Date Me, Bryson Keller (by Kevin Van Whye)

 This book of young gay love has a fun premise and great messaging! But it falls short in comparison of Love, Simon, for me. 

I loved Bryson as a character, but found his overall arc not fully believable. I also loved Kai, but found the idea that he, a deeply closeted person, would out himself as part of an extremely public challenge and then be like "but it's secret!" did not quite track. Maybe his subconscious was nudging him to do it, but the opportunities he had to back out and didn't, rang false. 

 There was also a bit of didacticism (didactic-ness?) around the fact that being gay is AOK even if you're religious, but my own similarly themed young adult novel does this too, so I shouldn't throw stones. I see it as aimed towards the young adult audience moreso than adults who are reading young adult, if this makes sense.

Overall I liked it and found it charming! Just not quite a five-star read for me.