The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers: Ein Märchen in Chicago

by Adam Sass, Anja Hansen-Schmidt (Translator)

Wird Crush 100 der Eine sein?
Micah hatte noch nie ein echtes Date, dafür ist er viel zu schüchtern. Stattdessen zeichnet er seine Traumtypen und postet sie auf Instagram. 99 imaginäre Jungs später bringt ein Fremder in der U-Bahn sein Herz gewaltig zum Stolpern: unwiderstehliches Lächeln, Wuschellocken, sprühend vor Charme. Ganz klar, das ist Schwarm 100! Die Luft knistert, doch bevor beiden Nummern tauschen können, ist der Fremde wieder verschwunden. Zurück bleibt nur seine Jacke und Micahs Entschluss, seinen Crush zu finden. Die Suche führt in quer durch Chicago – doch manchmal ist die wahre Liebe näher, als man denkt.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Young Adult, Queer, Contemporary, Fiction, Gay

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

How long it takes for me to finish a book has no bearing on whether or not I enjoy it… usually. I didn’t really like any part of this book. And not to be dramatic, but it’s kind of an amalgam of everything I dislike in a romance. From the endless grand gestures to the unnecessary epilogue, reading through each chapter started to feel increasingly like a monumental task. I seriously needed a break after every couple of paragraphs. Apparently, this is a loose Cinderella retelling? At first, I thought it was just doing the movie Serendipity. Once I figured out what it was actually retelling, I could understand why the plot was so odd and convoluted despite what should have been a simple premise.

Most of the complaints I have are pretty much exactly the same I have for another gay “prince” romance book that will remain unnamed. My main issue here was how much of it centered around social media. I didn’t like how all of the most romantic moments of the book happened in a public space. Every aspect of Micah’s relationships, from every adorable moment to every heartbreaking one, is filmed and put on instagram or TikTok almost immediately. Remember how Katniss and Peeta were forced to play up a public T.V. romance in The Hunger Games? Kind of like that, only not self-aware and not in a terrible dystopian society. Anyway, positive things... let’s see; I like the concept of a Cinderella retelling where the main character is the “prince archetype," that’s pretty fun. Um, Elliot was cool. I’m glad that’s it’s over? Huh, I guess that’s it.

I remember reading an article one time (okay, it was a Tumblr post) about how some albums can sound almost too trendy. Like the fact that it’s so~oo current that it becomes dated almost immediately. That’s the basic gist of how I felt about the bulk of this book’s story unfortunately. Sure it's all good fun right now, but what about tomorrow? Micah just spends so much time pretending he’s in a story and chasing popular tropes like “insta-loves,” “meet-cutes,” and “prince charmings,” that I was totally exhausted by the halfway mark! I mean, I’m aware that he’s literally a character in a YA book, but I think I would have much preferred a more grounded approach. Or at least the lesson of the story being less about rewarding this behavior and more about acknowledging how in real life, people aren’t fictional characters and lists of tropes in a story. The book goes for meta, but at the consequence of following a rather shallow premise and an unlikeable main character.

[give me books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zakładam, że ocena będzie wynikać z faktu, że tak długo ją czytałam, ale dla mnie to takie 3.5⭐️
Była słodka i urocza ale nic nie wniosła do mojego życia

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW WOW WOW
-
This is such an interesting read. The main character wants a fairytale ending and this is such a cute Cinderella retelling but definitely with a twist. I honestly think SO MANY people are going to fall in love with the characters.
-
The LOVE INTEREST OMG he’s the cutest little buttercup and I just want to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek ahhhhhh.
-
Honestly all I ask of romcoms is to make me laugh and leave me with a smile on my face and I’m happy. This books DEFINITELY does that.
❤️❤️❤️❤️

[MossyMorels · Rating 1 out of 5]

-Definitely for a younger YA audience than I was anticipating.
-I knew this was a modern day fairy tale romance that had some focus on social media. I did not know just how social media centered this book was going to be. Everything was posted and of course everything went viral. Things going viral in books is officially a book peeve of mine, its an element I always hate when books try to do it
-The main character icked me so much. I wanted to punch him. He is stalkerish, self centered, and has terrible boundaries.
-very heavy on the insta love, another one of my major book pet peeves. He not only falls in love with one guy after like 15 minutes, he then falls out of love and in love with someone else in just another month. Also he treats both love interests horribly how can anyone stand this guy
- pretty much all the side characters only exist to help Micah and have very little of their own personalities. Because of this I kept mixing them up, especially the girls. All the girls are interchangable
-The first love interest, Grant, sucks so bad! Hes insecure and really only seemed to like Micah for popularity. Why was this ever a romance
- The second love interest, Elliot, deserves better than Micah I felt bad that they ended up together. Their romance was framed like he broke up with his toxic ex and got a real prince, but Micah is just as toxic
-So much. second hand embarrassment. I had to skip so many scenes because they were making me cringe so hard I couldn’t do it

Most of the early reviews for this one are absolutely loving it, but I sadly just don’t share the sentiment :/

[podczytany · Rating 4 out of 5]

W tej książce pojawiają się moje lubione motywy! Mamy bohatera, który jest znany w swoim świecie, a poza tym jest artystą🤭 Strasznie spodobał mi się pomysł na ten świat, a to konto na instagramie? Genialne!! Czytałem ją z zaangażowaniem, była urocza, jednakże obawiam się, iż nie zostanie mi w pamięci na długo.

Jednakże jeżeli szukacie dobrej rozrywki to zdecydowanie warto po nią sięgnąć😼.

Ocena: 4,0.

[not my high · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recenzja na ig @not.my.high

[ꪖꪶꫀ᥊ⅈડ ꪆৎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the sweetest book I've read in a long time, it was such a good vibe and I could not put it down! The story was great, the plot was great and the characters were just mid :( Micah was enraging and Elliot was the SWEETEST! This is a queer rom-com that was whimsy and an easy read. I enjoyed the twist on a modern day Cinderella story!

•eARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.

[Jena · Rating 4 out of 5]

While The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers has a solid premise and was clearly written with love, I'm sad to say I never really got into this book. I found that the writing style, dialogue, and even many elements of the plot were aimed at a younger audience. Although this made this a somewhat lacklustre reading experience for me, I didn't find it to be an objective problem, as this is a young adult book. It simply wasn't written for me. Because of this my rating is a bit higher than what it would be if I was rating this based solely off my enjoyment of it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Noah de Campos Neto · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible???

Micah character was a rich, delusional and selfish asshole. Grant was the fakest person alive and he was 101% using Micah. The only real people were Micah’s sisters, Hannah and Elliot. Grant and Micah are PERFECT for each other because they are both annoying as hell. I didn’t read the last few pages bc I didn’t want to waste another MINUTE of this predictive, annoyingly cheesy story.


Also I am SO DONE with the “basically cheating” trope like god be creative. Dean Atta did the exact same in Only on the weekends and I hated that one too. Maybe this book is just not for me


Whole story was screaming white gay issues

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good Fairy Tale Retelling… especially when you make it GAAAAAAAAY! 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers gave me the feelings of a contemporary Cinderella (Cinder-Fella, if you will) story, but if you remixed it a bit.

Micah has become popular from his social media account that documents 99 “boyfriends” through his artwork… well guys he’s had a one-sided crush on at least. No one knows who’s behind the art and he’d like to keep it that way. If people knew his father was an Olympic Gold Medalist and TV Personality, they wouldn’t be as understanding about the actual reason he’d started the account in the first place: to celebrate his work and maybe find a REAL boyfriend in the process.

So when Boy #100 walks past him and they have instant chemistry, but then disappears, leaving behind a pumpkin jacket, Micah makes it his mission to find him, date him, and finally have his happily ever after. The clues lead him through all of the places the mystery boy been and with the help of his best friend, Hannah, and her friend Elliott, they finally track him down to the art institute’s summer program. There he meets Brant. And they lived happily ever after……..

That’s how the story normally goes. Only this time, they’re in the real world and that’s not exactly how reality works.

This was full of adorable romantic dates, fun friends, and a meet cute. I love a good meet cute in romance, so you better believe I was excited! I enjoyed Micah, his friends and family so much! Even though he comes from money, he still stayed completely relatable and down to earth. He was always ready to help a friend, which I loved! Adding in that touch of clout chasing and the power of social media really brought this story to the contemporary world.

[Elle]

This sounds like the perfect storm of missed connections, online art spaces and social media ‘shipping’ that incapsulates current internet culture & dating. 💕

[Jason June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam coming in here making real life a gay fairytale!!

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute ya read. However, the story felt so familiar and the characters didn’t seem new to me. It’s okay. The writing is good. And I do not like stalking 😮‍💨

[Monte Price]

I knew that this was going to be a cute time going in, and coming out of it, I definitely got a cute time. I liked the characters well enough. As a person that grew up in a weird time for YA fiction it always feels a little weird to say that this is a book that I would have eagerly devoured, because I doubt that it would have even been something that was on my radar. Had I known about it though, I would have enjoyed it, and it's the kind of book that teens today will get more out of it.

In the first half of the narrative I liked the slight tweak on the Cinderella motif. I wouldn't call this a retelling by any stretch, but of the fairytale romances that are alluded to, it's the one that you could make fit if you wanted. I liked following the more well off character in the set up, I've read about one too many plucky down on their luck protagonists that it was just nice to see the dynamic reconfigured from the other side. Micah's family were easily some of my favorite parts of the book.

Maybe it was just the bitter cynic in me, but I was kind of rooting for the romance to just not work out in this one. Which at the time was a bit of a surprise because the first third of the book wherein Micah was trying to find the mysterious jacket boy after their chance encounter on the train had completely stolen my heart. I am a big fan of books where the romance is between two people that don't have any prior history that's been established before the start of the book and so moments like that are always going to get me

While the romance is easily the central focus in this, alongside some other more character related motivations, I can't say that the romance really compelled me. Something about my age and having read so many books you can clearly pick up where the book is going to end up by around the 45% mark, which was such a different experience from what I had reading Sass' debut novel just a few days before I picked this one up.

Again, this wasn't even a bad book. In fact I think that it makes for a fun read. Like so many other books I've picked up recently part of me feels it might work better as a movie, something about this one in particular really lends itself to adaptation and getting to see it in a more cinematic context might boost my personal enjoyment, but overall a fun time.

More thoughts found in my reading vlog.

[Dr. Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I teared up a little at the end. This was lovely.

Rep: white gay cis male MC, white midsize gay cis male side character, white gay cis male side character, white queer cis female side character, Korean queer cis female side character, Black cishet female side character, Filipino cishet male side character, various queer side characters.

CWs: Moderate: sexual content, emotional infidelity, toxic relationship (romantic: between side characters), classism.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read this early and wowowow it is so good! Full of the wit, heart, and tenderness, and humor that makes a RomCom feel like more than just that. You’ll be rooting for and yelling at these characters all at the same time.

[JennyBuysBooks | Find me on Fable! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was pretty underwhelming for me. I thought I would love it but it was just very okay. I waffled between and 2.5 and a 3.

What I liked:
- Overall it was a light and quick read
- Elliot was a great character. I wish this was from his POV (and he got a better prince...)!

What didn't work for me:
- The rest of the characters didn't really hit for me. Either I didn't like them (Micah & Grant) or I didn't really feel like we got to know them very well.
- Again, Micah is kind of the worst. He is mentioned multiple times to be a real prince charming to the other characters and I don't see it folks!
- There are some weird rich vs poor/working class dynamics that don't really get explored, but it is constantly mentioned how Elliot is too poor for A/C but Micah lives in a penthouse and takes ubers to go four blocks. It felt ick to me.
- I hated the social media aspect. It didn't feel realistic to me at all, and it was the primary driver of the story.
- This felt very juvenile. I know I am out of the "YA demographic", but this doesn't really feel like YA to me. I kept picturing the characters as middle schoolers because in my head, that was how it was written (but then at one point, a character is called a "toilet twink" and it just didn't mesh). I don't know, just didn't really click for me.

Giving this a very average rating because it isn't bad, but it didn't work for me. If you are into overly swoony fairy tale YA types of stories you might like this, but that just isn't my jam.

*arc provided via Edelweiss

[booksnagi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Książka ,,99 chłopaków Micaha Summersa”, to bardzo przyjemna i łatwa w odbiorze lektura, idealna na odpoczynek po ciężkim dniu. To typowa comfort book – pełna uroku oraz humoru.

Głównie skupia się ona na jednym wątku, więc dla niektórych może wydawać się momentami nużąca. Fajnie, że został tutaj poruszony element popularności w social mediach i konsekwencji z nią związanych. Rysunki, które pojawiają się w książce są świetnym dopełnieniem fabuły. Podoba mi się ilość sztuki, którą autor świetnie połączył z fabułą. Lekki zawód sprawiły mi postacie drugoplanowe, które zostały jedynie pobieżnie zarysowane, a szkoda, bo pare z nich miało potencjał do wykorzystania. Jak to bywa w młodzieżówkach, główny bohater momentami wydawał się bardzo naiwny, a jego uczucia dość ulotne.

Jeśli lubicie Heartstoppera, Only Mostly Devastated czy ogólnie motyw friends to lovers, to z pewnością pokochacie tę pozycję.

Czy to współczesna miłość z bajki? Musicie przekonać się sami.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Took me only 150 pages (and many weeks) to get into the story 😅 but then I read the second half in a day. Honestly this book would have been a million times better if the main character didn't exist and the two love interests dated each other

[Andreas · Rating 1 out of 5]

it's official y'all I'm entirely too old: this was cringe city

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Sass' newest book is all kinds of adorable.

Micah wants the fairytale. The problem is, he can never work up the courage to actually ask any of his crushes out. Instead he draws dramatic sketches of each imaginary boyfriend with a story of what their date could’ve been like, and posts it to his Instagram account, to the joy of his growing number of fans.

There have now been 99 “boyfriends.” Micah is determined that the 100th boy he meets will be the one—and he’ll be brave enough to ask him out. When he meets a handsome guy on the subway carrying two large bags of books, there’s an immediate attraction. They banter and flirt, Micah seeks the chance to make his move. But in a chaotic moment on the train, the guy gets off and Micah doesn’t, and they never had chance to exchange names or phone numbers.

The guy did, however, leave behind a gorgeous handmade leather jacket with a pumpkin on it. Micah is determined to find his mystery guy, and with the help of two friends and the internet, they follow the clues to find him, and hopefully, the start of a magical love story.

Can fairytales really come true, or are there even downsides to the fulfillment of wishes? How hard can it be to follow your heart when you see what it really wants?

I thought this was such a sweet book. I really enjoyed all of the characters and the banter between them. While you certainly know where the book will end, it’s such a fun journey to get there. I wish love stories like this existed when I was younger.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/getbookedwithlarry/.

[Anaïs ⋆˚꩜｡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

I really expected to like this book, because of its cover and the reviews I had read since its release, but unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations.

Things I liked:
- the writing was good
- the plot reminded me at times of a mix of What if it's us and Jay's gay agenda, two books I love
-it's a quick and entertaining read, it can be a good book to get out of a reading slump
- There are cute illustrations in the book

Things I didn't like :
- the whole social media aspect of the book was unrealistic, because I can't believe that all of Micah's posts go so viral. He's become a real celebrity with fans taking pictures of him in the street and all that, because of a picture of him with his boyfriend?
- I couldn't stand the personality of the main character. He was just your average spoiled white gay who was making a big deal out of nothing and was only thinking about himself. He treated the two love interests very badly and didn't deserve either of them, not even the one who was using him for his fame
- The secondary characters had no personality. I didn't care for any of them because all we know is what Micah thinks of them, and he's so self-centered that it's almost like not knowing anything.

[Lance]

I loved this author’s debut so I’m excited to read his take on a queer romcom!!

[Kira Dennis · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review*

1 star and a flat, tired stare.

I went from “I’m excited to read something cute and light” to “huh maybe I’ve just outgrown YA contemporary” to “oh no, I just don’t like any part of this book because it’s either really predictable, underdeveloped, or nonsensical”. I made it halfway and then skimmed to the end just to see what happened to Elliot.

This book had potential, but it fell horrendously flat. I guess so I don’t lose myself in all my thoughts on the plot/themes, I’ll start with the characters.

They were… fine. They existed.

Micah started off as an interesting and kind of endearing character. His deeply-rooted beliefs about what relationships should be like really reminded me of myself before I started dating, and even in the early months/years of my relationship. It made me feel a nice mix of nostalgia and sorrow, and I was genuinely invested in how he was going to learn not to expect perfection from himself or his partner, that relationships take work and thrive in the small, quiet moments.

Aaaaaand at the end of the book he’s rushing to the train station to stop his crush, who he’s also objectified quite a bit, from leaving a genuinely bad situation for an arguably much better situation, because he just doesn’t want to be left alone. I also could not believe that his motivation behind helping Brandon and Elliot stay together wasn't to help Elliot, but was ultimately to keep Elliot from moving away from HIM.

What was this kid supposed to have learned again?

I also had a hard time understanding his motivation to get into the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He’s apparently able to fling money around on anything and everything, and he’s had private art tutors in the past. Is he only interested in the school so that he can be involved in the art community? I mean, that’s fair I guess. But then why does it seem like he’s not following other artists online?? It’s not mentioned even once. It felt really weak to me that he’s looking for *inspiration* solely from his crushes and not from fellow artists in an online community, which is how online artists actually thrive.

Grant was boringly perfect for the first quarter of the book, and because I knew he wasn’t the endgame I was just waiting for something to go wrong, but there was really nothing to him aside from his inferiority complex and the fact that he was just as selfish as Micah was. Honestly, they made a great couple. They deserved each other.

Elliot…. Elliot Elliot Elliot. The overworked and stressed poor kid who was constantly harassed by customers and abused by his manager and stuck in a crappy living situation- y’know, just that real world food service life- but who absolutely NEVER let it get him down. Never. Not once. Who never stood up for himself to mean customers but had to have other people come in and help him or just give stuff away for free until they calmed down (which he totally would have gotten in trouble for btw). In the end, he was so complacent he didn’t even quit his terrible job on his own, didn’t make any kind of stand or statement, he just got fired cuz he stopped showing up cuz he was sad. The ONE time he got mad was when Micah posted on Insta that they weren’t romantically involved.

Please stop representing the overworked and underpaid masses as toothless and polite. This is SO not the time.

At the end of the book, when he and Micah are confessing their love to each other, he tells Micah that he has flaws, that their relationship isn’t going to be perfect, but lol, we know that’s not true. He’s only ever been described as NICE and PATIENT and POSITIVE and being PERFECT at making other people (Micah most importantly) feel good.

Hannah was cool. Micah’s dad was really obsessed with time management for a single scene and then it never came up again. Micha’s sister was mean until Micah complained about it once and then the problem was solved.

Okay moving on.

The portrayal of online vs. real life fame for artists was wholly unrealistic. An artist with 50k followers posts a face reveal and gets a million more followers and likes from celebrities and has people following him around in real life snapping candids?? Even if he was piggybacking off the dubious fame of his washed-up hockey player turned failed reality TV star turned local radio talk show host father, I could not suspend my disbelief even half so far.

Not to mention the way the book handles art and networking. For artists, networking is literally EVERYTHING. We are fighting constantly to beat the algorithms just to get our stuff SEEN, much less engaged with. And part of being in an online artist community is hyping up your fellow artists. And that’s just if we want to keep a relatively casual relationship between our art and our income. If we want to do art as a JOB?! We have GOT to have connections in the industry. Networking, whether online or in person, is everything.

Grant asking for Micah to promote an art project that, at that point, they are COLLABORATING on, from which they both mutually benefit by getting the attention of the art college they BOTH want to go to?!

Hot take incoming: not a bad thing.

Obviously he could have started his own Insta after the face reveal happened and they suddenly became irl celebrities for no reason, sure, but Micah already had the followers, already had the engagement, already had the favor of the almighty and fickle algorithm. Either way, he would have been “using” Micah’s fame in order to get attention for his own work. So would it have been better or worse for Grant to start his own account, which *realistically* would grow pretty slowly on its own, and then constantly ask Micah to share his posts in his stories or interact with them in some other way that points people toward it?

In fact, no, that would have actually been more interesting. It would make their issues feel more personal and real if Grant tried to take this opportunity to drum up attention for his own work by setting up his own socials, and then they both realized eventually that he was still just riding the coattails of Micah’s fame. Instead, him “using” Micah for attention was incredibly predictable. I knew it was coming halfway through their first date.

What makes this whole situation awkward and frustrating for me is that Micah has a lot of privilege, and that is never really addressed in a substantial way. He gets lucky on social media by making it to 50k followers (thousands and thousands of artists will never see that number, and not for lack of trying or lack of talent), but behind that is the fact that he’s very well off financially (his family has a YACHT), with real world clout that can apparently make or break people’s social situations (see Elliot). He’s in a position to help Grant, but instead it’s portrayed as Grant using him to “climb ladders”. And again, they were COLLABORATING on this art project, and they both stood to benefit from it. So why play it like Micah is being used, when it would be way more realistic for him to also be excited to use his account to promote the project? It made the problems in their relationship feel very manufactured, when all you really needed to do was have Micah and Grant get to know each other and realize they just don’t vibe. Have Micah realize that he can’t objectify total strangers. Because… obviously.

And what’s with the different levels of charity Micah was willing to engage with between Grant and Elliot? Grant asked for help promoting his art show, so that’s bad? Elliot didn’t ask for any help with his poor situations, so it’s fine for Micah to throw a bunch of his dad’s money at him? Maybe it just felt better to Micah to help Elliot, because that at least was his own idea, done out of the goodness of his heart, so he can feel (and we can believe) that he’s actually a Nice and Generous rich boy?

Idk y’all, the socio-economic dynamics of the relationships between these three boys was REALLY wack. And before you tell me to shut up and not look that deeply because it’s just supposed to be some cute fluffy ya contemporary, these dynamics were literally the whole plot of the novel. It keeps getting brought up that Micah is oh-so-rich and has to be careful in public because people are watching him, can recognize him on the street, and I’m supposed to think that that doesn’t have any bearing on the situation?? Instead, it’s all about his ever elusive cReAtIvItY and how Grant asking him to use his account for promo somehow oppresses that. Really??

There’s even a moment where Elliot’s boyfriend teases Micah for being rich, but he does it in a ‘mean’ way, a ‘bitter’ way, so it’s bad. But then Elliot does it in a ‘nice’ way, (aka, in a way that doesn’t actually force Micah to think and feel bad about the difference in status and opportunity between him and his friend), and that’s just fine. In fact, it’s so cute. Micah LOVES being teased (NICELY) about how rich he is by a kid who works overtime every week and lives in a building with no AC and can’t afford vet school and gets harassed on the daily by entitled customers and gets exploited by a manager who should really be reported to OSHA. It makes him feel so… understood.

If I wasn’t supposed to think about any of these issues, which are real world problems that affect real world people, then why bring them up a thousand and one times? Yes, Micah is a kid, and his wealth isn’t any of his doing. But that would have just made it all the more interesting and powerful to have him challenge his family’s privilege, or look into ways he can use that privilege to help others. What was the point of him being wealthy at all? What was the point of it constantly being beaten into our heads that he’s wealthy?

I have… no idea.

In the end, the best way I can describe this book is out of touch. The plot didn’t feel plausible, the important character interactions were pretty contrived, and there were social themes that were brought up that were never resolved. I skimmed, and was kind of relieved when I was done.

[Jono Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for any sort of fairytale retelling. Maybe it was the many years I wasted away working for Disney, but there’s something about the fairytale aesthetic that will always hold a special place in my heart.

As a queer millennial I reflect on my own teenage experience and this particular book just resonates so strongly with exactly who I hoped I would be and exactly how I hoped things would work out. I think all of us in some way, even at our most bleak, are a little bit Micah Summers. Big dreams, bigger romantic aspirations, and blind faith that it can all work out.

This is one of my favorite YA reads in recent memory. Would highly recommend.

[oliwia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5⭐️

[Reverie · Rating 3 out of 5]

contents: tropes, plot, review, TL;DR

The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers
Adam Sass

- MM romance
- Queer side characters
- Artists
- Instalove
- Search for a fairy tale like relationship
- Emotional cheating

PLOT:
Micah Summers runs an anonymous Instagram account where he posts drawings of his crushes. After posting 99 of them, Micah decides that Boy 100 should be special and real. Just when he finally meet The One, fate chooses to play with him and shut the train door before he can follow him outside. Determined to finally get that fairy tale of his dreams, Micah, with his bestfriend Hannah, and Hannah's "other gay friend", Elliot, embark on a quest to find Micah's prince. But a happily-ever-after in real life is not as easy to get as it is on fairy tales.

REVIEW:

Characters
Micah Summers
- I don't totally hate him but I'm not a big fan of our main man. He's this guy who wants to have something real then says "romance is about imagination. If you want it to be realistic and boring, then that's what it'll be." Babe, make up your mind. Real or Fantasy?
- Stalker tendencies. He followed guy's trail all over the city to ask him out. If he also wanted to return the jacket, that may seem more reasonable and not creepy. Nah, he even wore the jacket while searching for him throughout the city. I'm glad he realized that the guy might find him creepy for that but he still continued the quest despite that realization.
- I admire his new-found confidence and determination. I also liked how he considers his words when speaking to Elliot as to not hurt his feelings and helping him but trying not to look like he's rubbing his wealth on Elliot's face.
- major spoiler: It was annoying when Elliot was upset because of Micah's IG post of 'how little El meant to him' and Micah's thought was "shit, he might like me too". Your friend was hurt because of you and that's your concern?
Side Characters
- Maggie- I didn't like her at first because she's mean to Micah and her gf, Mandy. I ended up liking her because she's the one who talks sense to Micah.
- Hannah- She's very much like Maggie and I like her too. Both she and Maggie are confident, "fuck-off" vibes, independent, but still has a soft spot for the people they care about.
- Grant- I dislike him very much (duh?). Tell me a pathetic story about being "cursed" because no one stays for a second date so I would want to take care of you and prove that you're not cursed and then use me as your ladder towards fame and success. He's so selfish and big bright red flag.
- Elliot- I like how he's this good nice guy to everyone even when he's being treared badly. Hardworking and easy-going. Absolutely love how Micah described him. Free-spirited, graceful, and fearless. Thing is, Micah had to carefully choose his words around him. Can't even call yacht a yacht even if it's actually a yacht without offending him.

The characters aren't that appealing to me. Frankly, I'm not interested with anyone else aside from Hannah and Maggie.

Story
In the beginning, we see Micah tracking down one of his crushes to the park to ask him out. My first impression on Micah wasn't great due to his habit of following people like that. I don't know, but I think that's not my thing. But it's nice seeing how shy and awkward he is at first then developing his confidence.
He and Grant got together that fast. "I felt sparks with you. Let's be boyfriends." I would've liked some "get to know you" time instead of them just jumping in a relationship when Micah know nothing about it.>
The "plottwist" is so obvious right from the start. I had hoped that Micah would learn a lesson and I got it. I do fantasize about a relationship too but Micah is idealizing too much. I'm glad he realized that that's not how relationship works.

TL;DR
The characters didn't appeal much to me. I did enjoy. Cute but it can be a bit childish, made me cringe a few times. Either lacking or just not for me. Best for YA and swoony romance fans.


I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Muffinsandbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️
Très mignon, très chouuuuuuu et j’ai beaucoup aimé le côté conte de fées… mais j’ai trouvé ça un peu lent et je ne sais pas pourquoi mais je n’ai pas réussi à vraiment entrer dedans. Je l’ai lu avec plaisir et je l’ai lu vite, mais il me manquait un petit je ne sais quoi pour être vraiment à fond. Je crois que j’ai eu du mal avec le style d’écriture ? Une bonne lecture, mais sans plus quoi.

[Drew Factor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, pop culture-inflected YA fairy tale with a strong sense of character and place. Totally breezy but also wise, wistful while deeply funny, this novel has true heart and the distinctive stamp of Adam Sass's assured writing.

[Gordon Ambos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das war wirklich zuckersüß. Ich habe zwar schon am Anfang gewusst, worauf das ganze hinausläuft, aber ich habe die Reise dorthin trotzdem sehr genossen. Dass es hier einen plus-size Love Interest gibt, hat die Sache nochmal besser gemacht. Eine tolle, märchenhafte Geschichte über die Irrungen und Wirrungen der ersten Liebe. 😍