I have loved every book I’ve read from Adib Khorram and was so excited to get to read through an ARC of this (thanks to NetGalley and Dial Books/Penguin) prior to its release.

This cute queer rom-com explores the relationships of high school stage manager Jackson, from his loving, but sometimes inconsiderate family and his steadfast best friend Bowie, to his theatre teacher and his classmates. While this is a delectable love story, it also explores the issues that come with being hard of hearing, the throes of young heartbreak, and the many stresses of high school theatre.

I adored Liam, Bowie, and Jackson and I loved to despise Jasmine and Cam (to different extents throughout the book). The author has such a good way of writing his characters in ways that make them immediately accessible to the audience. It was great to have such a diverse cast of characters (both main and extended) that felt real and three dimensional.

Even though there were some more predictable moments, I don’t think that detracts at all from the book and it made some less predictable moments even more surprising and enjoyable!

A younger version of me would have absolutely loved a book about a queer high school stage manager (and 30 year old me was still simply enamored). I already want more, but I’ll settle for rereading it once it has been released!

This was a valuable title to share with students. In addition to addressing common friendship and relationship issues that teens commonly face, it deals head on with the hard choices teens (and adults) make in order to keep peace between their friends and family. When does what you do to make one person happy cross the line and hurt another. Are you responsible for the pain you cause someone with actions you take to keep the peace with another. Should a friend or family member demand you do something hurtful out of loyalty to them? Should they demand you do hurtful things just to make them happy? These are the hard choices of life and this book may well cause students to stop and think the next time they are doing something wrong, for the sake of peace.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the concept of this book and all of the great representation, but overall it just fell flat for me.

-I thought the actual "Break up Lists" would be funny, but they really weren't. This was a missed opportunity.
-I'm not sure if it is because an ARC is not a final draft, but I was confused by the numerous times something was described with an alternate word or synonym attached to it.
-I loved Liam and the chemistry was really cute, but seriously, what's the deal with Jackson's tag situation?! Why is he the only one at school who has a tag that can't stay in his shirt? This was definitely over done.
-From early on, you could tell what was going to happen and knew that it would be annoying.
-Jasmine was absolutely horrible and honestly ruined the book for me. What a toxic human being!! I'm also really irritated that she basically gets away with everything and karma doesn't intervene. The sibling resolution still doesn't hold her accountable for being a total narcissist and an all around horrible human.

I know I'm in the minority with this review and glad that everyone else has enjoyed it more than I did. Again, great idea and loved the diversity, but I guess it just wasn't the right book for me.

4 out of 5 stars

Rep: Gay half-Iranian MC who uses hearing aids, gay LI, non-binary and aroace Black side character, various other queer/trans/BIPOC/Deaf side characters

Content warnings: Microaggressions, ableism, bullying, divorce, mentioned cheating (not from a main character)

“The Breakup Lists” is such a delight! This year has some truly excellent dedications, and "to all the theatre kids" is easily one of my favorites.

It made me emotional that the cover shows Jackson's hearing aids!! I absolutely love how willing Liam is to accomodate for his disability and even learn ASL, even when they don't know each other well. As a disabled person, I find it incredibly meaningful to see disabilities normalized in books. Khorram did an excellent job highlighting microaggressions and casual ableism. The writing itself is a masterclass in showing, not telling.

I’m not sure I’ve ever hated a character as much as I hate Jasmine — and it’s the mark of a truly talented author to inspire such a strong emotion for a fictional character. However, even though she’s annoying (among other faults), I like that she's realistically portrayed. I acted like she did when I had crushes in high school too. She's still cringe as hell, but it's kind of nice for teenagers to act like teenagers. I felt the same with all the lack of communication; half of me wanted to shout "JUST HAVE A CONVERSATION," but I was no better when I was their age (and in college, and in my early 20s, etc).

Ultimately, this novel is sweet, funny, realistic, and full of queer joy and clever theatre references. I’ll definitely be recommending it when it publishes!

**HUGE thank you to Dial Books for granting me an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!**

Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Ok this book has made it to my favorite books list! Jackson, who’s Iranian, gay, and Deaf, loves being a stage manager. With his hearing aids he gets most of what’s going on around him but it can also be exhausting and physically painful for him, so he uses sign language as well. He loves his family, though he wishes they would learn sign language. He’s close with his sister, she does date a lot of not worth it guys, so after each breakup he creates a breakup list of their bad qualities for her. He’s also made some for people in his life that have hurt him. He’s got his best friend Bowie as well, who everyone thinks he’s hooking up with, even though he’s not. Then there’s Liam, a friend of Bowie’s who’s on the swim team. He can’t figure Liam out. It gets more complicated when Liam auditions for the school musical. Add to that that his sister has set her sights on Liam now as well. The more time Jackson spends with Liam the more he begins to feel like there’s a connection. But isn’t Liam straight? Should he be having feelings for the same guy his sister does? A slow burn like I’ve never read before! The tension, in many forms; between Jackson and Liam is off the charts! Readers will instantly love both and the way they are with one another! I love how Adib Khorram writes from Jackson’s perspective, as a read you get to see how things sound to Jackson! How he misses words, how people constantly speak away from him so he can’t understand what’s being said, and what it’s like for him to have a form of communication that doesn’t rely solely on his hearing! I feel like sometimes in books disabilities can be glossed over but Adib provides awareness and shows readers what it can be like to be Deaf. Also the struggles of the people he loves most not trying to make communication easier for him by learning sign language! Another thing about Liam he begins to learn sign just to make it easier on Jackson! I absolutely loved everything about this book and I can’t wait to have a physical copy! Sweet, charming, and will have you consuming the book quickly!

A big thank you to both Netgalley and Dial Books for this E-arc! I love any cute queer rom-com and this one lived up to the hype. I love the well-rounded characters and as someone whose studies ASL, I loved the representation. The book gracefully covers a variety of topics and I would love to see more of Adobe Khorram’s work in the future!

It was fantastic with one small exception. Jasmine. She was utterly horrific throughout the whole thing and I kept wanting to reach in the screen and shake her. Thanks for the arc. 4.5

The Breakup Lists follows Jackson, who is the stage manager at his high school. He uses making lists to deal with his feelings and has many lists for his sister's many breakups. Then Jackson, and his sister, meet Liam.

This story did a wonderful job showing the difficulties Jackson faces being deaf, and the book being from his POV shows how frustrating it can be and the casual ableism he faces daily.

I loved Jackson's nonbinary bestie, Bowie, who is friends with fellow swim team member Liam.

Liam and Jackson were so sweet and adorable together. I loved Liam not only being a star athlete but also joining the school play. Liam is a sweet cinnamon roll who only deserves the best.

Jackson's ex Cam was delightfully bitchy.

The only real issue I had was that the story was a little predictable and the miscommunication was over the top a times. Also Jackson's sister Jasmine is awful and I cringed whenever she entered the story.

Overall this was a very sweet and entertaining queer story. It's nice to read a high school story that isn't about coming out and more about just navigating life and growing up. I really enjoyed this story, it was a fast and enjoyable read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dial Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram follows Jackson, a theatre kid who prefers life behind the scenes - a stage manager in all sense of the role. He is perfectly happy taking a back seat in most situations, especially to his sister, a year older and rife with relationship drama. Then Liam enters, the senior swim captain who lands the leading role in the musical. Unsurprisingly, both Jackson and his sister have their sights set on Liam - but he's definitely straight, right?!

This book is filled with equal parts nostalgia and hope.

Nostalgia for the days when I, too, was a high school theatre kid. It felt very realized and developed and Jackson's world was created in a way that is accessible to people who might not have been a part of theatre in high school.

Hope for the communities where being who you are doesn't matter. I loved how the character's could be themselves and it didn't matter to anyone else. It wasn't a negative thing or the focus of the conflict in the novel. That is my favorite part about reading queer books like this one. I wish there had been more available to me when I was in high school. I would have devoured this book for everything that it is.

It was a fun, relatively quick read. It's primarily character driven and follows the course of the school year. Some great representation through the main and side characters. Bowie is the best friend we all should have and they can do no wrong. Jackson is hard of hearing and the way Khorram approaches that and handles Jackson's experiences was a very clever writing choice. The book reads like a journal almost, with thoughts of Jackson's crossed out and adds an added layer to his own motivations and character development. Loved that.

I have been moving away from YA novels, but the premise of a high school theatre kid immediately drew me in. Make it queer? Definitely sold me. If YA queer romance is your thing, this is book is definitely for you.

Publication Date: April 2, 2024.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!! I really enjoyed this book; definitely something I will tell my friends about!

This was a cute high school romance. There's not much of a plot, just following the general course of the school year, which is pretty typical for high school, and makes it a fairly character driven book. The entire book is told from Jackson's point of view and written entirely in his inner voice, like a journal, with some thoughts crossed out and replaced, and some rather embarrassing or inappropriate thoughts that maybe don't make it into most novels. It made for a pretty fun read and I loved Jackson's voice throughout.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the representation in the book - both with MCs and side characters across the board. Jackson is gay, hard of hearing, and Iranian-America, a trifecta of identities that make him feel pretty isolated at school and even in his own family, none of whom ever learned how to sign (an infuriating but all too common experience for Deaf children in hearing families). Since the story is told from his POV, we as the reader get to experience every moment of conversation he misses, whenever people mumble or give up on trying to communicate with him entirely, and that was quite well done. We also get to meet a whole cast of queer, non-binary, Black, Middle Eastern, Deaf characters, without any of them feeling tokenized. I especially loved Bowie, Jackson's BFF, who is non-binary and totally fabulous, as well as being CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) and one of the only people who signs with Jackson.

Liam, the love interest, is one of Bowie's friends, and takes a pretty early interest in Jackson - including learning how to sign, and joining the school play (where Jackson is stage manager). I loved the early interactions between Liam and Jackson. The pining is intense, as is the cluelessness on Jackson's part, it was pretty adorable.

Unfortunately the book goes in pretty frustrating directions from there. Both Liam and Jackson make pretty questionable choices which hurt the people around them, especially Jackson's sister. I think this all ultimately resolves and contributes to their character growth, but pretty much all of the characters (excluding Bowie who is a darling) come out looking pretty morally gray in ways that turned me off of the characters a bit, and made for a pretty frustrating read through the middle of the book. I also didn't enjoy the typical third act break up, especially when it took most of the book for the characters to actually start dating.

Ultimately this book started off really great, but went in directions that really didn't work for me and hindered my enjoyment of it. (It also didn't vibe at all with my experience as a Techie in theater, but that's rather beside the point.)

This book was absolutely adorable! I wish that there had been books like this, when I was a teenage bisexual, who was terrified of coming out. Now that I am in my 40s and just came out a few years ago, I’m so grateful that they exist! It shows how wonderful and normal queer people can be. We were you about all the same things and miss communicate and stress interactions just like straight people. it’s so nice to see so much representation in this book, it had a Technicolor cast, and I loved that! Amazing work, can’t wait to see more from this author!

I had a very love hate relationship with this one. It started out really fun but it was sort of alluding to this possible problem that seemed so obvious and awful that I was like no way that happens. It happens. And then something really wonderful happens in the plot after that but it turns into this second(second!) hand embarrassment scene that was just so ridiculous it was the only thing that could possibly work. I loved the rep in this book, especially bowie's character. Absolutely hated the sister though sorry.

Thank you to to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Dial Books for allowing me to read this book. I loved that this book was surrounded around theater kids especially those in the LGBTQIA+ community. I loved all the elements of this book.

This had to be one of my favorite books that I read during 2023. Every time Liam tucked Jackson’s shirt tag in for him and every smoothie Jackson made had me absolutely squealing in delight. Even when I thought I knew what was going to happen throughout the story (I was still kinda right with my guess), I was thrown something new and unexpected. And, this book did a good job with representation too!

I think the only thing I didn’t like in the book was Jasmine. Don’t get me wrong, she was a great character, I just didn’t like her. Which actually kinda makes it better?

It was a cute teen romance. My only objection were Jackson's whole family that never learned sign language. Jackson needed and deserved better treatment. Another meh moment was Jasmine. She was very annoying the whole time. I loved Jackson and Liam. I thought they were adorable together. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my review.

This book was a wonderful queer YA book that centered queer experiences outside of coming out; a trend I hope continues (coming out stories are great, but so are queer stories about all the other aspects of queerness!).

The cast of characters is diverse in every way—genders, orientations, race, ability, and even likeability (looking at you, Cameron). Jackson isn’t a perfect person, but he’s a reliable narrator and his growth from start to finish is admirable.

The third act break-up was predictable and I would’ve LOVED to see it subverted, with Jackson coming clean to Liam about the list, even if Jasmine still found out about their relationship by accident.

I can tell this is a case of the Teen book not working for me since I am not the target audience. I think teenagers will like this book, as the writing seemed good enough that I read. I will try and find a reasonably priced copy of this for my library after it is released.

I really enjoyed the romantic comedy element to this book and that it uses the high school theater in this. The characters felt like they were supposed to and I never felt like they didn’t belong in this universe. Adib Khorram has a great writing style and can’t wait for more.

If you love theatre and gays, this book is for you! The representation in this book is amazing, from BIPOC to LGBTQIA+ to disabled rep, this book had it all and it was all portrayed so well. The characters were so real and funny and authentic, even though they gave me serious anxiety. The plot is funny and hopeful and reflective and really showcases the characters’ growth throughout. I would 100% recommend this book.