Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available on March 15th.

GOAL!!!! Chad Alan Gibbs majorly scored in this nostalgia-inducing book, that is an excellent follow-up to the delightful Two Like Me and You (you can read my review of that book here). This book effortlessly alternated between funny and heartwarming.

The plot of the book is fairly simple. Marcus Brinks moves to a tiny town during his senior year. He quickly discovers a few things: there’s not too much to do on a Saturday night, the entire town is way too obsessed with high school football, and the girl of his dreams is dating the star quarterback. Of course, the quarterback is a huge jerk (is there a reason this trope is so common?), which Marcus and his buddies cite as their reason to take him down.

This tale unfolds partially in 1994, during Marcus’ senior year, and partially in 2017 when Marcus, now a has-been rockstar, moves back to said small town only to discover that: the town is still overly obsessed with football, and most of the main players from high school still live there. This includes the one. As Marcus settles back in, he realizes that there’s a football-field sized bundle of messed-up going on. From there, things go in some unexpected directions.

The great thing about this book is that, while the general storyline isn’t all that new, the characters are likable and easy to relate to. Silas, Marcus’ rap lyrics-spouting friend, made me smile. I’m pretty sure I knew that kid in high school. Then there was Jackson, who was third-string on the ridiculously huge football team. And of course, Deacon, the quarterback a-hole. If left alone, these characters could easily have been paper cutouts of every 90’s teen movie, but instead Gibbs infused them with humor and originality.

At times I felt sorry for Marcus, and at other times I really wanted to yell, “DUDE! Open your eyes!,” so obviously I became very invested in this book. While ostensibly a cute little romance, this book is much more than that. In fact, the romantic aspect ends up being less important than pretty much everything else, which I love. It’s a catalyst for everything after.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that it was perfect. If the book had ended any other way, I would have been very disappointed, but I shouldn’t have worried. Chad Alan Gibbs is an excellent writer, and I hope he has many more books up his sleeve.

Now, I’m off to listen to Weezer and happily sink in the 90’s nostalgia that this highly entertaining book inspired.

Line one of chapter one reads, "Dude, you like Weezer?" And with that, I was hooked. Just like the description says, this book is a blend of Friday Night Lights, Julius Caesar and 90s nostalgia. Three things that maybe shouldn't work when combined, but actually go together brilliantly.

We know that the main character, Marcus Brinks, spent his early 20s as the lead singer of an indie rock band called Dear Brutus. What is a genius move is that each chapter alternates between 1994 and 2017 so we're only reading about his time before and after his brush with fame. The only glimpses we get at what happened while in the band and why they broke up are in excerpts of articles from magazines like SPIN, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Wikipedia. It was just enough, but also made me want to read more about the band, the excerpts were so well-written and believable. And much like Daisy Jones & The Six, I wanted to listen to Dear Brutus' Beige Album while reading this.

I loved this book. I sat down to start reading it just to get a sense of what it was like and all the sudden I was halfway through. Not only is it just great storytelling, it had me laughing out loud multiple times. Marcus' dry sense of humor is so likable and there's a skim-and-you'll-miss-it reference to The Fugitive that is *chef's kiss* perfection.

Chad Gibbs dose it again, i read Two like me and you last year and loved that one, and i really like this one too!
This book was very unique, and i kind of had a love-hate relationship with the MC Marcus Brinks. Because sometimes he was so annoying , having his head stuck up his ass or so sort-of in love i wanted to just shake him, but he had his moments when his character devoloped nicely over the years in the book, wich made me like him more and more. Somethings changes and somethings stays the same... is the feel i get form this book!

Yet another incredibly entertaining novel by Chad Allen Gibbs. Alternating between 1994 and 2017, Marcus Brinks, the main character narrates his own story from the starts of his senior year in high school to his current day situation: teaching English at the very same high school in his early forties. Even though he spent just a brief four months at Rome High School, they were quite eventful. RHS is known for football. The school revolves around it and everyone lives for the football game and a state championship. Marcus does not share the same love but gets roped into many football related activities because he falls for the quarterback's girlfriend with just one glimpse of her. She is quite charming but also pretty unobtainable, as Marcus is lead to believe. Marcus settles into his senior year in Rome with his two new friends Jackson and Silas and gets involved in some unbelievable hijinks related to Becca, his now true love, and several football team members. In the current day, Marcus is a has-been rock star who had one famous album back in his twenties but then had a mental breakdown and then finally got it together, and went back to Rome to teach because his mom has cancer. His present is not unlike his past, involving the football team members from his stint at Rome in the 1990's, his two friends (one of them now an bigger than life football coaching ex-friend) and the love of his life (still) now single Becca. The ending definitely surprised me! This story is a little involved and definitely needs to be read with attention to detail but well worth it for the amazingly unique & funny characters and distinctive plotline! Well worth your time! Do not this miss this hilarious foray into the underground world of high school football! Thanks so much to the author Mr. Gibbs himself and to NG for the ARC's!!!