters, it created such a cute romantic feel to this YA romance. Because I loved this premise, I would have love to have seen a bit more development with it overall in the story (I would loved for it to feel a stronger presence in the story and see more happening within it's group).

Thank you to Hachette Children's Group for sending me an eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

p.s. does anyone else get vibes of ouran high school host club? or is that just me? 😂

3 1/2 stars

Thank you for NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t quite know how to rate this book. I vaguely enjoyed it. It was fine. I liked the end. I liked the side characters, they gave it a very high school musical vibe.

But I didn’t really care for Jasper. Or at least, I don’t think I picked up what the writer was putting down. He’s not an enjoyable love interest for me.

I thought that maybe Charlie would turn out to be an unreliable narrator and there’d be some kind of twist. There isn’t. Okay so Jasper is handsome, doesn’t really negate all of the other (to me) quite off putting things about him 🤔.

I also think the ages and timeframe make it feel quite unserious. They met at 13 or 14 and have been in love (or “ruined for love”) for 2 years without seeing or speaking to each other and now they’re 16 and one is somehow a published famous poet?? The characters read as if they’re way older. I feel it would work better if they met at 16 and they were currently 18. Or at the very least if it had only been 1 year and they’d met at 15?

Still, it was fun. Would be an enjoyable Disney channel movie.

There's not taking itself too seriously and then there's farcical. I'll let you guess what category this is in. For a book with a trans, gay character it's all about other people's straight relationships. Honestly it was ridiculous, badly paced and I couldn't even suspend enough disbelief to enjoy it, because what's there is just... Yeah. There's a slight plot about 60% through but it quickly derails.

This book was my first time hearing of Page but I must say, I'm impressed! I really enjoyed the story and the banter with these two - such a cute m/m romcom!