After reading and loving The Sky Blues in 2021, Blaine for the Win was one of our most anticipated reads of 2022, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Trust us when we say you don’t want to miss out on it. But if you need a few more reasons than that, check out our review below!
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High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend—senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.
Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.
Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.
Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.
But is he willing to sacrifice everything he loves about himself to do it?
Blaine for the Win
Robbie Couch
Rep: gay mc, Vietnamese American bi li, Black sapphic character, Latina sapphic character, gay side characters
Release: 12th April 2022
Five Reasons to Read This Book
One. Blaine for the Win is a book full of characters who just leap off the page. The sorts of characters where it feels like you’re in the room with them, they’re just standing across from you when all this is happening. You can’t help but root for them—even, by the end, the ones you might not be expecting to root for.
Two. It’s a kind book: characters are allowed to mess up and they can also be forgiven, but it’s a forgiveness they have to work towards. This is clearest with the two or three characters who are posited as antagonists. They’re not automatically excused and forgiven when it all comes out, but they’re not completely written off, either. There’s the space for growth there, that makes this book, ultimately, kind.
Three. The focus on mental health as Blaine’s chosen topic to base his candidacy on was very well done, especially in how it covers intersections of mental health. That’s something that isn’t often the focus of YA books about school and/or other politics, but it’s what made this one a breath of fresh air. And, I think, a very important read for school-aged readers, with the message about looking after your mental health.
Four. In all, it’s just a very fun read. Blaine is an entirely relatable character and you’ll find yourself laughing and crying in turn as he does. Equally, so are all of the characters around him. You will have the time of your life reading this one and it’s mostly down to the characters (but also the plot, of course).
Five. It’s about the family of it all, both Blaine’s biological one, and the one he makes with his friends. Blaine’s relationship with his parents, and his aunt as well, was so sweet and the juxtaposition of this with The Sky Blues, where Sky’s support comes from his found family, was lovely. It’s so important to show a vast range of experiences when it comes to LGBT kids and their families, and these two books definitely contribute to that.
So, have we convinced you that you want to read this book?
