This is as a DNF. It was alright at first and I really liked Elliot but the story fell pretty flat after that and I got really bored.

This was a DNF for me. It started off really promising. I thought Elliot was fabulous, and I was all about checking out what he was cooking. I loved the idea of him and Jordan forming a friendship, because each seemed to bring something interesting to the table. But, then, everything I was enjoying got put on the back burner, and I just found myself bored. The story was terrible or anything like that, but I just wasn't motivated to continue.

Unfortunately, this one was a bit of a miss for me. The story felt flat with the continuous describing of mundane activities such as cooking. I didn't actually realise that this was a wattpad original, but I found myself thinking it resembled something that I would read on that site. When I found out that it was, in fact, a WP original, I wasn't surprised. I think some would like the cute story but for me, it just dragged a little and I found it hard to delve into the depths of the characters and the world.

The main reason I didn’t like this book was thag you can really tell that it is originally a wattpad story, the language is unsophisticated and attempts to be good by over describing every single action and scene i.e. cooking - does not equal good writing
I DNFed at around 40% and made notes on what I didn’t like up to this part
* Dialogue is unnatural between the characters, doesn’t sound genuine or realistic; dialogue describes the events of the story rather than them just playing out
* Characters ate supposed to be in their senior year but they read and sound much younger - reads like the lower end of YA despite the end-of-high-school setting
* Falls into the stereotype plot-line I’ve read in tonnes of fanfic: of the bullied kid who runs away from help, new kid befriends and begins to stand up for him,
* Detailed descriptions of cooking and chemistry experiments did not add to the story, unnecessary, long and boring = added detail doesn’t equal better writing
* The initial relationship felt too sudden although there was enough preamble, passages of time made it feel rushed
* characters were endearing but completely unremarkable, lacked depth and personality except for a few specific traits that were relentlessly described (see above)

I’d recommend this as a fanfiction/online published novel but not as a book - it could have been edited to a much higher standard before being published beyond the internet as the premise, though common, could have been a enjoyable light hearted read

I tried to read this one and I just could not get into it. Hopefully, I will be able to try again in a little while. But it wasn't for me. I wasn't able to connect with the characters or the plot at the time. Everything just feels a little flat for me. In saying this I do feel that if I give myself a little longer, I will end up enjoying it in the coming months.

Dieses Jugendbuch handelt von Elliot, einem jungen Mann im letzten Jahr seiner Highschool. Es ist aus Elliots Perspektive geschrieben, was dafür sorgt, dass man sich sehr gut in ihn hineinversetzen kann und schon nach kurzer Zeit starke Sympathie für ihn empfindet. Der Schreibstil ist sehr angenehm und einem Jugendbuch entsprechend gut verständlich.

Elliot ist ein Einzelgänger, der in der Schule zwar einige Freunde hat, aber niemanden, mit dem er wirklich viel Zeit verbringt und den er als engen Freund bezeichnen würde. Er wird regelmäßig von einer Jungengruppe schikaniert und drangsaliert, was zusätzlich dafür sorgt, dass die meisten Schüler Abstand zu ihm halten. In den Mittagspausen sitzt er meistens allein am Esstisch oder gesellt sich zu einer Freundin seiner Schwester.
Auch von seiner Familie hat er sich eher zurückgezogen, wenn auch unfreiwillig. Elliots Zwillingsschwester ist hochintelligent und studiert bereits, weshalb sie oft lernen muss und nur wenig Zeit für ihn hat. Seine Eltern sind beide Workaholics und kommen erst spät am Abend nach Hause. Elliot kocht gern und bereitet für alle das Abendessen zu, doch meist bleiben nur wenige gemeinsame Minuten, die ernsthafte Gespräche unmöglich machen. Er weiß nicht, was er nach der Highschool studieren möchte, und macht sich Sorgen aufgrund der hohen Erwartungen an ihn. Schnell gewinnt man den Eindruck, dass Elliot allein gelassen wird und sich nicht traut, seine Eltern mit seinen Problemen zu belasten.

Als Jordan an Elliots Schule kommt, zeigt dieser sofort Interesse an einer Freundschaft mit Elliot. Er lässt sich weder von Elliots abweisender Art, noch von seinen Peinigern einschüchtern. Mir hat sehr gefallen, wie Jordan um Elliots Freundschaft kämpft, weil er merkt, dass Elliot einen Freund braucht und weil er ihn ernsthaft kennenlernen will. Elliot, der zu Beginn des Buches teilweise depressiv erscheint, erlebt nach langer Zeit wieder, dass sich jemand ernsthaft für ihn interessiert. Zu sehen, wie Elliot langsam aufblüht und anfängt, Jordan zu vertrauen, war herzerwärmend für mich.
Auch wenn zwischen Elliot und Jordan Liebesgefühle entstehen, ist nicht die Liebe, sondern ihre Freundschaft zueinander das zentrale Thema des Buches. Es handelt sich hier um eine Geschichte, die von einem alleingelassenen, schikanierten Jungen erzählt, mit dem sich wahrscheinlich fast jedes Mobbingopfer identifizieren kann. Die Intensität der Attacken auf Elliot nehmen im Verlauf der Geschichte zu, er wird mehrfach körperlich verletzt und erniedrigt, weshalb ihm der Aufenthalt in der Schule immer mehr zu schaffen macht. Und als er schließlich realisiert, in welche Richtung Jordans Gefühle wandern, stürzt ihn das in eine Identitätskrise und schürt die Angst, nun noch mehr Anfeindungen ausgesetzt zu sein.

Mich hat das Buch vom Anfang bis zum Ende gefesselt und mehrfach sehr ergriffen. Die Attacken auf Elliot waren teilweise wirklich heftig und schwer auszuhalten, so dass ich es erst ab 12 oder 13 Jahren empfehlen würde. Nicht ganz begeistern konnte mich das Ende, da mir die Problematik Mobbing zu unrealistisch aufgelöst wurde. Die "Racheaktion" war meiner Meinung nach zu übertrieben und für Jugendliche, die sich in einer ähnlichen Situation befinden, wird es wohl kaum so rundum positiv enden. Auch wurde die Elternverantwortung nicht thematisiert und diese Problematik einfach übergangen.
Insgesamt endet das Buch jedoch sehr schön und zufriedenstellend, und insbesondere die Freundschaft / Liebesgeschichte zwischen Elliot und Jordan, die das gesamte Buch trägt, wurde schön und angemessen abgeschlossen.

Fazit:
Ein wirklich schönes Jugendbuch zu den Themen Mobbing, Homosexualität und Outing, in dem Freundschaft eine sehr große Rolle spielt. Ich kann das Buch jedem Interessierten ans Herz legen und vergebe sehr gute 4,5 Sterne.


In English:

This youth book is about Elliot, a young man in his senior year of high school. It is written from Elliot's perspective, which ensures that you can put yourself in it very well and feel strong sympathy for him after a short time. The writing style is very pleasant and, according to a youth book, easy to understand.

Elliot is a loner who has some friends at school, but not someone with whom he really spends a lot of time and whom he would call a close friend. He is regularly harassed and bullyed by a group of boys, which also ensures that most students stay away from him. During lunch breaks, he usually sits alone at the dining table or joins a friend of his sister's.
He also withdrew from his family rather involuntarily. Elliot's twin sister is highly intelligent and is already studying, which is why she often has to learn and has little time for him. His parents are both workaholics and come home late in the evening. Elliot likes to cook and prepare dinner for everyone, but usually there are only a few minutes together that make serious conversations impossible. He doesn't know what he wants to study after high school and is worried about the high expectations of him. You quickly get the impression that Elliot is left alone and doesn't dare to burden his parents with his problems.

When Jordan arrives at Elliot's school, he immediately shows an interest in friendship with Elliot. He is not intimidated by Elliot's repellent nature or by his tormentors. I really liked how Jordan fights for Elliot's friendship because he realizes that Elliot needs a friend and because he wants to get to know him seriously. Elliot, who seems depressed at the beginning of the book, relives after a long time that someone is seriously interested in him. Seeing Elliot start to unfold and start trusting Jordan was heart-warming to me.
Even if feelings of love arise between Elliot and Jordan, it is not love, but their friendship with each other that is the central theme of the book. It is a story that tells of a lonely, victimized boy with whom almost every victim of bullying can probably identify. The intensity of the attacks on Elliot increases in the course of the story, he is physically injured and humiliated several times, which is why his stay in school is more and more difficult for him. And when he finally realizes in which direction Jordan’s feelings are heading, it plunges him into an identity crisis and fuels the fear of being exposed to even more hostility.

I was captivated by the book from start to finish and was very moved several times. The attacks on Elliot were sometimes really violent and difficult to endure, so I would only recommend it from 12 or 13 years. The end could not excite me completely because the problem of bullying was resolved too unrealistically. The "revenge" was in my opinion too exaggerated and for young people who are in a similar situation, it will hardly end up being so positive. Parental responsibility was also not addressed and this problem was simply ignored.
Overall, however, the book ends very nicely and satisfactorily, and in particular the friendship / love story between Elliot and Jordan, which carries the entire book, has been closed nicely and appropriately.

Conclusion:
A really lovely youth book on the topics of bullying, homosexuality and outing, in which friendship plays a very important role. I can recommend the book to anyone interested and give it a very good 4.5 stars.

I honestly fell asleep reading this. It was basically the main character spelling out every thought he's ever had. At 10% in, he was assigned a lab partner at school and made pasta at home. That's it.

The writing was honestly so uncomfortable to read. It was really forced and just very overly detailed. We got told exactly what the main character was eating, exactly what his school assignments were, just all of this completely irrelevant stuff. It was a lot of tell and not at all a lot of show. At 30% in, there was still hardly any progress to the story.

For the most part, we're being told about how the MC and the love interest grow closer together, but we're not shown any of that development, which makes it hard to get emotionally invested.

One thing I did appreciate was that the MC's sister was aroace and there being a discussion about that.

I did have some problems with the questioning rep though, because the love interest pressured the main character multiple times to make up his mind as soon as possible. I just want to reiterate: there is no deadline on figuring out your sexuality, it's okay to take all the time you need, it really doesn't matter if it takes you a long time, and it doesn't even matter if you never figure it out.

CWs: violence, bullying, (internalized) homophobia

This is my very brief review: I wanted to love this book, but it dialed down a lot of the issues that would have given it depth.

What a cute friends to lover romance read! This was so fun and fluffy to read! Elliot is definitively my favourite! I only gave this 3 out of 5 stars because it was cute, just not super overwhelming, which I will remember forever.

this was a sweet and fun read that i enjoyed! lab partners follows elliot goldman, a lonely high school senior battling school bullies and loneliness. it explores the relationship that develops between elliot and new kid at school, jordan hughes, who becomes elliot's lab partner.

this book was very quick and easy to read, and i got along with the characters. i just don't feel like it really stood out for me? there was a lot that could have been explored deeper - the bullying, the homophobia, the family relationship, even the discovering your sexuality part. there was a lot of descriptive writing that sometimes just felt like too much and really took you out of the story.

but i liked elliot and jordan and i liked seeing their relationship develop. i also enjoyed holly as a side character!

A lovely friends to lovers story, with some angst thrown in along the way.

Elliot and Jordan are well drawn, fun, articulate teenagers, thrown together as chemistry lab partners, from which a great relationship develops - if only it was always as sweet as this in real life.

This is a lovely heart felt story, and I would love to read more about their relationship,

This was a sweet read and I liked the overall story. I liked Elliot a lot because he tried to stand up for himself and be himself. Even in the hard times he tried fix his problems. A little more talking would've helped everyone but okay :D that seems to be the problem quiet often in books or tv series!
The bullying was quiet hard and at times way too hard for why they bullied him. So if you're triggered by bullying please do not read this book!
The relationship between Elliot and Jordan was cute and very understanding.

This book had just two problems for me. First: if you make pizza from scratch why buy pizza crust mix? Just add flour, water, yeast and you have a fantastic pizza crust. :D But okay it was just a little side problem for me. the bigger one was the head over heels relationship between the two. I believed them but Jordan seemed so mature and everything happend so fast? The scene in Jordan bedroom was so rushed and forced? I guess? I wasn't fun to read :/ And Elliot coming out as gay right away was too a little rushed?

Overall a nice story with a bullying theme. So if you're triggered by bullying please do not read this book!

The story was very sweet and interesting, but in some ways it was also forgettable. I may not have been in the right headspace for a cute story when I read this, and it could have affected my feelings. Overall it was an enjoyable read

i had hopes about this book because the cover is cute and the premise sounded like something i would really like but it is such a wattpad book its painful. there's really no other way to say this other than the book is bad. there's parts that aren't terrible but most of it was not great. here's why:

a lot of the scenes in this book were full of telling and not showing. every page was "i did this and now i'm doing this" in such excruciating detail. sorry, but i don't need you to tell me how the main character makes pasta in more than one paragraph.

this first detail is mostly personal and not really critical but i'm so tired of the bullying homophobia trope - let me read a cute happy story for once in my life?? also you shouldn't have to give the bullies some sort of backstory that seems to make their bullying "excusable". it's just wrong. then there's the fact that in order to fight the bullies, the main characters turn to bullying themselves. this might be more of a realistic approach i guess, but not a good message to put in books for people who might be bullied themselves.

then there's my biggest issue: there are scenes that are frankly inexcusable. i don't know if the author is LGBTQ+ because i couldn't find that information online, which is fine i respect that privacy, but how did this get published??? even if the author is not LGBTQ+, where there not any sensitivity readers??? this was published on wattpad so i'm sure that's a whole reason for this but wow i was disappointed. first, elliot's sister shows support when elliot isn't sure if he likes jordan back and doesn't know what to make out of the situation, which was sort of nice. i liked the aroace representation and i thought it was explained well, but the part that made me uncomfortable was her insistence of "how do you know you're not gay if you've never tried it?" people don't have to be in any relationship for their sexuality to be valid. so that wasn't cool, but then there's the whole issue of jordan "convincing" elliot to be gay. it's understandable for him to want to help elliot explore his sexuality (if elliot wants to) but the language surrounding this was disgusting. it's not cute. elliot is described as physically uncomfortable during this scene and jordan is talking about convincing him to be gay. that's not how this works and it's not how a relationship should start.

tldr; this book made me really uncomfortable and i honestly don't know how it got to the publication stage

3.5 Stars
Elliot Goldman is a high school senior in small-town Pinecrest, Michigan. He's plagued by bullies who've attacked him verbally and occasionally physically because he speaks up for other kids--notably his brilliant twin sister Ellie. His main bullies, Morgan and Nate, have been on his case since middle school and lately Cole has joined their crew. Elliot refuses to make any reports of their behavior--against his parents' wishes--because he believes their bullying will escalate if he reports them. Elliot has a good relationship with his workaholic parents, though he's often alone while they work late and commute, enjoying his solitude and cooking dinners for the family. Ellie commutes to community college since she "tested out" of high school after sophomore year.

Elliot has a new partner in his AP chemistry class: Jordan Hughes. Jordan is an unknown quantity having only transferred to Pinecrest in the past few weeks. He's tall and built like an athlete, and Elliot is nervous Jordan will terrorize him the way Morgan and Nate do. Still, Jordan is smart and efficient; Elliot's never had such a good experience in science. Jordan isn't content to only befriend Elliot in class, he begins to join Elliot and Holiday, Ellie's BFF, at their outcast lunch table.

It's not long before the bullies notice Jordan's friendship with Elliot, and they begin to accuse Elliot of being gay, and Jordan's lover. It's such a shocking accusation that Elliot is stunned into fighting his bullies--and they beat him up badly. The only reason he's not completely incapacitated is Cole convinces Morgan and Nate to stand down before they get caught. When Jordan learns the cause of Elliot's injuries, he's so upset, but he cares for Elliot--and reveals his own big secret: he's attracted to Elliot. While Elliot's body had been battered, it's the memory of Jordan's tender kiss that keeps his mind buzzing.

Elliot isn't gay, is he? He's barely had a friend beside Ellie and Holiday. He's never really been attracted to girls, or boys, being so detached from his peers. Talking with Ellie, who identifies as asexual, helps Elliot see that sexuality is fluid and if Jordan makes him happy he should chase that happiness. So he does. Which causes the bullies to become even more bold. But the strength Elliot has gained from his connections with Jordan, Ellie and Holiday gives Elliot the will to reach out for even more help, and maybe his own happiness.

This is a first book from a young author. I liked it, mostly, as the story is filled with likeable characters and realistic plot movements. There were parts, especially in the beginning, where there was a lot of information and little plot motion, so the pace bogged. There also were some repetitive bits, with the bullying. Elliot's parents are almost criminally negligent in their absenteeism and how they allow Elliot to dictate his terms regarding not reporting his bullying. For me, as a parent with boys who were bullied in middle school, it's not really up to a kid to decide to report bullying. IN the face of these issues their continued absence is unconscionable--and extraordinarily plot convenient. When Elliot decides to truly fight back, it's through another student, not the power of his folks. I wasn't blown away by the decision, again it seemed convenient. Even the epilogue irked me, that Elliot's parents are so clueless to recognize their son's sexuality when he's had a boyfriend for going on 6 months, was yet another example of their deficiency.

That said, it's a cute story, with age-appropriate angst and romance. There's a little bit of kissing, as Elliot comes to terms with his sexuality and falling hard for Jordan, who is a sweet and supportive partner. I think teen readers will enjoy this predictable questioning/coming out story that ends happily for Elliot.

I was honestly hoping to absolutely adore this book as it had everything that I typically love in a YA contemporary romance: friends-to-lovers, high-school setting, coming-of-age, supportive family and awesome friends. However, for me, 'Lab Partners' lacked character depth, narrative clarity and just overall reader engagement in the story.

The first major critique I have for this book is that I felt that the writing itself was incredibly juvenile with a very expository-type of constant description. It was very disjointed in terms of the way the narrative was written and mostly focused on the every-day actions of the main character, Elliot. Elliot had the potential to be a great character, one that would relate to and connect to readers. But he was incredibly bland. He did not have a personality, I found, he just absolutely loved going on random monologues about how 'different' he was becuase he 'didn't belong' in both his family and at school, how he had 'no friends' and didn't want any because it would be 'social suicide' for those people. Completely ignoring the fact that he had Holly who out=right said she considered Elliot as her family. I also wish that there was more time spend on delving deeper into Elliot's family life, especially his relationship with his twin sister Eleanor and his parents. It would have added not only more to the story, but it would have helped in helping form Elliot's personality. Because all I really got from the book was that Elliot loved to cook and he was being constantly and terribly bullied.

The 'bullying' aspect of the novel was also slightly problematic. Not the actual portrayal of bullying - that honestly hit hard and true - but it was the reasons as to why Elliot was bullied. It just didn't feel authentic and at the end, it was just like, 'oh they've been expelled now, bullying is over'. Not at all considering the trauma and impact it would have on Elliot. Elliot's mental health, and the fact that he 'had deppression' was glossed over in a few sentences. It just did not feel authentic and realistic to the experiences of many who are and/or have been bullied. Especially to the extent that this book protrayed.

The romance and relationship between Elliot and Jordan was cute, I guess. But again, it's not really given enough 'on-screen' time. We, as the readers, don't really see them grow closer we just are told that it has happened off screen (or off page, in this case). The entire 'getting together' and Elliot's realisation of his own identity could have been done slightly more respectively. What I mean by this is mostly pertaining to the whole concept of Elliot telling Jordan to 'convince him' that he is gay. Sexuality is fluid and it takes time for most people, to get to that point in which they are able to fully and wholeheartedly, acknowledge or recognise their own feelings/desires. But I felt that was glossed over. Jordan kissed Elliot - Elliot was confused as he always assumed his heterosexuality. Jordan told Elliot that he was gay (which nope) and then Elliot tells Jordan to 'convince him that he is gay' and viola, they're boyfriends. I'm not invalidating people's experiences but I am just saying that, in terms of this book, it could have been explored a bit more and more deeply so that we could actually believe in their relationship.

Overall, I just felt disappointed in the plot, the writing and the characters. However, I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed Simon vs. the HomoSapiens Agenda as the writing is quite similar. If you do want a quick and easy read then do pick this up for a cute YA romance.

I had high hopes for this book when I requested it - a nerdy gay love story with ace/aro representation is right up my alley! However, upon reading it, I found the story to be worse than disappointing. First of all, the writing and the pacing is long-winded and awkward - none of it flows naturally, and the author spends the entire time telling the actions of the characters instead of showing them. Things that could be briefly mentioned (making spaghetti) are dragged out into pages of description, whereas things that are plot-relevant/character related are explained sporadically (the main character’s repeated experiences with bullying). The characters themselves are only superficially developed, and it’s difficult to feel engaged with them as a result.

Writing and story quality aside, I was frankly disturbed by the way that the representation and LGBTQ+ narrative was handled in this book. Themes such as bullying, internalized homophobia, and coming out to friends/family are all valuable story elements when portrayed well, but the manner in which the author utilized them in this book alarmed me. The love interest, Jordan, is aggressive, pushy, and manipulative, and the main character and we as the readers are meant to interpret that as “love”. Jordan kisses the main character (Elliot) without his consent, then proceeds to effectively gaslight him into identifying as gay. After that, Jordan continues to put pressure on Elliot to date him and so forth, and his behavior is consistently, legitimately appalling. All the while, Elliot is confused and uncomfortable but ultimately concludes that Jordan is expressing love. This blatant disregard of the importance of consent in relationships only serves to perpetuate common harmful misconceptions/fetishizations of homosexuality and what it means to be in a gay relationship.

Even more alarming is this book’s portrayal of bullying. Elliot is determined to handle his bullies alone, constantly rejecting the help of others (parents, sibling, teachers, friends, Jordan) - and they ALLOW him to do so without challenging it or offering advice at all. Then, when the bullies target him specifically for being gay, they use the f-slur and publicly shame him, then out him to the entire school. To make matters even worse, in the big climactic scene in which Elliot’s friend retaliates against the bullies, she publicly outs one of his tormentors - and this action is presented as positive/acceptable. This representation of the LGBTQ+ experience is wildly inappropriate and genuinely dangerous - it is revealed that every single gay character in this book was forcibly, publicly outed, and experienced discrimination and abuse for their identities. While I know from personal experience that this is a reality for many LGBTQ+ individuals, I do not believe that it is necessary or helpful to fictionalize it in a way that fixates on the “gay pain”, as it were. There are ways to tell this kind of story that do not perpetuate harmful stereotypes and frame aggression as love.

Personally, I am able to read this story from a safe space in my own development and identity, but this book is presumably marketed to young LGBTQ+ teens who are impressionable, questioning, looking for good role models and greater understanding of themselves and their sexuality - and I am sincerely concerned that this book would be a harmful influence for such readers. If I could give this book zero stars, I would.

Lab Partners by M. Montgomery:
*a thanks to @netgalley for providing this arc*
⚠️= Spoiler in that section
*synopsis in comments*
1/5 Stars
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Sadly, though I wanted to love this book, I didn’t. There were a few things I liked, but they were overshadowed by the things I didn’t. Every so often, there was something I would cringe or wince at that would pull me out of the story. And just as a disclaimer, most of this happens in the first-ish half of the story, so it does sort of improve.
•
What I liked:
-The aroace representation. 🖤📁⚪️💜 🖤📁⚪️📗💚We don’t get a lot of it, so it’s nice just to have even a little. They even explained it correctly! (Even though getting rid of it would change absolutely nothing about the story, 😕and it’s in the one scene and one scene only)
-The idea of the story (okay, this one is a bit mean, but). When I read the synopsis, I was excited to read it, because it sounded like a story I might like. Good idea, meh execution.

What I didn’t like:
-The descriptions. It explained everything down to a T, which can be helpful in fantasy sometimes, but this is a contemporary, and I don’t really need someone to explain in extreme detail how to make pasta.
-⚠️(Some of) The characters. The bullies were cardboard cutout stereotypical bullies (i.e. having a bad home life) and only Cole seemed to have just a little bit of dimension, mostly because of WHY he bullies. Jordan (love interest) is also quite forceful on Elliot in the first half.
-⚠️How the romance and sexuality issues worked out. For one, it was a bit too insta-lovey, which is a personal thing, though not something I think is uncommon. The first time Elliot starts to question his sexuality is when Jordan kisses him. This came out of nowhere, as I didn’t see any physical hints that Elliot liked Jordan, and why on earth Jordan would be so confident about it. Especially as Elliot clearly pushes him away (physically) after he does. When Elliot says he doesn’t know how to feel (especially around his sexuality), Jordan doesn’t try to help him out or anything, but just says he’ll CONVINCE HIM. And I quote, “You’re in denial, Elliot, and I’m going to help fix that.” I’m sorry, but- ??? That’s not an okay thing to do??? Especially as you’ve currently got him up against the wall where not very many people can see you. I don’t know about you, but it gives me some stalker-ish vibes. The other thing is that Elliot doesn’t see this as weird. He’s just confused, and I’m scared someone will come along, read this, and think it’s okay behavior to force a label on someone. On top of that, when Elliot voices his confusion, he does a flip of the homophobe thing of “If you haven’t been with a boy, how do you know you’re gay?” (He uses “aren’t gay” instead).

Overall, not a *super* bad book (I say as I rate it 1 star), just with *very* some off-putting representations of sexuality and how to figure stuff out, *many* cardboard characters, and not my *favorite* writing style. (oof I did not realize how harsh that came out)

I received a complimentary copy of Lab Partners by M. Montgomery from Wattpad Books through Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Lab Partners was released on March 10th.
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Elliott is just trying to survive his senior year of high school. He is an outcast who has been bullied for years, but he welcomes it, willing to be a target if it protects others. Everything changes when his chemistry class is assigned new lab partners and he's paired with Jordan, a new student at school. The two become friends, but then one day Jordan kisses Elliot and Elliot must figure out how he feels about that and about Jordan.
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Okay, this book. It had a few fairly good elements, but the bad stuff really brought it down. For one, the bullying. I'm not at all opposed to books addressing the subject of bullying, but this book didn't handle it well. Everyone seems to be aware that Elliot is being bullied, but no one does a single thing because Elliot wants to deal with it himself. Elliot's otherwise normal mom sees his broken nose from a bad bullying accident and does NOTHING. I cannot imagine an otherwise caring mother ignoring this level of bullying, regardless of what their child wants. Also, Jordan knows Elliot is being bullied, but Jordan is really pushy at the beginning of their romance in a way that didn't make sense. Jordan seemed really kind and caring for most of the story, but then he's really pushy when first pursuing a boy who isn't out and he knows is being bullied? It didn't seem in character to me. It felt like the author thought the pushiness would be hot, but it really wasn't given the circumstances. I really wanted to like this one, and I will say there were a few really good parts, but they were outweighed by the bad parts for me.
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Trigger warnings for physical and mental bullying.

Overall, a sweet story, There were cute moments, like the overall relationship, but others had me cringing a little. Jordan was, at times, too pushy in the relationship and it could be hard to watch.