Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye

"One of the most adorable, big-hearted, charming books in existence." --Becky Albertalli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda What If It's Us meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in this upbeat and heartfelt boy-meets-boy romance that feels like a modern twist on a '90s rom-com! Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new--the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he's never really dated before. Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes. Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he's awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this "relationship" will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right? Drawing on his own experiences, Kevin van Whye delivers an uplifting and poignant coming-out love story inspired by classics like Venio Tachibana and Rihito Takarai's manga Seven Days: Monday-Sunday and the '90s rom-com She's All That. Readers will root for Kai and Bryson to share their hearts with the world--and with each other.

so cute .... Everyone needs a Bryson Keller

Romance is skin-deep, shallow, and you can tell the love interest was perfectly crafted for the main character. Minimally flawed and is extremely attentive and very selfless. Main character is a piece of cardboard.

This one turned out to be surprising re-read material for me. Highly recommend this YA gay romance for those wanting to try a good one.

Update: I did end up reading the manga and I just don't see it. The premise is very alike but that's where the similarities end. The characters, the plot progression, basically everything is very different from the manga. The people review-bombing this book because of that are simply unfair.

I'm uncomfortable placing judgment on this book based on the plagiarism allegations because:

1. I don't rate books I didn't read at least a decent portion of so I can tell if it's for me or not and rarely find it's justified to rate books you haven't read. In this case, I read it from start to finish, and it wasn't bad for a YA. Most users claiming plagiarism quote second-hand sources. They haven't even read the book to make a true comparison with the manga.
2. I have yet to see receipts from these reviews denouncing plagiarism. I'll give you that; the synopsis sounds identical to the manga, and that's a little on the nose, however:
a. Author does admit to being inspired by the manga in the book's acknowledgments. One reviewer raged on that the author only admitted to it after being called out, yet the manga is literally mentioned in the author's notes.
b. Manga and novels are completely different environments.
c. Pleanty of fan-fiction work has been traditionally published as ‘original.'
d. I can't get my hands on the manga, so I can't compare the two other than the premise. One reviewer mentioned reading both and that they are very different except for the premise of fake dating for 7 days based on a dare.
e. One could argue that the fake dating trope is so widely spread that it's hard when something is a reinterpretation or a rip-off.
f. In the end, I just don't have enough data on the matter to be able to take a clear stance on this.

Going back to the actual book. I thought it was just fine. The characters were sweet, and I enjoyed the story overall. I would have preferred it if it were less instalovey and more suspenseful. I wasn't a fan of the angst at the end either.