Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

23 reviews

aspencross's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

The main characters in this book need 👏ther-👏a-👏py👏
Naomi and Ben also deserved better and both deserved to be homecoming king and queen.

-Jeremy is an asshole who’s only consequence is getting punched by a bully when he is such a shit friend to everybody
- the boy also complains about not wanting to be a victim and then victimizes himself all the time
- Jeremy does so much shit in this book and we’re told that he’s popular and was popular before he transitioned and I do not understand how when he’s so insufferable 
- I was on Lukas’s side until

he lit the school on fire, cheated on Naomi, almost ruined Ben’s Life by not admitting he cheated on a test by stealing the answers

. I get he’s going through a lot but he went way too far. 
- I have never rooted for 2 characters to never get together as much as Jeremy and Lukas 
- The ending was horrible because there’s so many plot points that are left unopened like

Terry stealing 30k from the school and never facing consequences, principal not getting reprimanded for giving a teenager a card with thousands of dollars, the potential updated code of conduct, what universities the students got into, how their lives went after not winning homecoming court, Lukas’s parent’s divorce

.

Side note: the author has also apparently done some shit and is lesphobic. This Reddit post has links and more information https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/s/JuVfSwXcrt 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Infidelity, Grief, Homophobia, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

rallly's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Cursing, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Death, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

fanboyriot's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Bullying, Ableism, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Cursing, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Medical content, Racism, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Drug use, Blood, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

eisfederchen's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment, and Ableism

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative tense fast-paced

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

4.5

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor is a YA contemporary romance between two exes competing to be homecoming king. Jeremy and Lukas are both dealing with a lot of emotions, both around identity and their families. So they both spend a lot of this book spiralling into chaos. The book does focus more on Jeremy trying to get everyone to accept he's a boy than it does on Lukas's struggles with autism, but they're both shaped by how they think people do/will perceive them. 

This book is also about the shitty things people will do to each other, and the importance of learning and making amends. There's a wide span of friendship issues, family issues, and high school administration issues. I liked that the major subplot of fighting to amend the Code of Conduct to include verbal bullying and harrassment was given a lot of page time. I also love how the whole Homecoming Court vote shook out.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Bullying, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Violence, Deadnaming, and Grief

Minor: Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Death, and Car accident

dylansday_'s review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dysphoria, Transphobia, Bullying, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death

bashsbooks's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

WOW. 

A gripe I usually have with queer fiction - especially queer YA fiction - is that the queer characters are not allowed to be messy disasters. There is a very limited amount of disaster allowed for queer characters before they have to be consumed by guilt and apologies.

That is not a problem here! These guys - the two main characters, Jeremy and Lukas - are selfish and angry and hurting and think that ruling a high school via Homecoming Court can fix that. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that it obviously can't. There are some truly painful moments in here, but I loved that. I loved that they did awful things that I totally would've also done if I'd been in their scared and miserable positions when I was seventeen. This is not making excuses for them, though - they are completely in the wrong most of the time- just, it makes their character growth wayyy more satisfying than usual. 

This author clearly has a very nuanced understanding of queerness, and he approached how transitioning goes from a number of angles, including an important one that I don't usually see - that trans people themselves need to grow into their genders and resist toxic behaviors for the sake of validity. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by the autistic representation in Lukas, which I wasn't aware of before I started reading this. I appreciate that a trans gay guy and an autistic got to be assholes and not use their identities as an excuse, but that those identities were integral to how they process the world. That's a fine line to balance, and I think Ellor did a great job.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Ableism, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Death, Transphobia, Hate crime, Violence, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug use, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Car accident, and Misogyny

Minor: Classism and Racism

-F-slur used a few times

gigi785's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The chapters are written off of one of the main character’s POV which makes it all very easy to get frustrated by the decisions they make😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Transphobia, Bullying, Deadnaming, and Homophobia

Moderate: Child death, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, and Sexual assault

Minor: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

toopunkrockforshul's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

it was good for what it was, I know this isn't my genre of choice, and there were a bunch of characters that I did like. Unfortunately one of the two main characters really annoyed me, and I overall don't really enjoy the main couple together.

Also it was Very Not Escapist and sometimes the plot points that were Making A Point about being Trans and In High School felt condescending as someone who. Yknow. Was lol. And also just was sad for me to read. But that's a personal thing. Might work better for people who like the genre

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Ableism

Moderate: Sexual harassment

hncamp's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Bullying

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment