The FEELS. Anyta Sunday really knows how to make your heart ache for the characters. The reason for Marco and Oskar’s falling out just breaks my heart. We saw Marco in the novella, True Luck, but never learned the reason for his secrecy until this book. This is a second-chance friends-to-lovers story and it’s beautiful in that this is a slow burn romance that has a wonderful ending.

Marco is very self-concious about his looks. Or rather, how other people view him and his body every since the accident that had killed his mother. He always opts to wear long sleeves and long pants, even at the height of summer. At the beginning of this book, he’s moving out of his father and grandfather’s home and looking to start a life on his own, even if it’s only a few blocks away. Life was fine for Marco, until his once best friend and next door neighbor, Oskar, moves back home.

They haven’t seen each other in months and haven’t been friends for years now. But, Marco does still keep in touch with Oskar’s family. He goes to all of Oskar’s younger sister’s basketball games and hangs out with her all the time, sort of taking over the older brother position in Oskar’s absence.

The attraction between Marco and Oskar is undeniable, but there’s a big hurdle that relies on whether or not Marco is willing to forgive Oskar for something that happened between them as teenagers that broke both of their hearts. There’s no cheating in this story, but I guess it should be noted that Oskar does have a boyfriend, called Jessie, for about half of this story, even after he meets Marco again.

I liked the “color” aspect of this story, how Marco sees, or feels, things in color. For each emotion, he associates with a color. It’s a thing his mother had done, and when she was gone, he had started doing it too. Do note that the chapter headings, if read on a tablet or a phone, are reflected in the color they’re named for (that you won’t see reading from an e-ink reader like a Kindle).

This story is only ever told from Marco’s perspective, and while I would have loved to read the story from Oskar’s perspective as well, I think the book manages to encompass their thoughts and their feelings for one another through one POV. The book is also set in Berlin, which is really neither here nor there. I don’t think it particularly added to the story anymore than if it were set anywhere else in the world. There’s also a Christmas play Marco’s father puts on every year (continuing a tradition Marco’s parents did yearly), and it was cute at times to draw Marco and Oskar closer together, but became sort of boring to read about after a few rehearsals.

This book’s events takes place in parallel with True Luck. While this story does work as a standalone, I would still recommend the novella, simply because it’s cute reading about Ben and Sebastian from an Marco’s POV.

This is a story of forgiveness and features a scarred, virgin MC. True Colors is heart-wrenching to read at times, but the characters do get a nice and lovely ending.

***Thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book on NetGalley***

I had some issues with the premise, but ended up enjoying 'True Colors'.

When I started this book, I was expecting the big reveal of what went down between Oskar and Marco to be a life-shattering event. Given how it was described in the blurb, how angry Marco was, and how that event influenced Marco every waking minute, I was expecting something huge.

But it just wasn't. I understand that words have power, and I really tried to put myself in Marco's shoes. But I just couldn't imagine a few careless words said as a teenager to become the defining moments of my life. It made it difficult for me to connect to Marco.

That being said, I did end up enjoying the actual romance between Oskar and Marco. I thought Oskar went a long way in making amends, and his romantic streak was cute.

I tend to enjoy MM college romances, and this book hit a lot of the staples: confusing feelings, the fear of coming out, jealousy, hope, desire, and ultimately happiness.

Once Marco finally let his guard down and let Oskar back into his life, these two just clicked. They were sweet together, and the years of anger melted away in the face of a happier future together.

Ultimately, while it took me a while to really get into the story, I ended up enjoying this enemies-to-lovers/reunited friends-to-lovers romance.

Oh, wow. This was wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Oskar and Marco were friends for most of their childhoods, then Oskar betrays Marco and Marco doesn't think he can ever forgive him. When Oskar leaves town, Marco thinks he can forget about him. Of course he can't, and when Oskar comes back, sparks fly.

This story was beautiful. The imagery, especially how the colors are described, is poetic. Love is poetry after all and is even more beautiful when described poetically. I was worried that because the pov is all Marco's that we wouldn't be able to get a sense of Oskar's true feelings but that wasn't the case, you could see Oskar's love from the very beginning. I liked that there was real conflict to fuel their strife too, it makes sense that it takes so long for Marco to forgive Oskar. I don't know if I would have been able to. All of the supporting characters helped them to get their hardwon HEA but were also interesting in their own right. I thought the portrayal of the parents was realistic, they loved their children, weren't bad people, but still struggled to accept Oskar and Marco's sexuality due to societal pressure. They still, unknowingly, pushed them together in their own way though.

Ultimately, if you like the friends to enemies to lovers trope, you'll love this. If you love poetic love and shy awkward guys, you'll love this even more.

This was my first Anyta Sunday read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a slow-build friends to enemies to lovers story - so definitely not the usual for me. But this time, the slow-build actually worked. There were times where I felt as though things were rushed or someone did a total 180 all of a sudden (Oskar's Papa's reaction for instance when he found out his son was gay), but I still thought the book was great and the connections between characters were well-established.

Oskar and Marco were best friends growing up - they were inseparable. But then tragedy strikes and leaves Oskar motherless and himself with burns over his body. His self-esteem deteriorates, but that doesn't stop Marco from being his best friend. But of course they're teens and peer pressure is real and Marco says something hurtful and stupid, ruining their friendship. They don't speak after this and Marco has now been living elsewhere for a while before finally returning home.

Oskar never forgot Marco and has loved him since they were teens. So he's both happy and upset to see Marco again for the first time in 15 months. He's like a big brother to Marco's sister Zoe, so of course that means he'll have close interactions with Marco. Then there's the whole family play thing they do every year and Marco plays opposite Oskar in the play that Oskar's mom wrote.

We're taken on both a heartwarming and heartbreaking journey of Oskar overcoming his insecurities, rebuilding relationships, learning about himself and stepping out to grab that happiness he deserved. I liked that this book was real and didn't rush towards the HEA. It really did take you on the journey of Oskar finding his happy. I wish Oskar had forgiven Marco a long time ago though since they wasted so much time not being friends. It was an honest teen mistake and we all do and say stupid things at that age. But I understood why Oskar was hesitant to forgive.

Oh and the whole color part was interesting and unexpected. It was also sweet and a nice ode to his mother.

A sweet story, but it stretched the device of colors too thin.

Love, hate, angst, forgiveness...so many feels in this book. A second-chance, friends to lovers, hate vs. love story that drew me in with the scars, both emotional and physical, of both young men. Marco who had his confidence stolen by the betrayal from Oskar that he never thought would happen. Oskar who scarred himself with his own cowardice. This story is full of healing and light at the same time that each low is felt too, all through the lens of Marco's colors.

Each chapter had a different color for the title and gave a brief preview of what to expect from the contents. The writing was beautiful and effective. Oskar and Marco had so much imperfection that bonded one another through all the stages of their relationship. While I found the confession via play a bit cheesy-dramatic, it fit their age and the theme of their interactions.

Overall I really enjoyed this story and have no qualms recommending others to become involved in the world Anyta Sunday has created around these young men. I hope to read the first story in the series too so I'll be on the lookout for it at my library or anywhere else I can indulge on a budget.

I usually really enjoy this author's books but somehow True Colors just didn't work for me. 

I really liked the basic story. Friends to enemies to lovers with a healthy heaping of angst is pretty much my ideal storyline. I also really liked the main charaters, Marco and Oscar, and the tension between them. Especially Marco's struggle with his body after an accident left scars on his body made for an interesting twist. 

So why did it still not work for me?
For one, there were a lot of things left unsaid or at least not talked about in a satisfying way. The dialogue wasn't on point unfortunately which frustrated me quite a bit. 
I also wasn't a fan of some of the side characters, especially Oskar's little sister Zoe who annoyed me to no end. Pretty much all secondary characters were too meddlesome so I was glad for every page that was only about Oskar and Marco.
It's also set in Germany but it didn't feel like it at all. There were a lot of details that just didn't ring true and gave the book a kind of murky vibe. 
But what didn't work for me the most was the whole theater thing. It felt so over the top and forced the boys into annoying and uncomfortable positions that just took a lot of fun out of the book for me. A lot of it was aforementioned side characters' fault so these two points basically go hand in hand and just made it all extra exhausting. 

So all in all the things I didn't like about this book definitely outweigh the things I did like unfortunately. Bummer but I still won't give up on this author since I genuinely liked a lot of her other books. Eh, can't love 'em all ;)

Such an interesting book from Anyta Sunday, who's now one of my favorite authors. True Colors wasn't my favorite book from this author, but it was still a satisfying read. Anyta Sunday never disappoints. It was a great ride reading about Marco and Oskar finding their ways back to each other after Oskar pretty much broke Marco's spirit. I absolutely loved how Marco attached colors to people and emotions.

Childhood best friends turn enemies. Growing up together they did everything together until the school bully at summer camp did something to break their bond. Separate for years, secrets to hide the truths fighting for the pain one caused by words and actions. Scars from a dark time, the loss of a loved one. Tears of hate, sorrow, loss, depression, love that could never die. Can these two soul mates guys overcome the obstacles that's keep popping up in their paths of completeness....


Copy was voluntarily exchanged from Netgalley.com

When I started reading this book the whole set up with the pirate play sounded familiar. Checking the blurb I realised that I had read the previous book, True Luck, back when it had been called Bottle Boys. And even in my review back then I had wondered, what's the deal with Marco. Well, this is Marco's story and it is told purely from his pov. It also runs in tandem with the events in True Luck.
Marco and Oskar had been best friends until something happened to tear them apart. What this thing is we the reader don't really know and we find out in fits and starts as the two friends turned enemies try to come to terms with Oskar's return to the neighbourhood.

The forgiveness Oskar seeks is a hard won battle and the romance is slow-burn, more so because Oskar is already in a relationship when he returns. The secondary characters have a lot of page time as their families still live next door to each other and Marco's family is Oskar's family and vice versa.

Not only must they overcome what happened in the past, but Marco also needs to address his own body issues due to the scarring he received in an accident when he was a teenager. This also means we get a virgin MC, and the deliciousness that goes with this.

There were a number of missing/wrong word issues, but not enough to drag the reader from the story.

Overall this was a lovely, hard fought love story which managed to break my heart in places.

A sweet and entertaining romance with interesting characters.
Marco and Oskar were best friends, until Oskar did something that tore their freindship apart. Scarred in more ways than one and terrified of revealing himself to others, Marco is unable to move on. When Oskar unexpectedly comes back into his life, Marco is forced to face the things he fears most, including the fact that, beneath his anger, he still has feelings for Oskar. The book's title comes from Marco's ideosyncratic habit of assigning colors to people based on their feelings and personlities. While Oscar was once "sunglow yellow" to Marco, he has become a nasty shade of rust, and Marco sees himself as salmon - the color of cowardice. If Marco can find the strength and courage to face his fears and forgive his former friend, maybe their true colors will shine again.
This story is sweet, entertaining, and predictable. It's a "safe read" because it tells you want to expect in the discription (HEA = happily ever after; standalone; no cliffhangers), which is nice to know but also takes some of the fun away because you already know the ending.
Recommended for those seeking a light, character-driven, slow-burn M/M romance.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. The story of Marco and Oskar is about friends who have sexual issues at a young age and things go wrong. Later they are able to know the entire story, forgive and move on. They love each other and Marco finally tells his father he is gay. This has a HEA ending.

A light read that still manages to tug on heart strings.

While not as incredible as Sunday's Leo Loves Aries and rock, True Colors was a tender novel that simultaneously broke and repaired my heart.

I really connected with the protagonist, Marco, especially his issues with his scars. He is a main character that everyone will be able to connect to, but I do think he let Oskar off too much. What Oskar did was terrible, and I feel as though Marco forgiving him was too quick (although that could be due to the length of the novel). I would have liked for the novel to focus less on Oskar's relationship with his two-minute boyfriend, and more on Oksar trying to make amends with Marco. I also don't quite think Oskar's love for Marco had been apparent in childhood, especially if he was supposed to be in love with Marco from then too.
I also enjoyed the way Marco saw the world through colours: that was so unique, and sweet as the chapter titles correlated with his developing feeling for Oskar.

I also don't know if I would label this novel an enemies-to-lovers romance - Marco and Oskar didn't feel like enemies, especially because Oskar didn't hate Marco, he was in love with him.

Other than those few issues, the novel was written beautifully, as is always the case with a Sunday novel. I really can't wait to read more from this author.

This book was like a unique handmade chocolate, so precious, unique and very sweet. I have read ‘Rock’ by the author and felt similar emotions. It was quite unlike most romances I’ve read, I felt it had almost a fairytale feeling to it. Set in Berlin, Marco and Oskar have a falling out where their friendship seemingly ends and they don’t speak for many years. Marco takes time before he lets Oskar back into his life and then finally comes out to his family. The first kiss is so very sweet and the later sex scenes are very hot and well described but it was so much more than that, it was a essentially a story of great love, not just chemistry or sex. The colours connecting the chapters and Marco's feelings for different people reminded me very much of the stones in ‘Rock’. A lovely story which I would recommend for the authors unique storytelling abilities.

Not a big fan of how the book started. I did find myself intrigued at the beginning of the book. I was curious as to what happened between our two main characters. After I found out the reason for their fallout I was a little disappointed. I was expecting something more. I started to lose interest after this.

This is a second chance romance. It's unusual in that the MCs are only 20 years old.

Marco was physically and psychologically scarred in a car accident that lost him one parent. Later he was emotionally scarred by his best friend's careless words.

A lifetime friendship was shattered in the few seconds it took Oskar to say a handful of words.

It's been four years and both young men have moved on with their lives. But their families are neighbors, so their lives remain entwined. Their emotions raw.

We watch them slowly but surely come back together. Rebuilding the bridge to each other's feelings. It's a beautiful thing to see. Their coming back together felt organic and real.

I stumbled a little on the setting and the family dynamics. It felt a little foreign to me. Their artistic inclinations were a surprise to me since I've never met people like that in real life. Maybe it was all part of the setting. I don't know. I did feel on the outside looking in. It was a "me" problem.

There were a lot of typos. I wouldn't normally mention those in an ARC. But this one has already been published so they should have been corrected.

4 stars

REVIEW:
Yes - the book is spelt True Colors, but I live in South Africa where we like the u's so I write Colours with a u (like it's meant to be).

I probably fell in love with these characters from the get-go. I’m going to the Town Hall to adopt them, anyone coming with? If we all pool our money together, we can buy McDonalds.

It was such a good read. I loved basically every scene of it, especially anything to do with Marco and Oskar.

I love the whole friends-to-lovers trope, but it's also the worst because they're friends, which means there's the possibility of them growing up, which means they know each other, so they'll be used to each other and know everything and probably have inside jokes and touch each other like real friends do and as much as I love that, it's also the absolute worst, as it makes you slam the table or whatever is near you - please let it not be an animal - and cry out in anguish because these characters that should be together are not.

I love how Marco sees in colours like come here and let me hug you and bring Oskar as well and then I can just hug both of you 24/7. It reminded of Percy Jackson - with the titles in a specific way. It seems like Chapter Titles are either Chapter 1 and so on or like in Harry Potter - The Deathday Party and so on; but I'm also happy to find a book where the titles are different.

They live in Germany, yet I never see any indication of that other than the landmarks? Where’s the language and slang?

It’s all very good and well that Marco’s learning to love his body and all, but he basically goes from zero to a hundred in a heartbeat, to ‘I can barely look at myself’ to ‘draw me, Elena.’ Not that much realistic. It takes some time to love yourself and be able to let someone else look at you in that way.

There was this confusing part in the beginning of the book where the boys were 13 and the one narrating it (Marco) used words like ‘lurched’, ‘slanted’ and ‘protruded’. I look after a 12 year old and she’s never used any of those words – and she’s smart.

I was wondering on how to pronounce Marco, as I know three ways to pronounce it:
English version – as in Marco Polo
Afrikaans version – pronounced Mar-coh
Italian version – pronounced Mar-koh
Just wondering which pronunciation I should use. Though considering the book is set in Germany, it’s probably the Afrikaans version.

So, they never speak of what happened to Marco the entire book. I was wondering and speculating and thought they would tell me and the scene would end with Marco and Oskar kissing or whatever, but I'm happy that they didn't tell us.

I love how every chapter's title is a colour.

So yes, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! It's amazing, cute, gay, what more can you want?

I really wish I could give half stars on Goodreads because I want to give this book 4.5 stars but I can't! There were a lot of things I loved about this book. I really loved the general premise of enemies to lovers with them used to being best friends before and having to deal with their families knowing each other and not knowing why they had a fight. And I think the fight was handled really well. I could completely understand why Oskar did what he did even if I think it was cowardly but he knew it was and you could tell how much he regretted it and how much he wished he could go back and turn back time. At the same time, when we found out what had happened between the two of them, I completely understood why Marco blanked Oskar. It was obvious how hurt and humiliated he must have felt, to hear those words coming out of his best friend's mouth, and I really loved how, after they made up, those insecurities and the hurt didn't disappear just because Marco had forgiven Oskar. I was so pleased at that scene, though it hurt at the same time. The characters of Marco and Oskar felt very real and I really enjoyed both their characters (although I would have loved some chapters from Oskar's POV).

I liked the colours theme, though I felt like it got lost a little in the middle, only to be picked up at the end. I really liked how the other characters were involved but in a way that made it obvious they weren't just supporting characters, they had their own lives and goals as well and that is something I always appreciate in side characters.

The reason why I didn't give this book five stars, despite how much I liked it, was that I wasn't such a big fan of the play subplot. I can see why it was needed, forcing the characters to interact, but I wasn't a fan of it. That I think was more personal than anything wrong with the book as such though.

I really loved this book and would definitely recommend it!

4 Stars!

I loved Marco and Oskar's story, although perhaps not as much as the other Anyta Sunday books I've read before. It was a slow-burn and I have to admit I had to stop at one point and ask my co-blogger, Tracy, who'd read this book before I did, if they were ever going to get together, because I was sort of losing hope. And then I had a bit of a problem because having taken so long for them to get together, I felt kind of cheated because I would have liked to see them being a couple for longer.

This is not the first book by this author that I've read and the others have been similar in that sense, slow-burn that gradually morphs into more. I guess I was just wanted more of Marco and Oskar together. *shrugs*

I loved Marco from the start, but I wasn't sure what to think of Oskar. I started to suspect there was more to him than met the eye when we met his boyfriend Jesse and realized he looked a lot like Marco was supposed to look. I am not a fan of the MCs being in relationships with others but it served its purpose here and I think it made the story even more realistic. Oskar and Marco had great chemistry and it was lovely seeing them get past their misunderstandings and move forward into rebuilding their friendship and then take their attraction to the next level.

The book was enjoyable and well-written, I felt it took too long until Oskar and Marco finally got together, but that's mostly my personal preference. Still, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book, it was really good!

***Copy provided to the reviewer via NetGalley for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***