The story tells that of a queer, mixed-race teenage boy named Kai, as he experiences the highs and lows of an unexpected first love, in what is ultimately his coming-out journey, filled with moments of joy, hopefulness and a show of great personal strength and resilience in face of social adversity.

KVW: Thank you. It's been a weird experience. Writing is just you and your computer, you're isolated, and having the book out and having readers actually read what you've written is such a… I don't actually know how to describe that experience. It's taking some time to get used to, but it's exciting… Actually, I today woke up to a message from a reader who said… there's one scene in the book where Kai's mother finds the strip of photos with him and Bryson, and that leads to that big confrontation. I also found it far-fetched that Kai's parents didn't have an idea whatsoever given all the telltale signs pointing to his sexuality. I also loved Bryson Keller with all my life, he was like a Golden Retriever kind of person, I swear! He was always so supportive and kind and honest and HE HAS NOT A SINGLE BAD BONE IN HIS BODY. Which made him unbeliebably perfect. It was kind of unsettling for me, to be honest. On one hand I was enchanted by him, but on the other it bothered me a little that he had NO flaws. Not in the inside or in the outside. He was simply perfect.Early on, Bryson described his best friend Dustin Smith as a really cool guy who will always be there for him no matter what, especially if he were gay. When that exactly happens, Dustin's first instinct is to threaten Kai to stay far away from Bryson, disregarding any feelings between them, because the friend he knows isn't gay. I hope the writer works on his craft and learns to develop a more intense storyline, because he’s got the chops to go far. But he definitely needs to learn to develop a full story. The drama of this book was nothing new. I'm honestly tired of seeing bad coming out scenarios, especially characters being outed by bad people with bad intentions. Also, the general theme of the book felt a lot like "straight people, please think of how hard is the life of a gay kid!" and none of the queer romance story I was looking for.

So yes, there was a *brief* bit of martyr behavior in the book, which thankfully wasn't allowed to linger for very long. The most significant weakness, for me, was the nature of the big crisis near the end. There’s simply no way that particular action could have happened outside the realm of adult supervision. I couldn’t suspend disbelief, and I was sad to see the story stumble that late in the game. Still, overall this was a treat, and it made me glad I hadn't given up on reading contemporary YA, like I’ve so often sworn I would do. Official Couple: By Friday night of the first week, Bryson and Kai cemented themselves as boyfriends, sealing it with a tender yet passionate kiss. The story ended abruptly, which is fine, though I would love to find out where Kai and Bryson end up going to school. But that’s just an epilogue I would have loved to read. I find it amusing that I’ve never heard of Tisch before, and now, two YA books in a row mention it. KVW: I was glad that my publisher supported that because that is an important movement. We've spent, I don't know how many years, watching non-own-voices actors who aren't gay play gay characters and win Oscars for them. And it's like, "But there are actual gay actors out there that could play those roles." And I think that it’s also [true] with audiobooks, that there are queer narrators out there who could read queer stories, but they've never been given the chance. So I'm glad that that was on my side, and we got an amazing own-voices story on both fronts.unnecessary random descriptions. I don't know why we learnt that Kai was a bad driver once but I guess that the knowledge I'll die with.

Reclaiming an asian work as one of your own to supposedly "critique" it does not sit well. Trying to perfect another person of colour's work by contextualizing it for a western audience is so wrong. This simply isn't 'inspiration', it is ripping off the hard work of another author without giving credit where it is due. The fact that he would have said nothing about his supposed 'heavy inspiration' if people didn't catch him speaks volumes. This author thought he could escape and profit from stealing someone else's work.Any of those things would make me dislike a book. And yet, even with all that? After those amazing last 10 chapters that made me laugh and cry, I will relisten to Date Me, Bryson Keller over and over again. To once again relive Kai’s struggles. To once again watch him find home with the best looking guy in his high school, a romantic guy who truly notices and watches and understands Kai. To once again watch his parents rise up and fight for him. And, as annoying as it is, to also see that those who caused the problem will probably have nothing happen to them. Because that’s unfortunately how life is. (no matter how much I would have loved to see Shannon flattened) This author, when trying to justify plagiarizing Takarai's premise, stated that "There were themes that I wanted to explore in a western setting and as an own voices writer." Let me?" With ease, he places the book in its rightful place. He pauses and whispers, "What's the point of having a tall boyfriend if you aren't going to use him?" The absurdity makes me smile. I’m expected to look a certain way or act a certain way or like certain things. It’s like there’s a list of things I’m meant to be, and if I’m not, then I’m not authentic enough.