Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an audiobook of May the Best Man Win in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings: Death of Sibling, Bullying, Sexual Harassment, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Misgendering, Homophobia

How CUTE is the cover to May the Best Man Win? Very, amiright? Unfortunately, the book is not as cute as the cover. There's a lot of drama & triggering moments in May the Best Man Win -- I mean, just look at those content warnings above.

I almost DNF'ed this book & after actually finishing, I've come to the conclusion that I could have gone the rest of my life with not finishing this one. But, I swear this review isn't just going to be me insulting this book, because there's one thing that I really respect out of it & that's the insight on discrimination against the Trans community. We all know that the Trans community doesn't have it easy -- they are often targeted in hate crimes, ridiculed by transphobes & in general, not treated as good as they should be. However, even recognizing their struggles, there's just something about seeing it play out on the pages of a book that really opens your eyes.

With that being said, it's very unfortunate that a book that has such a heavy & important message is polluted with characters that absolutely suck. Okay, okay -- there were a couple of side characters that were perfectly fine, but our leading characters? No thank you. I spent more time being irritated with the characters than actually enjoying what was going on. I wasn't sold on the conflicts during their feud & I definitely wasn't sold on the enemies-to-lovers romance.

From the bright cover I thought this was going to be a fun, light enemies-to-lovers story, however the book was a LOT heavier than I expected and I think that changed my rating. I wanted to love Jeremy, but I just couldn’t.
Also with the dual POVs, I would have preferred two narrators to help me keep up with which chapter was from what POV.
Overall, I loved the various reps included in this story and loving seeing them integrated into more books.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillian Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I didn’t really like this book. It felt like there was way too much going on, too much drama. I didn’t like the main trans character, he was an asshole and I know he was written that way, but it felt like it went too far. The other main character was better, but I still didn’t love him.
Just not the book for me.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

May the Best Man Win was such a disappointment for me. It actually hurts to say this too because I was really excited to dive into the book. Then.. the characters started to talk and I went from easily annoyed to completely frustrated with everything.

In all honesty, I wasn't a huge fan of Jeremy in the beginning. Not because he is trans or anything. No, he was an annoying asshole. Did I feel bad for him when he was struggling? Of course I did. I'm no monster but I hated how he treated people sometimes.

Did I eventually end up like Jeremy? Maybe.

As for everything else? Nope, not one bit.

I mean, yeah, there's some happiness with the little romances but the drama was so over the top and it's like everyone was born with a silver spoon shoved up their ass. This book had ZERO consequences to anything that happened. No matter what happened - bullying or even probably murdering someone - they all walk off into the sunset holding hands and laughing.

Complete and utter bullshit.

I would have liked to see someone get their ass handed to them for being an asshole but nope - nothing happened. So it's safe to correctly assume that I was very frustrated with this book, the characters and this horrible school. In the end, just no. No to everything.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the 2021 so i'm very disappointed. The cover, the summary, everything about this sounded amazing. Angry gays? Rivals to lovers? Second chance romance? AND a trans main character? I wanted to love this so much but i just couldn't.

I had many problems with this book but first off, the characters. Specifically the main ones. As a transmasc (& non binary) person i was really excited to meet 𝗝𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘀, our main character. He's definitely my least favorite mc that i've read about in a while. Most of what happens with Jeremy throughout the book is just him messing up his relationships. He has huge anger issues which never get better throughout the novel. Jeremy definitely has a right to be selfish but there's definitely so much development that he should've gotten.

There is autistic rep in this book which I was excited about but it was very poorly executed. Lukas faces systemic inequalities in his classes and i hated the fact that nothing happened about it. There really wasn't much purpose for it there if it wasn't going to be fleshed out properly.

Jeremy and Lukas were both very unenjoyable characters. They both had good personality traits but the bad over weighted definitely overweighted them. Their friends are constantly mistreated and it was so frustrating. It was tiring to see them just give out a simple apology and suddenly everything was fixed. The friends honestly deserved better.

Sol was probably my favorite character which probably says something since they were just a side character mainly used to advance Jeremy and Lukas' developement. They are a nonbinary latinx person, (like me) so that probably helps. I would've loved to hear more about them. While we're on the topic of characters that deserved better we should probably talk about Naomi as well. She's an Asian girl that barely got any "screen" time. She, sadly, was also used as a way to develop Lukas and Jeremy more.

Overall i wouldn't recommend this book. I had to push myself to even try and finish it in the first place.

Lastly please note that this book isn't a rom com.

CW: Homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, deadname use (offpage) ableism, bullying, assault, sexual harassment, use of the f and r slur, & death of a family member.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄.

I liked the storyline. It has a good LBTQ+ representation. It was very wholesome and heartwarming. The narration is well done too. I will look forward to read more by this author.

When I read the description for this one, I was so excited to listen! I loved the inclusivity of having not only a trans character, but also a nonbinary and other representation of the LGBTQA+ community. I will say the story as a whole fell flat for me though. I felt there was just too much drama and angst in this one. It was a constant back and forth & I just felt it was a bit too predictable. Maybe I'm just too old for the YA drama anymore. Wasn't a terrible read, but wasn't as stellar as I would have hoped it would be.

2.5 stars

I've been looking forward to this book for a while and I'm pretty disappointed. I hate to say that, but it just felt like most of the characters were unlikeable and did terrible things and the ending had no real consequences for some of the illegal or immoral events that happened. There were parts I liked and by the ending I thought Jeremy and Lukas were alright, I just wanted so much more from this.

Jeremy is newly out as transgender in his senior year of high school. I felt bad that he went through so many struggles, with his mom not always supporting him and being bullied by a huge jerk at school. He also treated his best friend terribly by never being there for her and trumping her problems with his. I felt like he chose to do mean things to Lukas that weren't always deserved and wanted him to care about other people's feelings.

Lukas was blindsided last year when his brother died unexpectedly and then his partner broke up with him in a terrible way. He's also hiding his autism from everyone and trying to be the perfect son. Lukas also made some bad decisions and hurt others, though for what it's worth he didn't do those things maliciously. He's just bad at seeing how things affect others.

Both boys still cared about each other and I can still get behind their romance. What I really struggled with was the actual villains, the principal, Terry, and Phillip, not having consequences. I kept holding out for something big to happen at the end where everyone gets what they deserve, but no. If this had been rectified, I would have rated this higher.

I listened to the audiobook and while Avi is a good narrator, I think having a second narrator for Lukas would have helped. I found it difficult to tell the difference between the boys' chapters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copy.

I thought this was a terrific story and really helpful in understanding the realities faced by transgender youth and those in their lives. Jeremy and Lukas are well written, imperfect characters- struggling with so may things, most of all, being true to themselves. Any reader unfamiliar with the subject can learn so much from this bittersweet tale. I know a lot of the earlier part of the book left me feeling sad, but hope, confidence and a strong doe of reality, ground this book and ultimately give it an uplifting tone.

Z.R. Ellor doesn't coat the difficult moments with sugar, relying on truth and honesty to pave the way for understanding. I really appreciated the explanation and use of correct pronouns, even the confusion of them- as this is something that is very important to the community, and something we all need to learn.

Though the majority of the adults are made to seem aloof or unconcerned, I didn't think Ellor did it in a malicious way, but intended to exhibit the way most young people see adults in these settings.

I'd recommend this book to anyone that loves a good YA story, and especially those looking for a glimpse (and hopefully some understanding) in to the life of transgender youth forging their way through an (mostly) unsympathetic world.

In the audiobook, the narration worked really well for me.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this audio! It was such a fun and quick read, I listened to it in one sitting.

I haven't read a lot of lover to enemies to love, but May the Best Man Win was so easy to get into and stay engaged. The relationship between Jeremy and Lukas was different than anything I have read. Having the dual POV's was very helpful with understanding what these two characters are going though. In addition, why they made certain choices.

There was one thing that frustrated me during reading, the fact that neither Jeremy or Lukas talked about their feelings to each other. So many unhappy situations could have been avoided if they had just talked to each other!

One of my favourite things was that so many LGBTQIA+ topics were covered in this book. Definitely learned a few new things.

This was a defiant read filled with all the soft, heartfelt tidbits that make YA good and all of the rightful indignation of teenagers that makes YA great. This book tackled issues like privilege, queer rights, transphobia within queer spaces, and bigotry (to name a few), all to the backdrop of ex-boyfriends fighting for the homecoming crown.

Highly recommend.

This book is about 11 hours long. I ended up listening to this book on x1.3 speed but at times it sounded too fast but going lower than that sounded too slow. It was a hard balance to find. The narrator is Avi Roque and they do the voice for both of the points of view: Jeremy and Lukas. Avi does a decent job of differentiating their voice for the different characters points of views. The voices also seemed to fit the characters quite well. Every once in a while I would get confused as to who's chapter it was but I attribute that to them doing the voice of both characters when reading a chapter. You have to pay attention to when they are not reading the conversational parts.

The story was quite captivating. I love that ZR Ellor had so many different elements linking together and woven throughout the story and characters. You can expect 2 guys fighting for the homecoming king title in this book. What I love is the twist to this, one is a trans guy, the other is autistic and before the one guy came out as trans, they both dated. If that is not enough to get you intrigued by this book, I don't know what is. Be warned though, the beginning of this book has a ton of angst and it is relentless, but if you can get through that, the rest kept me on my toes in anticipation of what comes next.

Will I recommend this book?
- Absolutely I will be recommending this book to people

This novel is both painful and hopeful. Jeremy and Lukas are the stars of the story, both pretty popular. Jeremy's a cheerleader and Lukas is a football player, and they used to date when Lukas thought Jeremy identified as a girl. Throughout the book, Jeremy is dealing with transitioning and defending himself while Lukas is trying to get reading people well right because his autism doesn't always make that an easy task for him. Lukas is also dealing with his brother's death and how it's affecting his family (and how he can fix it), and Jeremy is just trying to wrangle his emotions (or not always), especially when it comes to his feelings for Jeremy. I don't want to give the story away, so I'll just say this might be the first time I rooted for both main characters in a love story equally. Jeremy said something so profound about what it's like to have your identity tied up in politics that I felt deep in my soul. Overall, I loved this book because it was deep and meaningful, not just another love story.

I'll be honest about the narration: I love this narrator. I've heard them narrate other books, but because they're often doing two parts, I can't tell the difference in characters all of the time.

This novel was rather predictable in the sweetest way possible. Even though I saw just about everything that happened coming, I still enjoyed this novel. Jeremy is a cheerleader who has gotten the school's approval/permission/help to become one of the first openly trans boys in a not very LGBTQIA+ friendly school environment. To prove his manliness, Jeremy sets about to become homecoming king. But that puts him at odds with his ex-boyfriend Lukas: the football all-star. Of course, cheerleader and football star = star crossed lovers = destined to be in love forever.
Some of the drama in this one made me cringe - like I wanted to scream and tell them it's a HORRIBLE IDEA or that they were being TERRIBLE people. As stated, the plot was pretty predictable.
The narrator was AMAZING. Loved them! Avi Rogue narrated Cemetery Boys and I LOVED that one. So when I heard their voice again - I was hooked. I may have finished this one just because of the narrator.
I love that I am finding more and more novels with transgender main characters. Huzzah for more representation!

received an ARC of the audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the race to the throne as Jeremy and Lukas fight for the crown while also confronting their traumas, their past relationship and the threat of their future as it looms over the horizon and all it may hold.

The boys in this book are messy, disastrous and very much in that headspace where they think the fall from the ledge is a lot longer than it seems and I absolutely loved it. The way they confront their fears and everything that threatens Jeremy's image of himself and Lukas's hopes to fix everything in his life with the promise of homecoming king was uproarious, scandalous and very much real. I am not trans nor am I autistic so I cannot say anything about that representation (recommend looking at PerpetualPages' review). But when it comes to development? Both character and relationship, I commend Z.R. Ellor for their work in that aspect. The way they really opened Jeremy up for the reader to see the fault in his actions was beautiful and I just loved everything about it. I can't wait to read more of their work!

While I fully acknowledge how important it is to normalize stories like this one especially with all of the anti-trans sports bills going around, I can't say that I particularly enjoyed this book. This book deals with a lot of heavy topics: transphobia, homophobia, trauma, grief, ableism, hiding autism, bullying, and toxic masculinity. And while I normally love when we see these real world issues on page and being discussed, I felt that the characters never really grew and there was very little resolution. I ended up just being disappointed with the entire storyline.

A trans boy decides to run for homecoming king against his ex, but the competition quickly turns into a messy rivalry with both boys trying to sabotage the other’s campaign.

The representation in this one is incredible. Of the two main characters, one is trans, and his storyline shares so much of the pain he experiences as he is transitioning. The other is autistic and we get a glimpse into the challenges he faces in school and socially as he tries to keep his diagnosis a secret. The storylines are complex and don’t sugarcoat their challenging experiences.

Overall, as much as I wanted to love this book it missed the mark for me. I felt the characters were so mean to each other (and everyone around them). Even though they recognized they were flawed, Jeremy especially was so selfish he just made me angry for much of the story.

As an audiobook, this was challenging to get into at first. The differences in the voices of the main characters were so subtle, it took me a few chapters to figure out which point of view I was listening to. And there were a few times throughout I needed to go back to see which character I was listening to.

Thank you to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the audiobook!

This is going to be a spoiler-filled review, so if you haven’t read it yet and would like to, I suggest you stop now.

Have you stopped reading? You’ve been warned!

I had been eagerly awaiting this book, and wanted so, so much to love it but I just couldn’t. We 100% need more books with trans main characters, but this book really missed the mark for me.

The main character, Jeremy, is just awful. He treats his friends, and other students at his school, like absolute @%$& but thinks he deserves to be crowned Homecoming King and be loved and adored. He’s been through so much, and that would justify the hate and rage he is fueled by, but he admits that he’s a complete a-hole and then in the next sentence talks about how he’s earned Homecoming King etc. He is beyond narcissistic, even for a teenager.

Jeremy was just so self-destructive, and I’m sorry, but bringing a knife to school? That was really the last straw for me, and I almost DNFed it right there…but I’m stubborn and I just kept hoping it was going to get better. I am surprised that it still triggers me so much after all this time, but a kid in my grade at high school got stabbed in the chest at school, and there is just no justification for that sort of violence. Plus the knife didn't really play into the plot, Jeremey never used it or was caught with it, so I feel like he could have had a less disturbing talisman.

When it came down to it, I disliked how the whole story centered around the complete annihilation of people who used to be their closest friends. Entirely too much hate, anger and destruction for me.

The only reason I bumped my rating up from a two to a three was because the audio narration was fantastic and because I really liked Lukas’ character. He makes some big mistakes, but he always tried to fix them. And even though he had a lot of challenges in his personal life I really loved how loyal and caring he was—although I think he gave Jeremy entirely too many chances.

As I mentioned, the audiobook was wonderfully performed by Avi Rogue (who you might recognize from Cemetery Boys), and comes in at just over 11 hours.

Jeremy is a trans boy that wants to leave his past behind and make sure everyone in his school sees him as he truly is and accept him, and for this he decides to run for Homecoming King.
Lukas, his ex boyfriend, is a popular football player that has hidden his autism diagnosis from the world, diagnosis that has put a strain in his relationship with his family, especially since the death of his brother, and he will do anything to try to be as neurotypical as possible and get into a good school thinking this will ssve his family dynamic, and for this he also runs for Homecoming King.
Along the way both main characters learn a lot about themselves and the people around them and how to navigate this new challenges.

I wanted to love this book, and in general is a nice story with lots of amazing representation, but I just couldn't like the main characters, they are flawed and thankfully they know it, but they don't do much to improve and especially Jeremy was too selfish for me to ever root for him. It was also a bit predictable and there were still some open story lines by the end.

I still think it's worth reading, especially if you want to dive deeper into the mind of a trans person going through transition, it was informative and eye opening.

May the Best Man Win is a YA contemporary about a trans boy and his ex boyfriend going head to head in a battle for Homecoming King.

I'll begin this with two things-

First, the cover is stunning, and the synopsis made this one of my most anticipated reads of 2021.

Second, I am conflicted. When I finished reading this, I wasn't sure what to say, or whether it was a 4 or 2 star book for me.

Objectively this book is a good time- it has all the tropey goodness of lovers to enemies to lovers with a lot of history, it has a very angry trans MC, an autistic love interest, and a wonderful group of friends who honestly deserve better.

It covers a lot of important issues that deserve more space in the YA sphere (also a TW list): Transphobia, dead naming, bullying, harassment, attempted sexual assault, homophobia, ableism and generally deals with them with conversations between the characters.

That said, our two main characters, Jeremy and Lukas, are really unlikeable, which in itself is not a problem, but they honestly had very little in the way of redeeming qualities and treat their friends horribly. I went into this expecting this to at least be funny, and while Jeremy was funny at times and a bit of a badass, instead what I got was miscommunication, two boys who walk all over their friends to get what they want, far more interesting side characters who didn't get enough page time, and kids with a lot of issues and very little character development.

This entire book is Jeremy and Lukas ruining their friendships and being forgiven far too easily, and while I appreciated their characters otherwise, it was too much of a mess to get past.

In the end though, I think this book is worth reading for the wonderful side characters. Sol, a non-binary Latinx character, deserves all the attention.

A note on the audiobook: the narration was actually really enjoyable! It's the reason I got through this book so quickly.