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The last 40% of the book are super fun and exciting, but it took too long to get there. I feel like the book slogged along too much, the writing style wasn't for me. Too many "clever" lines end up distracting from the storytelling, and I had a hard time connecting with the characters apart from Nate. It wasn't a bad book, but it could have been better. Still, great ending.
Overall I'd say that I enjoyed it, but I also hated many aspects of this bookIt never felt like 1990 to me. I constantly forgot it was the nineties because the setting never felt fully realized.Nate is also a misogynist and I don't think he's supposed to be written as one? He refers to an intersex patient at the institution he's at by a slur (which one could argue is language that would have been used in the nineties, but I would argue that nothing else about this book felt like the nineties so), and refers to Andy and Keri (I listened to audiobook so idk how it's spelled) talking through clearly intense interpersonal issues as something along the lines of "chick shit" if I'm remembering correctly.The queer representation is...odd. It is immediately obvious that the apparently butch lesbian main character was written by a man. She's apparently only ever been attracted to Keri and considers herself butch but doesn't consider herself a lesbian???? And Keri <spoiler> ending up with her felt weird, as it seems like even as they are sorta in a relationship she is not attracted to her. It never feels like Keri is actually realizing that she is attracted to women or anything like that. I wish that over the course of the book we saw her start to reciprocate or realize that she's been suppressing feelings, but instead it feels like she only ends up with Andy because she loves her as a friend and they went through something traumatic. </spoiler> Also, the regular references to people thinking andy wanted to be a boy and (major spoiler) <spoiler> Dunia referring to changing into Daniel's daughter for evil magic purposes being similar to transitioning felt really off to me as trans person. </spoiler> Also this issue is fairly small and not the author's fault inherently and some blame falls on the editor/publisher, but if you're going to set a book in America with American characters and you do not speak American English, then do some research or hire an editor who knows that Americans don't say "phoned." It took me out of the story every single time. Finally, <spoiler> it felt like the narrative considered Andy wrong for reacting to Joey negatively? Like she's completely right, he doesn't get to say that he's grown past bullying them when he wasn't the one hurt. But the plot shows that he was necessary to their success, so Keri being willing to forgive him was the options supported by the narrative? I definitely could be wrong and misinterpreting things but idk. </spoiler>In some ways it was a green Scooby doo adaption, in other ways (namely making Keri into both Daphne and Velma while Andy was also sorta Velma but not really?) it super wasn't. Overall, it was a book that I did read, and I will probably not read any Edgar Cantero books in the future because he does not seemingly know how to write queer people or well developed settings.
siiiiigh okay listen. it was fun, it was a fun concept. but i was sooooo bored and it took me WAY TOO LONG TO READ 😭