Date Me, Bryson Keller

This book didn't grab me at first, because I couldn't make sense of the premise. Why is it considered a dare (i.e. a difficult challenge) for Bryson to date a different person each week? How did it go with all of the girls he dated, and how did both parties feel when it was over on Friday? Surely some of the girls had their feelings hurt when he didn't choose to continue to see them when their week was over, but we don't get much of a sense of how it was going before Kai impetuously asks him out.

Once that happens, though, the book becomes simply wonderful. We're in familiar “fake dating” trope territory, and it's always fun to watch pretend become real. Bryson may be a little too good to be true - if only every uber-popular guy in high school were as nice, brave, supportive, understanding, protective, etc - but he does have his own baggage with parents who have recently gone through an ugly divorce. He's pretty much a Prince Charming to Kai's Cinderella, but that's okay because Kai deserves a prince. He's a shy aspiring writer and firmly in the closet with no plans to come out to his family or two BFFs. But being with Bryson, even just as friends at first, helps him emerge from his shell and become more comfortable with himself and his identity. The two have adorable chemistry together as their friendship becomes flirtatious. There is no Big Misunderstanding or lack of communication; Kai is sure at first that he has fallen for a straight guy but Bryson admits he is attracted to him before the halfway point in the book. The conflict centers around if and how the boys are going to come out and how others will react. The sex in the book is limited to hand-holding, kisses and some vaguely described making out. Seemed a little chaste to me for today's teens but it just makes it feel even more like a fairy tale.

The author's afterword explains that he wanted to use Kai's story to remind people that although we have come a long way, it is still a big deal to come out as queer and people are still being hurt horribly by lack of acceptance. There are some bumps along the road for Kai but in the end he knows he has the support of his friends and family, and he and Bryson are definitely HFN with a few loose ends left hanging like what will they do when Bryson goes to Stanford and Kai goes to Tisch in NYC in a few months? And did Kai's script win the contest? And how did Bryson survive taking the bus after he lost the dare?. I don't know if Kevin van Whye plans on a sequel but I would not mind in the least hanging out with these adorable boys and their friends again.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.