Genre 📚: YA Contemporary, Queer Lit, Light Academia, Romance
Tropes 💁♀️: Second chance romance, Hidden identity, Forced proximity
Rep ✔️: Trans main character, gay side character
CW ⚠️: Body dysmorphia
Rating ⭐️: 3.5/5
This book is like a fever dream you’d have when you’re feeling especially single. I don’t know how else to describe it. It takes place at the all-boys Valentine Academy, where Charlie goes in as a scholarship student. He’s scared enough as it is being trans, but then he finds out that he’s rooming with the guy who broke his heart at summer camp — the eloquent hopeless romantic Jasper Grimes. To his relief (or disappointment?), Jasper doesn’t recognize him.
Charlie would prefer to keep a low profile and focus on his studies, but Jasper is surprisingly clingy and recruits Charlie to help write love letters meant for girls at the sister school. Because of his secret heartbreak, though, Charlie is extremely passive-aggressive towards his roomie. It was funny, but the hostility went on for so long that it made it hard to believe in their eventual romance. I think they needed more time as friends before moving into romantic territory.
My favorite part of the book was probably the setting and the unique characters inside. Seeing it all through Charlie’s eyes, it was like walking into Wonderland or something. There were castle-like buildings, vibrant red uniforms, and students going around talking like Shakespeare. It was disorienting, but once I found my footing, I found myself having fun with it all.
**Much thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. And They Were Roommates will be released on May 27, 2025.
Sara Bechtol 