Adib Khorram

Love is more complicated “boy meets boy” in bestselling author Adib Khorram’s sharply funny new romantic comedy, set in the sordid world of high school theater As a techie--a stage manager, a lighting guy, a jack-of-all-theatrical-trades-- Jackson Ghasnavi is not a fan of the spotlight. And he isn’t too fond of romance, either, ever since his actor ex-boyfriend decided he was too cool to date a techie freshman year. Jackson’s sister Jasmine, on the other hand, loves love. It just doesn’t love her back. But luckily for her, Jackson is always waiting in wings when she gets her heart broken, ready to cheer her up with a breakup list cataloging of all her ex’s faults. Enter Liam Coquyt: senior, swim captain, hot white boy—and the surprise lead in the fall musical. Even more surprising than how incredible Liam is on the stage is how much Jackson likes spending time with him off it.(Not that Jackson is falling for him. Liam is probably --no, definitely--straight.) So why is Jackson crushed when Jasmine sets her sights on him? And why does the idea of eventually drafting breakup list for Liam feel impossible?

The Breakup Lists

Lindsay

“Not knowing where to put your anger isn’t the same thing as being mean.

“Sometimes it’s like you get so caught up in what you do, you forget it’s okay to celebrate who you are.”

The sun is out, which seems mildly homophobic since between the brightness and my tears, I can barely see.

If I have to murder an actor during dress rehearsal, does that count as first or second degree?

Truth be told, my family has been more comfortable with me being queer than they’ve ever been with me being disabled.

Then again, Liam’s never been homophobic, unless you count him being nice to me: Straight guys being nice to gay guys is kind of homophobic as is.

thank you to dial books and penguin teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this book was truly such a blast! my previous experience with adib khorram was with their short story included in an anthology collection, which i had adored. instantly, i knew i wanted to read more from him and especially a full length novel. so when i saw that he was publishing the breakup lists, a book about a theater-loving, queer teen i had to get my hands on it!

and i’m so so glad that i did. not only was the theater nerd out in full force in this book, but there was competitive swimming AND disability representation (which i truly had no idea what present in this book). i wish there was more people shouting about how khorram portrayed our deaf main character (who is wearing hearing aids on the cover i just totally didn’t realize!). while i can not speak personally on the representation as i’m not deaf/hard of hearing, khorram’s depiction of jackson’s disability felt quite accurate. he doesn’t hear everything which is representative has jackson physically missing the words and attempting to fill in the black. his assumptions aren’t always correct. people will get frustrated with him. he communicates with his friends through ASL. it was so incredible to see and was truly the highlight of this books.

as for the writing structure, while i didn’t personally love jackson’s internal monologue crossing things out on page, it does get toned down as we progress through the story. and did sometime’s lead to a laugh. so while it took a while to get used to that stylistic choice, it did become quite workable.

okay, moving onto liam. i love liam. i think he is the sweetest soul, and while he think’s he is a people pleasure, i just know he has the best intentions, even if it does end in disaster. i was so curious to see how his story would play out and i loved how it was executed. while jackson can be very strong with his lists, and his worries, i loved seeing liam’s calm demeanor. i think they were such a great pairing and while they took a while to get where they were, it was worth the trouble.

thank you to dial books and penguin teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this book was truly such a blast! my previous experience with adib khorram was with their short story included in an anthology collection, which i had adored. instantly, i knew i wanted to read more from him and especially a full length novel. so when i saw that he was publishing the breakup lists, a book about a theater-loving, queer teen i had to get my hands on it!

and i’m so so glad that i did. not only was the theater nerd out in full force in this book, but there was competitive swimming AND disability representation (which i truly had no idea what present in this book). i wish there was more people shouting about how khorram portrayed our deaf main character (who is wearing hearing aids on the cover i just totally didn’t realize!). while i can not speak personally on the representation as i’m not deaf/hard of hearing, khorram’s depiction of jackson’s disability felt quite accurate. he doesn’t hear everything which is representative has jackson physically missing the words and attempting to fill in the black. his assumptions aren’t always correct. people will get frustrated with him. he communicates with his friends through ASL. it was so incredible to see and was truly the highlight of this books.

as for the writing structure, while i didn’t personally love jackson’s internal monologue crossing things out on page, it does get toned down as we progress through the story. and did sometime’s lead to a laugh. so while it took a while to get used to that stylistic choice, it did become quite workable.

okay, moving onto liam. i love liam. i think he is the sweetest soul, and while he think’s he is a people pleasure, i just know he has the best intentions, even if it does end in disaster. i was so curious to see how his story would play out and i loved how it was executed. while jackson can be very strong with his lists, and his worries, i loved seeing liam’s calm demeanor. i think they were such a great pairing and while they took a while to get where they were, it was worth the trouble.

i was a theater kid in high school so needless to say, "the breakup lists" was right up my alley. and, much like jackson, i also was a stage manager—and my time in theater had a similar end to his (but not nearly as messy). i think it's safe to say i loved this book, considering i devoured it in one afternoon. i just couldn't put it down until i finished!! jackson was such a relatable character and i loved seeing the world through his eyes, and his relationship with liam was just so precious i was squealing the whole time i read it. obviously, the book wasn't all sunshine and rainbows (though there were plenty of the latter, for gay reasons), but the conflict in the book felt very realistic and the climax was painful to read because i empathized with jackson so much. i also loved (most of) the other characters, particularly bowie, for obvious reasons. every queer kid needs their fellow queer bestie and bowie was exactly the kind of friend jackson needed. i had less nice things to say about jasmine as i read the book, but i'm glad things ended well on that front too. reading this book felt like being back in the world of high school theater but in a good way and i would recommend it to all ex-theater kids and anyone looking for a cute YA romcom with some great representation. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. "the breakup lists" is out from penguin teen on april 2nd!

The Breakup Lists

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