e-Audio, 04:15:07
Narrated by: Guy Lockard
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: September 19-20, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Publisher via Libro FM (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher and Libro FM in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning:
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Non-Linear Timeline, Realistic Fiction, Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Black), YA, Sparkly Covers“Jason Reynolds has done it again!…Fresh from start to finish…This is what it could be, should be, if only we were all as lucky as Aria. Girls (and everyone) wait for your Neon!” —Judy Blume, New York Times bestselling author of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. and Forever…
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds tackles it—you know…it—from the guy’s perspective in this unfiltered and undeniably sweet stream of consciousness story of a teen boy about to experience a huge first.
Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.
Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.
Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.
Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.
And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!
*MY THOUGHTS*
I loved everything about this. And I literally mean everything. Jason Reynolds has a way of trapping me with his words. Because as soon as I turned this on, I wanted to stay up and finish it. (If I didn’t work the next day, I would have…) And this was no different. I loved it.
Before I got a copy of this book I listened to a webinar where Jason Reynolds spoke. I hadn’t read the synopsis (because I never do lol) but I knew I was going to read it anyway. Reynolds started talking about what it was about and why it was so important. And I can truthfully say I hadn’t read anything like it before. So of course I got more excited about it. To have a REAL book about a Black teen learning about smex and how to keep it safe just seems unheard of. (Y’all like to pretend they’re not doing it…) So if nothing else, I wanted to read this to get the message so I know how to tell my librarians about it just in case. And the way this book is told is so light-hearted, so non-preachy, and just all around good. This book does teach you things, but it also will make you laugh and say “Awwwww” because of the way their love story shines.
This book is indeed a romance. Someone said, that Jason said, (that should tell you how true this is? lol) he didn’t see himself writing a romance. But the way this story is told is probably his way of sticking to it. It’s a romance, but its told backward, where they’re already in love. It starts right before they try, where he is freaking out lol It ends twenty four months ago when they meet at his grandfather’s funeral. This man is really the GOAT. The way everything was so in order and so well thought out? This man had to have written it regular first and then went back and flipped it because the details that were in each piece is UNMATCHED. I don’t want to go too into detail because I don’t want to give spoilers, but it was so good.
The way I laughed at this book too. Listen this is a serious topic that you don’t think should be filled with so much humor, but Reynolds gets it. He’s always said he doesn’t want to write boring books, so I’m not surprised he wrote this the way he did. That breakfast scene? My Gawd I was laughing so hard I almost woke up my husband who was sleeping next to me. This book takes a topic that is usually so uncomfortable for teens and makes it into something they’d actually like to read about. And I can’t thank Reynolds enough for giving this to teens who feel uncomfortable asking.
I don’t think I’ve given Jason Reynolds a 3 star rating on any of his books ever. And I’m not going to start now. This book was amazing and I can’t wait for you all to read it too. This book was seriously fun and addressed a topic we don’t usually see from the boy’s POV. This is going to resonate with a lot of teens.
Overall, I give this
