This book tells the story of Jeremy, the student body president and cheer captain at a private school, who comes out as a trans boy shortly before the start of his senior year. Wanting to make the most of his senior year, Jeremy mounts a campaign for Homecoming King against the football team's start player and chair of the Homecoming Committee, Lukas, who happens to be his ex-boyfriend. As Jeremy and Lukas each pursue the Homecoming crown with single-minded focus, the race turns increasingly nasty, with their friends, their school works, their future, and even the dance itself as collateral damage.

I thought this was an engaging story -- taking some familiar tropes and both following them and turning them on their head at different points. The main characters are complex and not always easy to root for, but that made the story feel realistic and ultimately more interesting.

Recommended!

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one, because I had a bit of an issue with the MC, I was equal parts annoyed and yet I understood what the MC was feeling, still I feel like some of the actions the MC took against their friends were excessive, and ended up alienating themselves.

Thank you to Roaring Books Press for the ARC.

DNF @ 33%

I spent more time trying to read this book than I normally would have because I was so looking forward to it, and hopeful that it would be better than it was. But I couldn't make myself keep going. I had many issues with this book, and they were so numerous that it completely took away from my enjoyment of what sounds like a really fun premise.

1. The main character is extremely unlikable. Jeremy is selfish to the point of damaging many of his relationships. His motives for doing anything are based solely on how they will benefit him, and he doesn't think twice about how his actions will affect others.

2. Lukas' autism is used as an excuse when things are too difficult for him, but ignored otherwise. I feel like it could have been explored so much better, but it seemed like it was just thrown in.

3. The slurs: I didn't like the inclusion of the R and F slurs. I get that they were illustrating points of characters behaving badly, but I don't think it was necessary to actually include them in the text. The points could have been made without resorting to this horrible language

4. Everything was just SO negative! People were so mean to each other, years-long friendships were broken up, characters were selfish and rude, and that just made the whole tone of the book so negative that I couldn't keep reading. There was nothing fun or enjoyable about this book in my opinion. It was being marketed as a romcom, which it most definitely wasn't, but even so, the sheer amount of negativity was so overwhelming that it just was not a fun book to read

If you gander at the Merriam-Webster's definition of MESSY, you will see a plot summary of MAY THE BEST MAN WIN and a character sketch of Jeremy Harkiss and Lukas Rivers. MTBMW reminded me of the Bleachers' song "Rollercoaster" in that Jeremy, one of our protagonists (the most beautiful, messy, trainwreck-of-a-trans-boy if I've ever seen one) is every bit of the lyrics "And hey, I'm never the same, It's a hundred miles an hour on a dirt road running away" (Antonoff).

Quick Summary: On the day of his boyfriend's brother's funeral, our dear Jeremy makes the decision to not only come out as trans but also decides to preemptively dump his boyfriend, Lukas.

Final Thoughts: MAY THE BEST MAN WIN is a complicated, nuanced exploration concerning the unrelenting quest of finding your authentic self. Both Jeremy and Lukas play a wildly dangerous game with their lives (as well as others') while they sort out their utterly catastrophic breakup and figure out who they are apart.

Nothing is off-limits for these two, and just about everyone they've ever cared about is singed by the inferno.

There are times in the book where I wanted to equal parts shake these boys and also just hold them.

I'm so grateful that ZR Ellor took these boys to the ultimate edge of sanity. This is 100% a text that I will work into Literature Circles and will undoubtedly be a staple in my classroom library.

May the Best Man Win was everything you could want out of a young adult nemesis ex trope and oh so much more. There is a direct correlation between how much I want to remember a book and how much I annotate it- I annotated the living daylights out of this book. Ellor did a masterful job of giving readers a fun teenage drama without sacrificing the impact of the raw emotions of a trans boy trying to earn acceptance and an autistic boy trying to hold his imperfect life together. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I learned about the existence of this book a couple of months ago, looking for YA romance books on GOODREADS, and the story caught my attention as soon as I read the synopsis: a trans boy who fights against his ex to be Homecoming King... You'll not deny that the story looks absolutely great. And I assure you that it does not disappoint!

I briefly introduce you to the wonderful lead characters of the book: Jeremy and Lukas. Lukas and Jeremy. Almost half a life together, popular (I would even say that they the most popular couple in high school), envied and with a promising future ahead of them. But that was before. Before Jeremy had enough and decided to be himself and not some suffocating version of himself: the perfect daughter, girlfriend, cheerleader, friend. Before Jeremy decided that he didn't want to be invisible anymore, that he wanted to be seen, to be him and to be respected and loved. Before he decided to end things with Lukas, without explanation and on the same day as Lukas' brother's funeral. Before.

Now things have changed and Lukas and Jeremy hardly speak to each other. They only have a somewhat cordial relationship, but that also seems to end when the two decide to present themselves for the title of Homecoming King. Both for different but equally valid reasons:

Jeremy likes attention, even more so now that he needs the other students to see him for who he really is: he doesn't want his transition to define him and he wants - needs - to be seen and treated as just another boy. Also, it's his senior year and, therefore, his time to shine. And what better way to finish high school than to be crowned Homecoming King.

For Lukas, on the other hand, being the Homecoming King can make a difference in his future: the difference between going to a prestigious university and becoming the perfect son, or remaining the son who is not good enough for his parents...

So may the best man win!

However, the competition between the two soon turns into rivalry, where friendships break, relationships change, feelings evolve... Will Jeremy and Lukas be able to be friends... or something else again? Or will their relationship end forever? Thus, ZR Ellor tells us a wonderful story about second chances, friendship, love, trust and the importance of being yourself, of being happy. It will not be an easy road but it will be one that will be worth traveling.

The story is told in two voices, by Jeremy and Lukas, in a narrative that presents us with a countdown to the Homecoming dance and the election of the King. The fact that the chapters are narrated by different characters, on the one hand, makes the reading faster and, on the other, makes us get to know the two main leads much more thoroughly, as well as their pain, their fears, their anger... I think they are two unique characters that complement each other perfectly, in addition to how real they feel: they both make mistakes, they are selfish, they push others away... they also both feel lonely, not loved, not enough... I really liked the evolution that the two have, as well as the relationships that are created between them and the other characters, the community that they create little by little, the strength they have when they join forces...

Most of the time I go into books knowing almost nothing but I’m really glad that I decided to read a couple of reviews before diving into May the Best Man Win. The cover and even the synopsis promise a funny rom-com but if you scroll down and check out the trigger warnings, it quickly becomes clear that this won’t be the carefree high school love story you might expect.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy May the Best Man Win for the most part. Not every LGBTQIAP+ character always needs to be all rainbows and sunshine. We have two main characters who are both having a quite hard time and they don’t always make the best decisions as a result. Jeremy came out as transgender not too long ago and with bullies at school, being deadnamed and misgendered, his mom not always being supportive and his own doubts, the only thing he wants is to prove that he is a man while navigating what it means to truly be himself. He has a lot of built-up rage and a short temper and he’s quick to lash out. I didn’t mind that he was a bit of an unlikable/morally grey character at times and liked his character development even if it could’ve been a bit more fleshed out.

Lukas is autistic and we explore his sexuality throughout the book. His older brother Jason died in an car accident and a big part of his journey in the book is about stepping out of his brother’s shadow. Lukas and Jason had a difficult relationship with each other and while Lukas’ grief and the way his family struggled to get back to normal after this loss was addressed I do think it could’ve been a bigger part of the story. He is still hurt by the way Jeremy dumped him without an explanation and is still upset about the breakup while also putting a lot of pressure on himself. Both boys running for Homecoming King to prove themselves lead to pranks that get out of hand and quite some drama.

My favorite part of the book was definitely Sol who is a geeky non-binary side character. I loved seeing their relationship with both main characters and they added a lot to the story. I did also enjoy how Jeremy found a queer community at school where he felt welcome and people understood what he was going through especially in the way he could open up to Sol. Jeremy also faced transphobia from other LGBTQ+ side characters which I think needed to be addressed more in the end as well.

I had two main issues with May the Best Man Win. 1) I think too many different things were tried to be accomplished at the same time. Some things were never really resolved. The main characters do a lot of shitty things and other people do and say a lot of shitty things and I would’ve liked for both sides to face more consequences. I also would’ve liked Jeremy’s autism as well as many other themes to be a bigger part of the ending. A lot of important topics were addressed but they needed to be more fleshed out to really send a message. And 2) I wasn’t the biggest fan of the pacing. Both characters had to figure out some things on their own but so much could’ve been avoided if they had just talked to each other. The constant back-and-forth and pain that they caused each other went on for a bit too long in my opinion. The ending also felt a bit abrupt.

Overall, I think May the Best Man Win is an important story and I enjoyed parts of it but it did not quite meet my expectations.

I gave May the Best Man win 3.5 stars.

Don’t be fooled: this is not a lighthearted rom-com. Yes, a main thread in May the Best Man Win is the characters’ romantic relationships, but the novel follows Jeremy Harkiss and Lukas Rivers, who are both often angry, vindictive, and self-destructive, and encompasses much heavier themes. 

Let’s start with Jeremy...Jeremy. At first, it was easy to feel sympathetic for him as he faced misgendering and other transphobic acts from classmates and adults alike, all for publicly transitioning. As the book progressed, however, I found myself liking him less and less. I think it actually speaks to Z.R. Ellor’s skill that he could craft a strong downward arc, but it was hard for me to stay invested in the plot when I constantly wanted to lecture Jeremy—and Lukas, for that matter. That said, I couldn’t stop reading—like some sort of awful, alluring train wreck. 

I think my main issue was with the neglect of Jeremy and Lukas’s past and side relationships. Prior to Jeremy’s transition, Jeremy and Lukas were a couple for nearly three years, but the reader hardly sees any of those positive moments. In the present, there are still numerous unsaid feelings between the two of them, so I would have liked to delve further into how their relationship changed. I felt similarly about Jeremy and Naomi Guo; Naomi is Jeremy’s best friend, but they experience a falling-out pretty early on in the novel, so Naomi quickly feels cast aside as a character. Sol, another friend of both main characters, is so interesting—they’re a Latinx nonbinary hacker, not to mention how supportive they are even when Jeremy and Lukas treat them terribly—so I wish they had been in the spotlight more often. 

Other personal threads also felt a bit underdeveloped. Lukas has a very complicated relationship with Jason, his late older brother, but the reader doesn’t receive much insight into Jason other than his cruel ableism toward Lukas. Lukas is also briefly involved in a sexual situation with one of Jason’s former friends, which was off-putting to me, and there wasn’t much of a resolution afterward about the problematic aspects. 

That said, I loved the writing itself. Despite their flaws, the characters were all so raw and vulnerable, and I could relate to so many of their internalized anxieties. I also appreciated that Lukas and Jeremy were both popular figures in their high school; I think it’s important to have representation for characters who struggle with mental health and sexuality but aren’t relegated to typical nerdy, “quirky” characters.

It was alright. I'd recommend it to my students to read, it reads very earnest and wasn't at all a painstaking read, just not my thing.

I had quite a few problems with this book to be honest. The two main characters were really unlikable and just straight up cruel to each other, which is why I absolutely wasn't invested in them ending up together. I just felt like they weren't good for each other and slightly toxic even.

While reading, I quickly discovered Jeremy is rude. Yes, the guy is going through a lot but he literally treats his friends like trash AND is egocentric. I was still hopeful though, but the book quickly began feeling like a drag.

Then the most infuriating thing ever happened, and I was so done. Showing pictures of someone before transitioning to the entire school? Sorry, but there's no way you just forget how wrong that is. And then I get that Jeremy is going through the worst thing, but THREATENING to reveal Lukas has autism when he's not ready for it???

Another no-go. To make it worse, there barely was any character development

Overall I also thought the autism rep was very underdeveloped...as an autistic person myself I of course liked that Lukas was more than his autism, but it was rarely mentioned except if it was needed to further the plot or explain some of his actions. It also just wasn't really woven into the story well and especially not closed off enough.

I absolutely didn't enjoy reading this, even though it had a lot of potential to become a favourite. Expected a lot more...

The cover and the synopsis of this book instantly pulled me in. I remember seeing the cover reveal of this book a few months ago and instantly added it to my T0-Reads! I was very happy when I received an ARC for this book. I went in expecting a cute-adorable-angsty rom-com, but it turned out to be something entirely different.

My first problem with this book was that this is very mismarketed and that is something I do not appreciate at all not only because I am a reader but also because I am a communications student! This book is ANYTHING BUT A ROM-COM.

Okay... So, Listen! I wanted to LOVE this book. It has exactly what I’m looking for in a Queer YA Romance. There was a Trans MC, a Questioning Autistic MC, a gaggle of other Queer characters, an annoying HS jock Antagonist, all set in a High School during the preparation for their Homecoming Dance.

Why I didn’t connect as fully... I know that I was not a big fan of the irredeemable qualities of Jeremy, the trans MC. I know that while going through transition and taking hormones can sometimes make your moods fluctuate, but he was just an asshole. He said a lot of BS to make excuses, hurt his friends, threw a milkshake in his exes face while breaking up with him on the day of his brother’s funeral... and by the end, he had sort of tried to set the wrongs he did, right, but I’m still angry at him for all the past BS.

I did love Lukas. He was Autistic, but didn’t want anyone to know, because he didn’t want special treatment. He was going through a lot from the death of his Brother, so his trauma was apparent. The way that the author wrote him, I felt truly sorry for him. I excused the wrongs he did, because he was so obviously in love with Jeremy the whole time.

Overall, I liked it, but didn’t love it.

E-ARC generously provided by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group through Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

Trigger Warnings for: transphobia, grief, homophobia, ableism

5 stars. Don’t let the cover fool you: May the Best Man Win is a complicated and masterfully written queer YA masterpiece that contains just as much bite as it does romance. As a seasoned reader of YA starring teens of the LGBTQ+ community, upon seeing the cover of this book I thought I knew exactly what this story was going to be: another decently written, cute romance between two boys going from rivals to lovers with an equally adorable, illustrated pastel cover. I was completely wrong. This book did contain a swoonworthy m|m romance, but it is a story that is about so much more. Z.R. Ellor has written a multilayered narrative examining academic pressure, toxic masculinity, privilege, and the ways in which institutions of power uphold those with it at the expense of marginalized communities. Above all, he has written a story that centers queer teens and gives them the space to be messy and at times, downright unlikable.

Let’s start with prose and character voice: Ellor’s effective marriage of compulsively readable prose and distinct character narration makes this book a triumph. As I’ve said many a time in reviews about YA contemporary novels, what truly makes or breaks them (doubly so for those told in first person narrative) is if the narrative is permeated by the unique voice of the narrator. What truly impressed me about this novel is that both protagonists, Jeremy Harkiss and Lukas Rivers, not only have their own perspectives but also have such vividly drawn character voices. Despite the narrative switching back and forth between their perspectives, I had no problem identifying which of their perspectives I was reading from; this is a testament to the great care and skill with which Ellor crafted each of his main character’s voices. As a result of this, it was incredibly easy for me to not only fall into the rhythm of this story and its characters, but also fall in love with them along the way.

Speaking of characters, it’d be impossible for me to discuss how much I love this book without devoting at least a paragraph to them. Jeremy is a trans-boy who is charismatic, confident, and high-strung but is struggling with an intense anger living underneath his skin and in his heart. Lukas is a kind, shy boy with autism who has spent his life trying to be what everyone else needs to be at the expense of himself. The two of them are exes and in many ways, are just two queer teens lashing out at a world that continually denies them the respect and space they deserve. Upon starting this novel, I wasn’t quite sure I would enjoy both of their perspectives; by the end of this novel, I understood and loved that both of their point-of-views were absolutely essential to this novel. Their second-chance romance was truly a joy to witness, despite how rocky and wrought with heavy and often, unpleasant emotions and actions it was.

Which brings me to my absolute favorite part of this novel: the fact that Z.R. Ellor wrote a novel that openly allowed to its two queer teen protagonists to be complex, angry, and at times, downright messy and unlikable. I saw Z.R. Ellor tweet about this a few months before I read this, but this novel outright refuses to sanitize its trans and gay and autistic and gay protagonist into wholesome and easily digestible queer teens who are easy to root for. Several times throughout the story, each of the main protagonists do things that harms their friends, people around them, and even each other; while I can’t say I quite enjoyed reading about it most of the time, I loved how this book gave its queer characters the space to be fully fleshed out characters who aren’t beacons of goodness.

In particular, I loved how Ellor tied these complex and messy feelings the characters are feeling to the queer and neurodivergent experience, respectively. In Jeremy’s case, the pure wrath that he feels comes from constantly being disrespected as a man and feeling the need to prove his masculinity through not only achieving, but prototypical ideas that link violence to it. As for Lukas, his need to prove himself comes primarily from how other people view him being autistic combined with the death of his very successful older brother whom he had a complex but mostly negative relationship with. I also very much appreciated the fact that despite how messy and sometimes problematic these characters were, there was either always a narrative admonishing and/or correction of the problematic behavior or a delicate line about subjects such as a person’s gender, sexual identity, and more that was never crossed.

Conclusively, May The Best Man Win is my favorite book I’ve read thus far this year and I am eternally thankful that I was given the opportunity to read this early. This book comes out tomorrow so make sure you grab a copy from your local bookstore or borrow/request this from your local library. I promise you, you’ve never read a queer YA contemporary with this much complexity and heart before. Thank you Z.R Ellor for this excellent and much-needed addition to the queer YA canon.

Thank you to a FierceReads giveaway and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Z.R. Ellor's YA debut May the Best Man Win is such a necessary and complex book, as its two main characters--Jeremy Harkiss and Lukas Rivers--are messy, spiteful, and occasionally dangerous, yet still deserving of happy endings. MtBMW shows readers that queer characters--and therefore queer *people*--do not need to be perfect to be worthy of love.

MtBMW follows Jeremy and Lukas through dual perspectives (alternating chapters, with, in the eARC at least, only one spot where a new chapter does not mean a perspective shift) as they prepare for their senior Homecoming at their private high school. Both boys are running for Homecoming King, and both boys are willing to do whatever it takes to win--especially because up until that summer, before Jeremey transitioned, they had been in a long-term relationship that ended explosively. Now, as rivals, they will do anything to not just win, but to actively sabotage the other person's chances. Their actions continue to escalate until the school's Homecoming dance itself is in jeopardy, and Jeremy and Lukas both have to consider just how far they're willing to go in order to win.

First, I think it's important to clarify that MtBMW is not a rom-com. While the official blurb does not classify it as such, the comp authors/titles, cover art/colors, and blurb itself emit pure rom-com vibes. That's not to say there is no joy, romance, or humor involved; however, this is not the book to read if you're looking for a lighthearted love story. Jeremy and Lukas don't just try to win Homecoming King; they both make highly questionable (some may say immoral) decisions, some of which are arguably illegal. Jeremy is desperate to win so he can prove to everyone that he is a "real" man after transitioning; Lukas is desperate to win so he can prove to his family that he is as perfect as his deceased older brother, who didn't share his disability. Both characters have a lot of anger at the systems around them--especially the anti-queer (primarily anti-trans) and ableist systems--and no one to turn to for how to healthily deal with their issues, so they unpack all of their anger on each other, their shared past, and their new rivalry. Ellor himself has supplied content warnings online for homophobia, transphobia, sexual harassment, bullying, and death of a family member; I would also add on warnings for ableism, internalized ableism, misgendering/deadnaming, and physical assault.

Still, I think this "darkness" is MtBMW's greatest strength! There are many readers who expect queer characters to be "perfect" (whatever they expect out of "perfection") in order to deserve love, healthy relationships, and/or positive resolutions to their stories. However, Jeremy and Lukas show that queer characters can be reckless in their humanity, and heartless in their ambitions, yet still deserve support and love. Not only are Jeremy and Lukas good characters for exhibiting this, even when they aren't "good," but I know they will open the door for other dangerously messy queer characters in YA fiction.

However, for as strong as Jeremy and Lukas are, the other characters felt extremely two-dimensional. While we learn a little about the side characters--Sol, Naomi, Ben, Debbie, and Terry, for instance--the information we get is only provided if it furthers the rivalry between Jeremy and Lukas. On the one hand, this is Jeremy's and Lukas's story, they're the ones telling it, and they're too preoccupied with the Homecoming King race to focus on much else. On the other hand, I think my appreciation for Jeremy and Lukas--and people's willingness to continue supporting them--would have increased significantly if I felt like anyone other than the two narrators were built up as strongly.

Lastly, the last 15% of the book felt rather rushed. The finale of a book should arguably pack the most in, as all conflicts are wrapped up (for standalones) and we reach a conclusion. However, the first 85% had a relatively consistent pace, with conflicts, decisions, and background being built up gradually--not so slow that I lost interest, but not so fast that things blurred together. In that final part, though, everything crashed together, and it felt like everything tied together way too quickly. Even though this book is already on the long-ish side (387 pages for the hardcover), I think slowing down the end would have helped a ton.

Overall, though, this is a good book that I am excited to recommend to people looking for complex characters, queer characters who don't need to be perfect, and/or lovers-to-exes-to-enemies-to-lovers!

I really loved the concept of this story. A trans-masc main character goes against his ex in competition for homecoming king. That sounds awesome. The deeper story was pretty good too. As I got to know the characters, I didn’t really like them. My best way to connect to a story is if I love the characters. Sadly I never felt the connection to them. The mc seemed to have a little bit of anger issues and the other character seems to blame the bad things they do on their disability. I may have been reading it wrong, but it just felt off to me.
I would definitely read something else by this author to give them another chance for me.
Overall I would give it a 3.5/5

I came very close to absolutely adoring this story because they were all written in such a raw way. They felt real and relatable and I could feel their pain.

The author's approach to the complex layering of gender and sexuality exploration as well as navigating neurotypical spaces with an autistic brain was fascinating. There were layers to the identities depicted and I appreciated the intersectionality of it.

The only thing stopping me from rating the story higher, though, is what I feel is the missed marked in making Jeremy flawed yet loveable, like Lukas views him as throughout the book. Jeremy's personality is fiery and he's impulsive, hiding his emotions with sarcasm and taking moments to recognize where he's overshadowed the ones he loves. That all felt real and easy to connect to.

How easy it was for him to go to a place where he could weaponize ableism to sort of level the playing field against transphobia, however, lost me entirely. I no longer trusted him to respect Lukas or that aspect of his identity from that point on.

It does contribute to the layered experiences of Lukas' identity that is a very tangible one, though.

With all that being said, I'm looking forward to the author's body of work and future projects and am curious about whether further development and focus will go to the secondary characters of this story.

****Thank You Netgalley for this ARC****
This book was the one I was really looking forward to. I am so happy that more books now have trans main characters. It is underrepresented, so I am glad it is now more mainstream. This was a sweet book, we have two boys who just have to meet in the middle and forgive each other.
Jeremy was such an angry boy, he had his reasons. I think he was too angry for a while, but as the story progresses you see that change because of Lukas. My heart broke for both of them.
Overall, it was a cute book with two great main characters and a rival love story through homecoming.

This book is <i>nuts</i>. Bonkers. Just absolutely insane.

MAY THE BEST MAN WIN reads like a soap opera in all the best ways. It's got unbelievable drama, a ridiculously benign plotline that goes in WILD directions, and a messy romance between even messier people at the center of it all.

I won't lie - I had some difficulty getting through this one. The first half of the book is riddled with characters doing absolutely awful things to each other; just when you think that Jeremy, the trans main character, has hit rock bottom, he busts out with some new cruel plan to get what he wants and burns several dozen bridges along the way. The people in this novel act so abhorrently than I almost couldn't do it. That much ferocity is borderline unrealistic.

But at the same time, they're <i>teenagers</i>. Not only that, but this book is told from two teenagers' perspectives. Of course everything feels like life or death. It's a really interesting contradiction, this book; it takes a bunch of incredibly serious topics (like sibling death, divorce, transphobia, and a whole smattering of other content warnings that have been well documented elsewhere), dials the drama up to eleven, rips the dial <i>off of the wall</i>, and proceeds to beat you in the face with it. Like I said - it's insane. I can't say much more than that without spoiling things, but sufficed to say, I was never bored while reading this book.

There's a lot of flaws with telling stories this way; mainly that it can sometimes cheapen whatever messaging the author may have intended when they set out to write this book. I could feel a few places where the paint was peeling off the proverbial walls, and it really felt like things fell apart a little <i>too</i> easily. But I definitely had fun reading this book, and at the end of the day, what else can you realistically ask for?

(Special thanks to the Cresswell alumni at MacMillan for the NetGalley ARC!)

I was provided with an eARC of this book so that I could write an honest review as part of the Turn the Pages blog tour!

Content Warnings: transphobia, misgendering, bullying, homophobia, anti-autistic ableism, violence, hate crime, sexism, threats of sexual assault, underage drinking, past domestic abuse/physical abuse of child, toxic relationship, infidelity, grief (past death of loved one/car accident), drug use, threats of knife crime

I loved the premise of this book when I first heard about it – a YA lovers-to-rivals-to-lovers romance between a 17 year old trans boy (Jeremy) and an 18 year old autistic boy (Lukas) is right up my street! I was also drawn to the gorgeous cover art by J. Yang, “a transmasc illustrator in a penguin onesie”. The audiobook is narrated by Avi Roque, who did a great job narrating both of Aiden Thomas’ audiobooks – it’s great to see that books like this one are creating work for other trans artists in addition to the authors!

To start by clearing up a little misinterpretation I had: I was under the impression before starting this book that it was a romcom, but I would say it’s more of a drama than a comedy.

The main characters are both morally-grey disasters who make more than their fair share of bad decisions. They’re not exactly loveable at the start of the book – Jeremy in particular comes across as very self-centred. The success of series like The Foxhole Court (with its infamously messy main characters) implies this won’t be an issue for many readers, but it might be a turn-off for others. The characters did undergo a degree of development by the end of the book and recognise that they should have acted differently in the past, and seem to want to do better moving forward.

I could empathise with Lukas feeling that he had to mask his autistic traits, and struggling to ask for the accomodations he needed from teachers with inaccessible teaching styles. However, I would have loved to have seen a little more positivity around him being autistic, perhaps as part of his character development or through more neurodivergent side characters.

Speaking of side characters – my favourite character of the whole book was probably Sol, a nonbinary Latine computer nerd in the school year below Jeremy and Lukas. While they also made some poor decisions, as teenagers are likely to, I found them much more loveable than the main characters and would love to know more about them and their story.

The rest of the cast of characters includes some definite antagonists, and others whose motivations are more complex. I don’t know how realistic the school’s policies on e.g. bullying and harrassment are, since I went to and work in English secondary schools where the antagonist’s actions would easily be grounds for exclusion, but I’m glad that this “outdated administration” was challenged by many of the characters.

One issue which went unchallenged and which I would like to highlight is the arguably lesbophobic description of TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists) given by one of the side characters, who says that a lot of TERFs are lesbians who “hate trans people because they like to claim they’re the most oppressed queers in existence”. I really hope this was edited for the final copy. While I don’t disagree that the queer community needs to reflect on its own transphobia, I think this line is a dangerous oversimplification when many young adults who will read this book may not have encountered this term before; after all, people of all sexualities are TERFs, and their transphobia is not because of any discrimination they may receive for other marginalised identities. Reinforcing the association between lesbians and transphobia will not help anyone.

Some scenes and details which I did enjoy included Jeremy’s fabulous outfit for the last day of homecoming week, a review of scented candles, the use of the song “Holding Out For a Hero” (yes, the one from Shrek; and yes, it was stuck in my head for days afterwards), and the people elected as homecoming king and queen.

Overall, if you like a dramatic contemporary romance with imperfect characters? Definitely give this one a try!

May the Best Man Win is going to lift your spirits with humor before crushing your heart with it’s ability to transform your idea of who you are and who you want to be.

This book follows two ex-boyfriends, Jeremy and Lukas, as they navigate Jeremy’s transition, Lukas’ familial drama, and most importantly Homecoming King. Throughout the Novel, ZR Elliot does an amazing job of showcases different identities, phobias, and the general LGTBQ+ world without ever making it feel like anything other than a story about two boys fighting for a crown. His effortless, beautiful novel will be your next favorite while allowing you to explore what or who you really are.