This is a fun, heartfelt summer figuring yourself out story that does a lot of things well. Zack is an imperfect (and sometimes not that likeable) character who ends up better than he started when he truly looks at what is important in his life. His desire to be the best, to fit in, to win or else makes him real and relatable. One thing I read from adults who read YA is how the characters do dumb things and make mistakes, which, yeah, they're teenagers. That's what they do, and I think this book captures that perfectly. Zack takes the blame for a prank he had nothing to do with because it seemed like it would help him and his former soccer captain, but it was a poor choice, which he follows up with worse choices, and nearly costs his best friend and his love interest.
I enjoyed all the characters and their passion for their community, the soccer team, the marine institute. Overall, an enjoyable read that I think a lot of kids will see themselves in. I really enjoyed that while Zack has a lot of obstacles and struggles, his sexuality and his attraction to another boy is not one of them. His friends, his parents, other adults all accept him (and Chip) so they can focus on the things they care about.

3.5 stars

Cute queer summer romance? Check. Cool marine institute I'd love to visit? Check. Great friendships? Check. Adorable main character I fell in love with? Uh.... kind of?

I thought the book was overall sweet and fun and I liked Zack's friendships with Beckett, Meyers, and Noel. Meyers especially is pretty hilarious and his love of Shakespeare was adorable. The setting is great, with plenty of beach scenes to get you ready for summer.

Zack himself is a bit hard to cheer for sometimes. He's so naïve about things that it was almost unbelievable and though he matures and changes, it felt rushed and mostly happened at the end. I would have liked more time to see growth than just one month. The romance felt that way too, quick and not so realistic.

Definitely an enjoyable YA rom-com and an easy book to jump into.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the copy.

Once again, I am disappointed at myself for not meeting the deadline for this review.

I have just started reading this ARC today--a day before this will be archived. However, even though I am only a quarter of the way through this ARC, I already am having fun reading it, laughing at the comedic scenes, and giggling at the sappiest moments.

I would be looking forward to finishing this book.

Stories where the clueless popular kid opens their eyes to what matters after a series of mishaps will always hold a special place on my shelves. Add in the fact that it's told in a fresh, entertaining manner and that both leading guy, Zack, and his adorable crush, Chip, are great characters with depth and growth and Weber would have had to intentionally write a horrible story for me to dislike it.
Zack is about to start the summer before Senior year, the summer when he will achieve step one of his professional soccer player goals by winning the title of captain after leading his team to victory in a charity match he's trained the team for. But a bad decision led by the desire to be liked lands him in hot water with the team and charged with doing community service to make up for a wrong he didn't actually commit. Zack is convinced he'll have the worst summer ever when he meets Chip, an adorable and sweet guy he meets on the beach and who promptly turns him down for a date. Not to be deterred, Zack convinces the adults in his life to let him do his community service at the aquarium where Chip's a volunteer. And this is how Zack's summer of learning to look at things from a new perspective, that talking things out is always the best option, what true friendship means, and that dreams and priorities can change if you're honest with yourself.
It's a very sweet book about really looking at yourself and those around you and how that can change you and the relationships you have. I loved the fact that it's very obviously a book and story about Zack but every character gets a little moment to show off how they've changed over the summer. It touches on important topics of acceptance and the importance of communication in impactful ways without ever getting preachy or feeling like it's talking down to the reader, which is not an easy feat.
Overall, it's sweet and well-written, with interesting characters and a solid message, definitely a book I'll be recommending this summer.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the sweet summer read!

This was very sweet! I was rooting for Zach and Chip, and enjoyed this read. It will be the perfect light, beachy read to recommend to teens at the store. I especially liked the aquarium setting, which I haven't read in a YA book before.

An adorable queer YA romcom! I loved the subtlety of the relationships in this one, and the strong found family vibes. There were some things I didn’t love, and I had high hopes after Webber’s first novel that this sort of fell flat of, but I enjoyed nonetheless!

This was an absolute delight of a book. Zach, our narrator and a high school soccer star, starts his summer off by taking the blame for a prank the former soccer captain actually committed, thinking it’s for the good of the team. This leads to Zach being given community service, and a chance meeting with Chip on the beach (who Zach instantly gets a crush on) leads to Zach doing his hours at the Marine Institute.

As Zach struggles to be the soccer captain everyone has always believed he will be, he finds himself drawn more to the Institute and to Chip. But will his team ever trust him completely, and will Chip ever let him in as more than a friend?

I loved this book. The characters feel so real and the relationships so authentic. I was rooting for Zach and Chip to get it together and get together so hard. This book made me laugh, and feel, and smile, and I definitely recommend it.

I Like Me Better was mostly a coming of age story. We follow Zack the summer before he starts his senior year. Summer is supposed to be spent practicing with his team, hanging out with his best friends, and preparing to take over as captain next year. All of that goes out the window, however, when Zack takes the blame for a prank he didn't commit. Now he's lost the respect of his team and he has to spend his summer days volunteering at the marine institute. Everything seems rather bleak, until he meets Chip. Chip is a year below him, a space enthusiast, and marine wildlife lover, he is also incredibly cute. As the two grow closer, Zack begins to question his priorities and begins to wonder if things he once felt to be most important really are and maybe, just maybe, there's room in his life for new priorities.

I Like Me Better was a cute YA, queer romance and coming of age story. There was a little bit of angst and high school drama, but overall it was a fairly light-hearted read. It also takes place near a beach, so it would make for a fun summer read as well. I finished it in only a couple sittings, so it was a pretty quick read as well. Would definitely recommend

A super fun and heartwarming summer romance! I'm not super into soccer but reading about it here was entertaining and accessible through Zack's eyes.

i’m so sad that I didn’t love this. I went into this with such high expectations but it just fell flat. I think it was just a little too YA for me. I didn’t really love any of the characters and I didn’t understand why Zack took the fall for the prank. It just wasn’t really anything remarkable and I just don’t think Robby Weber’s writing style is for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

It's a nice romance that I enjoyed reading. A very entertaining story about summer, sports, beach and two guys falling for each other. Have fun reading it

This was cute. I would definitely recommend it for younger high schoolers. Nothing too serious. It wasn't stunning, but it's nice to see more silly little gay rom coms.

This was a fun read! The stakes never felt super high, but it suited the plot and contributed to it feeling very lighthearted. In some places, the dialogue came across as info-dumpy and stilted, and I wished the narrative had more deeply explored some of its themes, but I recognize it isn't really an issue book, and I liked how normalized being queer was in the book's world.

♡ Slow Burn
♡ Mutual Pinning
♡ Friends to Lovers
♡ Extrovert x Introvert
♡ Light Angst with a Happy Ending

Absolutely lovely, this was so cute.

A lighthearted summer time read, perfect for some wholesome slow-burn romance. Following the life of Zach Martin, a soccer star who took the blame for a prank his former captain did. Cue the community service and trying to impress the cute intern, Chip—who he fell head over heels for.

The friends to lovers/slow burn of the romance really worked for this. Zach’s friendships both with Chip and his team were all nicely done. I really liked seeing the ups and downs all the while things being worked out in a clear and mature manner. Zach finding out who he was as a person and growing into a better human being, in general, was nice to see. His character development was really satisfying to read.

It was so nice reading a book (especially a YA) where the main character having a crush on a guy was not the plot point, I like coming out books too don’t get me wrong but it’s rare to find one where it’s just normalized and I loved it so much.

The ending was good too and while there was no dramatic plot it was really enjoyable to read, the characters minus Ryan were all great, and the cover is so freaking cute. Oh, and I loved Megan, she was a big mood.

⚠️ Content Warnings ⚠️
Minor: Cursing, Animal death, Drug use, and Alcohol

I was really excited when I received a digital ARC of I Like Me Better. I read Robby Weber’s debut, If You Change Your Mind, and thought that it was such a fun summertime read. I had similar expectations for his sophomore novel.

Listen, I wasn’t sold on this at first. But the more I read the more I liked it. I think my main issue was with the set-up. The whole Zack-taking-the-blame-for-Ryan’s-prank thing didn’t really work for me logically. First, if the prank was really going to ruin Ryan’s college career, wouldn’t it do the same for Zack? And didn’t Zack feel like he had more to lose since he also believed that his parents were super focused on his goals of playing soccer at an elite level? The set-up seemed forced.

But I did like so many other things here. I loved the fact that the fact that Zack was in love with Chip was just accepted by every character and quite literally celebrated. I loved the scenes that took place at the Marine Institute. I loved that Zack grows tremendously throughout the novel. I even loved just how active these characters are; they’re playing soccer, running, surfing, talking about rock climbing, playing tennis. Most of all, this book made me laugh out loud a few times, which is pretty rare for me. Oh and you can’t beat the summertime vibes.

So while this is not a perfect novel, it is a very sweet summertime romance. Available starting May 2.

This was a true MM YA little romance between a soccer player and the young man who wants to save the world.

Zack has a lot on his shoulders. He takes the fall for a prank he didn’t do and everyone seems to turn against him, including Chip, a guy at the local seaside conservation center he’s assigned to volunteer at for his “prank.” Zack really likes Chip but Chip thinks he did the prank and doesn’t like him.

Zack broke my heart. He was so tender hearted and had to fight tooth and nail to prove himself to people who immediately judged him. That hurt. Once Chip started seeing him for who he really was I started to like him more.

Zack is pretty focused on one thing only: soccer. He’s a rising senior and he’s most likely to be captain next year. The graduating senior Ryan, currently captain, basically guarantees Zack that he’s next. When Ryan does something stupid, Zack takes the fall for him. Ryan says his chance at college will be jeopardized if anyone finds out he was responsible for the prank. So, Zack claims it was him. He thinks it’s what’s best for Ryan and best for the team.

Zack gets assigned community service. He winds up working at seaside conservation center with his new crush Chip. If he must spend his summer doing community service, he can’t think of anything better than spending it with Chip.
But Chip won’t give him a chance at a date. Because Chip thinks Zack pulled the prank. And the prank involved a dead shark. And Zack idolizes Ryan, who Chip dislikes. Ryan is Chip’s cousin. He doesn’t like that Zack seems like Ryan’s go to.

In addition to things being rough with Chip, Zack finds out that the team is upset with him. Because of the prank and Zack’s community service hours, everyone has to do soccer practice at about six am every day all summer. This isn’t what anyone wanted.

And Zack doesn’t even know what matters to him beyond soccer because of the amount of pressure he feels from his parents about being a soccer star.

Poor Zack is feeling a lot of pressure from all directions. His parents aren’t happy that he’s devoting less energy to soccer, his friends are upset that he’s keeping secrets from them, his team is upset that he’s being selfish and also screwing up their summer plans, and even as things improve with Chip he still feels like he’s being kept at a distance. And nobody has even bothered to ask what Zack wants, even Zack hasn’t put any time towards his own happiness.

I thought Zack was a kindhearted guy. He has good intentions. He makes mistakes sometimes. But he’s lovable. I like Chip too and Zack’s best friends.

I also think the background character Foster could do with a story of his own. He seems like he’d have an interesting story.

I received an ebook arc of this book from NetGalley and won a physical copy of the book from BookishFirst. Thank you! I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

I have to admit I have some mixed feelings after finishing this one. There were some things that I just loved, but there were other bits that fell a little short for me. To start with the good. I loved the way how natural and unnoticed it was that the main character was gay and dated another boy. I loved everything about the Marine institute and everyone there. I loved Beckett and Meyers and their threesome friendship with Zack. I didn’t love Zack. I wanted to, he wasn’t a bad guy and he clearly wanted to be better, but I didn’t like him much and I didn’t think his growth trajectory through the book was as good as it could have been. I didn’t love the conflict in Zack and Chip (I also didn’t love that name)’s romance. I didn’t love Ryan and the whole prank that Zack took the blame for (and really where was the logic? It would ruin Ryan’s college career but not Zack’s?). I found I liked the second half of the book a lot more than the first half. Overall I gave this one 3.5 stars but I rounded up for excellent queer representation and a great second half.

High school soccer star Zack takes the fall after a prank by the graduating captain could get the whole squad in trouble. After all, if Zack wants to be captain next year, he has to be a team player. But now, instead of summer days partying on the beach, he'll be doing community service at a local marine ecology center. Worse, cute intern Chip now thinks Zack is irresponsible.

Zack tries to be all things to all people. But he's overcommitted and letting people down. How can he be a good friend, a good teammate, and a good boyfriend—without losing himself along the way?

I loved this cute, gay YA rom-com. Zack has a good heart but doesn't always know how best to express it. I enjoyed the beach setting and the focus on conservation. The teenage angst is pretty low-key.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Gay? Sports? Count me in. I love love love this book! I think it will stand out against a lot of the others we have seen before because of its sports aspect as well!