Date Me, Bryson Keller Review
Author: Kevin van Whye
Published On: May 19, 2020
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Genre: Fiction, YA, Contemporary, LGBTQIA+
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*Spoiler Free*
(Whispers) yes. Yes. YES! I adoooored this book. I kinda knew going into it that I would. Fake(ish) dating? ā 5 day romance? ā Most popular boy in school trope? Give it to me NOW!
Date Me, Bryson Keller focuses on Kai Sheridan, a high school senior who has been in the closet ever since he was a smol 12 years old. Despite this tiiiiiinsy little secret, he ends up spontaneously asking out Bryson Keller, the most popular boy in school. You see, Bryson has been dared to date one person each week for the remainder of the school year, with the relationship starting Monday morning and ending Friday afternoon. Wouldn’t ya know, a tragic morning coffee incident and one partner project later, our sweet gay baby, Kai ends up as Bryson’s newest bae for the week.
Kai and Bryson’s relationship was just so damn fun! Kai doesn’t have too many friends at his high school and so he’s intimidated when tasked with spending a week with Bryson. However, he soon warms up to his new “boyfriend” and they find that they have a lot more in common than either of them initially thought! I really liked how van Whye let these characters have an authentic friendship without Brysons popularity getting in the way. Sure, he’s the “it” boy of school and captain of the soccer team, but he’s never really worried about being seen with Kai or if his friends will judge him for stepping outside of their social circle. I could definitely have seen this sort of plot take that turn, which I’m just not a super duper fan of (lookin at you, Only Mostly Devastated).
I also loved how quick this plot progressed. It’s set up to follow each day, so we get a few chapters of “Monday” and then “Tuesday” and so on. However, by midweek, the plot has changed a bit and we’re no longer just dealing with this week-long, fake dating scenario, but have delved a little deeper into these characters storylines and their relationship with each other. Going into it, I was expecting some cut-and-dry “make it to the end of the week, they realize they love each other for real, and they get together permanently”, but there was so much more to the story than I was expecting, and I loved every second of it.
I can’t think of any concrete complaints about this book. It deals with a lot of various challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals go through, such as coming out, religious parents, homophobic a**holes, etc.
I could also tell that Kevin van Whye is a fan of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda – a few times throughout, he almost paraphrased similar phrases, such as “why is straight the default” and “coming out was supposed to be my choice” (I’m shortening these sentiments down here, but if you’ve read Simon you know what I’m talkin’ about!)
All in all, this book was a sweet, swoon-worthy story about a boy who learns how to let the world see him for who he truly is. If you’re looking for a quick and addicting read that will leave you hugging the book, I absolutely recommend picking this one up! After all, it doesn’t hurt that Bryson Keller is just so damn perfect. š
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