Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Well I flew through this book. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, but I should have considered since it’s Adib Khorram. Since reading his Darius books back in 2022, I will read anything and everything he puts out. This was an adorable addition.

I don’t know how I felt about all the random words being crossed out everywhere. I know it was probably to make it look like a list or something, but it was a little weird. I love a good romcom, and this one had all of the usual workings as well as some moments that truly made me furious. Jasmine was the most annoying person ever throughout the whole book and I’m not really sure if I can forgive her in the end. She’s just a really bad sister. I also got weird anxiety reading because I knew something bad was going to happen eventually. Why do romance books always need third act breakups?!

I liked how this explored Jackson being deaf and how people treated him for it. The way people would speak slowly or treat him like he was stupid instead of just repeating themselves to him. The fact that none of his family had learned sign language. Liam was such an adorable golden retriever boyfriend. His character was my favorite. I also really liked Bowie and a few of the minor characters that we don’t really see that much of.

Adib’s writing is incredible and I’m so excited for his adult debut later this year. This one has a lot of heart and great storytelling and is full of amazing rep of different kinds.

Always excited to check out an Adib Khorram book ever since the first Darius book, which was one of the best intersectional YA story I'd read at the time. Every book since then has trended more and more towards generic YA trends, with a dash of interesting diversity in the cast of characters, which is still very valid and necessary. This one is a love letter to Theater as a safe space for a protagonist who is not just queer and part Iranian, but also deaf. As a former Theater queer myself, this makes up for the majority of what I adored about this book. The protagonist embodies ALL of the intersections but is also a hot mess of a teenager, and that is sweet and heartwarming. However the things I miss from the Darius days are things like meaningful fleshing out of parents and other family members. Jackson's dad is loving but relegated to a very vague outline of an Iranian dad, and the family member that has the most impact in this story is a complete trash human and is too easily forgiven. Everyone else is relegated to simplistic labels as humans, and the love story is sweet but very generic. My love of high school theater notwithstanding, this story doesn't break any significant new ground for me. Still, for the landscape of YA at large, this is a worthy addition towards more intersectional stories.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was one for the gay stage managers and I LOVED it!! Every detail was perfect and I was engaged throughout the whole book. The romance was super cute, but I was mostly in love with the theatre.

Struggled with this one. I was so excited for it! The premise sounds fresh and fun.
But the writing style just didn't work for me. Just felt like an old person very clearly writing what they believe teenagers talk and joke like.
While I loved the main character and the best friend character and enjoyed the bits we get about stage productions, I found everyone and everything else kind of blah.

I enjoyed this book. The characters were enjoyable and realistic and I truly loved the protagonist which I tend not to in many cases. The reasons this is getting three stars is because one, the strike through was getting extremely annoying, it was done so often I stopped reading them, and two, I guessed the conflict so early one I was waiting for it the whole time I was reading and that did take away from the experience.

The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
- Deaf Iranian MC with a hearing aid
- YA M/M romance
- Theater kids and plenty of drama
- Lots of queer rep

I liked the first half of this more than I liked the second half. That being said, I really enjoyed the book as a whole. I’m not deaf or handicapped but I thought the Deaf representation was well considered and well written. I enjoyed Jackson’s narration, and he and Liam are really sweet together. I love Bowie (though I’m torn on how to say their name - the Maryland way [Boo-ie] or as in David Bowie? Probably as in David, but I’ve spent too long on the East coast to not consider the MD option.)

This is a little predictable and a little cheesy at times, but overall, it’s an adorable and very diverse YA romance and I quite enjoyed it.

#netgalley #arcreview #adibkhorram #thebreakuplists #iranianmc #deafmc #ya #mmromance

I loved the diverse representation in this book. Jackson, our narrator and main character, is a biracial, Iranian-American, gay teenager. He's also deaf and wears hearing aids. Jackson's best friend, Bowie, is Black, aroace, and nonbinary (they/them pronouns). They're also a CODA (child of deaf adults), so they and their parents know sign language (which is how Jackson learns sign). I can't speak to the accuracy and authenticity of the deaf representation, but I hope due diligence was done in terms of sensitivity readers.

Jackson's sister, Jasmine, is a bit of a lovesick teenager. She has a LOT of ex-boyfriends. To help her feel better after the breakups, Jackson writes breakup lists that he recites to her whenever she needs to be reminded why her ex is undesirable and why she's better off single. The breakup lists are easy to write, until she makes him write one for her latest ex, Liam. The same Liam he fell in love with, and who was his friend before dating Jasmine. Liam is on the swim team with Bowie, and Jackson and Liam become closer when Liam tries out for, and gets the lead in, the fall musical, for which Jackson is the stage manager.

I thought the relationship between Jackson and Liam was so cute! I felt their chemistry and loved them together. I swooned over the little touches before they were officially together, and before either knew the other liked him (these touches had me SCREAMING at Jackson, "He's NOT STRAIGHT!!!"). In my opinion, this was friends to lovers done right. We see the start of Jackson and Liam's friendship and see them growing closer before they ever get romantically involved. Liam is a fantastic love interest. He learns sign language to communicate with Jackson. I'm not sure if it's possible to pick it up as quickly as he does, but the effort is sweet, especially when Jackson's own family couldn't be bothered to learn for him.

Jasmine is insufferable. I couldn't stand her in EVERY scene she was in, and she does little to redeem herself in the end. She is so self-absorbed, shallow, and manipulative. You'd think SHE was the theater child, given her propensity to dramatics. She does something unforgiveable and cruel to Jackson (something I would NEVER do to my brother, no matter how mad at him I am), instigating the third act conflict and subsequent breakup (no spoilers). I didn't like the placement of this breakup, because Jackson and Liam don't get back together until the VERY end. Like, we're talking after 95 percent. The resolution felt rushed in relation to the slow burn in the first and second acts. This was a very fast read, and it probably could have been a bit longer to extend the resolution.

It feels statistically improbable that Jackson's shirt tag would be sticking out as much as it was. It feels like user error. Jackson... bro... you know they make shirts nowadays that have no tags in them, right? Like the tag is printed directly onto the shirt? You might want to think about investing in some of those. Cuts down on the sensory overload, too.

This is a minor criticism, but I didn't like all the cross-outs. In the ARC, the text didn't show as crossed out, so it got confusing. I'm sure this will be fixed in the final copy, but I still think the cross-outs were overdone. I wouldn't say "get rid of ALL of them," because they were a part of Jackson's voice, but I think there should have been fewer.

I mostly liked this book and would recommend it if you want to read an interracial queer romance with Deaf/Hard of hearing representation (not OwnVoices)!

Thank you to Penguin for the complementary advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are voluntary and my own.

What a lovely, lovely little book. It’s a classic high school romcom with a deaf main character and an adorable love interest. One star off because Jasmine REALLY sucks - she fell flat for me the whole time. This is an easy, quick read and I would absolutely recommend to any ex-techies wanting to relive their glory days on the catwalk <3

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH/Dial Books for the ARC!!

I had a lot of fun reading this and laughed out loud more than i thought i would but then again i expected nothing less from Adib.
While there are some little things I didn’t like, and the mc is far from perfect, this is definitely something id add to my favorite reads of the year.

I'm signing up to be in Adib Khorram's official fanclub after reading this one. Adib always delivers and The Breakup Lists is no exception to that.

In this book, we follow Jackson Ghasnavi who is a lot of things but his love for theater (especially being a techie/stage manager) is the one thing that remained constant in his life. And yes, Jackson is also NOT a romantic after being a first-row audience to his parents' divorce and his sister Jasmine's romance misadventures. That was until Liam entered the scene.

Jackson and Liam hit it off as friends but soon they realized that they're feeling a bit more than friendship but both are too shy to act on it.

This is more complicated than the typical 'boy meets boy' as the author included a conflict than made me rethink of what I'll do if I was in Jackson's position.

The Breakup Lists talk about both the beautiful and messy sides of loving someone while also sublty discussing about the importance of letting a person decide and explain about their gender and identity.

And as someone who loves reading about characters who actually care about others, not just themselves, this is a topnotch characterization. I want to hug Jackson after finishing the book.

The romance is where I'm really conflicted because of the way Jasmine was involved in the scene, and I really had a hard time thinking about what I'll do in that situation. But in the end, it's good to know how things worked out for them.

And yes, friends to lovers enthusiasts won this one iykwim.

I've loved everything else by this author, so I'm disappointed to say The Breakup Lists was just okay for me. I really loved the main character, and the love interest, and the best friend. I loved all the stuff about the stage production. But I could not stand Jasmine, the main character's sister. Her being so completely selfish and unlikable really hurt the story for me. I think I would have felt much more conflicted and emotionally invested if her character was actually someone I cared about, since she's such a big part of the story. Everyone here is messy and making mistakes, but while I felt I could so easily understand the choices most of the characters make, Jasmine's whole attitude and her actions are just plain awful.

I also kind of felt like there was too much going on in the story, to the point that I didn't connect with much and felt less invested than I would have liked. I think that the sweet moments between the MCs were really well done, and those, along with the moments between Jackson and his best friend, were my favorite part for sure. I also felt the pacing was somewhat off, especially toward the end. I did appreciate that an MC seeks out therapy and that we are shown young people in love can break up and still move on with their lives and find new interests and joys.

So yeah, this was a mixed bag for me because there was a lot to like, but also some aspects that didn't quite work for me. I wish I'd felt happier and more invested overall while reading but it was kind of 50/50 on the parts I enjoyed and the parts I just wanted to be over with.

"Oh wow, this was so good," I say as I wipe some wetness out of my eyes. 😂 THIS WAS SO GOOD!!!

One thing I always I appreciate about Adib Khorram's works is the blend of teenage experience and poignant themes. It was there in his three other books I read before, and this one, The Breakup Lists, is no different.

This was easy to read and follow, the writing is light and funny. And yet, through Jackson, we are offered a perspective of a gay Iranian-American teen who loves theater, who also happens to be hard of hearing, who's falling in love for the first time, who feels under appreciated, and still has some issues he needs to work on. I loved reading this story and in Jackson's POV. He's a compelling and relatable character, and you just want the best for him even if you know, as a reader, that he's not making the best decisions 😅

Jackson was hard of hearing, and it was nice to read about the experiences of the Deaf/hard of hearing community in his POV. Ableism was also touched upon, as well as mental health. Aroace identity was also featured (confirmed aroace minor character!), as well as other queer rep.

The plot is interesting, and though it may seem formulaic at times, it works and it's good. Adib Khorram still has some surprises for the reader and I love that. Much of the plot and Jackson's storyline revolved around being in theater and I just thought that was fun! I've never been a "theater gay", but I definitely had some flashbacks to certain Glee episodes while reading this 😂 I love it all the more!

I love the romance, too. This got me giggling and kicking my feet and I LOVE THAT. (I'm not going to say anymore in case I spoil something 😂)

Also, I have to say, Bowie is definitely my favorite character, I love them 😂

Overall, this was so so good. I was excited for this one, and Adid Khorram definitely did not disappoint.

Exact rating: 4.5 ⭐️ (Might post a detailed review on the blog!)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc! This is out April 2nd!

The Breakup Lists has got some good things going for it, including awesome queer representation.

Jackson Ghasnavi, our MC, is an Iranian-American, queer, hearing impaired, theater-loving high schooler who helps his sister create "breakup lists" lists for every one of her exes as a way to move on, in true supportive brother fashion. Both siblings are wrestling with the fallout of their own parents' divorce, which manifests in different ways: Jasmine pursues back-to-back relationships while Jackson takes a more cynical approach to romance. Things get sticky when they both set their sights on Liam, the supremely sweet and straight-seeming swim team captain.

Unfortunately for me, I found Jasmine annoying to the point of distraction (I felt similarly about another sister character, Arabella, in Alexis Hall's otherwise delightful Something Fabulous), and the third-act breakup has also not been working for me as a device anymore, both of which colored my enjoyment of a book that might have been a five star read otherwise.

Jackson's character growth, the queer joy, the lovely Liam, and the realistic teens were all fantastically done.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Dial Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed the Darius books by this author, so I thought I'd give this one a try. This was a fun YA read. Nothing too deep, but I enjoyed it.

A sweet tale, but It left me wanting more. I liked the premise and representation, but I felt like it could have gone a step further in exploring the relationship.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Young Readers for a copy of this e-book. I chose this book because it concerns musical theatre, deaf rep, and POC rep. The synopsis seems appealing to theatre lovers. However, the book failed to meet my interests.

Things I liked.

-Deaf Rep/hearing aids rep
-stage managers and theatre geeks
-LGBTQ rep
-Black author rep

I pretty much disliked everything else.... :( that is why it took me weeks to finish this after receiving a copy.

-it seems exactly like "I Hope This Doesn't Find You" by Anna Liang and "I wish you would" by Eva des Laures, two arcs I just finished. The plot and conflicts are the same except there are no enemies to lovers. The list concept or letters to a person you hate is getting boring.

-This book is so slow. Nothing happens until more than 3/4 of the way in.

-I understand the references to the musical they are doing but you lose the author's story when so much of the musical is being told in the book. It feels so unoriginal.

-Okay, I wanted to love this because I have hearing aids and am lgbtq but the representation doesn't do justice. Just because some words are missing or mispronounced because he can't hear them doesn't make it a good deaf rep. Where's the backstory to how he became deaf?

-Without spoiling anything the smoothie slang has got to go its so annoying

-I feel like nothing happened at the end of the story. It seems like any other love story ending.,

I wanted to love this so bad because I like YA and never see myself represented. It's just not good storytelling and the conflict has been used so many times by other authors. It feels so bland and unoriginal. :(

Ranking it up to 3.5 because of the LGBTQ and deaf Rep.

this book was everything I wanted and more! I had all the feels, good and bad! This book was so freaking cute!!! I loved how Liam and Jackson interacted, with all the cute subtle is it really flirting, flirting! Again so cute! Liam was just so sweet and the way he always tucked Jackson’s tag in? Why was that so cute?!? Literally all I have to say is this book was so cute and you need to read it! Haha
The book also had some great rep with the main character being half-Iranian and deaf and a trans aroace black side character.
Jackson creates these breakup lists and I liked how his style for those, crossing out certain things he wrote in them, came into play throughout the book. By that, I mean that occasionally as Jackson is narrating he will say something and then it will be crossed out and rephrased. A lot of the time these crossed-out aspects are his initial thoughts, which are sometimes inappropriate. I loved this inclusion, felt very true to Jackson’s character.
If you’re into theater or even the tech side of theater then I think you’ll love this one. As I said many times already, so freaking cute! Highly recommend.

content warning: ableism

i was a theater kid in high school so needless to say, "the breakup lists" was right up my alley. and, much like jackson, i also was a stage manager—and my time in theater had a similar end to his (but not nearly as messy). i think it's safe to say i loved this book, considering i devoured it in one afternoon. i just couldn't put it down until i finished!! jackson was such a relatable character and i loved seeing the world through his eyes, and his relationship with liam was just so precious i was squealing the whole time i read it. obviously, the book wasn't all sunshine and rainbows (though there were plenty of the latter, for gay reasons), but the conflict in the book felt very realistic and the climax was painful to read because i empathized with jackson so much. i also loved (most of) the other characters, particularly bowie, for obvious reasons. every queer kid needs their fellow queer bestie and bowie was exactly the kind of friend jackson needed. i had less nice things to say about jasmine as i read the book, but i'm glad things ended well on that front too. reading this book felt like being back in the world of high school theater but in a good way and i would recommend it to all ex-theater kids and anyone looking for a cute YA romcom with some great representation.

big year for theater gays!!!

everything Adib publishes is so good and filled with so much character, personality, and heart. i loved reading Jackson and his thoughts and feelings as he navigated some great teen drama.

Jackson as a character was very interesting. he has all these inward emotional barriers that are only hinted at and don't fully become apparent until everything hits the fan. it's really really great characterization!!

Liam as a love interest really enhanced the story as well. he's got that "perfect guy" thing going, but has his own inner demons that really help flesh him out as a character.

and Jasmine...ya know, i can see a lot of strong opinions about her and her actions. but emotionally and thematically, they all make sense. and i think that makes for a great character and plays into how well this story was written!

What a fun book! This was so sweet - following Jackson, a deaf boy who is the stage manger for the drama department at school. He starts crushing on Liam when Liam tries out for the play… but so does his sister Jasmine.

Things I loved about this one:
Jackson and his confidence in his abilities as the stage manger. I also really loved how he learned what it felt like to fall for someone. I loved his internal monologue so much.
Liam was so sweet and genuine. Definitely a people pleaser. He was a great love interest.
Bowie and Jackson’s friendship. It was so strong and steady - even through the hard stuff.
Jackson and Liam learning about each other.
The break up lists - they did make me laugh but probably should have been destroyed! Lol
The very sweet and emotional grand gesture at the end.
My heart genuinely broke for Jackson when it was shown that his family didn’t learn sign language, but I did love that Liam did. It was a lovely gesture of friendship that bloomed.

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