Be Dazzled

I got this on audiobook for a roadtrip and it was good for that purpose–entertaining, engaging, but easy enough to dip in and out of without getting lost. It's a cute queer romcom and I think teens, especially those who are into cosplay/streaming/conventions/etc will dig it. Also it's fun that it's set in the Boston area.

That said for me as an adult I was like squinting a liil bit at some of the very sweaty machinations required to get this plot in motion, like the SPECIFICITY of Raffy's mom's whole deal was......a lot? and I still don't really understand Inaya and Luca's motivatations for cosplaying together and then splitting...it seemed like very plot-dependent heel turns and then redemption arcs but she was like "I'm ambitious...I want to win so I'll sabotage you...but I only want to win against the BEST so I'll help you..." like ok girl so why'd you sabotage them then....also very sus that this HUGE international cosplay convention has 3 kids from the same high school in the final 4 but ok

Anyway those are minor grumps really.

The audiobook was fine, not an annoying narrator but also not one where I'm like “wow the audiobook was amazing, you should definitely prioritize listening over reading.”

“Não dá pra criar um futuro e esperar que ele aconteça. Como a arte, você só pode começar com uma intenção. Suas mãos devem construir o resto.“

Be Dazzled é uma história incrível. Sobre se encontrar, se apoiar no outro, reconhecer seus defeitos. Sobre acreditar em si mesmo, nos seus sonhos, e dar um salto no escuro mesmo quando tudo parece estar contra você. Sobre seguir em frente apesar dos obstáculos.

Raffy faz tudo isso ao lado do Luca, que o ajuda tanto quanto ele ajuda o ex-namorado. Entre famílias que não os compreendem por completo, foi revigorante de ver a relação dos dois florescer, assim como acompanhar a jornada de ambos entre o cosplay e as artes.

A única coisa que incomodou no livro foi a forma como cada capítulo é alternado entre presente e passado, o que em determinados momentos quebra um fluxo narrativo que estava ótimo.

I laughed out loud at least twice while reading this and, given that I'm currently descending into one of my regularly-scheduled depressive episodes, that's impressive.

This was a really sweet mlm love story! It hit the dramatic beats well, there were a lot of sweet moments. You could feel the ache of longing, you can feel the anxiety of competition, and yes, you can feel the joyful moments too. La Sala is masterful at evoking emotion. If you are looking for lovers to enemies to lovers story, look no further.

I would have loved the convention setting to be more fully realized. There was very little of that aspect of it despite being the central focus. It would have been fun to see more of it. I also felt at time the overall story hit the tropes of a YA romance pretty hard, there was not much here I had not seen before. The ending also felt a little easy after the conflict it set up.

However, overall, it was a fun journey. If you are looking for a romance with a more dramatic tint, you will enjoy this.

The audiobook was wonderful! The narrator put so much pathos in his performance!

Originally I wasn't a big fan because of the jumpy time line of going back and forth. It felt like 2 stories with the same characters and there motivations seemed weird because you could see two versions of them at the same time. Overall the book was very cute and fun to listen to while creating my own cosplays for an upcoming convention. I didn't like Evie's sudden change of heart at the end and her acceptance because it felt forced and like the author just wanted a happy ending. I would have liked for it to have been more progressive throughout the book, and the same with Luka's family.