Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Year Release: May 2021
Buy Links: Bookshop.org | Unabridged Books | Audiobook

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Content warning: Vomiting, panic attack

Noah Ramirez runs a blog called Meet Cute Diary, a collection of short stories about trans people meeting the love of their lives in increasingly adorable ways. He writes most of the stories and an online troll calls it out in online-public ways. Noah’s also spending the summer in Denver with his brother as his parents move from Florida to California. To save the blog, he strikes up a fake relationship with a local while trying to balance the blog situation and a new job at a summer camp.

This book is adorable and refreshingly young as far as young adult protagonists go. Meet Cute Diary is a delightful light-hearted summer romp.

Noah, our main character and only perspective, is extremely online. What makes his voice shine is that he comes off as appropriately young. Me, a very much non-teen reader, found myself frustrated at him at times and it wasn’t because of the writing, but because teenagers are just like that sometimes. It’s refreshing to read.

One of the gems in this work is Devin, who shows up a bit later as Noah starts working at a summer camp. The journey we go on with this character leans into self-discovery and the joy that comes from meeting and developing a relationship with someone who just gets it. Eir relationship with Noah is one of contrasts, and it really works.

While Devin is a compelling character, this story truly belongs to Noah, as he slowly gains self-awareness and gets a happy-for-now worthy of his own blog.