This is a lovely coming-of-age novel and a heartfelt summer romance with themes of family, friendship, grief, and first love. Following the death of his mother, Gus moves back with his father Dan for the summer before he goes to art college. The distance between father and son at the beginning is obvious, and Dan goes about trying to make a connection by having Gus work with him in his woodshop. This soon works in Gus's favour. He starts off lonely and adrift and when he comes across the town's skatepark, he becomes determined to learn to skate, though he's more likely drawn in by the camaraderie he witnesses between the skaters. He uses his newly learned woodworking skills to make his own board, which catches the attention of one of the skater boys, Bridger, who offers to teach Gus how to skate in return for a board of his own. Thus begins their journey of strangers-to-friends-to-lovers.

The setting and atmosphere of the story is wonderfully visual, completely drawing you in to the heavy summer heat. It explores dark and heavy themes, such as grief and internalised and external homophobia, but it intertwines these elements with humour, a joyous, tentative love, and hope to bring an ultimately feel-good novel. The relationship between Gus and Bridger is sweet and heartwarming even in its rockier moments, which are entirely believable and realistic in the novel's early 2000s time-period (and even for many in our modern day).

There are lots of POV shifts, and while most of them are clear and useful in giving a more rounded view of the story, some feel a little random and occur within each other—there are a few small mind-jumps that make you unsure which POV you're in. This is quite possibly due to the novel being developed from the original short-film, where glimpses of other characters and quick scene shifts make sense. The wide range of POVs is enjoyable in the sense it gives you a more in-depth view of numerous side characters, such as Dan and Max and Tara, and makes them more three-dimensional, understandable, and relatable. However, I found myself a little disappointed because I felt I ended up knowing the likes of Max better than I knew Bridger, whose family life etc. is never explored in the same depth.

Ultimately though, I really enjoyed the story and the characters. It is reminiscent of the likes of Heartstopper if it was set a decade prior and rugby boys were replaced with skater boys, and its dusty summer atmosphere and coming-of-age, coming-out themes reminded me of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (both works close to my heart). I'd recommend to anyone wanting an emotional queer summer read and I'm excited to go watch the short film that started it all.

While I finished this book it was more out of a love of queer sports books than any enjoyment from this novel itself. Bridger's family was alluded to at best, they were an abstract villain-- but for no reason-- Max was a worn out and tired stereotype of repressed queer who is violently homophobic in turn. The shifting perspectives followed no real rhyme or reason, and while the pacing was good the book felt like a drag to get through. Also I waited for an explanation on Bridger's name and it never came, beyond one comment from his family that implied it was a nickname.

I like the book it funny and good family read I love the characters and plot and the setting of story and place and the genre of the story and the theme of they story and everything else in between and overall book. Cool

This book really took me by surprise. It is such a perfect coming of age story, it made me feel all the emotions.

We follow Gus, who moves back to rural Montana to live with his estranged father after his mother passes. He works with his dad in his furniture building workshop during the day and spends most of his free time sketching. When exploring the town one day, he stumbles upon a skatepark. Gus becomes fascinated with the skater group and decides he needs to learn how to skate to make new friends.
This is how he meets Bridger, a skater boy with a rebellious streak. The two of them strike a deal that leads them to spend a lot of time together. We see them develop a beautiful friendship that slowly turns into more.

The setting of this book is everything. It takes place during the summer of 2003 and as someone who grew up in the early 2000s, it made me so nostalgic. The skateboarding aspect was so fun and different from anything I've read before.

This is easily my favorite queer YA romance I've read. It explores so many important topics like self discovery, friendship, grief, first crushes, going away to college and love. The writing is beautiful and the illustrations at the beginning of every chapter were beautiful and a nice touch.

This was a sweet, coming-of-age novel set in the rural America. The twists and turns of the novel were not that unexpected, so don't expect any unreasonable predictable surprises around the next page. The main characters were sufficiently fleshed out as to be believable, as was the (queer) teenage angst that eventually resolved into a wholesome tale of support and allyship. I thought that more could have been done to explore the character of the principal antagonist, but perhaps that's the topic of a future book from this debut novelist. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would recommend to students seeking this kinds of story.

Such a great coming of age story.

Gus is a really timid character, and it's nice to see that his personality doesn't take a 180 over the course of only a few months. Bridger, despite not being my favourite character, showed so much depth and development throughout the story. Max...well...yeah, he was written as an antagonist so no surprises that he was easily dislikable. At first, I thought maybe Max would've been the love interest, but I was very very pleasantly proven wrong.

Plot-wise, the story isn't majorl unique. It's a queer sports coming of age story that's definitely had multiple variations written before, HOWEVER, it was a really good read and I'd definitely recommend it to people who are just starting out with queer texts. There's mention of some gay slurs (more than I think was necessary), but I'm unfortunately since this is the reality of some queer life experiences, I don't really think my discomfort is valid as a point of criticism.

I honestly hope this book is introduced to libraries to make it possible for questioning teens to access. I think it's a really good depiction of a real-life queer experience.

Tearjerking and heartwarming throwback to the early 00s coming of age/romance!

I adored Gus, he felt relatable, witty and wearing his heart on his sleeve. His relationship with Bridger was beautiful all the way!

Tara was a scene stealer as well.

It's a top tier book of its genre for ~95% of it - but the ending forces me to dock a star. Distance causing an open ending is a big no for me, it's a disservice to the rest of the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Quietly devastating in the best way, Scraps captures the ache and rush of first love with raw honesty, set against the grit of small-town skate parks and the softness of teenage longing.

This is a really beautiful young adult book. Following two boys as they fall in love during a summer in the early 2000’s, it perfectly incapsulates the grittiness and aimlessness of that time. It is so realistic and the characters make decisions and have conversations that are completely authentic. The artwork is beautiful too. I really liked this one. I received a digital copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I thought that this book was super charming! I really liked the illustrated chapter headings and they made the reading experience more dynamic. Scraps is a raw coming-of-age story that has a focus on skateboarding, art, and nascent love. The language used is descriptive and you can really feel the exact nuanced emotions the main characters experience from the get-go. It's a nostalgic story, both because it is set in the past but also because this story is familiar in the best way.

What a sweet story this was.

Starting with the negatives, I feel like this book needed more editing. The writing is a bit stilted at times, and while we mostly stick with Gus, the omniscient narrator does jump between heads now and then. It's an amateurish flaw that isn’t really needed since the small bits of introspection we get from other characters could have easily come through Gus’s perspective. I get that Max’s POV was meant to add depth to his character, and my heart truly broke for him; but having Gus notice a bruise on his collarbone and seeing his stepfather enter the shop brusquely at the beginning of the book would have told readers well enough. Not every homophobic prick needs to be a closet case sniffing their mates' underwear. Gus’s POV alone would have sufficed, but if the author wanted multiple perspectives, a dual POV between Gus and Bridger (with separated chapters) would have worked better than the narrator bouncing around.
Also, a few bits of modern-ish slang (like using "to clock" instead of "to notice", "vibing") pulled me out of the story, though those were thankfully rare.

That said, this book really nails what it feels like to grow up in a rural place, being the odd one out and finding your people among the "alt" kids. I, too, remember fondly those nights drinking beer in empty fields, falling asleep looking at the stars. I, too, thought *“I didn’t know this was an option”* (a line that broke my heart 😭) when I started figuring myself out.
However, while the book perfectly captures the queer teen experience and the rural living before cottagecore girlies thought it was cool, I didn't really feel the 2000s era from the book. I think it could have used more period-specific details about the environment, fashion, or even how houses were decorated to really sell the ambiance.

The illustrations inside the book were a wonderful touch, especially since Gus spends so much time drawing-it made the book feel even more alive.

The ending was bittersweet but exactly what this story needed, and I’m really happy with how it was wrapped up. It ends on a hopeful note, I think. Overall, I appreciated how tight the pacing was; the book never dragged or overstayed its welcome.

I’m genuinely excited to hear there will be a movie soon and I can’t wait to watch it!

this queer coming of age story had me feeling nostalgic and warm and fuzzy. It was so beautiful and the teenage ungst was captured perfectly.
The tenderness and honesty, it explores identity, the ache of trying to fit in, and the heavy weight of grief. Francis captures the raw vulnerability of adolescence in a way that feels deeply personal und profoundly moving.
I LOVED THIS!

Early DNF
I really didn't like the writing style so I had to DNF. It was way too overly descriptive about every little thing such as "he smiled somberly at their inaudible melodic chirping". This happened so much in the first few pages it's like the author used a thesaurus to describe everything in pain-staking detail. I think the adverbs really needed to be edited down. I can't comment on the story as I didn't get far enough but the writing was not good.

Scraps by Matthew Francis

4.5/5 Stars 🌟 will be posted today

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of Scraps!

Firstly, I absolutely adored the cover for this book and all of the illustrations that came with it on the chapter headers!

We start of with a young boy called Gus who’s lost his mother and had to move back to his dads house.

We find that Gus is an artist that is going to be going into an art college at the end of the summer. During his time he ventures into the old town he once knew and meets a few people at the local skate park.

Gus then makes his own skateboard using scraps of wood from his father’s woodworking shop and this follows on to meeting Bridger who goes on to teach Gus skateboarding.

He also meets a girl named Tara who at first I thought was very assuming of Gus’s sexuality but turns out she is just looking out for him in ways she knows she’d wanted to be back then.

We also meet hot headed Max who is stuck in the past and doesn’t want to change. This shows throughout the book but eventually things change.

There’s a scene in which Gus looks through a magazine and we see his emotions on girls and boys which was sad and could see some self guilt.

There’s some very cute moments between gus and his dad throughout the book and my favourite has to be when Dan (the dad) finally tells his son to stop calling him sir.

I love how Tara being part of the lgbt+ helps a lot for Gus while he’s struggling to learn and accept things for how they are.

Another of my favourite parts was Gus and his dads conversation about loneliness and love it was beautiful and accepting ❤️

I cried at the end and I fell in love with this book and will forever recommend it. I have kept as little details as possible out but please go look at this book it’s beautiful ❤️
Plus there’s a short film on YouTube I recommend watching!

I absolutely loved the premise, but I ended up DNFing due to the writing. It felt like it needed a lot more editing. From the very first page, the author relies heavily on words like 'spotted,' 'noticed,' 'watched,' and 'saw,' making the writing feel too telling. I also got confused by the head-hopping (a sudden switch in POVs), and rather than leaving a negative review, I decided to stop reading.

I enjoyed the story and the early 2000s setting. I found the writing to read quite young at points, especially with regard to character’s feelings, which were told rather than shown more often than not. As a queer skateboarder I am still really happy this book exists.

Many moments in this book that genuinely moved me. The coming out scene, in particular, really stayed with me. It wasn’t overdone or dramatic for drama’s sake; it felt honest, tender, and full of heart.

I will admit, I made the mistake of watching the short film first, which had me anticipating certain moments in the book. I found them, but they felt more simplified and quieter in tone, yet still impactful in their way.

This is more than just a coming-of-age story. Honestly, this one will be sitting with me for a long time.

I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait until I can read the next book by Matthew Francis. Five out of five stars from me and would be more if I could.

I really enjoyed the SCRAPS short film on YouTube and was excited when I saw the story was being expanded into a novel. A queer coming of age story set in the skateboarding world of the early 2000s definitely appeals to my interests. I did like getting to see more of Gus and Bridger’s story beyond where the short film ends. It was a quick, breezy read that has some nice small town atmosphere.

Unfortunately the writing held me back from being able to fully enjoy this. There were so many odd word choices when it came to descriptions. And I felt like there was more of an emphasis on describing locations and actions instead of the characters’ thoughts and emotions. It seemed like I was just getting an overview instead of being able to viscerally feel what they were going through. Also, I wasn’t a fan of how the POV switches happened. The book is mostly from Gus POV but sometimes in the middle of the chapter it would change to being Bridger, Gus’ dad, or one of Bridger’s friends' perspectives for a paragraph or two before switching back. It just felt a bit sloppy.

If you liked the short film and are dying for more of the story then check out the sample of the book and see if you enjoy the writing. If it works for you then the book should be a fast, cute read.

This book was incredible! I have never read anything like this before. It was so emotional and written so perfectly. I loved getting to know the MMC’s and the other side characters. Such a good romance read that makes you feel so many different emotions throughout. I enjoyed this book the entire time reading.