Review: Date Me, Bryson Keller

Hello lovely people! This week I’m talking about a slightly controversial book, Date Me, Bryson Keller. It took me a while to decide where I wanted to post this review, and how I wanted to write it. At first, I thought I’d only post it to Goodreads but then decided that I’m only going to post it on my blog. My blog is my own space where I can talk about what I want to (since I pay for it), so here we go.

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Title: Date Me, Bryson Keller

Author: Kevin Van Whye

Rating: 4 Stars

Format: eARC

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Date Published: 19 May 2020

Goodreads Description: What If It’s Us meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this upbeat and heartfelt boy-meets-boy romance that feels like a modern twist on a ’90s rom-com!

Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new–the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he’s never really dated before.

Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.

Kai Sheridan didn’t expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there’s more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he’s awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this “relationship” will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right?

I received a review copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Notes on the story

Okay, real talk. I enjoyed this book. The story was cute and sweet and tackled some real issues faced by the LGBTQIA+ community today. I usually browse Goodreads reviews before starting a book just to get a general idea of the book. Going in blind isn’t always for me. That’s when I found some reviews saying this book copied a comic by the name of Seven Days, which also has the whole “popular boy dates people only for a week” thing.

Naturally, I googled it, wanting to see what was up. Because I do not want to support someone who plagiarised (even if the author is a fellow South African). From what I could gather from internet sleuthing, they are the same only in the tropes used. Now I haven’t read the Seven Days comic (since comics are ridiculously expensive in SA and I couldn’t find it online) so I can’t say for sure for myself.

The rest of the Goodreads reviews were generally positive, and the author does acknowledge the Seven Days comic, along with some other books, that was his inspiration for this own-voices story.

Notes on some tropes

Now here’s where I get a bit controversial, if I may. There are hundreds upon thousands of books that contain the same tropes and are similar in premise. How many times have you seen the “lost royal” trope, “enemies to lovers”, “fake dating”, etc? The list goes on. And how many times have you seen a story with the same trope and with straight characters? (I can think of many romance books).

My point is, LGBTQIA+ characters and stories deserve an abundance too. No one person is the same, no one person’s story is the same. Give the LGBTQIA+ community hundreds and thousands of different stories because there are thousands of real people who deserve to see themselves in books and have their stories told. Even if the tropes are the same.

Okay, to the actual story

That’s my tea. I’m going to encourage you to read this book. It’s funny, heartwarming and speaks to some very important issues. The characters are loveable, especially Kai and Bryson, and the diversity is amazing.

It has flaws, like bi-erasure and the unnecessary vilification of characters. However, I’m also going to encourage you to read Seven Days and all of the other stories the author takes inspiration from. And then you can make up your own mind.

Let me know your thoughts on Date Me, Bryson Keller.

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