Anyway. Based off the cover and synopsis this seems like exes from enemies to possible lovers but there’s not really any romance. I don’t care if there’s romance or not necessarily but I thought that that was such a great idea. I wanted a light hearted rom-com with trans rep!! Plus, Lukas is autistic and coping with grief so there was representation there too. if you read all of that i applaud you, and i really do hope i made some points here. i can sadly NOT recommend this book in any way. stay safe, y'all! As I said though, this book isn’t without flaws. The major part of the book that irked me was the school only acted on bullying if the bullying got physical. I get why it was included in the story, but it brought up a whirlwind of emotions about memories that I’ve been trying to suppress. edit: i’ve been meaning to change my rating for a WHILE but couldn’t get myself to because this really was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and i enjoyed some parts and trans and autistic rep is important but !!! maybe the fact that i could rant about this book for hours outweighs that

Sol was probably my favorite character which probably says something since they were just a side character mainly used to advance Jeremy and Lukas' developement. They are a nonbinary latinx person, (like me) so that probably helps. I would've loved to hear more about them. While we're on the topic of characters that deserved better we should probably talk about Naomi as well. She's an Asian girl that barely got any "screen" time. She, sadly, was also used as a way to develop Lukas and Jeremy more. Exes Jeremy and Lukas have a lot on the line with the Homecoming king title. For Lukas, it means stepping out of his late brother's shadow and earning a sure acceptance into one of the ivy leagues that would finally make his parent's proud. For Jeremy, it means everyone has finally accepted what he's always known: he is a guy, and he's not gonna let his pseudo-progressive school and some transphobic classmates stand in his way. But before he came out, Jeremy used to be Lukas's girlfriend, and Lukas never understood why he ended things. Competition heats up as the two vie for the crown, and neither of them seem to care who they hurt in the process. Jeremy and Lukas were both very unenjoyable characters. They both had good personality traits but the bad definitely overweighted them. Their friends are constantly mistreated and it was so frustrating. It was tiring to see them just give out a simple apology and suddenly everything was fixed. The friends honestly deserved better. edit AGAIN: when i first read this i gave it 4.5 stars bc i had been so excited for it for so long and it was hard to even give it something THAT low despite...being deeply disappointed by it. but current topics has finally motivated me to give it the rating it has in my heart at last so!! yay!! May the Best Man Win is a contemporary, but world-building is just as important in this setting as it would be in SFF. Can you tell us how you built out Jeremy and Lukas’s world?A trans boy enters a throw-down battle for the title of Homecoming King with the boy he dumped last summer in ZR Ellor's contemporary YA debut. I would love to talk more about why I chose to write such flawed narrators for this book! Truth be told, I think trans communities can sometimes be more places of conflict than places of healing—the trauma of living in a transphobic society is very real, and unfortunately, we tend to lash out at one another when we’re hurt because of something unrelated. To me, Jeremy’s bad behavior is a direct result of the situation he’s in as a trans teen, a situation he’s unable to navigate perfectly no matter what he tries. And I wish people would focus less on the flaws of a single character and more on the systems that drive them to act as they do. TW: Transphobia, dead naming, misogyny, bullying, attempted sexual assault, harassment, violence, homophobia, ableism

there are a few things i just didn't like, but there are also lines and events i thought were straight up problematic. let's start with the more personal things though: This was more of a character-driven book although the plot was very interesting and fun, I can really see it was the characters that pushed the author! For me the writing was standard. So I don't really have anything to say on that note. Apart from my love and hate for the characters so let's move on!This is a book I can tell is gonna be divisive. Because Jeremy is such an unlikable character. Which is why he’s the trans character we need. Jeremy reminds me so much of me in high school, and so many other trans teens I’ve met. He’s angry, selfish, and dramatic. He struggles heavily with internalized transphobia and toxic masculinity. Hes so raw and realistic, and his struggles reflect how life often is for trans teens. He’s scared and vulnerable, and often takes that out on the people around him. When I came out I lashed out, I was selfish, I ruined all my relationships. Coming out is often traumatic and for teens going through that, it leaves them angry and scared. Jeremy is so realistic and I love it.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the 2021 so i'm very disappointed. The cover, the summary, everything about this sounded amazing. Angry gays? Rivals to lovers? Second chance romance? AND a trans main character? I wanted to love this so much but i just couldn't. Don’t let the cover deceive you, this book is not a cute, lighthearted romance. It’s messy and can be brutal at times, but some of the representation was so important in this book that I feel people should give this one a shot if it sounds interesting. I’m very torn on how to rate this book because I have a love hate relationship with it, but my star rating reflects how much I genuinely enjoyed it.Did you do any research for this book and if you did, what’s one of your favorite things you learned?

lukas' video with photos of him and jeremy pre transition and how he didn't even realize it was wrong. like your ex breaks up with you, comes out as trans and you don't even get educated on that? one thing i definitely couldn't wrap my head around was how much they cared about each other before all the shit hit the fan. because one moment the things i read sounded so horrible the whole relationship before felt bad and other moment it was "we were in love all along." like. what? i think a lot about how much i thought this book would mean to me when i saw that it was about an autistic boy who was grieving for his brother, and that there was a trans character and that it a queer romance. i am a trans autistic person who’s brother died not long before i read this so i was so prepared for it to hit hard for me and!! it did but in the wrong way

Overall this book was beautiful and fantastic and it made me cry so much! *remembers* I couldn't have asked for anything more...well maybe a less annoying Jeremy? But even Jeremy himself changed and I was really satisfied! Thank you Z.R. Ellor for writing this magnificent fantastic book! This will always stay in my heart ( ´◡‿ゝ◡`) First and foremost, the audiobook was great. I did end up listening to it in 1.25 speed, but I loved the narrator, Avi Roque, and found the voices of all the characters easy enough to follow. I'm also very happy Avi is a member of the LGBTQ+ community themself. They were a great fit, and really brought the book to life! If the characters in May the Best Man Win showed up on your doorstep in real life, who do you think you’d get along with most? And who would honestly grate on your nerves even though you love them?