The Higher Education of Matt Griffith had all the ingredients for a story I’d usually fall head over heels for, but I just couldn’t connect with it the way I hoped. Matt’s trauma is clearly meant to shape his character, yet the way it was handled felt uneven—sometimes brushed past too quickly, other times dropped into casual moments that didn’t carry the weight they should have. It left me feeling disconnected from his journey, even though the core of the story is heartfelt.

The romance side leaned heavily into spice, but for me those scenes overshadowed the more emotional beats. I think the premise itself is strong, and if the focus had stayed on Matt’s growth and healing, this could have been a really powerful YA-style story. As it stands, it just wasn’t the right fit for me, even though I can see the potential shining through.

overall: 2.5/5 stars
Because this is not a very good review I decided to not post my review on goodreads or any of my socials.

Ooof. I'm so sorry but this was like, bottom-of-the-barrel-bad. The suicide aspect wasn't handled delicately. The cover LOOKS YA, but is in fact, Adult. There are sex scenes. Which are unreadable, by the way. I cringed so hard. All the characters were stereotypical one-dimensional caricatures.

The cover is, I don't even know man.... It needs a new cover artist, that's all imma say.

Do yourself a favor and keep this off Goodreads, it's going to get SLANDERED😭

This has to be one of the biggest disappointments I've encountered book-wise. The premise was there. The idea behind it was great. I love some angsty gays. However, William was nothing but a caricature. A horribly written and stereotypical one at that. And the heavy focus on Matt's trauma that, when actually brought up with another character, suddenly isn't an issue? It's not handled well at all. If you're going to handle such heavy topics, you have to do it right, and I just don't think this was an example of that at all. I will not be finishing this, and I am glad to have received it from NetGalley instead of wasting my money when it came out.

I was quite into the story but unfortunately the sex scenes are unreadable.

"Their tongues darted into each other's damp oral cavities. Their cocks, snotting pre-cum, bounced and bobbed, trying to find their own accommodating orifices.

They were tethered by William's cock. It was anchored deep inside Matt, a writhing, slithery eel clutching for purchase while Matt bucked and rolled with the storms of passion, sliding up and down the wet mast, his ass lips furling and unfurling in rhythm.

It was Matt who whimpered as William rescued his bobbing cock and palpated it, encouraging it to vomit up the fluids that were drowning it.

It was Matt's ass that crashed against the twin boulders of William's balls."

I feel bad because this book sounded right up my alley, but I had a really hard time with the writing. The MC experienced some really heavy trauma in his youth and I feel like it was handled too casually. There is a scene in the beginning where something happens and it triggers that trauma (which is totally understandable) but I just felt it was moved on from too quickly. When it does come up again it’s mentioned in detail but within such a casual context that it just feels out of place. I thought the overall point of the story was heartwarming but the execution was just a bit off putting for me personally. I really enjoy these kinds of stories normally but I just couldn't really get into it because of how it was executed. There are a lot of spicy scenes in this book but they were hard to get through.
I think this premise is solid and if the spicy scenes were removed it would be a great YA book.

This isn't a lighthearted book. In fact, its entire setup is quite heavy. It's distressing to realize that this actually exists, that there may still be places where this is normalized. It was a story that, while heavy, was also very human and fortunate enough to make me cry. The romance between these two broken boys is so beautiful, and the plot was also very well-structured.
Thank you NetGalley and the author for the eARC.