Love! The cover is giving Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, which is what originally drew me in. The plot was cute! We need more queer romances like this!

This book is so cute it melted my heart. I’m so in love. With Charlie, with Jasper, with their relationship but also with the writing. It’s so funny and witty and sweet and swoony. Really, my heart was singing while I read this book.
I can’t wait to read more written by Page Powars. He is absolutely in my autobus list now!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a cute YA about a trans boy who goes to an all boys school and has to be roommates with the boy who broke his heart 2 years prior, before his transition, while also worrying about grades and tutoring his peers. Charlie is so full of secrets and stress for a 16 yr old, but still so authentic in their interactions with other people. I loved all of the characters and found this to be a quick and cozy read. I loved getting to see Charlie make friends and get comfortable with himself and his school!

My friends and I say “And they were roommates 👀” more times than I can count. So I knew I had to read this lol

This book follows Charlie (post transition) and their time at Valentine Academy. He learns he has a new a roommate named Jasper… who also happens to be the same Jasper that broke his heart two years ago at a summer camp before he transitioned. Charlie wants to fit in at his new school with a fresh start. But of course, that’s easier said than done.

This book was a cute, quick read. Some of it was a little unbelievable (this may be partially because I went to a boarding school so some of the academy happenings seem a little out there as someone who has lived it lol). This is a true “young adult” novel with lots of school drama and a small amount of young-love romance. Bonus that it’s got a trans main character! We love to see it!!

A huge thank you to this book’s publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, and Page Powars for this eARC.

4.5 stars. I had a blast reading this. It is a celebration of trans joy. It is so heart warming. This is the romcom, emphasis on com, we deserve.

It is silly, wacky, hilarious, campy, ridiculous, over the top, and an all-around fun time (all positives!!!!!!!!!!!).

Jasper is a lot to take in at first—flirty, beautiful, dramatic, annoying, delightful. You feel exactly what Charlie does, irritation and adoration. And don’t get me started on Charlie—my cutie patootie. He’s my son now.

This book has a lot of strengths but the characters come on top. I adored every single one of them. I love my found family.

My heart is so full after reading this. It makes me so happy that this exists for trans and queer kids navigating life right now.

Fun, silly, and OTT
I was so excited for this book when I first heard about it. I loved the cover, title, and premise. It did not disappoint! I had so much fun with this book and flew through it. While the characters didn’t feel like real people because of how ridiculous they were, I still loved them. I didn’t think I’d like Jasper but he grew on me. I liked seeing Charlie make friends and realize he’s not alone. The romance was cute and sweet. I do wish it didn’t have the second chance aspect. They were so young that it didn’t make much sense.

I liked this book. They felt like they were high school boys, annoying-ness and all.

There were some points where my brain would think, "Well, there's the answer right there. There's the solution for you," but I know that teen boys, regardless of whether they are at the top of their class, will always be stupid.

I liked that the author made them a little naive, a little book-smart, not street-smart. It makes sense for a group of boys whose brains aren't fully developed and surrounded by all things love to have a club dedicated to smuggling love notes to the sister campus.

It also felt a little Oruan High School Host Club-ish if they took the full dive and made Haruhi Trans. Loved it.

Honestly, I almost DNFed. This promised to be a somewhat satirical romp set in a boarding school, and I was here for it. I thought it would be like Mackenzi Lee's _A Gentleman's Guide to Virtue and Vengeance_.

Instead...I think I'm too old to read YA where the teenagers actually act like teenagers. I found the characters, the pacing, the plot to all be... less than ideal.

I'm sure it's for someone but it wasn't for me.

The beautiful trans rep, humor, and internal struggles were slightly overshadowed by some truly ridiculous happenings and scenarios.

A heartwarming ending doesn’t quite make up for the convoluted story. The characters are all good, but none seem to be fully developed and the reader doesn’t really learn much about them until far too late in the story. That being said, it’s a special journey to see through the eyes of the character, who learns about himself right along with the reader

And They Were Roommates by Paige Powars is a fun, lighthearted read that embraces classic tropes with charm. While the story leans heavily into familiar rom-com setups and the main character can be a bit frustrating at times, the book's humor, engaging writing, and heartfelt moments make it an enjoyable ride. The banter and chemistry between the characters keep things entertaining, and despite its predictability, it’s the kind of book that feels like a comforting escape. If you’re looking for a feel-good, trope-filled romance with a dash of chaos, this one is worth picking up!

Overall, And They Were Roommates was an unfortunately mediocre read for me. There were so many elements of this book that I loved- the over-the-top romantic setting of Valentine Academy for Boys, the fantastically fleshed out ensemble of quirky side characters, and the smaller plot lines of academic burnout and beginning to find what you're passionate about in high school. I particularly loved Jasper as a character and specifally the love interest, because he feels very real in how silly and dramatic yet sincere he was. However, unfortunately being in Charlie's POV is what made this book a miss for me. I think I am just tired of YA books with trans characters that seem almost afraid of being trans. So much of Charlie's worries stem specifically from being outed, and while this is understandable at an all boys academy it also makes him snappish and rudefor seemingly no reason to many characters that are reaching out with genuine friendliness. This is especially prevalent with how he interacts with Jasper, which Charlie justifies as fair since Jasper broke his heart years before the story starts. However, Jasper does not recognize Charlie and so does not have the context for why Charlie is being rude to him. There's also a storyline about Charlie and his best friend Delilah that didn't feel as though it had genuine emotional stakes, and was resolved in a way that felt shallow as a reader. I really wish that this story had been more enjoyable, especially since there were so many specific details and moments that were genuinely delightful, but unfortunately experiencing the narrative through Charlie's eyes just didn't work for me.

Page Powars write a book I dislike challenge - challenge FAILED! I devoured every page of "And They Were Roommates" because sometimes you just need to read fanfiction tropes in full-length, well-written novel form. Since reading Powars' debut novel, I have been eagerly awaiting another book, and this one didn't disappoint at all. Some of the themes were similar to "The Borrow a Boyfriend Club" in that there is a secret society and a rich love interest, but it didn't detract from the plot at all, and I think that secret societies might in fact be a niche interest of mine now (please write more of them please).

I think the thing I like most in Powars' writing is that even though I didn't come out as trans/nb until later in life, I get to experience what that life is like for trans characters who discovered who they are at a younger age. It allows those of us who came out as adults to live vicariously through these carefully and lovingly created characters that come to life when Powars puts pen to paper.

Plus at the end of the day, who doesn't enjoy a forced proximity trope? If you haven't already pre-ordered this one, you should!

I have found my favorite read of the year so far!!! I read and loved Page Powars' debut novel so I was over the moon to see he was writing another. I said this in my review of his first book the borrow a boyfriend club, but i just think Page Powars and I have the exact same humor. Everything in this book just hit! The humor? HIT. The setting? HIT. The plot? HIT. The characters?? HIT HIT HIT HIT. I was so excited by just the premise alone, and it was executed so well. I loved Charlie and jasper so much it's not even funny. They felt like such real people, especially Charlie. The way Charlie's emotions were portrayed were just really relatable and felt real. Jasper is just iconic, he's so silly and goofy but also true to himself which i loved. More than anything i just found myself constantly thinking about this book whenever i was away from home. It was living r e n t free in the brain mush. Adding Page Powars to the roster of grocery list authors.

100% requested this arc because of the cover and title and i don’t regret it! it was such a refreshing story about trans youth and the nuanced feelings that often come with being trans (i would know!). i think it was done in a really respectable way in the sense that the mc wasn’t reduced to his transness and was still allowed to flourish in other ways that charge the story forward. i love a well written diverse friend group as well! super admirable characters that made the read a lot funner.

very thankful to have received a copy of this arc and i hope others are able to enjoy it :)

I loved this so much. The setting of St. Valentine's Academy was so fun; I loved all the personalities of STRIP; I loved both Jasper and Charlie. Funny and tender all at once!

This book truly has my DREAM romcom premise. I've been excited to read another roommates-to-lovers since Funny Story, AND it's queer!! However, I'm just not the ideal reader for this author's writing style, which is unfortunate, but I'm certain other readers will connect with this book.

I went into this book with only a basic idea of what it was about so I was a little caught off guard by the secret society and prep school vibes but I really enjoyed it! The secret letter writing/delivery really added another level of tension to the book and also created a great opportunity for Charlie and Jasper to have to spend time together.
Jasper was such a funny character. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him at first, with his very flowery, pretentious way of talking and the fact that he had a giant cardboard cutout of himself in his room but I ended up really liking his character. He was always looking out for Charlie even if it didn’t seem like it at the time.
Poor Charlie had WAY too many things on his plate. Between trying to keep up his grades to worrying about jasper figuring out who he was and getting kicked out of the school.
I liked the slow buildup of the relationship between Charlie and jasper - from dislike to kind of friends to dating. It felt very natural and was really enjoyable to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the ARC!

I was really excited to read this but unfortunately I found it too cringe/unbelievable in a book where the tone seemed serious. In the first few chapters, his roommate was recognized as The Sexist Poet of the Year and is a famous poet at age 16, he has posters of his face and a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself in his doom room, and the barrier between the girls and boys schools is called a cockblockade and referenced multiple times in his thoughts. Also, the MC started an English tutoring program in NYC that gained thousands in nonprofit support in 1 year. I didn’t like either the MC or the love interest. I think this book would have been better if they were college students to make referencing their past fling 2 years ago make more sense. Either that or I’m just too old for this book.

This was such a sweet book. I loved all the characters dearly, especially Jasper, I just wish we got to learn more about them. The book was mainly focused on the “tutoring” club, secretly a letter sending club, and while that was entertaining I was disappointed that that was all the book mainly discussed—of course barring the moments related to the roommate mishap. There was also a lot of unrealistic things in this book which were easy to overlook for the most part because of the overall chaotic and fun vibe of the book, but I think some things could have been avoided. I think it would have better served the book if it had just been set before phones were a thing, because I can’t see how any schools in todays era would just take students phones for a whole semester. But aside from that, this was so cute and I adored the romance and overall trans rep in this book. Super well done!