“He’s terrible. He’s beautiful and terrible and I’m hopeless and we’re ruined.”
What happens when your enemy becomes your friend … with benefits? Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school.
Tim Te Maro and Elliott Parker – classmates at Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept – have never gotten along. But when they both get dumped the day before the big egg-baby assignment, they reluctantly decide to ditch their exes and work together.
When I first started researching queer books all I wanted was a YA book with a Takatāpui main character. I have since told H.S. Valley that I feel like I wished this book into existence (also, that I'm super grateful and that their book is rad).
This story is light and fluffy and the writing is beautiful and easy to be swept up in - I read it in one sitting. Fear, uncertainty, giddiness, and consent all wrapped up in love, sass and hormones. Positive Achillean Bi representation! We need more of this!
For me the thing that I truly love about this book is how iconically kiwi it is without being cringy - casual references to Kmart, Milo, Flat Whites and how Aucklanders are often seen as their own species to the rest of the country. It feels like home in the best possible way.
-Chelsea
Publisher: Hardie Grant
Date: 28th July 2021
Language: English
Paperback: 312 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1760508753
Reading age: 13+
What happens when your enemy becomes your friend … with benefits? Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school.
Tim Te Maro and Elliott Parker – classmates at Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept – have never gotten along. But when they both get dumped the day before the big egg-baby assignment, they reluctantly decide to ditch their exes and work together.
When the two boys start to bond over their magically enchanted egg-baby, they realise that beneath their animosity is something like friendship … or physical attraction. Soon, a no-strings-attached hook-up seems like a good idea. Just for the duration of the assignment. After all, they don’t have feelings for each other … so what could possibly go wrong?
From debut Kiwi author H.S. Valley, the latest winner of the Ampersand Prize, comes this gleefully addictive own-voices romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan. In a word – it’s magic.
Abandonment by a parent
Homophobia
Anxiety
Depression
Underage Drinking
Non-explicit Sex Scenes
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