I recieved an e-ARC of this novel through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
What a rollercoaster of a book! I finished this book in just over 24 hours which, as a busy college student, says a lot about this book. I fell in love with each member of Saturday. Even though Jon and Angel didn’t have POV chapters, Zach and Ruben’s love for them and dynamics with them made it feel like I knew that half of the band just as well as I knew the half of the band narrating the story. There is such an intense undercurrent of hope and joy within this book that it feels impossible not to love Saturday.
This book is full of ups and downs and does not shy away from the hard topics. I was a little surprised at how dark this book gets for a RomCom, but the flow between light and dark worked really well. I never felt like I had been cheated out of the genre I was promised but rather like I was seeing into the realities of these characters’ lives. Things alternate between light and heavy for everyone, and this book shows that the highs and lows are even more intense when your entire life is being scrutinized by cameras 24/7. Each of the characters has major struggles, and their struggles are painfully real and can be difficult to read. If you follow the authors on Twitter, you may have seen them tease about the “70% club” and the readers’ reactions to a major event. The build-up to that event is done exquisitely, I was dreading finding out what exactly was about to happen because the tension was so thick that it feels inevitable that something is about to go down. I kept wondering what specific action was going to be the one to push the tension over the edge. It is an excruciating build-up and I loved every minute of it. I echo other readers by saying, once you hit that point, you will not want to stop.
Zach and Ruben were adorable together, even when things got hard or messy, even when things seemed bleak, their love for each other shone through, even before they both knew they loved the other and that their crush was requited. If you are looking for intense, long, drawn-out pining, this book probably is not for you, but if you are looking for some pining and then a deep, real look at relationships, self-discovery, and how they intersect, this book is definitely for you. They were so fiercely protective of each other in ways that made my heart melt. I am absolutely team Zuben for life.
Yes, this book can get heavy and dark, but the prevailing hope and joy even from within the darkness are why I think this is absolutely the kind of book we need in these times, and I am immensely grateful that Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich have provided it to us.