Rating: 4/5
High Schoolers Max(The jock) and Jordan(the overly dramatic theatre kid) meet when Max approaches the food truck that Jordan and his mother own. It's their first time operating the truck since the death of Jordan's father and it's not going well. That's when Max is hired and the two boys bond over their newfound love for food, service, and each other.
I enjoyed this book for the most part. I thought Max and Jordan's relationship was authentic and believable. The writing style was poetic at times, mainly during Max's narration when he went through his traumatic episodes about that night with Kevin. Although Jordan was insufferable through most of the book, he was a realistic unbalanced teen boy. And don't even get me started on his friends Pam and Kayla. They were the poster children for 'annoying straight girls with gay bf' stereotypes. But again, realistic. I didn't care for one of Max's friends, but the other was funny and I liked the banter between them. Except for the casually racist white one.
This story dealt with the issues of not only male rape but also rape in the LGBTQ community. And toxic masculinity when dealing with traumatic emotions/experiences, which was a thumbs up for me. The main conflict in this book was Jordan needing the food truck to make money so he could save his Mom's house. I didn't care for how his situation of almost being homeless is treated like a life or death situation one minute and not-so-big-deal the next. Jordan's mom was dealing with mental health issues and a gambling addiction, which put a damper on the heartwarming & humorous tone of the story and made her extremely unlikable. She was such a mess and I felt so bad for Jordan. the ending was alright. I wouldn't call this a memorable story, but overall this book is worth a read if you like YA with queer protagonists.
You can find this book on Amazon or the audiobook on Scribd.
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