Music of What Happens

Small town romance, sweet and low angst, brings out many themes like racism, sexuality etc. It was a meaningful book, but had 3 major issues.

1. The Side Characters: Kayla and Pam were not okay. They disrespected Jordan's boundaries. Especially in the scene where they dressed up Dorcas when Jordan said no the girls literally just ignored him. Even Jordan himself felt like he was treated like a stereotypical gay best friend. After the first time Jordan says no to Kayla and Pam(finally), the girls apologize and Jordan just accepts it, without setting any firm rules and does not come clean with him feeling like the Gay Best Friend stereotype. These feelings are never mentioned again. Also, as someone who falls within the scope of the YA audience, I can confirm characters do not speak like that in real life - no one says stuff like “dude bro”. Ever. Jordan's mom's actions are also unforgivable. Jordan and his mom's relationship feels kind of toxic imo, but this isn't really resolved.??

2. The Ending: honestly the ending was really abrupt. Definitely felt like the book needed more chapters. The above friendship and parental (plus Max and his dad) issues were not settled properly. And what happened to the food truck and its license?

3. The Plot: maybe it's just me ‘cos I'm reading lots of action manhwas right now but the whole plot was quite anticlimactic. Sure, Max reveals the rape and Jordan punches the dude and Max gets counseling, but the rest of the book is just operating the food truck, conversing with friends, and having some parent-child time.

Also the poetry was just ??? since the title was based off of that one poem but poetry really didn't feel like a major discussion point in the book.

Hence 3 stars. Thank you for reading. Clap for u. Not gonna lie I had higher hopes for this.

Dislikes
- Jordan is so annoying
- Jordan's friends are so fucking annoying
- Max's friends are stereotypical dude bros that constantly make homophobic/racist jokes and it goes unchecked the entire time in a “haha, my friends are so silly” type of way
- literally no chemistry whatsoever
- the white author had the Mexican MC basically have a mini rant that critiquing racism/microaggressions is pointless and that people should instead just “live their lives” ... ok
- how the author dealt with Jordan's mom. she really served no purpose other than to stir shit up and then she was just yeeted from the story when the narrative no longer “needed” her

Likes
- the discussion of male rape victims and toxic masculinity
- Max's mom is an icon
- the concept is literally so fuckin cute like can someone take this and make it better

4.5 stars. Just an incredibly lovely, heartwarming and heartbreaking story of a month in the life of two very different teenage boys who fall in love while working together on a food truck during a hot Arizona summer. They both have secrets they don't want to share; Max had a troubling encounter with an older boy that he doesn't want to label because he's used to being cool and in control of things, and Jordan's mom has been struggling emotionally since the death of his dad and he has taken on a caretaker role that he can't quite handle. So while on the surface this is your basic “emo guy and dude bro jock guy slowly open up to each other” romance, it's also about how they relate to their friends and parents, and how their growth means learning what they can handle by themselves, what they can share with each other, and when to call in the cavalry when it's beyond their ability to deal.

The dialogue rang true to me, unlike a lot of YA fiction that makes the teens sound preternaturally adult. It's funny, sweet, snarky and occasionally tragic. And it also felt real to me that at the end nothing has been tied up with a red bow; the boys are happily together, but there is a lot unresolved in their respective lives and I don't even think they have even said “I love you” yet. That could mean that Konigsberg plans a sequel, but the book doesn't need one. The story and the character arcs feel complete even if we don't know exactly what happens next.

I loved this book, and suspect I will re-read it soon to savor it more slowly.