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ti_cups's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Its very easy to read, I hasn't been able to read a good this fast in years heh. Even with the reviews that said Noah was unlikeable, honesty I think its worth it to stick with with, at least for me.
Spoliers:
I think this book was really at portraying a toxic relationship, where I felt Drew was giving off red flags since the moment, he came into the picture, Noah was adamant that Drew was great, as he tries to convince himself of this statement. Drew slowly starts appearing a lot worse for himself. and that last moment where Noah finally leaves him is wonderful.
Devin is great, E is a great character :) I loved watching E and Noah's relationship built.
Becca and Brain where also lovely character I really enjoyed them
Spoliers:
I think this book was really at portraying a toxic relationship, where I felt Drew was giving off red flags since the moment, he came into the picture, Noah was adamant that Drew was great, as he tries to convince himself of this statement. Drew slowly starts appearing a lot worse for himself. and that last moment where Noah finally leaves him is wonderful.
Devin is great, E is a great character :) I loved watching E and Noah's relationship built.
Becca and Brain where also lovely character I really enjoyed them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Racism, Vomit, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
mikaclapson's review
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
wahlpapers's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.5
I was not immediately hooked because I didn't like Noah all that much. He is careless with his parents' money, a problem which is only barely solved. Thankfully his other flaws gave him a place to grow from. As Noah started to face consequences and learn from them, I got hooked on Meet Cute Diary. He has a problem with boundaries, rash decisions, and living in the real world. All realistic for a teen and all of these helped to build the story. Noah is lucky to have a good support system and learns not to take it for granted.
For every queer Tumblr kid (past and present), Meet Cute Diary is going to feel like a familiar setting. The site functions are described well, the users are painfully real, and Noah's stress over follower numbers really took me back to high school. Emery Lee handles world building in a way that connects for both those in-the-know and those that aren't. E seems to be very good at world building in general. I have never been to Colorado, but I could understand what the summer camp, mountain, bookstore, and more were like. I could step into Noah's summer and didn't want to leave any more than he did.
I know there are others out there, but this is the first contemporary YA romcom (my favorite genre) that I've read with a trans main character. I've read some in the genre by trans authors, but it makes me happy to read about a trans teen finding love, especially with a genderqueer love interest. By halfway through the book, Noah finds himself in a love triangle. Drew, a fan of the blog, and Devon, his summer camp co-worker. Devon uses the same pronouns as Lee, E/Em/Eir/Eirs. Throughout the book, Noah and Devon inspire each other to be their more authentic selves. For Devon, this includes experimenting with pronouns. Noah never bats an eye. I am a cis person, so it is not my place to rank how well the trans experience was incorporated into the book, but I will say that it made me feel happy and as though everything flowed well.
Remember that messy characters do not equal a messy book. Characters make mistakes which makes them that much more real. For the Tumblr kids and those that want to see more trans love stories, check Lee's book out!
For every queer Tumblr kid (past and present), Meet Cute Diary is going to feel like a familiar setting. The site functions are described well, the users are painfully real, and Noah's stress over follower numbers really took me back to high school. Emery Lee handles world building in a way that connects for both those in-the-know and those that aren't. E seems to be very good at world building in general. I have never been to Colorado, but I could understand what the summer camp, mountain, bookstore, and more were like. I could step into Noah's summer and didn't want to leave any more than he did.
I know there are others out there, but this is the first contemporary YA romcom (my favorite genre) that I've read with a trans main character. I've read some in the genre by trans authors, but it makes me happy to read about a trans teen finding love, especially with a genderqueer love interest. By halfway through the book, Noah finds himself in a love triangle. Drew, a fan of the blog, and Devon, his summer camp co-worker. Devon uses the same pronouns as Lee, E/Em/Eir/Eirs. Throughout the book, Noah and Devon inspire each other to be their more authentic selves. For Devon, this includes experimenting with pronouns. Noah never bats an eye. I am a cis person, so it is not my place to rank how well the trans experience was incorporated into the book, but I will say that it made me feel happy and as though everything flowed well.
Remember that messy characters do not equal a messy book. Characters make mistakes which makes them that much more real. For the Tumblr kids and those that want to see more trans love stories, check Lee's book out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Bullying
Minor: Drug use, Dysphoria, and Vomit
fynnnnnn's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Transphobia
Minor: Bullying, Alcohol, and Drug use
harrydaylight's review
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
4.0
This is such a cute book (as the title suggests). It’s frustrating at parts (honestly the better half of the book), because the MC is an asshole sometimes and he is so clearly in a relationship that’s wrong for him and he doesn’t realize it. But I think all of this was intentional, just so we could see him grow. And grow he does!
The love interest is between labels. There’s a lot of gender questioning and pronoun questioning, and neopronouns!!! This is the first book I’ve read where a character uses neopronouns and it was pretty cool.
Meet Cute Diary talks a lot about coming out multiple times, as different things, and how scary it can be to realize a label no longer fits you and having to come out all over again. That is something I can relate to and it felt so nice to read about it, to see characters going through that exact same thing you’ve struggled with.
All in all, there’s a lot of good rep in this, especially trans rep, as both the MC and the LI are trans. I’d definitely call this book insta-love, but I’m not too mad about it honestly, it was a quick read for me and it was just adorable.
The love interest is between labels. There’s a lot of gender questioning and pronoun questioning, and neopronouns!!! This is the first book I’ve read where a character uses neopronouns and it was pretty cool.
Meet Cute Diary talks a lot about coming out multiple times, as different things, and how scary it can be to realize a label no longer fits you and having to come out all over again. That is something I can relate to and it felt so nice to read about it, to see characters going through that exact same thing you’ve struggled with.
All in all, there’s a lot of good rep in this, especially trans rep, as both the MC and the LI are trans. I’d definitely call this book insta-love, but I’m not too mad about it honestly, it was a quick read for me and it was just adorable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Panic attacks/disorders
fanboyriot's review against another edition
lighthearted
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
5.0
A rom-com about a helpless romantic who falls in love in an unexpected place and with an unexpected person?? With a Trans dude MC and a Non-Binary MC??
♡ Trans Rep
♡ Rom-Com
♡ Great Humor
♡ Friends to Lovers
♡ Slight Angst but with a Happy Ending
This book was adorable with a rom-com worthy ending all the while keeping things realistic. Honestly, it took me a while to get into the story but that might have just been my readers block; however things did improve once Devin was brought into the picture. There were many lovable characters Brian and Becca being on that list, but Devin is seriously one of my new favorite fictional characters eir personality was just so pure and definitely had the: “Lovable Sunshine Character (with Anxiety)” vibes about em. I could literally go on about how much I loved em and how thoughtful e was, such an underrated character.
While the blog posts were formatted really nicely and I enjoyed them being added they were so frustrating to read when the drama with the blog started, I have never wanted to scream at the book more like: “Hush, it’s not like that and it doesn’t concern you stop being so dramatic bestie.”
Noah might have come off as annoying at first but to be honest he was realistic. He was a helpless romantic without an adult (or anyone but Becca and Brian (kinda)) in his life at the time to tell him: “Hey, if you’re trying to force the relationship because this is what you think you should feel…maybe it isn’t true love.” He wanted to believe it was real and fell in love with the idea of being in love. So while it was annoying reading about him finding all this out—it was kinda nice to see a romance book have that realness to it.
I was a bit nervous near the ending, I was a bit unsure how things were going to play out and it took a lot for me not to just read the last page and basically spoil it for myself but I continued on and it was absolutely lovely. The ending was great and it definitely had a rom-com worthy ending and I am for sure going to read more by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Transphobia, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Drug use, Racism, and Suicide attempt
parasolcrafter's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
2.5
this book would have been better if the motivation for it were a LOT clearer earlier on. like, at first i thought the book was going to focus more on the 'troll' who's harassing Noah and his blog online, but it like...didnt? i thought it was going to end up being one of the characters (becca or drew) but it wasnt, and it just felt like a plotpoint that served no real purpose, as well as drew. like, what were his motivations as a character? he says hes not gay, so why did he start dating Noah in the first place? just because of the meet cute diary? it doesnt make any SENSE. noah and devin are fine characters, but i literally felt no chemistry between them. this book was just weak overall, which is unfortunate because the writing was good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Transphobia, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Racism
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Vomit
lilly_anne's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Outing
Moderate: Vomit, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide attempt
jessi21's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying
nightshaderoots's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The book was cute and has wonderful representation for poc, trans people nonbinary people, ace people, and so much other people looking for love. This book had really good characters but by the end of the book I still wasn't a fan of the main character.
It didn't really seem like Noah made much character development by the end of the book and if he did it didn't seem finished or well rounded.
In addition to that I will say I wished I had an older brother like Brian around as well as Becca and Devin. They really were stars in the book and made it as great as it was.
There is also a character who goes through various pronouns and then settles with the neopronouns e/em/ey/eir.
In addition to that I will say I wished I had an older brother like Brian around as well as Becca and Devin. They really were stars in the book and made it as great as it was.
There is also a character who goes through various pronouns and then settles with the neopronouns e/em/ey/eir.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Transphobia, Bullying, Dysphoria, and Homophobia