Publisher: St. Martins Griffin
Page Count: 250

I got this book because I won it at a giveaway (my FIRST giveaway win!) from Aila who is blogging at One Way or an Author AND Happy Indulgence. She’s currently on hiatus, but I still cannot thank her enough for hosting the giveaway and letting me choose this amazing book! THANK YOU!

I don’t know if you remember, but a while back there was this TTT topic of author duos you wish were real, and I totally called for a Levithan-LaCour-pairing AND IT HAPPENED! Not because I said it, since they were already working on You Know Me Well by then, but I didn’t know that … so, I like to pretend my wishful thinking made it come true! I just knew that combined, they would make a beautiful LGBT+ novel and I was right! It would have been the perfect read for Pride month, but you should celebrate pride all year round, so I am not that disappointed I didn’t get to it in June.

This is not a book about teens coming out (although there may or may not be a character in the story who still needs to come to terms with his sexuality), but rather it is about finding that one person you feel comfortable with. Where you are not afraid to be yourself around and who you are ready to be there for and share everything with – a true friend. Kate and Mark have been in school with each other for years but they weren’t among the same group of people, until one fateful night brings them together. I definitely don’t believe in insta-love, but I do think that insta-friendship can be real.

Sometimes you just click with a person and that’s what happened here and it’s 100% platonic and there is no indication of romancing between Kate and Mark whatsoever, which is just perfect (and the way it should be since they both aren’t into the other gender). They were comfortable with their sexuality and so were their surroundings. I am not saying that they didn’t have to face problems in their life because of it at some point, but I was so happy to see them in an accepting environment, that simply took it all as a given.

As much as it was about friendship, it was also about changing relationships, heartbreak, wrong expectations, fear of the future and the fact that everyone needs to figure out their path all by themselves at some point in their life. I loved that, because I could relate to so much of it. But first and foremost, I adored how good it made me feel. I was on the verge of crying and it wasn’t because it made me sad, but because it was so precious.

Lastly, I remain of the opinion that Levithan does his best work when he is having a co-author to par with and I am glad this one worked out so well. It all took place during the course of a week, but I didn’t even need 24 hours to finish it, which means it was way too short for me. I could read about the adventures of Mark and Kate forever!

Fazit: 5/5 rainbows! Light, beautiful and really fun! Perfect (but not only) for Pride month!

Have you read You Know Me Well? What do you think? Do you want to read it?