"Oh wow, this was so good," I say as I wipe some wetness out of my eyes. 😂 THIS WAS SO GOOD!!!

One thing I always I appreciate about Adib Khorram's works is the blend of teenage experience and poignant themes. It was there in his three other books I read before, and this one, The Breakup Lists, is no different.

This was easy to read and follow, the writing is light and funny. And yet, through Jackson, we are offered a perspective of a gay Iranian-American teen who loves theater, who also happens to be hard of hearing, who's falling in love for the first time, who feels under appreciated, and still has some issues he needs to work on. I loved reading this story and in Jackson's POV. He's a compelling and relatable character, and you just want the best for him even if you know, as a reader, that he's not making the best decisions 😅

Jackson was hard of hearing, and it was nice to read about the experiences of the Deaf/hard of hearing community in his POV. Ableism was also touched upon, as well as mental health. Aroace identity was also featured (confirmed aroace minor character!), as well as other queer rep.

The plot is interesting, and though it may seem formulaic at times, it works and it's good. Adib Khorram still has some surprises for the reader and I love that. Much of the plot and Jackson's storyline revolved around being in theater and I just thought that was fun! I've never been a "theater gay", but I definitely had some flashbacks to certain Glee episodes while reading this 😂 I love it all the more!

I love the romance, too. This got me giggling and kicking my feet and I LOVE THAT. (I'm not going to say anymore in case I spoil something 😂)

Also, I have to say, Bowie is definitely my favorite character, I love them 😂

Overall, this was so so good. I was excited for this one, and Adid Khorram definitely did not disappoint.

Exact rating: 4.5 ⭐️ (Might post a detailed review on the blog!)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc! This is out April 2nd!

The Breakup Lists has got some good things going for it, including awesome queer representation.

Jackson Ghasnavi, our MC, is an Iranian-American, queer, hearing impaired, theater-loving high schooler who helps his sister create "breakup lists" lists for every one of her exes as a way to move on, in true supportive brother fashion. Both siblings are wrestling with the fallout of their own parents' divorce, which manifests in different ways: Jasmine pursues back-to-back relationships while Jackson takes a more cynical approach to romance. Things get sticky when they both set their sights on Liam, the supremely sweet and straight-seeming swim team captain.

Unfortunately for me, I found Jasmine annoying to the point of distraction (I felt similarly about another sister character, Arabella, in Alexis Hall's otherwise delightful Something Fabulous), and the third-act breakup has also not been working for me as a device anymore, both of which colored my enjoyment of a book that might have been a five star read otherwise.

Jackson's character growth, the queer joy, the lovely Liam, and the realistic teens were all fantastically done.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Dial Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed the Darius books by this author, so I thought I'd give this one a try. This was a fun YA read. Nothing too deep, but I enjoyed it.

A sweet tale, but It left me wanting more. I liked the premise and representation, but I felt like it could have gone a step further in exploring the relationship.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Young Readers for a copy of this e-book. I chose this book because it concerns musical theatre, deaf rep, and POC rep. The synopsis seems appealing to theatre lovers. However, the book failed to meet my interests.

Things I liked.

-Deaf Rep/hearing aids rep
-stage managers and theatre geeks
-LGBTQ rep
-Black author rep

I pretty much disliked everything else.... :( that is why it took me weeks to finish this after receiving a copy.

-it seems exactly like "I Hope This Doesn't Find You" by Anna Liang and "I wish you would" by Eva des Laures, two arcs I just finished. The plot and conflicts are the same except there are no enemies to lovers. The list concept or letters to a person you hate is getting boring.

-This book is so slow. Nothing happens until more than 3/4 of the way in.

-I understand the references to the musical they are doing but you lose the author's story when so much of the musical is being told in the book. It feels so unoriginal.

-Okay, I wanted to love this because I have hearing aids and am lgbtq but the representation doesn't do justice. Just because some words are missing or mispronounced because he can't hear them doesn't make it a good deaf rep. Where's the backstory to how he became deaf?

-Without spoiling anything the smoothie slang has got to go its so annoying

-I feel like nothing happened at the end of the story. It seems like any other love story ending.,

I wanted to love this so bad because I like YA and never see myself represented. It's just not good storytelling and the conflict has been used so many times by other authors. It feels so bland and unoriginal. :(

Ranking it up to 3.5 because of the LGBTQ and deaf Rep.

this book was everything I wanted and more! I had all the feels, good and bad! This book was so freaking cute!!! I loved how Liam and Jackson interacted, with all the cute subtle is it really flirting, flirting! Again so cute! Liam was just so sweet and the way he always tucked Jackson’s tag in? Why was that so cute?!? Literally all I have to say is this book was so cute and you need to read it! Haha
The book also had some great rep with the main character being half-Iranian and deaf and a trans aroace black side character.
Jackson creates these breakup lists and I liked how his style for those, crossing out certain things he wrote in them, came into play throughout the book. By that, I mean that occasionally as Jackson is narrating he will say something and then it will be crossed out and rephrased. A lot of the time these crossed-out aspects are his initial thoughts, which are sometimes inappropriate. I loved this inclusion, felt very true to Jackson’s character.
If you’re into theater or even the tech side of theater then I think you’ll love this one. As I said many times already, so freaking cute! Highly recommend.

content warning: ableism

i was a theater kid in high school so needless to say, "the breakup lists" was right up my alley. and, much like jackson, i also was a stage manager—and my time in theater had a similar end to his (but not nearly as messy). i think it's safe to say i loved this book, considering i devoured it in one afternoon. i just couldn't put it down until i finished!! jackson was such a relatable character and i loved seeing the world through his eyes, and his relationship with liam was just so precious i was squealing the whole time i read it. obviously, the book wasn't all sunshine and rainbows (though there were plenty of the latter, for gay reasons), but the conflict in the book felt very realistic and the climax was painful to read because i empathized with jackson so much. i also loved (most of) the other characters, particularly bowie, for obvious reasons. every queer kid needs their fellow queer bestie and bowie was exactly the kind of friend jackson needed. i had less nice things to say about jasmine as i read the book, but i'm glad things ended well on that front too. reading this book felt like being back in the world of high school theater but in a good way and i would recommend it to all ex-theater kids and anyone looking for a cute YA romcom with some great representation.

big year for theater gays!!!

everything Adib publishes is so good and filled with so much character, personality, and heart. i loved reading Jackson and his thoughts and feelings as he navigated some great teen drama.

Jackson as a character was very interesting. he has all these inward emotional barriers that are only hinted at and don't fully become apparent until everything hits the fan. it's really really great characterization!!

Liam as a love interest really enhanced the story as well. he's got that "perfect guy" thing going, but has his own inner demons that really help flesh him out as a character.

and Jasmine...ya know, i can see a lot of strong opinions about her and her actions. but emotionally and thematically, they all make sense. and i think that makes for a great character and plays into how well this story was written!

What a fun book! This was so sweet - following Jackson, a deaf boy who is the stage manger for the drama department at school. He starts crushing on Liam when Liam tries out for the play… but so does his sister Jasmine.

Things I loved about this one:
Jackson and his confidence in his abilities as the stage manger. I also really loved how he learned what it felt like to fall for someone. I loved his internal monologue so much.
Liam was so sweet and genuine. Definitely a people pleaser. He was a great love interest.
Bowie and Jackson’s friendship. It was so strong and steady - even through the hard stuff.
Jackson and Liam learning about each other.
The break up lists - they did make me laugh but probably should have been destroyed! Lol
The very sweet and emotional grand gesture at the end.
My heart genuinely broke for Jackson when it was shown that his family didn’t learn sign language, but I did love that Liam did. It was a lovely gesture of friendship that bloomed.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At first I was really put off and unable to focus on the book. After around 9 chapters I'd had enough and was about to put it down, but I realized that what was throwing me off kilter was likely just the way it was formatted into Kindle. I downloaded it on the Netgalley shelf app and lo and behold, all my problems were fixed.

After that, it was a lot easier to pick apart what I loved and disliked about it.

I really loved Liam and Jackson, and their entire relationship. I was swooning and rooting for them the entire time, and they were so cute. I loved the "somethingsomething" 's that were added in to kind of give a sense to Jackson having a hard time hearing, and how it showed the reader who really paid attention and cared in his life, as they would repeat themselves when he said huh, or what, or looked lost. I loved how Liam's sexuality wasn't made to be a big deal. Jackson wondered, but it wasn't a big spectacle, there was no coming out, he was just allowed to be. I think it's important for queer kids to know that they don't need to announce themselves to the world if they don't want to. they can go quietly if that's their style. I loved Bowie and how gentle they were with Jackson when he was hurting. even though Jackson had hurt them, they still let Jackson know that they'd always be friends, that they can be mad at Jackson but still love him. friendships like that are so important and I've read plenty of queer books where the best friend gets ignored then turns their back on their friend in need. And most of all, I loved the representation. The sheer amount of queer kids (I mean, it's theatre it makes sense haha) but also diversity was so perfect. Truly a cute YA romance.

The only character who annoyed me in this book was Jasmine. Serial daters have never been my favorite people, and not only that, but she refuses to learn sign for her brother AND steals the man he so clearly likes? C'mon. Even though she started learning sign in the end I would not have forgiven her as easily as Jackson did for putting up the lists that would get him in most trouble with the people in her life, whilst sparing her own lists.


I had to keep reminding myself that his list making about people/exes was honestly just a teenage quirk thing. I haven't read a book set in highschool in so long my brain is always immediately thinking: wow that's really juvenile. Of course it is!! He's like, 16! Despite that, it also irked me a bit that he thought that straight guys being nice meant they were homophobic because apparently you can only be homophobic if you're nice to them, and are a straight guy. That just didn't add up in my brain and I didn't understand the logic behind it. The only other thing that I didn't really love that much was the constant strike throughs that happened almost every other page, as if he could never really speak his mind (in his own mind!!) about his thoughts. Not everything is that embarrassing!! At the same time, however, I understand what this is trying to portray about his character; he's clearly not the type to normally think rude, untoward, or brash thoughts about others, so when they pop into his head he's like no!! that's not me!! however, you'd think if he normally wasn't the type to think these thoughts, they wouldn't be happening every other page...

Jackson and Liam were a cute couple. This was a nice quick read to break up a reading slump. I'm glad I was able to get a copy of this from net galley.

3.5 Stars
This book was so sweet!! I absolutely loved the relationship between Jackson and Liam, the buildup of their relationship was so satisfying and they complimented each other so well. They were just so cute I could die.

The representation in this book was great as well, so many different sexualities and gender identities, a long with a variety of different ethnicities and races being featured. It flowed well and felt natural to witness on page.

In terms of my gripes, they’re mostly minor. The dialogue was weak in some areas, primarily with Jackson. How his voice was juxtaposed with the situations he was in felt slightly out of balance compared to other characters. When it comes to plot, nothing infuriates me more than characters make decisions that are so obviously going to feed into the conflict later. Jackson keeping the list about Liam boiled my blood because obviously he was going to find out, like come on think this through a bit. My last complaint comes down to the scene where Jackson comments on how utterly flat Liam’s ass is. That was so weird and was not needed. I don’t care nor do I want to know how his ass looks. Ok so I lied, not my last musing but why was Bowie applying to Early Decision in January. January?? Early Decision is turned in November at the latest?? You find out about Early Decision in January, you apply in October. Anyways! It’s the little things that can bring you out of a story.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Probably more like a 4.25 or even 4.5 star read.
This book was just insanely readable. I could've read it one sitting had I not needed sleep. Even so, finished it in less than 24 hours. I was fully invested in the main couple from the first tag tuck. The narrative does rely pretty heavily on miscommunication and the character's making assumptions without clarifying. But they’re also teenagers so that doesn't bug me as much as books about adults. The actual break up lists conflict also only happens because the main character straight up lies to multiple people. If that sort of thing bugs you in building a plot, this one might not be for you.
Outside of the romance, there's a few levels to the narrative. Jackson's experience with the theater department, and the way he navigates it being deaf in particular, was really compelling for me. I did find the (minor spoiler) mid-play apology a little much.
Between this and another YA romance I read recently and loved, I may be recentering my YA era.

4.5 stars

Ever since his parents’ divorce, Jackson hasn’t considered himself a romantic. His views of romance are continuously validated by his sister’s many breakups that have left her with a broken heart. The whole romance, dating, relationships thing just isn’t for him. He prefers to be behind the scenes, much like he is as the stage manager for the school’s latest musical.

At least, that’s what he thought until Liam joined the cast of the school play. As he spends more time with Liam, he realizes that he can’t stop thinking about him. The only problem? His sister seems to have fallen for Liam, too.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Books for an advanced copy of The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram. Ever since reading Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Adib Khorram has been an auto-read author for me. There’s just something about the way that he writes emotions and relationships that feels so teenager, and this book is no different.

Jackson is such a complicated main character, specifically when it comes to love and romance. He has seen so many of the people he cares about that he’s cynical and pushes people away. Eventually to the point that it hinders his relationships. His emotional journey, which includes eventually realizing that talking to a therapist would be useful, is so well written. And it’s all things that teenagers will definitely relate to.

Another thing I really loved was Jackson’s friendship with Bowie, who is asexual (and aromantic, if I remember correctly). The fact that they had such a strong friendship that didn’t need to eventually turn romantic is something I kind of wish was shown more in YA books. Romantic relationships aren’t the be-all end-all (especially when you’re in high school), and the fact that Bowie was shown to be comfortable with that? I absolutely loved it.

Jackson is Hard of Hearing and occasionally uses sign language throughout the book (mostly with Bowie and their family). However, none of his family signs with him, which is a point of frustration for him throughout the book. It seems like Khorram did his research for this particular aspect of the book, but I’m not a part of the community, so I can’t comment on how accurate it is.

All in all, this is a wonderful queer teen romance with a great cast of characters and strong emotional beats. Definitely check it out when it releases in April!

This was a fun, sweet love story. I liked the diversity - I found it refreshing to read about a main character with hearing difficulties - and loved all the theater stuff. I always find behind the scenes plots entertaining.

The main relationship and love interest were adorable. The sister was awful and I didn't get the main character's devotion to her. The main character's downfall was frustratingly predictable and I kept hoping it wouldn't play out the way it did. I think it was necessary though and the ending was ultimately sweet and satisfying.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

I have a lack of words to express exactly how much I adore this couple that I blame entirely on how captivating they are. I feel insanely buzzed and I read this entire book in one sitting. This may be one of my favorite books of the year and I am not saying that lightly. I love the comfortably and beauty in the writing of a trans character. All of the main characters were extremely lovable in all their own unique ways and the plot was perfect. I am forcing everyone I know to read this asap. I will be grabbing my own copy and tabbing the shit out of it the second I am able to.

I was able to see and understand when and how things would unravel and yet I couldn’t entirely hold it against Jackson because he was in such a specific situation. That being said, I absolutely adored every part of this book.

A love letter to all of the overachieving techies who never get the appreciation they deserve (I would know, I was one). The Breakup Lists was an adorably romantic story with a deep love letter to high school theater that I eat up every time. Jackson, a queer, deaf, iranian character was so incredibly charming and funny and I loved (most) of the other characters. I did in fact scream at Jasmine for a moment because wow that was a shit move. All in all, I really loved reading this book!

4.5
this is the best YA romance i’ve read in a hot minute. all of the characters and relationships are very well fleshed-out, there’s a lot of casual representation which is always great. characters fuck up badly, but they also know how to apologize properly. and liam. he might be one of my favorite love interests of all time. my only slight complaint would be that i wanted this book to be a bit longer, i thought it would’ve benefited from maybe having 50 more pages in terms of wrapping up storylines.

The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
4/5

Love and Theater.

This is my second book by Adib Khorram and my favorite so far. This year I made a goal to read more diversely— both author and character-wise— and to expand beyond what is popular in media and publishing. I would like to learn and experience new perspectives. This book checks all of those boxes.

The main character is Jackson Ghasnavi. He is many things— Iranian-American, queer, a little brother, deaf, but most of all a theater tech. His best friend Bowie Anderson, who is black, aro/ace and non-binary, provides a supporting but blunt role in the book. In quick succession, you meet both Jackson and Bowie but also Liam Cuquyt, a kind and gentle soul of a swimmer.

Through Jackson, the reader gets to experience many things- the ins and outs of theater, love, and what it is like to go through the world deaf. The author, to my understanding, is not deaf, but seamlessly paints a picture of what it is like to go through the world deaf or hard of hearing. Jackson does use hearing aids but these are not a cure all for those hearing impaired. As a reader, you get to experience Jackson missing both parts of or whole sentences (which as a reader, you miss those portions as well), having people decide not to repeat themselves, be around people who do not put in the effort to learn sign language to make communication easier, and the exhaustion that comes with being overstimulated in crowds or loud noises. All in all, it’s a new perspective that, in the past, I’ve recognized on a shallow level but never truly delved into.

While Jackson being deaf plays a role in this story, at its core, this book is still about first real loves, familial relationships and all consuming passion for theater with a dash of fear of what is to come next.

Overall, this is a genuine story about the struggles of growing up, finding love and then keeping it while still trying to balance school (or in this case theater), family and friends. I look forward to what this author does next.

I love Khorram’s work. This is no exception. This is a real page turner and a total breeze to read. It is fairly predictable…everything you think will happen, happens. However, the characters are likable and the theater backdrop gives any high school theater kid the nostalgic feels. I believe all sorts of readers will see themselves somewhere in this book. Full of your typical YA themes of accepting who you are and coming to terms with your bad decisions, your attention is held from start to finish. Also, the swimmer love interest is a total swoon. I totally recommend this book.