Everyone at Fairvale Academy knows Bryson Keller, the super-hot soccer captain who doesn’t believe in high-school relationships. They also know about the dare Bryson accepted – each week he has to date the first person who asks him out.
A single school week is all anyone gets. There have been no exceptions to this. None.
Until me, that is.
Because brilliant Bryson Keller forgot one thing. He never said it could only be girls . . .
Date Me, Bryson Keller
Surprisingly, I found myself ending up with this book at our Christmas gift swap in December. That certainly is because, once I unpacked it, I wanted to hold on to it. Although I’d never heard of it before, I immediately knew that it was for me and would eventually melt my heart. The beginning of this book very much reminded me of the 2010s and the first coming out books that I read. Nonetheless, I am glad that the author decided to write another one of these because as Kai states, coming out is still a delicate act in the 2020s. Therefore, a lot of queer teens, like Kai, still live in hiding. This book is a beautiful homage to opening to trusted people and finding love in secret, while the rest of the world would judge you for it.
It begins with a dare…
Bryson Keller is the IT boy of Kai’s school. Naturally, they haven’t really been in contact and Kai has witnessed the dare that Bryson agreed to (dating the first person that asks him for the rest of that week) from afar. It’s meant to make Bryson eventually fall in love and disprove his own standpoint that love during high school years is a waste of time. Certainly, we are all waiting for him to indeed fall in love—with no other than our protagonist. Despite this predictable romance pattern, the manner of this happening is what draws us in. And damn, did this book draw me in. It hasn’t happened in a while that I stayed up past my bedtime to continue a story. Kai and Bryson’s slow burn certainly had that effect on me!
Chosen Family and Blood Family
Although Kai has wonderful best friends, he nonetheless does not dare to out himself, too afraid to be seen differently. That is also true with his family. The book describes his unfortunate journey to being perceived and accepted as himself and I loved every part of it. Moreover, he is encouraged to be himself by the trust and the interest he finds in Bryson and how accepted he feels by him. More than that, I enjoyed Kai’s relationships with and support from his best friends, Priya and Donny, and his family, especially his sister. The author allowed those connections to have many layers and gave us the time and space to explore them.
In conclusion,
Date me, Bryson Keller has amused and captured me like no other book in a while. The character and relationship development was wonderful to follow, and I certainly teared up and laughed with the characters, once even kicked my legs. This 320-pages book made me feel all of that!
The author:
Kevin van Whye was born and raised in South Africa, where his love for storytelling started at a very young age. His love affair with stories led him to film school where he studied script writing. Kevin currently lives in Johannesburg. Source