Review by Booklist Review
Seventeen-year-old Ezra feels like a third wheel. His two best friends, Lucas and Finley, have boyfriends, while Ezra is single. Or is he? Well, no, he does have a boyfriend, golden boy Presley, but it's a secret since Presley is deeply closeted. The status quo is shattered when Lucas' and Finley's boyfriends dump them, and Presley turns out to be a player, using Ezra to make his intended jealous. It's Ezra who suggests exacting revenge. He begins secretly posting anonymous videos of their machinations to TikTok, where they go viral, attracting millions of views as the boys fight their school's homophobic Watch What You Say policy. Will they succeed and will Ezra find true love? Stay tuned. Hubbard's first novel is an agreeable success, though it sometimes requires a willing suspension of disbelief. But it is well plotted, even inspirational in the boys' idealized fight for visibility. The characters are empathic, including Ezra's father, who is a supportive sweetheart who wisely declares, "Believing in yourself is the best revenge."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When three queer best friends in Alabama are inspired by The First Wives Club to exact revenge on their terrible exes, a homophobic school initiative takes their mission in an unexpected direction. Ezra Hayes, who's coded white, is accustomed to hiding in plain sight, but he feels that he's fallen by the wayside once his two best friends, Lucas Rivera, who's cued Mexican American, and Finley Lewis, who's Black, get into relationships. Ezra thought his summer romance with Presley, the school's star football player, would finally give him the chance to feel like the main character. But when Ezra discovers that Presley is cheating on him, Lucas and Finley also open up about the poor treatment they've received from their partners. Each teen has his own plan for revenge, and they set up an anonymous TikTok account called "Last Boyfriends." Ezra decides to run against Presley for Winter Formal Lion King; he also burns Presley's varsity jacket and posts the video to TikTok, tagging it #breakupchallenge. When their account goes viral, and Ezra's Lion King campaign comes under fire (from the same leadership that dissolved the gay-straight alliance and is censoring library books), the trio's priorities change, and they begin fighting for queer students everywhere. The friendships are fun and believable, Ezra's single father is heartwarmingly supportive, and exciting twists keep the plot moving. A pride-filled story complete with sass, love, and a timely message. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
