Before I get into my review of “And They Were Roommates”, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s publishing group for the early eARC!

Let’s jump right in. This book was the perfect YA book! It was fun, adorable, suspenseful, and wasn’t too kiddish! (if you know what I mean.)

I fell in love with both of the main characters quickly and never wanted this book to end. Powars is an incredible author, writing interesting characters and setting an amazing plot!

This book was the definition of an easy cozy read that you could binge in a few hours!

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a light, adorable YA romance that keeps things low on drama and high on charm. The characters felt authentically like teenagers—sometimes making choices that don’t totally make sense in hindsight, but that felt right for who they were in the moment. It was all part of the journey, and never frustrating.

Every character brought something fun to the story—there truly wasn’t one I didn’t like. Everyone had a bit of silliness to them, which made the book even more endearing. That said, the overall plot did feel pretty familiar. It followed the beats of many other romance novels, so nothing really stood out in a major way.

If you’re looking for a sweet, lighthearted read with lovable characters and inclusive representation, I’d definitely recommend picking this one up!

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

4/5 stars

And They Were Roommates is an incredibly sweet romance, but it is also so much more than that—it’s a book for everyone who wants more queer love stories (especially in the YA genre) that celebrate trans joy and acceptance.

Characters:
The characters were probably my favorite part of this book. Charlie, our main character, is such a realistic portrayal of an anxious but incredibly smart teen, who is trying desperately to hide the fact that he is trans so he can stay at his all-boys boarding school. His relationships with Delilah and the boys in STRIP are so wholesome, and I adored the inclusion of uplifting and supportive male friendships. Jasper, Charlie’s roommate and ex, is such a ridiculous and dramatic character, and I loved him for it.

The Romance:
Speaking of Jasper and Charlie, I thought that the romance was really sweet. At first, the idea that Jasper had no idea who Charlie was and couldn’t recognize him after he transitioned seemed a little implausible, but when it was revealed that he thought Charlie was his ex-girlfriend’s brother, and Charlie told Jasper it was just him, I thought the dynamic was much more interesting! I also really loved how, after Jasper found out, he was still in love with Charlie and nothing really changed between them. As much as Charlie struggles in the book with his fear of being outed, when his friends do find out about his transness, they don’t view or treat him any differently.


Trans & Queer Joy:
This portrayal of trans and queer love was so heartwarming and, I think, incredibly powerful in its existence. Having stories like this, which address issues of transphobia and outing, but also show the immense joy and acceptance that trans people can experience when surrounded by loving and supportive friends and family, is so important for young queer audiences. If you’re sick of reading LGBTQ+ books which only focus on queer suffering (as important as those books are too), this might be a lovely change of pace.

Overall, I really enjoyed And They Were Roommates and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoys queer YA fiction and romance. If you’re a fan of authors like Alice Oseman, Julian Winters, and Mason Deaver, I think you’ll love this book too!

This book was cute. It was a nice surprise going into this finding out there's good representation in it. The idea behind the book was cute and the execution was a lot of fun. It's a good, lighthearted early summer read.

It was a little hard to believe at times though which in turn made it hard to stay in the story. Between the skills of 15 year old poets and just how many things happen between the characters. But you know if you read it like a fun Netflix movie those things are just fine.

Otherwise it was a delight. Preordered a physical copy so I can read it again.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute YA rom com featuring clueless queer main characters at a hoity toity school for smart boys.

Not sure what era this book takes place in. The idea that love letters would be so popular was a bit antiquated. And there are no cell phones? So maybe this takes place in the 1990s or early 2000s. Hard to believe a teenager would be a great poet, especially after reading his mediocre poetry. Even harder to believe that teenage boys would be obsessed with sending love letters, but I guess it’s a bit more believable since there is limited phone access?

The two main characters are white men but there are side characters who are POC. Blaze is adorable. Xavier was so lovable, especially when Charlie comes out to him.

There are some surprisingly deep moments of reflection with regards to Charlie’s transness, like when he tells Delilah that he didn’t transition expecting life to be easier. Altogether this was a cute, lighthearted read.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for the opportunity to have read an advanced copy this book for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I DNFd this book. I was super excited because the concept was cool however it felt like a Disney Channel Original movie. That's not a bad thing but its just not something I enjoy. I am also not the target audience.

I was very excited to receive an arc of And They Were Roommates because I love school settings in books that aren't dark academia. I was also really excited and hoping for an angst and pining filled book but the tension didn't shine through for me.

It was a slow start but once I was 30% in, I was enjoying the writing and plot and didn't really want to put the book down.

However, as a few other reviewers have mentioned, despite Charlie being the main character, we as the reader don't seem to know a lot about him. We obviously find out that he's very driven when it comes to academics, doesn't like poetry or the gym, and is anxious about navigating his new world, all central points to the plot. But I wish we had seen more about what made him fall for Jasper, why he was close friends with Delilah, and what he's interested in outside of the school setting. It definitely felt like we were just told "work, school, studying, stress, etc" as a way to excuse us not learning more about Charlie.


Despite all that, I did still really enjoy this. It's a fun, lighthearted, cliché story that was refreshing to read. I do think my biggest issue was just me expecting angst due to the situation but it not being a main point of the book.

I am also an adult, and while I read and heavily enjoy a lot of ya novels still, I do think this is one that will be more enjoyed by young teens.

This book wasn't bad--it was just extremely familiar. There were so many similarities to The Borrow A Boyfriend Club (also by Powars) that it felt vaguely deja-vu-y reading this book. I would highly recommend reading both books, but not nearly back to back like I did.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book

This was so so good. Page has quickly become one of my favorite authors this year! I read Borrow A Boyfriend Club slightly before this one - and I just wished I had more of his stories to read, but I guess I'll have to wait!

Full review to come.

I could not put this down. And They Were Roommates is the kind of YA queer romance that fills your chest with warmth, longing, and deep appreciation for honest storytelling. Page Powers delivers elite-level banter and romance that rivals Lex Croucher’s, paired with the kind of slow burn that aches in the best way. From the moment Charlie walks into his dorm room and realizes his new roommate is none other than Jasper, his first kiss from writing camp two years ago, I was hooked.
Charlie is already navigating life under the radar as a trans student at a prestigious all-boys boarding school, trying to avoid any scrutiny. But suddenly, he’s living with the now-famous poet who broke his heart and just happens to be the principal’s nephew. The tension? Palpable. The chemistry? Off the charts.
Charlie is convinced he was just a forgotten moment to Jasper, but it's so clear Jasper sees something special in him. Watching that initial animosity twist into romantic pining—especially through flirty love lessons, covert school traditions, and delivering forbidden letters to their sister school—was pure gold. I was rooting for them every step of the way.
The slow burn was exquisite, and Charlie’s growth, learning to trust, to love, and to be loved, was beautiful. The blackout poetry, the literary nods, and the fierce emotions all made this book sing. I’ll be buying multiple copies for my classroom because this book celebrates identity, empathy, queer joy, mental health, and the power of being seen. Queer teens deserve their epic love stories too!
Page Powers, you’ve got a forever fan in me.

charming, fun, and over the top, and they were roommates is a silly romcom that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

i enjoyed all of the characters and their dynamics with each other. charlie and jasper have an ever evolving relationship throughout the book that you watch as they begin to develop feelings for each other after they accidentally come to be roommates while charlie tries to keep the fact that they used to know each other a secret. the other characters are really fun too (yes even blaze alpha destroyer) and it’s heartwarming how they all make charlie feel welcome at the school despite the traditional values the academy represents.

while this book is mostly just a fun time, charlie does experience the pressure of living up to the “excellence scholar” role and making the top 5 in his class to keep his scholarship. the school environment revolves around achievement so much so that the top students in the class get extra perks, and the class ranking is broadcast for everyone to see. i appreciated the conversations this book had about the stress of high achievement especially on top of charlie trying to keep up with his other activities.

where the book lost me though was the love letter plot. for the fact that this is pitched as a romance, the majority of the book is about secret the love letter delivery service (called STRIP btw) that i found incredibly uninteresting. i was expecting more buildup in charlie and jasper’s relationship with the love letter delivery service as a subplot but the main reveal happens halfway through the book, leaving the rest to work out charlie and jasper’s awkward relationship. everything about this academy is so focuses around the concept of love that i was wishing we would see more of that in actuality rather than it being left as just the atmosphere and the decoration.

and they were roommates is the perfect read if you just want a funny romcom with low stakes and exaggerated characterizations, but it falls short in the balance between plot and romance.

thank you to netgalley and macmillan for providing an earc in exchange for an honest review ♡

Honestly I wanted so much more from this book and it just BORED ME. YA is so fun because it moves pretty quickly and usually has pacing down, but this book was just so slow and then nothing really happened. Stakes were high, but in the end it didn't matter, and the characters were paper thin. The plot was a big nothing, it didn't make any sense and relied so much on lack of communication. I hated almost all of the characters you're supposed to like, Jasper included. I also hated Charlie's friend on the girl side of the school, because she just didn't seem to empathize with him at all and expected him to be a good friend to her when she really didn't even try.

Charlie was my main issue outside of the totally implausible plot, he didn't seem to really exist? He had no interests outside of school, no history outside of school, no personal feelings outside of stress over school and trans angst. His gender euphoria later in the book is awesome to read, but overall he's just a blank slate. I liked him being angry at Jasper because at least that was an emotion coming from somewhere. I did find his swearing off romantic relationships for two years Jasper's betrayal a bit much, especially when he didn't need that to be his foundational trauma, it could have very easily have been his parents' very messy divorce. Sigh. So painfully mediocre.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Charlie’s plans for his first year at Valentine Academy for Boys are to study as hard as possible in order to keep his scholarship and to fly under the radar so no one finds out that he’s the school’s only trans student. This second plan is jeopardized when, through a mishap, Charlie’s former crush who broke his heart is assigned as his roommate. Miraculously, Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie post-transition. Charlie, desperate for his own room and to stay as far away from Jasper as possible, makes a pact with him. Jasper, who happens to be the principal’s nephew, will make sure Charlie gets his own room if he agrees to help Jasper write secret love letters for the Academy’s students. Charlie agrees and next thing he knows, Jasper is giving him “love lessons.” Will sparks fly - again?

I love the premise of And They Were Roommates. There’s so much fun and chaotic promise to the concept of writing secret love letters with your former flame and of being tutored in “love lessons” by them. Unfortunately, I liked the premise more than the execution. The “love lessons” never really go anywhere beyond Jasper giving Charlie a list of rules for the letters he writes. We also don’t get to see the two of them writing letters together.

I loved Jasper Grimes as a character - he’s ridiculous and funny and flamboyant with his six hundred dollar fountain pen and engraved bookcase. Unfortunately, Charlie and the other characters paled in comparison. There isn’t much to Charlie as a character besides his motivations and the rest of the cast are pretty one-note.

Despite liking Jasper, I struggled to fully understand his motivations. Why does he want help with the love letters when he’s perfectly capable of writing them himself? I assume it’s because he wants to spend time with Charlie, but he makes Charlie write the letters on his own so ultimately it just didn’t make sense to me.

I was also confused by Charlie being so convinced that Jasper can’t have a crush on him. Surely he knows that people can be bisexual or pansexual. It seemed like he was just blind to this fact in order for there to be even more miscommunication. I was so desperate for Charlie and Jasper to use their words instead of trying to reach each others’ minds. This actually gets addressed by the text - they make a promise to stop trying to mindread which nearly made me punch the air in triumph. But then only a few pages later they do it again. I understand that this novel needs conflict and that Charlie and Jasper need a level of miscommunication before they get together but it was really turned up to eleven and almost entirely avoidable.

While Jasper’s over-the-top personality really worked for me, a lot of the other goofier aspects of the novel didn’t. It’s totally possible they’ll work for other readers but I found most of them cringey rather than funny. Don’t get me wrong - this book has its funny moments. There were lines I loved but they were pretty much buried by things I didn’t like. I think there’s a way to go full on camp and be silly throughout without being cringey but this book just didn’t accomplish that in my opinion.
On a more positive note, I liked the “unspoken guidelines” Charlie keeps throughout and I was excited when Jasper and Charlie finally kissed.
At the end of the day, I was disappointed by this book. It had a lot of promise it just didn’t live up to. I can still see it working for people but it didn’t really work for me.

This was a decently lighthearted RomCom. I was really looking forward to this and thought it was an interesting way to possibly tell a second chance romance. I left a little disappointed.

*Spoliers*
The continuous fear of the main character Charlie being "clocked" due sometimes to his top surgery scars is a wee bit unrealistic. I think a more realistic situation would have been the fear of being seen in a binder or in tape, this character is roughly 14/15/16 I'm not sure who and where he's getting approved for this surgery. At best he'd be on blockers and possibly starting T. Also Jasper walking in on him showering and pulling the curtain back? Maybe a roommate does this? I think a better option could have him walking in on Charlie doing his weekly shot, and it would have progressed the narrative better. Lastly, I think it would have been better had they met at a camp when they were like 10 or so, and then ended up roommates as sophomores. Charlie being on T for at most a year in this story doesn't change your appearance that quickly & If they had met younger, I could see how Jasper wouldn't have known who Charlie was.

I would have loved a chapter or two of Jasper perhaps having a bit of bi panic or just the crisis of falling for the possibly brother of your lost love.

I can appreciate wanting to tell a light hearted story, without the complexness or heaviness that comes with being trans. I think that this story could have been as lighthearted as it is, while also dealing a more realistic 14/15/16 year old experience. I also feel that the character already having surgery sets the bigots to believe the narrative that children are having surgeries when they are just on blockers or starting HRT. And sets other trans youth/teens unrealistic expectations.

DNF this one. The unclear time period makes this one hard to fall into the story. Also, as it's marketed as Young Adult - teens do not act like this in my experience. Took me out of the story. It's also rather flat and the secret society bit while realistic, was silly and didn't really add to the story line.

Its a cute YA in an academic settings between Charlie who is a Trans Boy and has joined an all boys academy & Jasper who is the Dean's nephew, a poet, a model and also the guy who broke Charlie's heart when he was 13.

Twist?? Jasper seems to not have recognized Charlie as they become roommates because of a system messup!!!

As Charlie tries to navigate his identity and also settle in the academy with grades and peers it because a quirky read with poetry, prose, secret letter and silly drama..

This might not be the best I have read this month but this book kept me engaged and I enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Publishing for the advance reader copy!

This was definitely a fun read. If you like feel-good stories with similar vibes to 2000s romcoms this is the book for you!

Each character was well fleshed out and unique and the representation was done quite well. Charlie’s story was so fast-paced and engaging to follow that I even found myself at moments struggling to put the book down. I absolutely adored Jasper and thought he was such a fun character to read and experience, and even found myself kicking my feet at some things he would do. At moments it kind of reminded me of Ouran High School Host Club (if it were canonically queer story like this one.)

My only critiques were that, towards the end the occasional fights felt a little too forced and the resolutions for some of Charlies concerns were a bit too glossed over. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this read!

This was very cute, love the lack of transphobia and trans joy. the main character did say I love you wayyy to quick for my taste.

I really tried to like And They Were Roommates, but left it like it was and I was really confused. One of the biggest flaws I saw was the absolute lack of realism in parts of the story. The principal characters as being brought up from relatively poor circumstances, with their own mother clearly struggling financially - yet somehow, they get their way in to a full medical conversion, including what they are told is a reasonably well-paid surgery. That's a pretty huge financial commitment, in real life, and the book never even really explains how it's possibly possible. It just seemed like a major miss, and after I finished reading the book I was never quite so bored again.

Representation is pretty important, absolutely — but the reality of representing something as subtle and emotional (and intimate) as transitioning without representation can be shallow or careless. These are things that are deeply personal to people and not covering the barriers many trans people have in real life to get the plot rolling just felt like some sort of lame duck.

Beyond that, I just couldn’t get into the characters. They were interesting, they were fully developed, but their emotional arcs were sorushed and undeveloped. There were moments that could have been really moving and powerful, but didn’t because the emotional foundation wasn’t there. The relationships were more plot devices than relationships, and the dialogue couldn’t hold up because it was just canned stuff.

Overall I think there was some potential in the story, but it really did need to weigh things more heavily especially when dealing with very real life issues. It had that sense of wanting to say something and not quite reaching an understanding as to how to do it that felt grounded and honest.

Thank you, Macmillan, NetGalley, and Page Powars for the Arc! Y’all know that one vine that says, “and they were roommates.” Well, that is one of the reasons I wanted to read this book because I needed to know more about Charlie and Jasper’s roommate shenanigans. They knew each other once, but after Charlie’s transition Jasper no longer recognizes him? So what is Charlie to do now? Read all about it when the book comes out 2025/05/27!

In the meantime, I really enjoyed it, and it was such a cute YA romance with so many funny moments and some pretty heartfelt moments that made you glad a book like this exists for younger generations to read.

The amount of friends that Charlie ended up finding, even though he tried to desperately push away. You can succeed all you want in academics or life, but without a solid support group it can and will overwhelm you. That was part of the story that I loved so much and made the book worth reading.

Jasper’s growth was also great because at first glance we just see him as a snob, but as we go further into the story we see more of him and his vulnerabilities. Yeah, he may seem popular and well liked, but even with all that there is some loneliness. Charlie’s growth was the best, in my opinion. To be honest, I liked him less than I did Jasper. He complained so much that Jasper was a snob and had an inflated ego, but how the whole “Excellence Scholar” thing that was brought up by him made him sound way more snobbish and like he had a bigger ego. However, seeing him struggle to feel like he belonged at Valentine Academy gave more perspective on how and why he acted snobbier. I get, we’ve all been there at one point or another.

I’m glad I was able to read this book before it published. I had fun reading it and I think others would too.