Heartfelt and gives ALL the feels! This angry skater boy gave me all the feels. I cried at work listening to this. Thank god no one saw me… If you haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, bump it up on your TBR!

Take the song Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne, turn it into an lgbtq+ novel and you've got this heart-wrenching coming of age story.

Wes Mackenzie is a punk. He's part of The Tripod, three boys who terrorize their high school by being bullies. His dad was abusive, his mom is in a new relationship and he's not sure how he feels about that after being her protector for so long, and he's struggling with his sexuality. Wes knows he's gay, but coming out could ruin everything - his reputation, his relationships with his friends, what his mom and her new boyfriend think of him. He's got unchecked anger issues, and would rather skateboard than go to school. The only thing he's really interested in is photography. And he's good at it.

After a family night out to see The Nutcracker Wes' newest interest is Tristan Monroe, a ballet dancer of incredible talent. This boy is already out, comes from a great family, and has his whole future mapped out for himself. He and Wes couldn't be more different. The best thing about meeting Tristan is the path that opens up for Wes, the path he allows himself to dream about and imagine himself achieving. It's a beautiful, painful story about a kid who doesn't think he deserves a life outside of his abused past, but wow, was it great to see him fight his insecurities and work for it.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Skater Boy delivers an emotional ride that doesn’t disappoint.
At first, I wasn’t sure I’d connect with Wes—some of his choices had me cringing and questioning him. Teenagers, I guess? And I’m far from one.
But as the story unfolded, his sadness and pain pulled me in. Beneath the anger and impulsive decisions lies a scared, hurting kid, and it’s impossible not to root for him. Even if it took me a while.
The book captures the whirlwind of being a teenager. The unpredictable mood swings, raw emotions, and inner turmoil—through Wes’ journey of self-discovery and acceptance. On the surface, he’s angry and rebellious. Deep down, he’s just trying to navigate his insecurities. It’s a journey that resonates universally, queer or not.
I especially loved watching Wes wrestle with the “punk” persona he thought he had to embody and gradually realizing who he truly is.

Bonus points for the amazing chapter titles!

If you’re looking for a heartfelt, angsty, and ultimately hopeful read, this one’s worth picking up.

This book was nothing like I expected it to be, and I loved that about it. It was refreshing to see aspects of my own high school experience portrayed in a book and the story did a really good job of challenging stereotypes and stresses the importance of not putting people in such rigid boxes. I liked that although this is a queer love story, there were familial elements to it that surprised me. Overall, Skater Boy is a story about identity in every sense of the word.

I adored this coming of age/ coming out love story. The bad skaterboy turned lover boy theme did not disappoint. So well done. Hoping this book will inspire many more skater books for the future.

This book initially confused me because of the premise. I went into it thinking it was going to be something else, but when I read it, I found something totally different. The writing style just did not work for me and I did not connect with the characters (the main one especially) as well as I had initially hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A heartwarming queer coming-of-age story, Skater Boy is a tribute to queer kids who don’t fit in. Not feeling at ease with the queer stereotype or pretending to be straight, Wes has a hard time being comfortable being himself. Meeting Tristan helps him to come to terms with other sides of himself. I felt like the friendships and family relationships were nuanced and realistic. I think it’s important to show different sides of queer culture, and I hope someone who feels like they don't fit in reads this book and sees themself in the characters.

While I very much enjoy a good personal growth story (which this book absolutely has), I love even more when the characters are not so smooth and perfect, but have their flaws and our angsty little angerball Wes certainly has them.

Wes is an amazing character. He's so angry and lost and confused and at the same time so pure and willing to improve and to find himself that my own teenage self almost paled in comparison.

People are flawed. Teenagers are flawed. Angsty little punks are definitely flawed. And that is the main reason why Skater Boy was such a relatable read for me.

I really enjoyed this one. The growth Wes showed was great. Breaking out of an identity he set for himself. The romance was cute, but im glad the story was so much beyond that.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy! I adored this voice driven, fun and well crafted queer debut YA!

DNF. i really wanted to love this one. it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. unfortunately, the characters did not do it for me. they felt bland, making the rest of the story tasteless. still, i could see why other readers would be able to enjoy this book.

I, unfortunately, never realised that I'd actually gotten approved for this ARC and therefore didn't download the e-pub and it was archived some time ago. I have high hopes for this book though and am excited to get a physical copy so am rating it high.

2.5 stars. Some great concepts here, but the execution is lackluster. Definitely reads like a debut; I was occasionally confused by dialogue or character choices that didn't seem to make sense. The author's voice came through a little too strongly to delivery his intended messages, rather than letting the story and characters do the work. Wes's characterization didn't always feel convincing to me—at times he seemed unrealistically self-aware, but at others he was incredibly dense. It was hard to buy that he was really as bad as his reputation, or if so why. His fellow bad-boy friends turned around too quickly in the end, and the ease with which the kids he used to bully forgave him felt like a cop-out. I also didn't really like Tristan much, so the romance fell flat. Overall, this was just OK for me, but I ended up really enjoying the Prediction Bingo I made to fulfill my Magical Readathon prompt.

TW: past domestic abuse, description of past road rage vehicle crash, bullying, homophobia, mention of racism, fistfight, description of injuries, alcoholism, mention of child disownment, sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss), panic attack, anger management issues

I like how this book takes its time introducing the main character. I didn't feel rushed getting to know Wes, his friends, his life, and everything else going on about them. It made me care a lot. I enjoyed the realism and the representation too. There are times, though, when I find the story dragging, when conversations between the characters go on and on and not much is happening.

This follows a teen we wouldn't normally follow in a queer YA book, and I loved seeing the golden heart behind this Bad Boy and hearing from his perspective. The best part was the allusions to the song lyrics/titles for the chapter titles, which I am obsessed with.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

A YA book focusing on skating would have been something I would have loved as a teen. And least face it coming of age stories are still popular with teens today.

i absolutely adored this.

wesley is a mess in the best way possible. he's the the complete antithesis of the perfect cinnamon roll and i loved that the most about him. he's rough, mean, and really lost as a person and it makes this book and his journey all the more authentic.

the book is filled with big emotions and character revelations. wes is constantly making things worse for himself and you just want to shake some sense into him, but isn't that what being seventeen is all about?

there's rich and layered friendship dynamics, a romance that challenges each person to find different aspects of themselves, and a sense of a loving family (even in all the drama) that leaves you feeling hopeful.

you'll grow up with wes as you read this. love.

this one is for all the queer punks especially 🫶🏼 so heartfelt and beautiful and will absolutely make you cry

I had the best time reading Skater Boy. It's a story about being more than the labels and check boxes of what who people think we are. There is so much going on behind these eyes. We can become compartmentalized, we can think of ourselves as just one thing, one identity, one label. But there's so much more to us than that. I loved every character in Skater Boy. Wes immediately endears him to us. His relationship with his mother. The ways he has these vulnerabilities and insecurities hidden beneath the surface.