Il ragazzo che amo

by William Hussey, Paolo Maria Bonora (translator)

Ambientato nell'orrore della Prima Guerra Mondiale questo romanzo è un viaggio toccante, devastante, bellissimo. Nella Francia del 1916 Stephen Wraxall, già veterano di molte battaglie a soli diciannove anni, torna nelle trincee per l'ennesima volta; i compagni lo considerano un eroe, ma lui si sente solo disilluso e ferito. Al fronte c'è anche Danny Earnshaw, una nuova recluta piena di ideali e di entusiasmo il cui cammino incrocia presto quello di Stephen.

Sarà l'incontro che cambierà la vita di entrambi. Il sentimento che nascerà tra Stephen e Danny, proibito dalla legge e dalla morale comune, darà loro qualcosa per cui lottare, se riusciranno a non lasciarsi travolgere dagli orrori della Prima Guerra Mondiale.

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Historical, Young Adult, Queer, M M Romance

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 23, 2025

Reviews

[Ditte · Rating 1 out of 5]

BUCKLE UP, I'm about to throw hands with a book! 🤬

It's so refreshing to read a WWI book and have the war not be the main conflict! And what a bold choice to not focus on the large-scale death and destruction of war, but have the Bad Guys be a caricaturishly Evil Captain, and an utterly incompetent Colonel, so that you can center petty in-fighting as the big drama of the book 🙄🙄

Then to give us the most unlikeable and unrealistic love interest is yet another brave choice by Hussey who truly defies the norm of not only this genre, but of most novels and makes you wish the MC and LI both die 🙏

How daring to have the MC's great love, love since childhood, love of his life, die a vague death off-page shortly before the book starting, only for the MC to take all of 3 days to fall in love with the new LI and proclaim to now have a new great love!!

I didn't foresee myself reading a WWI book and hoping the Germans would win just so the central characters would die, but I'm once again left speechless at the author's innovative choices in his writing 🙃🙃

No but seriously, I ✨HATED✨ this book. It's crazy that the two worst books I've read in my life are ones I read within months of each other but here we are.

I was legit so excited for The Boy I Love, seeing as I've been super into WWI era/1910s writing for a while now!! Queer WWI soldiers, the battle of the Somme, a seemingly doomed love story? Such an incredible premise, sign me the eff up! And then I get THIS? The only reason I didn't dnf was because I was rage reading it, with my anger fueling me. Now allow me to VENT!

Mild spoilers below.

WHY set a book in 1916 during a war, if you hardly care about the setting? It felt like this book could've easily been set in the 1960s with the characters having a homophobic boss and hardly anything would've needed to be changed.

1910s society, class differences, patriotism, not casually coming out as queer to someone you've known for a HANDFUL OF DAYS, and literal facts were ignored because of... reasons? And the characters all felt either ridiculously modern, or as dumb as rocks. It was so frustrating to read! 😤

As for the "romance"?? About 95% of the book is set in just under a month in June 1916.
By DAY ONE of Stephen (the MC) seeing Danny (the LI) he's infatuated, though the great love of his life (Michael) died recently. By day 4 they're basically in love, and TWO WEEKS IN they're kissing, telling each other "I love you," and sending love notes IN THE FUCKING TRENCHES. And we're supposed to root for these guys? Yeah, no 🙅‍♂️🙅‍♂️ #JusticeForMichael

Now Danny… Danny, Danny, Danny, oh how I HATED him 🤮
I nearly kept a tally of how many times he should've been court-martialed but I gave up because I couldn't count that high!
Talking back to superiors, throwing things at them, questioning orders, inserting himself in situations he should've never been in, demanding to be called fucking ~squire instead of "soldier servant" aka the TITLE of his actual gd job because he didn't want to sound like he was "inferior" to, well, all his superiors 🙄😤

OH! And the one time he refused to shoot a German sniper who had been taking out British soldiers because he didn't want to "KILL IN COLD BLOOD", because omg he's so sensitive and too pure for war uwu, so now the sniper can just continue killing??? But it's okay because Danny decided he knew better than everyone, and also he didn't believe in hierarchies, and also he had a nice smile so it all worked out. SMH! 😡
Don't even get me started on how apparently Stephen and Danny could've stopped WWI in 1916 because they were smarter than anyone else but homophobia is why the war lasted till 1918???

I read an ARC of this book and I wish I hadn't. It's nearly put me off reading for good.

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Hussey is one of my favorite YA authors. Hideous Beauty is a gem, and I expected to find the same writing, the same emotions, and the same kind of love story from that book in The Boy I Love, a YA story about English boys going to war in France in 1916. The best book I’ve ever read about WWI (or actually overall) is In Memoriam. So, I expected a YA version of that book, the vividly written scenes in the muddy trenches, the brotherhood between those soldiers, the hurt and the pain, and above so much love.
 
Did I get all of this? Yes, because The Boy I Know is a beautifully written story that took me to those grimy trenches and let me feel the brotherhood between those men. It made me fall in love with Danny, sweet, cheerful Danny and made me want to throw my fist at Gallagher and Beddowes (please know I’m not a violent person) for the terrible men they were. It made me weep because of Ollie, oh sweet Ollie, and smile when Stephen and Danny admitted their feelings for each other. It made my heart thunder in my chest when, for one moment, Stephen thought Danny had died, and it made me feel so much more.
 
After finishing this book, I only wanted one thing, though. That I had read In Memoriam after this one and not before. How is it possible to compete with such a masterpiece? And maybe it’s not fair to compare those two stories. 
 
So, If you haven’t read In Memoriam yet, read this one first. If you think In Memoriam is too triggering, you might want to try this one since it’s less graphic. And if you’ve loved any of William Hussey’s books and/or In Memoriam, I’d still recommend reading this one too.
 
Thank you, Andersen Press and NetGalley, for this wonderful ARC. It was one of my most anticipated 2025 releases, and I’m so happy I could read it early!

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[Meags · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

The Boy I Love is a story that shows the forbidden love between two young British soldiers fighting in the trenches during the height of WW1.

It’s a LGBT YA romance in genre (MCs Stephen and Danny are 19 and 18, respectively), but tonally the story is quite weighty, with its vivid and unforgiving portrayal of life in the trenches and the period-accurate depiction of queer existence, and the often cruel and harrowing prejudices (and unjust ramifications) that gay men of that time often faced.

The writing was strong and the characterisations were excellent, all melding together to enhance the emotional depth of the story being told, while also effortlessly establishing a clear and all-consuming sense of person, place, and time.

It wasn’t an easy read, but it was a beautifully crafted story, which, despite its heavier themes, is one still full of love, hope, brotherhood, sacrifice, and the absolute best of humanity in the face of the absolute worst of humanity.

*******************************

Audio Edition:

The audiobook, narrated by Alex Wingfield, was absolutely fantastic. His vocal choices, his SINGING, and the overall emotional gravitas he brought to the characters really helped enhance my experience of the story to new visceral heights. I honestly couldn’t have been more satisfied with his performance if I tried; it was pitch perfect.


***A special thanks to the publishers (via Netgalley) for providing an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a young YA crush story that didn't go far enough. There were a some tender moments between Stephen (19) and Danny (18) on some field recon work. Stephen had lost his childhood love, Michael, to the war not too long ago. This new relationship felt too fast - but the knowledge that your next day might be your last here on earth was clearly stated and seen.

It was a very linear story, starting in early June 1916. Maybe you've heard of some famous WWII battles, like "Pearl Harbor", "D-Day", "Battle of the Bulge". Well, "Battle of Somme" has that level of notoriety for WWI:

(from Britannica)
July 1, 1916 Begins the Battle of the Somme
The horrific bloodshed on the first day of the battle became a metaphor for futile and indiscriminate slaughter. 20k British dead, another 40,000 casualties. 60k casualties for Allies; 10-12k for Germany.
The first day of the Somme has become synonymous with incompetent leadership and a callous disregard for human life.

This knowledge of how badly the upcoming battle was going to go had me edgy throughout the entire book.

There were some flashback moments as Stephen thought about his time with Michael, but nothing very deep. Just enough to know that Michael's parents accepted him, but Stephen's parents (Dad in particular) demanded Stephen become a man and enlist immediately, once he and Michael had been discovered.

Join up now or forever be a stranger to me and your mother. Go do your duty, son. It will stamp out these degenerate impulses and make a man of you.

I found that I didn't underline anything in the story as I read. It felt a bit generic. Just a WWI HF with some WWI vernacular here and there, with some references to cities that made me look them up online to see where the battle was taking place. I just didn't feel pulled 100% into the story though. Descriptions of the deplorable trench conditions would be soon met with tender Stephen/Danny moments that felt "too" allowable, for the year/time/place. Danny speaks his mind to his superiors a little too much for the year of 1916 and being a Tommie.

A couple of these superiors deserved it. But these officers were given harsh personalities from the moment they were introduced. "The Toad" (Gallager) and "The Snake" (Beddowes) ignored the recon findings from Stephen and Danny. I understand that this indeed was part of the massive failure in the Battle of the Somme, but this felt like middle-school caricatures. My mind compared Beddowes (The Snake" to Chi Fu, from the 1998 movie "Mulan". He was that skinny subordinate to the emperor that kept reading rules and getting in everyone's way.

There was even a brief cameo appearance of Siegfried as he was met in passing in a trench. (Siegfried Sassoon is a famous lgbtq anti-war trench-poet).

Since I like both gay literature and war stories (see my shelves), maybe I had my hopes set rather high. I just felt like the book lacked depth in too many areas. The ending felt too abrupt for time invested in the story.

Bibliography and glossary are included. But I recall looking up some other words I stumbled upon while reading, that did not get listed here. The bibliography lists both nonfiction and fiction.

Some more nonfiction:
The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

More Poetry
The Collected Poems of Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon.

More nonfiction + poets
Soldiers Don't Go Mad: A True Story of Friendship, Poetry, and Mental Illness During the First World War by Charles Glass

More fiction
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
The Absolutist by John Boyne
In the Absence of Men by Philippe Besson

3.5*

[Ben Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy I Love is now easily my favourite book from William Hussey. It was an emotional read, that has a very sweet romance between Stephen and Danny set during such a grim situation. We follow their platoon in the lead up, through and after the Battle of the Somme. The side characters don't get as much attention but do still leave an impact.

I got an ARC for this from Netgalley (thanks!), and I got to 84% and for some reason chapter 34 wouldn't play. The other chapters played fine. It wouldn't let me delete the audiobook to redownload it, so I reinstalled the Netgalley app and the book had disappeared 🙃 All that to say, I loved the book and audiobook so much that I bought my own copy. The narration was great. Alex Wingfield is the narrator and he does an amazing job, so I highly recommend the audio!!

[Amina · Rating 4 out of 5]

✰ 3.75 stars ✰

“There’s no suspicion in their eyes, only a kind of sentimental admiration. That is the irony of this war – love between fighting men is something to be encouraged and applauded.

Just as long it is the right kind of love.”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ��� ‎ ‎ William Hussey's latest YA novel is a heartfelt testament to the forsaken, but not forgotten generation of silent voices that may have never been able to openly express their feelings for The Boy I Love, but by no means does not mean that they did not love - with all their heart. It is a bittersweet and achingly poignant tender love story in the summer leading up to the Battle of Somme and centering on the dangers of The Big Push. Nineteen-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Wraxall has returned to the front after recovering from a crippling injury and a devastating heartbreak of a first love lost forever, only to have eighteen-year-old Private Danny McCormick as his squire-servant. Desperate to protect his innocence from the horrors of war for as long as he can, he takes him under his wing, only to find that the chemistry between the two of them is undeniable and tinged with a desperation to be as close as possible, despite the risk of being caught and the fear of being punished. But, as tension on the front escalates, it's not only the threat of the enemy that they have to fight to survive, but the threats from within that endanger their very lives, simply for being in love. 🥺

“Killing innocent people simply because you want their land. And dressing all that carnage up in the language of a righteous crusade. It’s only rules that stop us devouring each other.”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ After a rocky start with the writing style - where the tone felt a bit too youngish-modern, wondering how he would make the horrors of war be as impactful in a YA read, and convey the tender and heartbreaking forbidden romance between two souls who are doing no fault to others for their feelings for each other, the author surprised me. 🥲 His clear portrayal of Stephen's emotions and swaying thoughts, with powerful characterization that drew out the masks of both enemy and friend, he brought the war to life with expressions of love and good cheer, homesickness and bravado that I was transported to the swift tension of the summer of 1916. Where the young and the innocent try in vain to hold on to the bleak hope of surviving this insurmountable and daunting task of claiming victory in the name of something that holds no value to them, save for the superiors who demanded it. It's where adhering to the rules can either make or break a spirit - one that demands utmost respect or one that can overwhelm you in the most dire of situations. It's a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking thought; but even in the fewest of glimpses, the writing draws you into the camaraderie of the soldiers, their fervent need to stave off despair and death for a few glimmers of hope and happiness - 'grateful and frightened by the knowledge that you’re still a human being.' 💔💔

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Told entirely in Stephen's perspective, we see how harrowed he is by what he has lost and what he has to hide; it's that incessant fear and rejection that prevents him from ever acting upon that fervent need to feel close to someone, despite the yearning of being drawn so intensely towards Danny. Danny with his charms and honor - his honest integrity and his passionate theatrics - his zeal for kindness and compassion, his headstrong defiance against the atrocities of man - '...it confirmed what I already knew: here is a good man worth saving.’. 🥹 Danny is bold when he's withdrawn, but Danny's kindness and sincerity and pure and aching love for Stephen is impossible to resist - until it's not. Despite their difference in rank, there is a visceral connection between the two that rises to the surface. 'I care about you. I care very much.' Those snatched moments of tender bliss were captured with an ache of longing; so fleeting, but built upon such a steady friendship of trust - anchoring each other to survive at all costs. Revealing their inner demons and past backgrounds was what led them to fight alongside and protect one another as desperately as they could. 😥

“We’ve expressed our love in a dozen ways but love, like war, is never satisfied and I want more.”

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Their relationship blossomed in such a sweet and tender way, one which helped Stephen overcome his own trauma of his past experience on the front and his guilt of losing his first love, Michael. How he eventually learned to set Michael apart from Danny, and care for Danny for who he was - desperate to keep him safe for as long as he could, and then see his strength and resilience and courage shine in the darkest of hours was breathtaking. 🤌🏻🤌🏻🫂 'I live for that smile. It feels like my world.' It felt like war - and war is hell. It is the harshest of horrors of the worst of humanity shining and the brightest of those, too. Ones who aim to hurt, in places of power, and those in the lowest of ranks, but still hold out a helping hand. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Witnessing it through the eyes of one who has to hide himself and still save his men is the daunting task that eventually proves to be the most difficult challenge Stephen has to face. And for all his determination and fierce charm, Danny has his own demons he has to go to war with, and seeing Stephen shed his own armor in order to protect him was so heartbreaking, but fiercely palpable. 😢 ‘But you should also know this – the heart of you will always be that same heart that made me fall in love with you.’ It echoed with each trial they faced off against the Toad and the Snake, each surrender to an unwitting enemy, each heartbreak for a precious and beloved friend. They were in it together, and Stephen hoped to risk everything, for them to survive the carnage together.

“It’s not a scary darkness, Percy, I promise. It’s like chasing a dream... When you next close your eyes, you just let go of all your pain and you chase the best dream you ever had.”



‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I did not expect to cry; I really did not. But, it is a credit to the author in the way he built upon the happenings around and the swell of heightened emotions that showed the longing for living a little bit more for love - that scene when one of their own lay dying and the desperate desire to savor his final breaths to profess his love and a final pleas to live... 😢 It is that surge of emotion that overwhelms me that I see the raw and searing way in which the author perfectly balanced brutality with sentimentality; tenderness against cruelty - dying over living - 'I wanted to... until I found him.’ It leaves its lingering traces in its wake on my heart, long after the dust has settled.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ It was a moving read; an unflinching and visceral account that speaks of the quiet romances that remain in the shadows of war - simply for who they are. For as much as we get to see the intensity of the war within the limits of a Young Adult read, it is that knowing that these precious untold romances of gay men that have been buried and shunned away is what touches you the most. 😞 'Soldiers, sons, comrades, friends, lovers, human beings who lived and loved as fearlessly as they could. It captures the loss of an innocence of love and humanity - of the voices of those brave spirits that sacrificed their souls and their hearts, for the sake of honor and duty - how died for their country and are scorned simply for who they ware. It is how Stephen endured those painful trials to believe in the hope that there was a chance of rekindling that spark again is the hopeful promise that such love stories will survive the test of time. ❤️‍🩹

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ A special mention to the historical detail that as a reader I greatly appreciated - the vivid imagery describing their settings - be it the trenches or the remote countryside or the gnawing shock of how their efforts seem to be in vain - 'thousands dead and hardly a foot of ground taken. 👍🏻 It's the little nods and references that stood out for me, ones that I highlighted of a haunting, macabre notion, because it's not something I would come across in a history textbook. It enriched my reading on a more impressionable level, which I felt deserved recognition. And on a final note to the author - compassionate and heroic Captain Jackson. He was a remarkable character, one that I know means a lot to you on a personal level and one that I greatly appreciated having his presence included. If you ever consider writing his story, even as a short story or a novella, I would very much enjoy reading it. ✨

[Gohnar23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

#️⃣2️⃣3️⃣6️⃣ Read & Reviewed in 2025 🐠 🍭
Date 🌬️: , May , 2025 ☄️ a few days ago, not today
Word Count📃: 80k Words, average

╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀🌸💮🌸❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ My 44th read in summertime read-a-thon "since idk wtf to do with my life for one thousand — two hundred — twenty four hours straight" (⁠^⁠-⁠^⁠ ⁠)

2️⃣🌟, what even is the point of side characterss now?
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➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗

I feel like the empire point of this to just brand about the fact that this happened in 1916 and they're both soldiers. We get introduced too many side characters just to forget that all of them even exists and just focus on both of them and their silly little romance in the middle of the book. We also don't even get any information or any expansion on what actually happens in the war that they're in and it seems like the war just doesn't even affect them at all.


Even Ollie 😭😭, the guy who died, the author just forgets that is death is actually a pretty important part of this book and just glosses over that fact and focuses on the cheesy military romance between Stephen and Danny. It even made me a little bit infuriated that after all of tha, the other soldier's and lieutenants's entire existence just got forgotten at the end. The book went from a well established world of the actions of war and the reality that soldiers experience. To just——— gay shit

[lily ⊹ ₊ ⁺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4/5] ✦

"if the war has taught us anything, it's that happiness exists and must be treasured in the moment."

for me, this book falls less so under the "enjoyment" category (even though i did enjoy reading it!!) but more so the "important" category.

throughout this book, i was constantly reminded of alan turing and the injustices brought against him, despite him doing so much work to save the uk in world war 2. homosexuality only became decriminalised in the uk in 1967, scotland in 1980, and northern ireland in 1982 yet, throughout history there have been many like alan, and in this novel, stephan and danny, who put their life on the line to save their country and its freedom. Though many of these people, in return for the work they do, get penalties and prison time for who they choose to love.

The Boy I Love does a great job in showing the injustice that many gay men faced during war time and how, at the end of the day, wars were waged by rich, old, angry men, not by the 18 year-old soldiers that actually had to fight and die in them.

[Emily G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need 900 years to recover from emotional damage.

♾️ stars.

This book is a sensation. I can already tell it will be one of my top reads of the year and its the 6th of January.

Hussey embraces and embodies the lives of Danny and Stephen, creates a vivid sense of realism around the Somme and life at the front. The book, at it's core, is lyrical and tender.

The novel follows Stephen, a 19 year old soldier who returns to the front line despite previous wounds. There, he meets Danny, a new recruit with who he quickly forms a bond. Danny is quick witted and the singer to Stephens artist. The narrator captured the lyricism and use of song with a perfection that made for a beautiful listening experience. Set against the backdrop of WW1 their love is forbidden in all senses, yet the pair prevail.

The sadness and dark backdrop are balanced beautifully with moments of hope and joy. This novel is a poignant exploration of love, courage and human spirit in the face of adversity.
Stories like this need to be told and I am so glad that I have read this one.

Lovers of Alice Winn's In Memoriam will adore this. I implore you to add it to your TBR.

Huge thankyou to the publisher and to netgalley for an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[- ̗̀ jess ̖́- · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was ... solid? i'm always interested in queer people during wwi, so it was a no-brainer to check this one out as soon as i recognised the uniforms. and yeah. it's solid.

we follow 2nd lt. stephen wraxall - nineteen years old and in command of a new platoon. stephen is fairly typical of a subaltern of the time - dutiful, committed to his men. danny mccormick, the private stephen chooses to be his servant (and, oh, the lengths people go to to avoid what officers' servants were typically called contemporaneously: a batman) is, to put it succinctly, not. i will say that there is so much plot armour and simplification around the whole chain of command, because both danny and stephen did so much mouthing off to superior officers and disobeying orders i was wincing half the book. and yes, i found the romance somewhat insta-lovey -- all this takes over the course of less than a month!

i think that hussey does a good job of conveying the daily lives of soldiers and the duality of long periods of monotony intercut with short moments of absolute horror. i did find that the characters acted a touch too modern; i wish the class difference had been explored more; the divide between the men and the officers was vast, but in this book, it felt incidental. this book espouses the "lions led by donkeys" ideologue pretty hard. senior and staff officers are incompetent or malevolent, and the conflict between captain beddowes and the two main characters was at the forefront for so much of the book that i felt like it took away from the war. there are some minor historical gaffes, but that's just me being nitpicky - this book is very obviously well-researched.

there's a siegfried sassoon cameo, and as a Siegfried Sassoon Fan, i got excited; yes, he had been patching up wire the day before the somme offensive. notably, stephen's regiment is the manchesters, the same as wilfred owen's; one can't help but wonder if that was intentional.

all in all: i think this book will resonate with a lot of people, but for me, it didn't hit as well as i wanted it to. if you liked it, check out alice winn's in memoriam, or pat barker's regeneration.

[Cody · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a difficult review to write: I didn't love this one. I think the second half is much stronger than the first half, but there were just a few areas that weren't quite for me. Technically DNF'd around the 70% but I skimmed the rest.

This may come across as picky, but in terms of historical accuracy, my only requirement is that I need to feel slightly immersed in the time period if a book is going to be historical fiction. I don't do well with characters who feel modern and are dropped into historical settings and I didn't feel much of the early 20th century culture bleed through at all.

The nationalism would absolutely have been waning a bit with the introduction of the draft in January 1916, but I would expect to see some of 1916 culture reflected in the boys. (If this was even set in 1917 my criticism here might change and Danny's character might make a bit more sense... Actually, I'm not sure why Danny didn't just become a conscientious objector.) But my biggest issue in terms of 20th century culture is that romantic friendships were generally encouraged between teenagers and boys who fooled around in school weren't exactly uncommon, so I had an issue with just *how* the period typical homophobia was displayed seeing as that was the main plot point. Looking at any bonding with a suspicious eye when there was a literal war going on felt very modern. The class differences probably would have been more an issue, but I didn't feel that addressed as much.

However, I think my biggest criticism is just the timescale. The whole book is dated to lead up to the Somme, which gives the reader a sense of foreboding dread. The only problem for me is that the romance has to be insta-love and builds up and takes place very quickly to align with these dates. Our main character was recently mourning the death of his first love, so I think I just needed a bit more time for him to jump into something else and for that romance to mean as much as it did. Even if it was trauma bonding, I didn't care enough about the pairing. Susan Hill's Strange Meeting has a similar set up and dynamic, but I think the characters were a bit more three-dimensional which is why I could buy into that more than this.

(I also did not love the ending and didn't think it fit in with the themes of the novel but I won't get into that here.)

It's hard not to draw the comparisons, but don't go in expecting a YA In Memoriam. Do go in expecting a simpler YA romance that happens to have WWI as a backdrop. The novel works to reclaim a space, but the lack of nuance and build up didn't make me believe in it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andersen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I wish I loved this one more!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, this book. I am sobbing! I just knew I was going to love this book from the synopsis and the fact that Mr Hussey has been a 5* author for me before, but I wasn't prepared for just how invested and emotional I'd become in the story.

It's probably not a perfect book, but the emotions that this evoked were just beyond what most books can manage for me. The author says it all in the acknowledgements: 'these boys were fighting for a country that despised them'. Just think of the bravery and patriotism that that takes.

I was given access to the audiobook by the publisher via Netgalley. I've got to say that the audio experience really enhanced my enjoyment. There are a few occasions where one of the characters sings and the narrator sung so beautifully and so in keeping with the character that it was in those moments that I realised how much I was loving this book. Pure audiobook perfection.

Highly recommend to everyone!

[Audrey_ Reads (Gojo's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

AHHHHH

This was such a sweet and unexpectedly emotional book. I loved Danny and Stephen so much, and their little moments made me squeal.

It made me realize how hard it really was being a gay couple at that time, where it was illegal, and how much it's changed over time. I'm actually so grateful to live in an era where people can be who they are openly and love who they love freely (excluding homophobic people).

Anyway, it really got me thinking, and it was such a good book.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the ending (epilogue), best of all. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I'll be honest it just lacked bite, and there were too many historical flaws for me to really get behind it and enjoy it fully.

Stephen and Danny meet on a train, shipping them out to the front. They meet, they fall in love, and attempt to survive the horrors of WW1.

I felt the character of Danny was far too outspoken with his senior officers, and I honestly suspect he would have been horse whipped or shot for the way he answered back and spoke to his seniors.

This book very much felt like a YA romance novel that had been forced into a WW1 setting... it just didn't work for me.

I don't want to compare it to In Memorium or Strange Meeting, but go read those books and let's then meet up and talk about same sex relationships in WW1!

2.5 rounded up for me.

[isaac · Rating 2 out of 5]

i just think some settings lend themselves to young adult romance stories and world war 1 really isn't one of them. ultimatlely this book reads like a really generic shallow mlm ya story with a little war horror sprinkled in in a very tell don't show way. the blurbs described it as 'tender and poetic' but honestly, the yearning and angst that were built into the premise simply didn't get through to me because the writing style couldn't deliver it. there's some interesting aspects about the book, and whenever it actually tackled the horrors of war i found myself interested, but unfortunately most of it is romance that suffers the pitfalls of the main characters having no chemistry, a light case of instant love and both of them not having any real personality traits.

i did finish it in two days so at least there's that.

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’ve dug so deep that these avenues almost always run wet. And what with the ceaseless stamp of boots and the eternal scrape of spades, ploughing and reploughing, building walls and burrows over and over, is it any wonder that this earth never stops bleeding?

I think this book didn’t know if it wanted to be historical fiction or a romance and it didn’t become one or the other.

Good things first, I liked the writing style. The author used the right words at the right moment to make the daily life of the soldiers palpable. At the start, Stephen goes on and on about horrors he has seen but cannot describe, but as the book goes on you find out that he was not being dramatic. The privates spend their lives with blisters, mud and photos from home while death strikes them at random. It was atmospheric and appropriately gruesome for a YA book and it made the way the soldiers care for another in dire situations stand out all the more.

As for the plot, there isn’t much to it other than following the life of the main character’s life. As historical fiction, I would have liked the war to be the main focused. It is, after all, the setting that envelopes everything.
It didn’t have to be much, solely the question of ‘will the main character survive?” would qualify as plot, especially because this book goes day by day and offers a detailed insight into his life. However, you know he’ll be fine because he is one of the officers and we can’t end this book by burying the gays.

As for the characters, this is where the book lost me. Stephen is haunted by memories of his childhood best friend turned love who died, but immediately cannot stop thinking about Danny as soon as he sees him. One of the superiors is cartoonishly evil and is too arrogant to listen to any advice. Danny is badmouthing superior officers left and right and refuses to kill, but is somehow still alive?

I think the romance COULD have worked, if it weren’t presented as an earth shattering affection and more like a special bond forged under extreme stress. I would 100% believe that undergoing the horrors of war with a close companion creates an understanding, a deep trust and care for one another that cannot possibly found with anyone else.
Instead it almost followed the meet cute to sharing backstories pipeline that might work in romance novels, but was out of place with the setting here. The fact that the story played out over a short time didn’t help.
But I know I am not a romance reader at all, so it didn’t bother me too much. That isn’t why I read the book in the first place.

The harrowing account of daily life in the trenches kept me reading. The contrast between the small delights in life and the enormity of the war worked very well. If you are interested in fiction that reads like an eyewitness's account like I am, I reccomend it, if you’re looking for a dramatic plot or sweeping historical romance, this is probably not the book for you.

[Talia Melesi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a book. It is written from the perspective of Stephen, a 19 year old officer who is heading back to the front line after suffering a horrific injury and mourning the loss of his first love. On his journey back to the front he meets Danny and a connection is instantly formed. The story takes place in the month leading up to the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

This novel is so incredibly well written and researched. It is heart-wrenching and hopeful. The writing connects you so deeply to Stephen and Danny, along with the other men of the company. It showcases how soldiers found love and friendship in the most adverse of circumstances whilst enduring horrors beyond our modern-day comprehension. This book took me through so many emotions, largely anger at the lies and injustice of WW1 on both sides of the war.

I had tears rolling down my face for the last few chapters and will be thinking about this book for a long time. Highly recommend to any fans of historical fiction!

[Selena Flamariel Bambozzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il sottotenente Stephen Wraxall deve tornare alla guerra. Non è bastato perdere i suoi commilitoni e un orecchio, il Paese lo rivuole sul campo. Una medaglia, un album da disegno. Questo è tutto ciò che ha e che gli rimane, perché l'amore della sua famiglia e la sua anima sono perduti.
Finché non irrompe nei suoi bui pensieri un raggio di luce. Un sorriso così solare da abbagliarlo. Danny. E Stephen decide di volerlo salvare, in tutti i modi in cui può farlo e lo prende come attendente, "scudiero" puntualizza Danny.
La storia ci riporta alla battaglia della Somme, in Francia, dove l'orizzonte è punteggiato dai luccichii del filo spinato e dalle buche scavate dai due fronti. Poco è rimasto in piedi dai bombardamenti.
È una storia di guerra, ma anche di legami d'amicizia che si creano naturalmente nell'avversità. E di amore, dove amare un altro uomo è una colpa punibile con la detenzione.
"Abbiamo combattuto e siamo morti per un paese che ci punisce per ciò che siamo."
Nei brevi momenti di dolcezza e di fragilità, nei loro cuori cresce un sentimento fortissimo che neppure la cattiveria dell'uomo riesce a cancellare.
Ho amato molto questo romanzo, nonostante io non sia una fan del racconto in prima persona qui aveva senso profondo. La delicatezza con cui espone i loro brevi momenti di intimità: lo sfiorarsi, un bacio rubato, parole scritte o sussurrate, l'unica notte bagnati dalla luce della luna, - è qualcosa che ti entra nel cuore in punta di piedi ma mette radici profonde.
L'amore fa quello che vuole, sì. Cresce persino tra il filo spinato e il fango, tra il sangue e i fischi dell'artiglieria.

[Jen (Fae_Princess_in_Space) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolutely beautiful yet devastating book. Set in WW1 at the battle of the Somme, the story follows Lieutenant Stephen Wraxall, a 19 year old officer leading a platoon of loveable misfits at one of the biggest military slaughters in history.

The book is told from Stephen’s POV and I loved his thoughts on the world around him; he’s a gay man following the rules of a country that hates his existence. Having already fought previously, he’s clearly suffering a level of PTSD, complete with panic attacks and flashbacks. He’s lost his childhood love and best friend, Michael, to the war and is weary of the fighting.

What gets him through, however, is his new friend and soldier-servant (nicknamed his squire) Danny McCormick, an 18 year old carnival worker and shooting gallery champ. Stephen is determined to protect Danny from the worst of the war, and in turn starts to get his joy back through spending time with the lighthearted and irrepressible Danny.

This book is emotional, as any book about war (imo) should be. There are meaningless deaths and agonising moments of horror; Stephen is forced to confront his own willingness to blindly follow orders and choose who he really wants to be, as a solider and a man.

Whilst the ending of this book is not a traditional romance HEA, I do think it reflected the time period well and it did give me hope for the characters’ future 💕 This book is a must read for fans of historical fiction!

Read The Boy I Love for:
✨ Queer YA historical romance
✨ Set at the Battle of the Somme, WW1
✨ Soldiers in the British army
✨ Emotional and heartbreaking
✨ Class difference (Private x Lieutenant)
✨ The bleakness & unfairness of war
✨ Grabbing happiness where you can

Thank you to the author and the team at Andersen Press for giving me a free proof copy of this book at YALC 💕

[Lexa K · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy I Love is a beautiful, tender, and often brutal tale of love and found family in the trenches of WW1.

I listened to the audio version of this book, and Alex Wingfield absolutely blew me away with his performance. Each character had their own accent and differences, which easily enabled me to decipher between characters. And wow- the singing! Such a wonderful touch to this story.

The number of names I called Captain Beddows throughout this story and the times my heart leapt and prayed these boys would make it through shows the authors knack for writing fully fleshed out characters and situations.

I loved the bond the Manchesters shared and the camaraderie between the boys in the platoon, and the shenanigans of Robert and Percy really relayed the fact that these were really just boys sent to war.

I will most certainly be reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to receive a copy of this audio book via Netgalley.

[Les McFarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have read this year. The way Hussey balances the true horror of war with the tenderness and delicacy of love that was hated, denied & punishable was so good it made my head spin. The feelings of having to deny and mask your true self for fear of being shunned by family or arrested by authorities was portrayed so heartbreakingly well. The trauma of life on the frontline came to life in this book was, although heart wrenching, pitched well for its young adult audience.

[Ryan ⸆⸉ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really really wanted to enjoy this but it’s really not my thing. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the writing I’m sure other people will probably love this but it really wasn’t for me. This also slowed my reading goal down a lot cause I wan in denial thinking I was gonna fall in love at some point but it’s just clearly not my genre. Sorry :(

[Susi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is why we need Pride; every time a queer couple shows affection in public, I hope that the spirits of those who couldn’t even hold hands in broad daylight can find a bit of solace in the knowledge that they weren’t the wrong ones, society was.

(oh and fuck fuck F U C K TRUMP.)

[Mac · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf

[ali :] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ho letto le ultime pagine di questo libro con le palpitazioni, e non credo proprio che avrei sopportato un brutto finale. Grazie al cielo William Hussey si è impegnato a preservare la mia sanità mentale.
Ho adorato questa storia, mi è piaciuta tantissimo.
Trovo in un certo senso raccontare una storia d’amore ambientata sullo sfondo della guerra, soprattutto se tra due uomini, estremamente poetico. Il tutto in questo caso è stato completamente straziante e tragico, ma un di un tragico bello, che riesce a riempirti il cuore nonostante tutti gli orrori che vengono raccontati.
Penso che la guerra sia stata presentata in modo eccellente, mi sono sentita in trincea con Danny e Stephen ad agonizzare tutto il tempo, ho avuto gli occhi lucidi per parecchie pagine, le loro emozioni erano le mie.
Questo amore è dolce e potente, ti entra dentro e si adagia accanto al cuore. La scrittura mi ha completamente conquistata, l’ho trovata particolarmente bella.
Per non parlare di tutti i riferimenti all’arte poi, con l’apice che arriva proprio durante l’epilogo.
Io completamente innamorata.
Ne avrò un bellissimo ricordo.
Mi sono sentita dilaniata, ma alla fine il mio cuore è stato rimesso in sesto e mi ci hanno fatto una carezza sopra.

[Pierre (pierrereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Umm, The Boy I Love was a fine book?
Like, yet again, I was deceived by another gorgeous cover because it just doesn't match the vibes or the store of the book, at all.

I honestly can't say this is a romance after having read it, but moreso a historical war book with a side of romance and that's absolutely not what I wanted from it so I was left pretty disappointed.

From what I read about Stephen and Danny, they were cute but they had the least amount of time and work put into their relationship in this book which was very disappointing but alas, it is what it is.

Also, the ending wasn't even great because they go through all this shit, Stephen goes to jail and they only reunite for a brief moment before the book ends and I was like... That's it?

[Liam Dobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first ever book set during World War One and wow what a ride. From page one I was completely hooked. William Hussey nailed the perfect mix of romance, action, heartbreak and just the right amount of gore to keep things intense.

The characters were incredible, so real and easy to love which made it even worse when bad things happened but hey that’s war for you. The emotional rollercoaster had me flipping pages like my life depended on it and that ending was absolute perfection.

If you want a historical novel that hits you in the feels while keeping you entertained the whole way through this is the one. I fell in love with it and honestly I’m a little sad it’s over.

[Miles Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read and loved a fair amount of Great War literature so this book was recommended to me numerous times. I don't often read Young Adult Fiction but I don't believe in not reading something purely because of its category and besides, I've thoroughly enjoyed YA titles before so my curiosity got the best of me.

I liked a variety things about The Boy I Love -- I was struck by some of the prose such as:

"It was this that saved me all the shame. Art. The truth I found in it. Nothing judgmental, nothing damning. Only a commandment to be honest with yourself".

and I am all for books engaging younger readers with history and important historical events. However, this novel didn't hit all the right notes with me. The bond between Stephen and Danny screamed instalove to me. There's having an initial draw to someone but I found Stephen's instant intense attraction to Danny (after exchanging a literal handful of awkward sentences) very confusing and I didn't feel that satisfaction of a relationship budding and blooming between these two young soldiers. It felt like Hussey was accelerating their relationship but with a slow plot...if their romance had slowed down and kept pace with the plot, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Hussey certainly captured the suppression and shame surrounding queer people in this time period, and he stressed numerous times just how closely this part of people's identities had to be held...yet there was a scene between Stephen and Captain Jackson that felt as though he gave that historical accuracy up in the effort to create a heartwarming moment. It didn't make sense to me and felt heavy handed, which is a shame.

Regardless, I'm happy I read TBIL because there are strong elements and good writing in it, and I'm glad it exists for reasons I've already mentioned.


Last thing...
Hussey has a bibliography of texts that he used for research and inspiration for this book and I was very surprised that, not only did he list Goodbye to All That as fiction, but that he apparently read no queer themed Great War novels so here are some that are incredible and have established as well as implied gay characters/relationships:
. In Memoriam by Alice Winn
. Strange Meeting by Susan Hill
. A Month in the Country by J.L Carr
. The Wars by Timothy Findley
. Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme by Frank McGuinness
. How Many Miles to Babylon by Jennifer Johnson
. The Absolutist by John Boyne {NOTE: AUTHOR IS VERY PROBLEMATIC BUT THIS IS STILL A GREAT BOOK; PERHAPS PURCHASE SECONDHAND OR BORROW FROM A LIBRARY
. Regeneration by Pat Barker
. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as an uncorrected proof copy from YALC 2024, and I’m so glad I picked it up.

The Boy I Love is a touching and poignant love story set during World War 1. It’s classed as YA, so some people might think it simple or trivialising the war, but it doesn’t shy away from true horrors of the trenches and what millions of young men went through.

The writing style is elegant and impactful, and the plot is heart wrenching while able to carve out little sweet moments between the two main characters.

An excellent book and one I will be recommending to everyone to read when it gets published in January.

[Aiden Rhys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is somehow so hopeful and yet so sad. Stephen is damaged and harsh, but understandably so. Danny is just the cure he needs. But in a world, in a time, where such things are forbidden.... I cried, I cheered, I put the book down in horror. A hero condemned, shamed, for who he loves. This book somehow feels to lead nowhere, to a dead end, to wasted potential, and yet that's the point. What is the point in fighting for a world that doesn't see you? The last chapter, though, made the whole story worth it, I held it breath until the last page. TBYL.