This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving L.A. for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with.

Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways. There’s stoner-jock Tyler Montana, who might be just as interested in Fabiola as he is in Quique; straight-laced senior class president, Ziggy Jackson; and Manny Zuniga, who keeps looking at Quique like he’s carne asada fresh off the grill. With all these choices, Quique is sure to forget about Saleem in no time.

But as the summer heats up and his deep-seated fears and anxieties boil over, Quique soon realizes that getting over one guy by getting under a bunch of others may not have been the best laid plan and living his truth can come at a high cost.

This was a nice book. I feel it’s a great book for a teen that is part of the LGBTQ+ community that can easily relate to the main character. I did get a few laughs out of it also. I would recommend this book.

“So when are you coming home?”

Who gave Aaron the right to make me cry like this. Queer coming of age stories just hit different when you're a 30 yr old who's still figuring their shit out apparently.

tldr– I adore everything about this book and you (everyone) should read it and cry with me)

Sometimes it feels like the teens in YA books are polished up to the best versions of themselves but not here. Quique is a chaotic mess. He does messy, teen things. He's real and unfiltered and it was beautiful.

I'll never understand how people can say they can't find anything to relate to in books about people different to them because even though I'm white, it felt like I was looking in a mirror. So many parts of Quique are also parts of me. Growing up in a working, lower class family and dealing with the struggles and mindset that creates. Struggling to find yourself while also measuring yourself up against [literally] everyone you see.
But the most relatable was his struggle with his mental health and learning to recognize when you need to ask for help. It took me a lot longer to figure out than it did for him.

I love how friendships were portrayed and how platonic love with his friends was just as important as his want/need for romantic love and lust.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to fall in love with Saleem since he isn't present for a good amount of the book but I did. He showed up and stole my heart.

I do wish we had been able to have a little bit more time with saleem and be able to see them fall in love a bit more but that might just be because I love them so much