<i>Out of the Blue</i> is an empowering fish-out-of-water (literally!) YA queer romance. Sean, a lifeguard and aspiring film director, has just been publicly dumped by his boyfriend when he meets Ross, a stranger who seems to have washed up on the beach. As Sean and Ross get to know each other - and as Ross gets their land legs for their coming-of-age Journey - they both learn a lot about their cultures, rom-coms, and the importance of growth.

First of all, the characters. I don't know what it is about Sean and Ross, but as soon as I started reading, I could not get them out of my head. They feel incredibly real, and I appreciate that we're given both of their perspectives throughout the book, as I think it would have been less enjoyable had it only been written from one or the other. I loved how they described each other; while Ross is fascinated by humans in general, there's something special about how they talk about Sean that's clear even from the beginning.

The only thing that I can complain about - and this really is a personal thing more so than an actual issue - is the ending. I understand why it ended the way it did; I don't think it would have been true to the message of the book if it had concluded any other way. That being said, my stupid little heart was a little disappointed - not enough to write off the book by any means, but enough to lower my personal star rating for it.

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did - as soon as I finished reading my eARC, I actually tracked down where I could pre-order a signed, personalized copy for my own collection, which I practically never do. Though the ending wasn't what I'd hoped for, the characters are so rich and wonderful that I was thinking about them long after I finished the book, and ultimately that's the draw for me in any read.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

Out of the Blue by Jason June is a m/m fantasy YA standalone love story featuring a nonbinary merperson, Crest, or Ross, who must spend a month on land as a human. Think of it as Merperson Rumpspringa. At the end of the month they must have helped a human, and then can return to the Blue, or must live forever as a human. This book has fake dating and sports romance with the lead character being a movie direction obsessed Los Angeles swimmer, named Sean.

The chemistry between Sean and Ross as they fight to make Sean's ex Dominic jealous is cute to watch. It's worth noting this is billed as rom com, not necessarily a straight romance, but the mix of comedy and sweet moments with seriousness was well done. The pacing was a bit off for me, and t times the plot seemed all over the place. It's fine to follow a non standard plot, but I'm not certain if that was on purpose or not. It's worth noting none of the characters are perfect or entirely likable, which believe it or not is a huge plus for me in a book.

The note of confusion I felt at the ending and the sloppiness in parts of the plot is my main issues, otherwise this is a solid read and I would recommend it.

Non-binary mer-people on a magical journey of self-discovery meets teen swim-team relationship drama, Jason June (author of Jay’s Gay Agenda) has delivered a queer rom-com that’s, well, okay… silly and cheesy and a bit daft - but it’s also adorable AF.

Crest is about to start they’re Journey - a tradition for teen merfolk (mer are non-binary - mermaid and merman are human concepts) where they come to land and can’t return to the Blue till they have helped their human. Crest can’t wait to get it over and done with. Gifted with a new name (Ross), legs and a magical cabin Crest finds a heartbroken human lifeguard named Sean and decides his Journey is all about helping mend Sean’s heart and getting him back with his ex-boyfriend. The one thing Crest/Ross won’t do, is let his growing attraction to Sean get in the way of his mission to return home.

Told as a dual narrative, alternating between Ross’s POV and Sean’s, Out of the Blue starts off in pure rom-com territory with Sean not seeing the great guy in front of him as he chases Dominic, the asshole who dumped him. Meanwhile Ross is so focused on their mission they don’t understand the human feelings they get when they’re close to Sean. Cue some appropriately fish-out-of-water scenarios that throw the two of them together and they start ‘fake dating’ to make the ex jealous…

Look, it’s not hard to see the plot developments a million miles off and while June throws some fun complications in along the way, it’s a rom-com that does what it says on the tin. Think Splash, mixed with the charm of Luca and the horny teen angst of that episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer where Xander put on speedos.

What June does that elevates the story, is take the time to deconstruct some toxic rom-com tropes and flip them on their heads. Kavya, Sean’s sassy best friend, goes out of her way to point out that she’s not merely the sassy best friend - she has her own shit going on and doesn’t have time for Sean’s problems 24/7. As Sean tries to teach Ross the ways of human rom-coms so they make Dominic jealous, Ross’s fresh perspective thinks they’re all a bit toxic and manipulative. It keeps the narrative from getting stale and means they get to have their romantic cake and eat it too. As a book for YA readers, Out of the Blue gives us a pretty clear and healthy way to deal with the swirl of emotions that is young love and dating. As the book reaches its climax and inevitable, Sliding Doors / will they won’t they / what will they choose, moment June has one more rug pull ready to unveil.

Yes, it does mean that June is having their cake and eating it too. Playing up the rom-com while critiquing the rom-com but still behaving like a rom-com at the same time. And you know what, I’m fine with that. I just wish they’d spent a bit more time exploring the world from Kavya’s point-of-view which, as the story progresses, turns out to be more nuanced and interesting than Sean or Ross’s dilemmas to be honest.

It’s nice too that neither Sean or Ross feel like particularly standard romantic leads. Sean is aware that he doesn’t have the body-type of most swimmers, but excels anyway, and Ross takes time to understand how to present the gender they feel most comfortable with. Ross’s naivety never comes off as stupidity, and Sean’s realisation that his pursuit of Dominic probably isn’t healthy for anyone involved is nicely illustrated.

Out of the Blue is a cute, funny, fantastical queer tale that wouldn’t be out-of-place in your Netflix cue next to all the other loved up YA adaptations. Is it a bit silly? Sure. But it's a cheerfully light distraction to brighten up your day. Dive in!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for the e-ARC to read and review. This title is my second read by the author, and I'd just like to ask if there's somewhere I can submit my application because I'd like to visit the world of Jason June's YA novels please! I really enjoyed the writing styles of Jay's Gay Agenda, but ultimately the story just wasn't completely my thing. Which is totally fine - but Out of the Blue takes that fun writing and world-building I loved so much and made a fresh new universe starring non-binary merfolk. Consider me hooked! This book was a fast-paced and enjoyable read that was as much an adorable rom-com as it was a look into human selfishness, human gender constructions, and the extremely human nature of wanting to belong. I will say, I'm not that into fake dating tropes and especially not when they're an elaborate plot to brew up some seething jealousy, but I thought this one did a good job and helped smooth over one of the biggest questions I would otherwise have. (Which is, was nobody asking where a random teenager materialized from?)

This was an incredibly fun read. Full of representation and full of tropes that I adore. My favorite part about this book is that it really captures the indecisiveness of teens throughout the book. These characters felt genuine and I loved the struggling they went through with change. The ending felt a bit rushed and not exactly in tune with the rest of the book, but it was still a great read.

Out of the Blue was a fast-paced read that did the exactly right amount of worldbuilding (for me). I loved the rep, I loved the plot, I mostly loved the characters (didn't love best friend Kavya tbh). The end is a little complicated but I thought it was really deftly handled, and liked where it went. Overall a very sweet mlm romance (written by an mlm person, which can be hard to find).

Hmm mixed feelings but still 4 stars, I'd say. I really appreciated the ending. It got a bit angstier than I had expected but there are plenty of readers who will gobble that up.

THIS WAS SO CUUUUUUTTTEEEE!!!!!!! Fake dating between two queer boys?! Absolutely adorable. I’ve seen a few mixed reviews for this book but I found it to be delightful. I will definitely be buying this book for the library, plenty of queer kids will be overjoyed to finally see a queer merman!! Now we all just need a sapphic mermaid book.

Jason June is an expert at character development and the importance of consent and the conversations that surround them. I do have the say that I found the first half of the book a little slow but the second half was amazing! It is certainly a feel good queer romance!

One of the first things I really enjoyed in this book was the concept of gender.

For mer, everyone is nonbinary. They may use they/them pronouns or mer itself as a pronoun, but there is no distinction between binary genders.

When our two main characters first meet, they let their worldviews guide the way they refer to the other. Crest, as a mer, refers to Sean using they/them pronouns, while Sean, a human, refers to male-presenting Crest using he/him pronouns. This continues until the two formally introduce themselves to each other, where they inform the other of their pronouns and are referred to with the correct pronouns for the remainder of the book.

As a nonbinary reader myself, I really enjoyed this interaction. I’ve seen a lot of books with nonbinary characters where their outward presentation doesn’t come up at all, and many characters just automatically know what a nonbinary character’s pronouns are. But as nice as it is, I’ve never found it realistic. Having this moment where a nonbinary character corrects another character’s perceptions helps normalize nonbinary people better than a book just straight up telling readers that someone is nonbinary, and I really appreciated it.

I also really enjoyed how Crest’s secret gets found out fairly early on in this book. I think this is important to point out in this review, as it drastically changes the way a reader may perceive this book to go. Sean learning that Crest is a mer means this book’s conflict obviously isn’t going to focus on the secret, as some readers may expect it to.

Instead, this book largely focuses on Sean learning that his self worth shouldn’t depend on whether or not he is dating someone, which I think is a lesson a lot of LGBT youth should learn. While attraction to a certain gender (or genders) is a really big reason a lot of people associate themselves with an LGBT identity, I have found that some equate this to meaning that their relationship status has a large effect on their identity as well. I can only hope that any LGBT youth picking up this book learn alongside Sean that their self worth does not need to coincide with their relationship status.

This book suddenly gets dramatic near the ending, which left me in a little bit of emotional whiplash. It was as though I didn’t realize I was on a rollercoaster until it was tilting down, and suddenly I found the world around me picking up speed as everything rushed past me. It feels a little weird and disjointed compared to the rest of the book, and I’m sure a lot of other readers will pick up on this as well.

I think a lot of people won’t like the ending to this book, but I think it perfectly fit the themes this book has been showcasing throughout. It feels necessary to this story, and I really appreciated that the author had the guts to go there.

I found myself enjoying this book a lot, though I can’t say I 100% loved it. I definitely am very appreciative of this book and what it tries to convey, and I definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of picking this up!

I cannot handle cheating at all, so it's a no for me.

*ARC provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

This book was okay. The writing felt so juvenile at parts it was uncomfortable to get through. Some parts of the magic/mer-life set up didn’t feel cohesive. A lot of parts in this book felt rushed. However, the ending was incredible. The author nailed the lesson of having to live for yourself.

So you know how sometimes you look at a cover and are like, "Okay, that's a metaphor?" NOT A METAPHOR. ELIZABETH, START READING THE DESCRIPTIONS OF BOOKS BEFORE YOU GET SURPRISED.

Anyway this book was fine! Rounded down from 3.5 stars--bumped it up that last half star for the ending! No spoilers but i found it very mutual and satisfying! Overall though it was a pretty classic teen book (love the lack of heterosexuals though, a++++) with some mer-lore thrown in. It was a fine book and i guess if there's someone who feels like there need to be more merfolk in their queer YA they are in luck! Probably worth having in a school library to keep the something-for-everyone feel.

Thank you, HarperTeen, for allowing me to read Out of the Blue early!

Jason June has a way of words which will always leave me breathless and speechless. His writing style is almost like a delicious meal and once tasted it can't be devoured fast enough. She creates stories that bring so much joy to me and I'm sure they will do the same for students, especially the ones who aren't often pictured on covers, meaning fat children. Seeing one without a shirt and with body hair is so brilliant and literally ground-breaking. So many kudos to all involved in the creation of the cover (a special thanks to the artist for being so incredibly talented). Jason June should be so proud of himself for her tales. Out of the Blue was spectacular and one of the best YA books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I loved the representation of fat and genderqueer protagonists so much.

This was SO enjoyable. The characters are relatable, their lives are fully realistic, and the story is rolled out in such a way that you want to know what's going to happen next, but you still enjoy the moment you're in. This is not your typical romance novel. There are some of the tropes that you'd expect from a romance novel, but they're almost played for laughs in a way. The characters full call them out.

"Ross" is a merperson who has zero desire to have anything to do with humans. Sean is a human who loves being in the water. A series of events gets them to meet, and get to know each other. There is a bi best friend who's an absolute scream. There's jealous exes. There's adorable moments where we learn about mer culture and how they view human culture. There's hand holding. There's tacos.

Seriously, this book has everything you could want out of a sweet little romance between two people from different cultures. I even loved the ending.

So many fun tropes are in this book: the fake dating, opposites attract, the film-student obsessed with movies and wanting their own "movie moment" in real life, and the rushing against time to fulfil a goal trope. I love them all in it's cheesiness that they truly are!

The rep is fantastic too: bi, non-binary (throughout all), gay, a sapphic relationship, big person, and more that I'm sure I'm missing mentioning right here.

I love this title so much! The joy and love and acceptance that is on show throughout the story is just wonderful to behold in the ever changing world that our young people are entering. I can't wait for our students to read this!

Jason June has written a queer love book unlike any I’ve read. Out of the Blue has casual representation of many facets of the queer community. This book needs to get into the hands of our LGBT youth! The love story felt very genuine and real. It was a quick read that kept me reading well past my bed time! Take this one with you to your summer beach getaway. You won’t be disappointed!

You'll love this book if you love:
• Castle Swimmer or other queer merfolk content in general
• positive gay representation and nobody questioning attraction to non-binary people
• teenagers having safe sex (would recommend this book to 15/16+)
• you want a cute read this summer to read next the pool or the ocean
• cheesy romance straight out of a romcom
• messy teenagers
• it's about the journey not the destination

It's probably not for you if:
• you don't like cheating in your romance
• too many mentions of sex in YA (it's a positive for some people and a negative for some I got you sex-repulsed people)
• you don't like immature characters

I really wanted to enjoy this book because the premise sounded so good. Non-binary mermaids, yes please. Not to mention the plus size representation! But the writing was very dull and the characters fell really flat for me.