REVIEW: You're The One That I Want by Simon James Green

Pages: 416
Format: Paperback

Publisher: Scholastic
Genre:  Contemporary
Release Date: June 3rd 2021

Buy the Book: Book Depository

Freddie has a reputation as a ‘nice guy’ – inoffensive, sweet, kind – and therefore completely un-dateable.

As he starts sixth form, Freddie decides that this nice guy isn’t going to finish last any more. No more missing out on parties because he’s got to do his homework. No more saying no when he really wants to say yes. And most of all no more lusting after unobtainable straight boys who enjoy the attention but ultimately break his heart.

Freddie embarks on a series of changes designed to transform his social and romantic life, and suddenly he’s a drama darling, getting invited to all the popular kids’ parties, and hot new boy Zach is showing an interest. Life couldn’t be better!

But the path to love is never smooth – and Freddie’s about to learn that changing everything about yourself isn’t necessarily a foolproof way of finding the right person…

SAY HELLO TO MY NEW FAVOURITE OF 2021. It’s no secret that I absolutely adore any book written by Simon James Green, so I expected to love You’re the One That I Want before I delved in, but it still managed to go above and beyond. It’s exactly the wholesome read I needed this Pride Month.

The story focuses on teenager Freddie, the son of the producer for Cherries, a coming-age-show that deals with adolescent sexuality in all it’s awkwardness. After an unsavoury encounter with the actor playing the lead role, Freddie reaches the end of his tether. In a bid to stop being so invisible to everyone around him, he auditions for the school production of Grease.

 

 

Freddie, light of my life, owner of my heart. Bless his awkward, adorable soul. He’s such an entertaining and relatable protagonist, and the YA world needs more chaotic teenage boys like him. As well as being effortlessly funny, Freddie’s story also deals with genuine insecurities that young people find themselves increasingly feeling.

Zach and Jasper are both exciting in their separate ways and I loved getting to know each of them. I especially loved Freddie’s resentment towards Japser because it made for plenty of awkwardly hilarious moments between the two of them.

• MUSICAL THEATRE. As a musical theatre nerd, I was all about the production of Grease in this story. I was also living for the drama amongst the school theatre kids. I was far too anxious to be part of that world in my own high school, so at least I get to live it vicariously through YA.     

• T R O P E S. I love books that revolve around theatre. I also love books that revolve around the production of a show/film. I ALSO love books that have characters who ‘seemingly’ hate each other. So basically, this book ticks all the boxes and I’m absolutely in love with it.

• ADDICTIVE READING. Literally did not want to put this down. As someone who is a diagnosed insomniac, I’m supposed to stick to a very strict bedtime routine. Needless to say, I broke that routine to continue reading this book into the small hours. Did I regret it in the morning? Yes. Was it worth it though? Absolutely yes.

• CHARACTERS TO DIE FOR. Listen, I will gladly protect Freddie with my LIFE. I also really adored his little friendship group. Nothing has ever made me want to go back to school as much as this book. Which is saying a LOT.

This was easily one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it delivered in every way possible. It’s the perfect, cheerful pick-me-up that we all need after the stressful start to the year we’ve had. It’s been a rough few months for me personally, so I’m always grateful to authors like Simon who never fail to distract me with wonderful stories.  

Royal Rating:

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HOW BOOKS TAUGHT ME MORE ABOUT SEXUALITY THAN SCHOOL EVER DID

Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈 I usually kick off June with a list of queer book recs, but this year I thought I’d start with something I don’t usually discuss on my blog: my own journey with discovering sexuality. 

My high school years were between 2003 and 2008, and info about sexuality was few and far between in classes. Our sex education was the most dated, ridiculous hour of our lives, in which boys were separated from girls and we were taught how to put a condom onto a banana. Nothing about same-gender sex, nothing about female pleasure. Just a general sex makes babies so use contraception until you want babies.  

There was no opening for a discussion about sexuality whatsoever. The literature we read was heterosexual, and characters & historical figures I now know to be queer or queer-coded were just assumed heterosexual by us students because we were never told any different. Our history classes were overwhelmingly straight, which I now know is complete bullshit. Because I relearned all of this stuff myself, outside of my school years. 

Most of that education is down to books. 

part of my Pride Shelf

The first time I read a gay character was when I picked up Jaqueline Wilson’s Kiss from my local bookstore. It was structured to come across as a love story between a teen boy and girl who had been best friends since they were little. It eventually becomes clear that the boy is gay and doesn’t love his friend in the way she wants him to. I’d been exposed to gay characters on TV by this point, but they always played up to stereotypes and weren’t written accurately. This was the first time that I was experiencing a gay character who was just a regular teenager, and that was such an important part of this story to me, to see that gay teenagers exist all the time. 

A week later I came across a book in my school’s library. I don’t remember the name of it, but I do know it was in a section that required parental permission to read, despite it being a YA book. The main character was a lesbian, and it was strange to read it because lesbians felt like mythical beings to me at that point. No one I personally knew was a lesbian (spoiler, they totally were, I just didn’t know yet), and the word ‘lesbian’ was only thrown around as an insult. 

The more YA books I delved into, the more labels and terms I discovered. In turn, I discovered more about sexuality and myself than ever before. I learned that I didn’t have to limit myself to one label because grey areas exist. A person could be bisexual and demisexual, someone could be pansexual and aromantic. If you preferred to just label yourself queer as an umbrella term, that was fine too. The rules weren’t as rigid as I always thought they were, and that made me feel so much better about myself because I was (and still am) someone who was very confused about sexuality. Reading about pansexuality in the book community helped me to find a term that felt like me. 

hanging out in one of my favourite bookstores after Pride

I’ve never been in an actual relationship. Over the past few years, I’ve come to realise that I don’t particularly want to be. Authors like Alice Oseman have helped provide characters and labels that describe feelings I’ve been experiencing all these years. Reading an aromantic character in Loveless was like looking into a mirror. It made so much sense to me and I finally felt understood. I haven’t officially labelled myself as aromantic because I honestly don’t know if my feelings will change in the future, but that’s okay. I’ve made peace with it for now. 

I absorbed information from the wonderful YA authors who casually weaved sexuality into their books, and the online book community who openly discussed the content of these books. The YA community has always been one of the most diverse and welcoming online spaces I’ve been in, and I’ll be forever grateful. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of writers to teach young people about sexuality, but I’m so thankful that they do it regardless because until schools start providing teenagers with the information they deserve, at least authors are representing those who desperately need to see themselves in stories.

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