OH MY GOSH, this is a must read rom-com you will want to add to your shelves this holiday season! I am so proud to be in the time of the queer representation in Christmas books, and this added to the most adorable plot.


I’m a sucker for ANY Christmas romance, so I especially loved the scenes of Matthew and Xavier enjoying Christmas-themed activities together. I know that there has to be a third act breakup, but I do wish it was something a little deeper than a miscommunication that could have been explained away.
Overall, pretty impressed and can't wait to read more from this author!

Netgalley ARC Review

You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince follows a young socialite, Matthew, as he is cut off from his family's money and sent to a small town to live with his grandparents. When he arrives, he finds out he will have to share a room with a live-in student of his grandparents, Hector. These two do not get along at first, but eventually a romance ensues as they plan the local Christmas gala.

I was so excited to pick this up from the sysnopsis. I knew this book was a queer romance and had aniexty rep as well. I am glad to see more books being published with both of these things represented. However, the writing style just didn't work for me. The excessive use of the word "dude" by Hector became extremely annoying and made me dislike his character.

Rating: 3 stars

Matthew gets sent to live with his grandparents after he buys an island.
Cue a gay Hallmark love story happening.

“I sigh, realizing that the boy I'm talking about is a different iteration of myself from a separate past life, removed from who I am here.”

Matthew Prince is the entitled son of wealthy parents, but after buying an island (yeah, an entire island) he’s cut off and sent to spend the holidays with his down to earth grandparents. He gets there only to discover that he’s not the only one staying for Christmas, one of his grandfather’s students, Hector, can’t afford to fly home for the holidays and is staying with them. When Matthew’s grandmother reveals that the town Christmas festival is in danger he strikes a bargain with Hector: help him pull off the festival so he can convince his parents he can be responsible so they let him come home for his big NYE bash, and Matthew will pay for Hector to go visit his family.

I have pretty much abandoned all end of year reading plans to just binge fun holiday books and I have no regrets. This one didn’t really get me in the holiday mood. Matthew Prince is an unlikeable character for pretty much the whole book. I wanted to want to root for him but I just didn’t until really late in the book. But, once I hit the second half everything started coming together and we got to see Matthew grow a bit and understand his “grinchyness”. The side characters were actually my favorites and the spice was pretty good 🔥. If you’re looking for a holiday romance that’s not too sweet, five this one a try.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This one is not for me. I found Matthew unrelatable and unlikeable in so many ways and didn't really find anything that redeemed him which made it hard to undersrand why Hector would love him, let alone like him. And Hector's constant use of the word "dude" was just about the biggest buzzkill in the world. I couldn't get over how much I couldn't relate to these characters and didn't enjoy their love story because of it.

I'm sorry Matthew Prince, but you're not the one for me. I couldn't get over his rich boy attitude and I enjoyed the campiness, but a quarter of the way into this book, I just didn't care about what happened to Matthew. This just wasn't the book for me right now. I feel like I would have enjoyed this one more if I had listened to it!

Thank you NetGalley and Casablanca Books / Source Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was SO cute!! Matthew Prince gave me major David Rose (Schitt’s Creek) vibes, which of course, I loved!! The setting and other characters gave me an overall Schitt’s Creek feeling as well.

I enjoyed the spin on this grumpy/sunshine trope as both main characters flipped between the two roles. Their banter was part playful, part snarky, and part sexy. The way Matthew struggled with anxiety disorder and how Hector helped him during his attack melted my heart. These two are not flawless, but it’s clear they are good for each other.

My biggest gripe is the overuse of the word “dude” by Hector. I found it very distracting, however, once the reader learns why, it’s more heartwarming than irritating. I wish I had learned the reasoning sooner in the story.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I adored the healthy, healing, happy ending! I highly recommend this one for everyone’s holiday reading list!

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to this one, but oof the narrative voice did NOT work for me. The main character turns out to be the type of awful rich person I hate, and though I tried, I did not like it at all.

Such a fun holiday read! I love the normalized LGBTQIA aspect of this book and the cover - give me all the grinch vibes!!

As the name suggests, You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince follows a spoiled rich kid, Matthew. After a bit of a PR disaster, he's cut off and shipped off the spend the holidays with his grandparents in their small town. The catch? He has to share a room with a graduate student named Hector and the pair clash from the beginning. It gets worse when they have to plan a charity gala together.

But you know what? All that forced proximity leads to lots of sexual tension, banter and sizzling chemistry. There were definitely some spicy moments along with great character growth. I was very glad of this as in the beginning I found Matthew to be somewhat unlikeable, so I was glad to see his character evolve as the story progressed.

Add in a fast pace and great anxiety rep you have the heartwarming holiday queer romance that is You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince.

you’re a mean one, Matthew Prince 💚

🏳️‍🌈 queer holiday romance
📺 schitt’s creek vibes
🏠 city boy —> small town
📖 family drama

My thoughts on this one are very mixed. The first 30% of this book was aiming for a 2 stars for me. I thought the main character was annoying and hard to feel empathy for. While the overly privileged city boy is part of the plot, it went a little too far at times. The premise is supposedly enemies to lovers but the love interest literally has no basis for their first encounter to be mean out of nowhere over the MCs pants?? And then they make up so quick that enemies to lovers is a stretch for sure. (Almost insta-love IMO) And the love interest also says “dude” in almost every piece of dialogue. However!!! There were other parts that I really enjoyed! Especially toward the end! The queer representation was great and I was happy to read about the different identities and the polyamory rep! There was also a lot of good discussions on mental health and anxiety rep that I found pretty accurate. The twist at the end definitely made me emotional and mad at the culprits. Overall, this one was just fine to me but entertaining for a holiday read! I loved the representation but the romance was less than perfect with a few cute scenes. The last 40% saved it and for that I’m bumping it to a solid 3 star read!
***thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really wanted to love this books, solid premise and the holiday vibes but Matthew Prince is a mean one and I really couldn't get past his attitude! I did finish the book and yes he did grow as a character but I just didn't love their love as much as I would've wanted to!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

This book was so much fun! It reminded me of Red White and Royal Blue combined with Schitt’s Creek a two things I LOVE! Even though this is a rom-com, I appreciated the depth of the characters and the way the author addressed the character’s anxiety disorder. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes romance.

Cheers to my first holiday read of the year! As soon as I saw the title and cover of Timothy Janovky's You're A Mean One, Matthew Prince, that I was going to enjoy it, and I'm so happy this was my intro into this season's holiday reads.

This book is adorable, charming, and gave me all the holiday warm and fuzzy feelings that I was looking for. I think Janovsky did a wonderful job of making Matthew likable even during the moments when it seemed like he was meant to be unlikable. I just wanted to give him a huge hug and be his friend. His growth is believable and lovely to experience. I was especially appreciative of how much of Matthew's journey with General Anxiety Disorder is shared and explored. I also really liked that there is no real "villain" in this story...and that's all I'll say on that.

Hector and Matthew...so sweet and swoony together!! I loved them and the way they pushed past first impressions in order to get to know each other. There was definitely a little "enemies-to-lovers" going on! This book is full of cute and endearing side characters that enhance Matthew's story.

This book is for you if...
-you love a satisfactory character arc
-you want a holiday romance
-you love snow
-you want a story with lgbtq+ rep and anxiety disorder rep

First off, try reading this without singing the song in your head 24/7.

Now that that's out of the way, I loved this book! So many books try to emulate the "Hallmark Christmas movie" feel while falling short, but this nails it. It's got everything: baking, Taylor Swift references, a fun holiday fair, a gala!!!! It was so fun. You can listen to our full discussion of this book here: https://anchor.fm/fifty-percent-podcast/episodes/Fifty-Percent-Book-Club-Youre-a-Mean-One--Matthew-Prince-by-Timothy-Janovsky-e1rtni0

This was an absolutely delightful Christmas read. Matthew reminded me a bit of David Rose and Hector was a sweetheart. I loved them bonding over A Christmas Carol, especially the Muppet version. I also enjoyed Matthew's journey of self discovery. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder rep with Matthew was also really good.

This was a struggle to get through. Matthew was just so unlikeable. Really hoped for more from him.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me the ARC to review.

Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. I made it about 1/3 of the way through but I couldn't get past how much I disliked Matthew. And how many times Hector used the word "dude". Honestly I spent most of that time feeling annoyed and ended up just stopping. I know there are people who have loved this book so don't let my review alone sway you, but I just wasn't clicking with this one.

This is everything I thought and hoped it would be. It was swoony, heartfelt, festive, and had just enough holiday cliche for me. I loved the whole rich boy small town thing.

I was looking forward to this book since I enjoy holiday romances and the big-city/small-town trope, but this book just didn't do it for me. I unfortunately dnf'd this one at 35%.

The main male lead (who's single POV we get) was spoiled but misunderstood, and I wanted to learn more of his inner thoughts and motivations, but his behavior was continually annoying. What's worse is how frequently the other male lead called him "dude". I really hope their chemistry gets better, but I couldn't keep reading to find out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.