Reviews with content warning for Blood - May the Best Man Win

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

17 reviews

rallly's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Read For:

Rivals to Lovers

Second Chances

Homecoming King

Cheerleader x Football Player

Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

The only thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is: “I love it and hate it at the same time” and really I kind of do.

The queer kids in this book were amazing, everyone else just kinda sucked. The trans rep in this was so painfully well written. The things Jeremy thought and the way he described how he felt was as heartbreaking as it was relatable.

But wow, were these characters so toxic.

Naomi was such a horrible friend it was laughable. She was jealous constantly and she just goes and asks out her best friend’s ex, who had made it clear he didn’t like her like that?? Like why?? All because of some banters that were messed up, I get being petty but bro have a good reason.

Lukas was so toxic. One minute he was fine, going through a lot at home and having to always be the best at everything. He had to get into an amazing college, he had to win homecoming king because if he did that then he would get into a good school, then his family would care about him like they did his dead brother… yeah, because that's how it’s going to work. So he took his anger out on Jermey.

Jeremy was also toxic, just not as bad in my opinion. He was selfish and breaking up with his boyfriend when and how he did it was so incredibly messed up but people acted like he was the worst person ever. He literally had no one. His mom was so desperate to have a daughter she failed her son in the process. Jeremy might have been a mess but wouldn’t you be when everyone failed you and had no problem telling you that they hated you, he was bullied, harassed, and misgendered constantly.

The last few chapters were the best. Everything coming together, the person who got the crown, the drama being resolved finally, and the relationships being settled.

(Switching, First Person POV)

Spice: Lightly Mentioned

Rep: trans (ftm) MC, Autistic MC, Non-Binary SC, Latinx SC

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rainerasnic's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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paskendus's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I am very glad I went into this book knowing that both main characters are a bit annoying. I guess one can expect that from teenagers.
It was an interesting read in a way, especially seeing teenagers showing anger and even being spiteful as a self preservation technique, but my oh my how they did not communicate. With each other or the adults. And the adults were... passive at best, so all around people just trying to survive on assumptions.
The writing felt repetitive at times and overly dramatic for my taste. I also did not feel a lot while reading the book, I got what the author wanted me to feel, but I just didn't. Characters made correct, good conclusions after something happening but I just did not see how they got there, that may be on me and lack of investment. I also think it was preachy and very on the nose at times.
And honestly I did not like the ending after all the messy things that happened everyone should have gotten some therapy to work through at least some of their personal stuff before being all lovie dovie. Or I at least would have loved to see the resolving their problems more.

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darkmattersoybean's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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longlost's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This. This sure was a book.

I really wanted to like this book. Autistic rep AND queer rep ?? All I want in life. Unfortunately I just could not vibe with the book or its characters.

Lukas and Jeremy's relationship was not enjoyable to read about during most points of the book. It came off as TOO mean-spirited so so often and I genuinely don't see why

they ended up getting back together.

Jeremy treated Lukas like shit, and while I understand that

Jeremy was hurt by Lukas's comment on the day they broke up he also uses it as an excuse to vilify Lukas when like. There is no reasonable way he could have known how to respond to Jeremy at that point. Also he KNOWS Lukas is autistic and therefore has trouble w/ social shit, and yet it never occurs to him to say "hey, I broke up with you because of that comment you made, not because you somehow did a bunch of things wrong in our three years of dating" which we see Lukas is worried about from the chapters in his POV.

Naomi and Sol were fun however. I liked them.

I DID enjoy the queer power message in this book, and while I didn't enjoy the shitty school system it also reflects reality unfortunately so. I wish I could have liked this book more because I'm 100% behind Jeremy's fight to change the Code so that the harassment he's facing is Actually Acknowledged but I couldn't stand the main plot of fighting over the Homecoming crown even if I could sympathize with both character's motivations. The actions they took against each other just felt too mean-spirited.

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alyshkalia's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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aslanjude's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I want to hear absolutely 0 cis opinions on this book. It was excellent and you can pry my love for this book from my cold dead transgender hands. <3 Zabé Ellor wrote a book that reflected more of my own feelings as a gay trans man in high school than any other. "Reminder: the main villains in MTBMW are the wealthy and powerful adults who refuse to protect queer kids, not the kids themselves" - Z.R. Ellor on Twitter @ZREllor

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paperbrownies's review

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5.0

- lgbtqiap+, ya contemporary, rivals to lovers, mental health rep
- m|m
- trans gay mc, queer autistic mc, latinx trans nonbinary sc, asian sc s and other queer characters (minor lesbian, polyamory and asexual, rep)

"I’m a big believer that queer people don’t need to be perfect to deserve love, and Jeremy and Lukas’ story reflects that." -z r ellor

YES!! IT DOES!! AND I LOVE THIS BOOK FOR THAT!!!! (:
wow,,,, this book!!
jeremy and lukas are hard rivals and their rivalry shows in the hardest ways yet i could not stop reading about these messy characters even tho they made me SO mad. am not going to excuse their behaviour and neither did the author; he let his characters hurt but also gave them a chance to heal and come back stronger than ever!!
it's a hard book to read but a page turner that you must add to your tbr and also bc we need more trans stories!! which is why i will recommend y'all not go into it thinking that it's a rom-com even though yes, it does have romance in it. problematic behaviour including misogyny, bullying transphobia, and ableism is called out. (also check tw)
i found the rivals to lovers trope done really well although i admit the ending could have been a bit less hurried. lastly i really wish that the asian parents were not stereotyped in that way!!

tw: violent transphobia, ableism, alcohol consumption, misgendering, deadnaming, the f slur, death of sibling (off page), verbal and physical abuse, violence, blood, bullying.

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lish_reads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

“I need to be bigger than my anger, but I’m only five foot two.”

This book is messy, imperfect, complicated, and important.

Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, publicly announced his transition before the school year started and wants to take his senior year by storm, school administration and transphobic bullies be damned. Lukas Rivers, Jeremey’s ex, wants to be crowned Homecoming King, get accepted to an Ivy League, and heal the rift his older brother’s death left in his family.

As the two go head-to-head competing for their prestigious private school’s Homecoming Court, tempers flare, and our two main characters and their friends are, well, teenagers, grappling for a place in a world that expects something specific of each and every one of them, no matter their own desires or opinions on the matter. Jeremy, Lukas, their friends, rivals, and enemies, are all figuring out how to be themselves in the wake of what society, their school, and their families expect of them, and at times these expectations are suffocating. The ways these characters choose to fight back against injustice (actual or perceived) aren’t always the best choices available to them, but each choice is authentically made by the character in question. This book is not a cute rom-com, despite the effervescent cover and synopsis, though I was rooting for Jeremy and Lukas’s possible reconciliation, even when I wanted to sit them down and shake some sense into them both, older-sister style.

In addition to their battle for a Homecoming crown, Jeremy struggles transphobia amongst his peers and the adults in his life, as well as with his masculinity and what American society dictates as acceptable forms of masculinity. Lukas, secretly living with an autism diagnosis he’s only ever told Jeremy about, struggles to pass his AP Bio class in the face of an ableist teacher, and the student body struggles with a Cresswell administration that cares more for appearances of progressiveness than actual change. There’s a lot of social commentary packed into this book, and some of it is handled better than the rest. But I think Ellor’s main goal — to show that trans characters don’t have to be perfect paragons of virtue, but can be real and imperfect and flawed — was met. I felt for Jeremy in every single sentence, even when he was being an asshole and hurting people he was supposed to care about, and especially when he knew he was making a bad choice and just didn’t know how to make a better one. These characters are only 14-18 and all very privileged, struggling with gaining real-life experience and dealing with the consequences of their actions for possibly the first times in their lives — they’re going to make a wrong decision sometimes, and even experience whole seasons of their lives defined by their bad choices.

I do wish there was a little more resolution in the end — some of the plot points were wrapped up quickly and without the attention I thought they deserved, and I thought a few characters got off a little too easily for my taste — but I enjoyed the place we leave both Jeremy and Lukas.

All in all, I think MAY THE BEST MAN WIN is a strong debut in the queer contemporary YA genre. If you get the chance, give the audiobook a try — narrator Avi Roque brought distinct voices and layers of personality to each and every character, making the audiobook a joy to listen to.

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