a charming YA romance for readers who liked Red White and Royal Blue, I think. LIkely to appeal to many readers of all ages.

How many ways can I call a book bad without hurting the authors feelings? It was just SO bad. And like . . . bad for no reason. I'm unsure of how this book even got published. Would rate zero starts if I could.

My first encounter with Date Me, Bryson Keller was through the Penguin Random House eGalley blast. It was a title I looked past when scrolling through the said list. I knew through the synopsis and cover that it would be a tropey YA romance and tried to avoid it. Things flipped when close friends at #Bookstagram started clocking in five-star reviews for it – color me intrigued!!! There was also quite a controversy surrounding this so I wanted to find out myself.

Bryson Keller is the “IT-uberjock” at Fairvale Academy who firmly believes that being in a relationship in highschool is pointless until he was challenged. He was dared to date someone new every week – the first one to ask him out every Monday, and completing this within three months without breaking set rules will guarantee him victory. The gears were set in motion when Kai Sheridan, a closeted gay from a religious family, asked to be his date for the week. Bryson agrees and Kai might have just outed himself. Will Bryson win this game? Will Kai emerge unscathed?

This novel, a large portion of it, stayed cutesy and fluffy without glossing over the realness of the issues that needed to be pinned down to the board. I hungered for this. I loved the portrayal of the highscool romance between two boys. It is not perfect for being “too perfect” or the cliché “love is love” narrative. I digress. I think it’s also time to tell stories for being what they simply are. Boys giving furtive glances at each other. Boys flirting with other boys. Boys kissing boys. Full stop.

My heart is just so full finishing this book it might just burst any time now. This story is a warm blanket on a freezing day. Although the foundation of the novel is ridden with secret dating tropes, I loved so many things the book went to. I love its being awkward and unapologetically optimistic. There are so many likeable characters sometimes it is too much. You may find the book preachy at certain junctures but it does not deviate from the fact that the discourses ladled in this story are truths for one or more persons and all stories should be told. It is not solely focused in the sexuality or the coming-out phase but it also swerved through discourses on race, religion, family, and friendship. This is an #ownvoices novel, inspired in part by another story, and I empathise with the author.

Who would have thought that an unassuming book would turn out to be something more personal than I have expected it to be? Kai Sheridan sees me eye-to-eye and he had me flayed. His shoes I have worn before – something heavy and familiar. It pains to relive moments when you are the center of the joke or when you are reduced to being “the gay guy” while your other qualities go down the drain. It’s frustrating to doubt, fear, or beat yourself even while others bask in the normalcy of their lives. I might have teared a couple of times reading this book. No! I bawled even in the lightest conversations between Bryson and Kai It’s sad that Kai has this “I give as good as it gets” attitude but seldom thinks fair for himself. It is often that Bryson becomes the voice of reason reminding him that he deserves to be happy like everyone else. The author, in my opinion, carefully punctuated these seemingly light-hearted dialogues with the issues that closeted teens tediously juggle about. If it called out to me, it might resonate with you, too.

If there was something that is left to be desired in this book, that is certainly giving more attention to the existence of the spectrum. Although there was a mention of characters being “bi’ or “figuring it out”, there were little to no discussion of other genders. Should I fault the narrative for this lack of spotlight? I think not. We were following the story through the eyes of a closeted teen and them having little knowledge of the spectrum is highly possible. I, for one, may have been ignorant when I was a teen and may have seen the world as just either “straight” or “gay”. Was this an opportunity missed? Well, yes. I wanted Kai to stays as he is but it should have not restricted the author to use other perspectives to explore this such as discussions with his friends or from here overly mature-thinking sister.

Final thoughts: Date Me, Bryson Keller is a capsule of what we should and shouldn’t with a reminder that race, gender, status and other social constructs are irrelevant when love is love is love. This book is a delightful, endearing, swoon-worthy read that rivals your most coveted sweets. I’d definitely take multiple servings any time of the day!

I received an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. Ideas and opinions in this review are all mine and are not influenced by neither publisher nor author. Thank you Penguin Random House for sending me an eARC.

This was the exact type of YA contemporary that just doesn't really work for me. I think I'm too far out of its target demographic. Still, I can see a lot of teenagers enjoying this! It's well done, just not for me.

It has come out that this book is severely similar to the manga Seven Days and could be plagiarized from it.  This knowledge has tainted by experience in reading it. 

I was having trouble getting into the story before learning of this, but now that it has come to my attention I don't feel so bad putting this one down.

This was such a cute book. I really enjoyed the cute and quirky-ness of Bryson and Kai. I was totally fangirling the whole way through. I also really liked the themes of religion  and thought it tied in nicely at the end. It dealt with the everyday issues the LGBT+ community deals with, but in a fun and thought provoking way.

I loved this very much! The characters, the actions and even the plot itself! Very inspiring for my own book too!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great ride. I really liked characters and whole story is absolutely amazing. I love this book so much!

DNF
Given the plagiarism accusations, I will not be reading or reviewing this book. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Date Me, Bryson Keller is like the book equivalent of cotton candy, and I'm not mad at it. The set up is adorable, with Bryson agreeing to a challenge I'm pretty sure I've read in manga where he'll date someone every week from Monday to Friday, whoever asks him out first. One week, Kai asks him out, even though he's in the closet, and they build a friendship and more. There is some tension related to reactions to them being together and Kai being forced out of the closet, but otherwise it's entirely feel good. The dialog between Kai and Bryson runs a bit cheesy, but the book just made me happy so I didn't really mind. A great read for anyone looking to just feel happy for a few hours.

I love to see diversity in books and I love to recommend these books to my students. 4 out of 5 stars. Cute book. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read and review!

This was extremely cute, and I enjoyed every second of it. The writing was easy, which caused me to breeze through the book! I loved both the main characters, and the premise drew me in right away. Can highly recommend!

Kai is gay, but in the closet. Bryson has been dared to date for a week whoever asks him out first every Monday morning. After a rash decision leads Kai to out himself and ask out Bryson, Kai has to decide if being his true self and being able to date is a good or bad thing for him right now.

While it felt like it could be a bit preachy, coming-out stories are still needed and this was a pretty good one that pulled on my heart-strings at times. While the teen voices sometimes seemed a bit inauthentic, this was not a bad story. Would recommend to some teen readers.

Really love the book a lot. I thought the 2 love interest had amazing chemistry together. And the book made me laugh but also think alot.

Date Me, Bryson Keller is such a cute, fun and quick read! This book was so easy to read and I really enjoyed the fake dating trope. I loved all the interactions between Kai and Bryson. This book is perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Simons and the Homosapiens agenda.

Sadly, this was a flop for me. I had the highest expectations for it, but so many things just didn't make sense to me.

If you are looking for a cute YA love story, this might be for you! I really enjoyed it, even with its flaws. The story follows Kai Sheridan, a high school boy very much still in the closet, and Bryson Keller, one of the most popular boys in school. Bryson is part of a dare where every week he must date someone new, whoever asks him out first on Monday morning. One day, after a stressful morning, Kai asks him out. In a surprising twist, Bryson accepts, but agrees to keep it a secret to respect Kai not wanting to be “out” yet. As they go through the week, things start to happen that make Kai think, is Bryson gay? 

I loved Bryson and his family. I thought they were great characters, and I wish we had gotten to see them a bit more. Kai’s family is a bit harder to love. His sister is an awesome 13 year old, and his father is quietly supportive, but his mother… Well lets just say I had some problems with her. The whole “outing” thing always makes me uncomfortable, even though I know it happens that way sometimes. But all in all, a cute love story! 

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Yes, some of this book is a little cringe (that last line...yikes) but regardless of that, I loved this fun little book. The romance was cute, and I’m glad it didn’t have the normal conflict of horrible communication and misunderstandings. I would read 20 more books with this “dating for a week” trope tbh.

I really enjoyed this book until about halfway through. The fake dating trope was cute, and I liked the slow burn of feelings developing, but after it turned into a more typical coming out story I was less interested. I feel like the author didn't have anything new to say. But, I'm encouraged, in a weird way, that my gay kids (although mostly boys, unfortunately) are getting the middle of the road romances that straight white kids have been getting for years.  I also like that the main character was mixed race, although this only superficially affected the story.

Stevie‘s review of Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
Young Adult LGBT Romance published by Random House Books for Young Readers 19 May 20

I haven’t seen a lot of gay young adult fiction featuring an inter-racial central couple, although there’s an increasing amount of such stories in the world of LGBT+ fiction aimed at adult readers. I liked the premise of this story a lot, and so was happy when I discovered that it also went a little way towards addressing the aforementioned discrepancy too. Kai Sheridan is the son of a white American mother and a mixed-race South African father, and is very much in the closet. Not even his two best friends know that he is gay. All this starts to change, however, when Kai gets mixed up in an ongoing dare for the most popular boy in his year to spend a week dating the first person to ask him out each Monday for three months.


Bryson Keller is from a wealthy family, the captain of the school soccer team, and – to all intents and purposes – straight. After Bryson agrees to the dare at a New Year party, the whole school is abuzz with speculation as to who he will date next. When Kai and Bryson are paired up for a class assignment on a morning that has started off disastrously for both of them, Kai spontaneously asks Bryson to date him for the week. Realising that the dare never stipulated that he could only date girls, Bryson agrees – and also agrees not to tell anyone just whom he is dating that week.

The pair proceed to go out on a series of very standard dates, made all the less ordinary by how much they both seem to enjoy them. Kai quickly finds out that his dates are far closer to the real thing than any of those Bryson has arranged in previous weeks, and it becomes obvious that the two are developing feelings for each other. They face opposition and hostility from Bryson’s friends and Kai’s family, but also gain support from Kai’s friends and Bryson’s family. Ultimately, the biggest test is whether what started out as a dare on both their parts can be translated into a real relationship, particularly given Bryson’s previously stated opinion that high school relationships never last.

I liked this book a lot, especially when it comes to Kai. I’d have liked to see more of Bryson’s point of view, and a little more acknowledgement of the existence of other LGBT+students than the one out gay guy who is mentioned along with his boyfriend – who gets very little of a look-in. I’d also have liked to see more exploration of Bryson’s sexuality: I think the possibility that he might be bisexual only came up once, and the idea that he might claim some other identity wasn’t touched on at all, in spite of the number of young people owning a wide range of labels out in the big wide world. Another author for me to look out for again, all in all.

Grade: B