Blaine for the Win

– Robbie Couch –

Simon Schuster

Published 12 April 2022

♥♥♥♥

 

I was looking for something fun and uplifting when I picked up Blaine for the Win. And, having just read Heartstopper books 1 to 4, this was the perfect follow up book.

When Blaine is dumped by his boyfriend rather than receiving the expected invite to the family holiday, he is devastated. Worse is being told the reason is because he isn’t serious enough. Sure, maybe most guys aren’t painting murals or eternally running late, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t serious. To prove his point, Blaine decides to run for student body president, as his ex-boyfriend’s replacement and his ex-boyfriend’s new boyfriend’s opponent (it’s complicated). His two best friends make the best campaign team and he finds an unexpected ally in Daniel, the boy he literally crashes into.


If you enjoyed Heartstopper, then you’ll love this book. It’s obviously very American, with the whole student body president campaign procedure, but the themes of mental health, teens dealing with relationship breakups and embracing your true identity rather than trying to become someone else for someone else, will resonate across international borders.

Blaine is a loveable main character. He wears cool outfits, has incredible painting skills, but he’s also just a regular teenager, trying to figure out how to be a good friend and balance school with work with love with procrastination.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Young adult fiction.

Genre: Realistic

Themes: Politics, high school, relationships, dating, murals, painting, student body presidents, breakups, LGBT+

Reading age guide: Ages 12 and up.

Advisory: Vague sexual references. Infrequent course language, f*** (1), sh** (4), pi** (6), di** (2), as***** (4).

Representation: LGBT+ main characters and side character, LGBTQIA+ relationships and side relationships. White main character, black side character, Asian main character.

Published: 12 April 2022 by Simon Schuster

Format: Paperback, ebook. 336 pages.

ISBN: 9781534497467

Find it on Goodreads