4.5*

Oh boy, teenagers are such a mess.

Always the Almost was a delightful, touching, heartwarming debut from Edward Underhill.
I enjoyed the journey Miles took over the course of this book. He was so set in his goals, it was good to see him come to the realization that what he thought he wanted wasn't quite what was best for him.
This book felt ao authentic in how it portrayed the messiness of young adults. I can't speak to Miles experiences as a trans boy, but a lot of what he went through was your typical teen angst- breakups, new love, never feeling like you're good enough. Miles had the added weight of having recently come out of trans, and having to navigate all that entailed, with friends, family, and acquaintances.

This was a wonderful story of self discovery and self acceptance, and learning your way in life.

Edward Underhill is definitely an author I'll be keeping my eye on!

This is a cute, fluffy story that packs a punch. I’m always looking for representative books and this is not only repping the LGBTQ+ community (with a focus on queer and trans individuals), but it’s also a great representation of the music world (piano competitions specifically).
Miles is a trans boy who’s got a New Year’s resolution. To make his ex boyfriend realize: that Miles is still the same as he was before he came out. He also wants to beat Cameron Hart at the Tri State piano completion. And let’s just throw in a really cute new kid who doesn’t know about Miles’ past.

This is a beautiful story, a quick read, and even when Miles messes up, I still find myself cheering him on and hoping it all works out. I am so ready to get this books in the hands of my students.

This is an easy read. Miles is newly transitioned and struggling to find his Identity among his peers. He meets Eric at school and they hit it off right away but Miles is still hung up on his ex BF.

We follow Miles on his way to the national piano championship as he deals with some challenges along the way.

I liked the first half of the book better then the second half. About 75% of the way through there's some unnecessary drama that I wasn't big on.

In the end the book has a happy ending and that's what matters.

This book was so, so, SO excellent. I was so wrapped up with all the characters, but especially Miles. The story was so raw and real and funny and heartbreaking and just lovely. There needs to be more books like this, please and thank you.

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill is a debut novel that one can tell the author put his heart and soul into.

Miles Jacobson, high school transgender boy, just wants to date his ex boyfriend football star once more and outplay his piano nemesis at competition. But, unfortunately, these wants are not possible at the moment. For one, Miles was just broken up with by said football star. Oh, and his piano teacher is expecting him to find himself in the piece and play like that.. not just play to play. But luck is about to turn around for Miles with new boy, Eric. Hopefully, Miles will be able to see himself for who he truly is before their high school era runs out.

I truly enjoyed reading Edward Underhill’s debut novel and recommend this for anyone to put on their shelf. It was even better knowing the author’s backstory and acknowledging that his experiences were genuine. I can’t wait for others to experience Always the Almost.

Always the Almost was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it did not disappoint. It was a mix of coming of age, some romance, a celebration of queerness, and an all around enjoyable story to read.

Miles has recently come out as trans and it cost him his boyfriend and put some strain on his and his parents relationship. He's also starting training with a new piano teacher and is wondering if it's just one change too many, enter Eric. He's new in town and unapologetically queer. He sees Miles and respects him and truly understands his experiences in ways no one else in his life does, but Miles is still holding onto pieces of his past. He's not ready to let go of everything he once had, which may cause him to lose everything he's gained since coming out.

Always the Almost was a sweet story, but touched on tougher subjects (such as struggling with one's queer identity, bullying, cheating, and some all around, classic teenage angst). At times beautiful, and at times heartbreaking, Always the Almost was a captivating read from start to finish.

This was a beautiful YA debut featuring a queer trans teen boy with dreams of becoming a piano prodigy and is still in love with their ex-boyfriend. This book was so heartfelt and moving as Miles tries to improving his piano playing, find love, be a good friend and fall in love again as a boy for the first time. Full of great messages about acceptance, self-love and body positivity. I absolutely loved this book! Great on audio too and recommended for fans of authors like Tobly McSmith. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book was honest and beautiful. Given that the author is also a queer trans man, I think this gives the book even more substance. Edward is able to give an authentic view of what his character Miles goes through. What I loved most about this book is that while there are low points, the highs definitely outweigh them. This book celebrates and embraces queer trans kids. It uses the universal language of music to bond people together throughout the book.

Always the Almost is about Miles Jacobson, a high school boy and piano player who recently came out as trans. The book follows him trying to win back his ex, win a piano competition, navigate friendships, and figure out his feelings for a new boy at school. I thought this book looked nice and was interested in how piano playing was part of the novel so I was excited to read it!

I thought this book was super cute! The characters were great and acted like real people, the piano stuff interesting enough for me as a non-musical person, and there were some parts that were adorable and made me smile. I loved the representation of a child with Down syndrome and how she was included in activities with older characters. The relationship and identity progression felt very natural for me and I was excited to see how it worked out. I liked learning about Miles's switch to a new piano teacher to demanded him to think more about what music meant to him, which affected the way that he played piano. It was interesting and I'm glad that the book focused on it!

Overall, I definitely recommend this book if you are in the mood for a cute YA romance! 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 from me. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I think this is probably going to stay in the top spot as the sweetest and most heartfelt YA book I will read for 2023 with some awesome cover art. Always the Almost by Edward Underhill is a YA LBGTQIA romance novel about a teenage trans boy named Miles. Miles has recently started transitioning and is really struggling to figure out who he is as Miles. While this story is a romance it also dealt with a lot of emotional and difficult topics such as having parents that struggle with accepting Miles’ transition and Miles struggling to really feel comfortable in his skin and who he is becoming. While Miles had two really great friends that were very supportive of him there were two really important characters in this novel that were integral to Miles path of self discovery. Eric, his bf, and Stefania, his piano teacher. Eric taught Miles that there were going to be people in his life that would accept him no matter what his pronouns were or what his body looked like. Eric loved Miles for who he is and not what he is and I just loved that so much. Stefania taught Miles that if you just looked a little harder you could find yourself in places you didn’t think to, like piano. As a newly queer boy Miles connection with the piano was struggling, but with Stefania’s special brand of tough love and forced self reflection she helped Miles to see that his new self not only fit into the world of piano just as smoothly as before and that there was a history of queer individuals in music for him to look up to. I can’t say enough how lovely this book was and how gently it dealt with topics concerning those within the trans community. If you’re a person that loves romances this book is for you!

This was exactly what it needed to be all while being able to make my stomach flutter. It felt like a warm hug in the best sort of way.

I absolutely adored this book. I finished it in one sitting on a long flight and it was so delightful. The growth and self-assurance that Miles develops is so powerful. Eric is a wonderful example of the partner every trans and/or queer person deserves. He is open and loving and dives right in with Miles. I appreciated that while their relationship was certainly a key part of the story, the main focus was on Miles and his own personal development alongside his music. Highly recommend this one - especially if you are a queer/trans person!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free eARC.
Oh, Miles, he is a character that'll stick with me. He has just came out at trans while in high school and, we as the reader, get to witness everything that comes with this transition. The wanting to be understood as the person he is, the struggle to figure out how old friends fit in this 'new' life, and on top of it all, is also wanting to win a classical piano competition. This book is filled with heart, and raw, tender moments. There are also just some awkward high school situations and drama. There's a lot going on here, but the author balanced all of the parts of this story so well. This is a book that so many teens could use, and I hope they get unfettered access to this story when they need it most.

CWs: (Non-malicious) mentions of the main character’s deadname, Brief instances of misgendering, Online transphobia (anonymous nastiness directed at trans character), Mentions/discussion of racism experienced by a character, Discussion of trauma as a result of bullying, Body dysphoria, Mentions of previous (off-screen) sexual harassment experienced by a side character

This book feels like a warm hug. Always the Almost by Edward Underhill is the exploration of Miles Jacobson, a messy trans boy trying to navigate life and find himself after he comes out as transgender.

This is Miles’s coming-of-age story filled with teenage angst, heartbreak, fuck ups, and a whole lot of joy. If you want more trans books about artists, queer youth, and trans joy, I cannot recommend this 2023 debut enough. From trying on his first suit, to being called “sir” and “dude”, you will be smiling at the joy radiating from Miles. But it’s not always that easy. He also has his gloomy days as he shows how brave yet hard socially transitioning can be especially as a teen.

I love how raw Miles’s emotions were and how well written he is as a teenager. While reading, I constantly was on a rollercoaster of emotions as Miles thinks he’s doing the right thing but finally learns he’s made a lot of big mistakes that needs to confront and rectify. But he’s also called out on his behaviors and learns how to give his friends space and time.

Aside from being a chaotic queer, Mile is also a musician. You follow Miles week after week as he practices for the Tri-State Piano Competition trying to beat his arch-nemesis Cameron Hart as his true, trans and queer self. I loved a lot of the knowledge and references to classical music as someone who isn’t in tune with that genre of music. This book had me smiling so hard and secretly wishing Paige, Rachel, and Eric were my friends in high school.

A recently-out trans pianist comes to terms with the way the world sees him and the way he sees himself.

Always the Almost is a really lovely story of trans joy featuring imperfect characters who are trying their best. Miles, the protagonist, is very well-developed and experiences a lot of growth throughout, even if some of the secondary characters aren't as fleshed out. The novel strikes a great balance between the light, fun moments of teenagehood and the heavier coming-of-age milestones.

It could be argued that the ending wraps up a bit too neatly, but it's also nice for a character who has grown and who you can really root for by the end to end up happy!

Always the Almost has my heart and soul!
This book follows the story of a 16yo trans boy that is still figuring out who he is. He has a plan to win back his ex bf. His plan quickly falls apart when he meets a new love interest! Watching the main characters enteract and learn about each other was super sweet.
I'm so excited to read more from this author!

Look up content warnings if needed.

As someone who has been exhausted with YA novels lately (because they always tend to feel SO young that it's almost middle school age instead), this was a delight. Miles was such an easy character to relate to. Am I trans? No. Am I currently a high school age, piano prodigy who has to deal with learning to be outwardly queer in front of others? No. But have I felt so overwhelmed with emotions that I don't actually know how I feel inside nor who I really am? Yes, and I think all of us have.

Eric and Miles are such a sweet relationship to follow, and it felt much more realistic than a lot of the instalove high school novels that I've read recently. First and foremost, they are friends before they are lovers and that is a very sweet story to follow. All the side/supporting characters had some form of growth or development, and I actually enjoyed 90% of them.

I'm not sure if I'll pick this up for my own shelf at home (just because I'm more of a fantasy/adult novel collector), but I think if you enjoy queer teen love stories that you'll adore this one!

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

TW: Cheating, Transphobia, Homophobia

I’ve been seeing Always the Almost everywhere recently.

Ever since I saw that pretty, orange cover I knew that this was a book I’d definitely be interested in reading. I was very fortunate to have gotten an ARC from NetGalley recently in addition to all the recent buzz I’ve been hearing.

From the start I genuinely thought this would be my favourite read of 2023 (and yes, I know it’s only the start of the year and pretty early to make a call on favourites, but anyway). It had a fantastic start and I was immediately drawn to the main character, Miles, but overtime there were definitely parts I enjoyed and others that fell flat for me.

We start the book off with Miles Jacobson, newly out as trans and recently heartbroken. His ex boyfriend, the popular jock, Shane, broke up with him following his coming out and Miles has been holding onto hope that Shane would come back to him. On New Years Eve, Miles creates a plan for the new year: get Shane back and beat arch-nemesis Cameron at the big piano competition. On his quest to meet these goals, Miles is met with a handsome and charming boy named Eric, who asks Miles for his pronouns upon meeting and dreams of creating his own graphic novel one day. Miles can’t seem to get him out of his head as he grapples between what his heart truly desires.

Miles really stood out to me from the start. He was a very likeable character and I liked his narration. This book was very focused on Miles’ exploration of his identity and his recent coming out as trans. His relationships between the different people he interacted with, online and in person were very interesting to read about.

Eric was also a likeable character but for some reason it took me a while to like him. I reckon this might’ve been because we got to understand him and some of the other side characters more around the half-way mark.

Paige and Rachel were the side characters who were quite prominent throughout the novel. Even though they were dating and close friends with Miles, I was never too invested with them. When something happened towards the end, that semblance of liking dwindled a lot more but that’s also because I’m not a big fan of said thing in books and I don’t really like reading books with that sort of stuff in it and while yes, I agree that sometimes people make huge mistakes, I felt like everyone forgiven each other way too easily.

Overall, for me, this book had a good start but things ended up falling a little flat for me especially with the above drama. I liked the characters but I feel like maybe more layers or backstory would’ve been beneficial especially toward the start of the novel with the side characters.

ACTUAL RATING: 3.4 STARS

3.5 stars. Overall this was just okay. I think the conversations about queer identities, especially being trans, were really well done and one of the best parts of this book. The music parts were also the most engaging and well written sections. However, I didn't love Miles and really do think he was way too self-centered most of the time. I would have enjoyed seeing him have more growth over a longer period of time instead of the rushed explanation of growth. He really was harmful in a lot of ways.

I really disliked the mc and plot was messy but the representation was decent. Overall it had a lot of potential but the mc's obsession with his ex boyfriend was slightly unnerving to me personally. 2.5 stars.