The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers

Adam Sass — 2022

A charming YA rom-com perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and What If It’s Us. Micah Summers runs a popular Instagram full of drawings of his numerous imaginary boyfriends (ninety-nine so far)—though he's never had a real boyfriend before. But when a meet-cute with Boy 100 goes wrong, Micah embarks on a Prince Charming-like quest throughout Chicago to find true love—for real this time. Will Boy 100 be the One? Micah is rich, dreamy, and charming. As the “Prince of Chicago,”—the son of local celebrity sports radio host known as the King of Chicago—he has everything going for him. Unfortunately, he’s also the prince of imaginary meet-cutes, since he’s too nervous to actually ask boys out. Instead, Micah draws each crush to share on Instagram with a post about their imaginary dates. Ninety-nine “boyfriends” later, his account is hugely popular, and everyone is eagerly awaiting Boy 100. So is Micah. He’s determined that Boy 100 will be different. This time, Micah will sweep the boy off his feet, for real! So when Micah flirts with a hot boy on the L who’s wearing a vegan leather jacket and lugging a ton of library books, he is sure this is Boy 100. But right before he can make his move and ask for the boy’s number, the guy rushes off the train, leaving behind his pumpkin-embroidered jacket. The jacket holds clues to the boy’s identity, so Micah and his friends set off on a quest to return it. Along the way, Micah will discover that the best relationships aren’t fairy tales. In fact, the perfect fit—and true love—might be closer than he thinks.

Reviews

nay@pagesofnay

Apr 20, 2024

Oh how I wish I could give this more than 5 stars. The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers couldn't have been more perfect. I instantly fell in love with the writing style and the dialogue. This may be a long review, but oh well because I absolutely LOVED this book. Micah Summers, boy do we both just want to believe in fairytale endings. Queer people, but especially queer youth, deserve to believe that their fairytale romance is going to happen. While, these fairytales seem perfect on paper, they tend to get a little messy in action. Micah goes through many obstacles trying to get his fairytale ending, but he doesn’t let any of them stop him. I applaud him for this because I would’ve gave up immediately and took a nap. My ideal fairytale is sleeping beauty, solely because I love sleeping. Micah being an anonymous instagram artist is the absolute best thing ever. I normally hate any references to modern day social media, but this book does it so well that I didn’t even mind it. Now, Grant. Grant is a wonderful boy. While he struggles from past fleeting relationships and crushes, he really holds so much love in his heart. Grant deserves love, confidence in his work, and for all his dreams to come true. Hannah, I absolutely adore. She deserves nothing, but love and happiness. Elliot. I immediately fell in love with Elliot. It’s like illegal to hate him. Elliot going through a dumpster fire of a relationship is so relatable that I got flashbacks… Overall, this book is definitely worth the read. I will now be forcing all my friends to read it. Also, the full circle moment at the end??? I cried real tears. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

ash (smokedshelves)@smokedshelves

Sep 21, 2022

thank you to penguin young readers group and viking books for young readers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

i honestly don't have too many thoughts on this one. mainly, i found micah to be a little too far gone into his own fairytale fantasies. rich, spoiled, and unable to understand other peoples' points-of-view but gets irritated when they don't understand his, though. it made it him just a tad too insufferable to follow if i'm being honest. ...and basically, elliot deserved better.