My thoughts:
-Riley's honestly kinda annoying and has no depth
-None of the other characters were that well developed because everything was about Riley (the two other characters on the cover are basically just side characters at this point)
-The SHEER AMOUNT OF TIMES "lady" was said was just weird... Like why...
-All of the other characters in the gaybutanes were just given very random and specific "personality traits" (like being good a croteching or Lego building) and had nothing else.

Now that I'm writing this I feel like I should've rated it lower, but I read it pretty quickly and still enjoyed it...

5.0

the queer joy was queer joy-ing

Thanks a bunch to Edelweiss & HarperTeen for an ARC of this title.

When I think of queer joy, I normally think of anything that makes me happy. The LGBTGIA+ spectrum is diverse, with many genders and sexuality mites fitting under this wide umbrella. But after reading Riley Weaver Needs A Date To The Gaybuntate Ball, I realized that you can in fact capture universal queer joy in a book. Riley was an incredibly lovable and relateable character, with his quest for love hitting close to home with me. The pacing, characters, and plot were all superb and really hit the nail on the head. I fell in love with this magical Gaybuntate world and found myself wanting to hear more from the characters. Thus, I give this book a 10/10 and I truly cannot wait for it to come out and for the world to experience this wonderful story that Jason June has created.

Merged review:

5.0

the queer joy was queer joy-ing

Thanks a bunch to Edelweiss & HarperTeen for an ARC of this title.

When I think of queer joy, I normally think of anything that makes me happy. The LGBTGIA+ spectrum is diverse, with many genders and sexuality mites fitting under this wide umbrella. But after reading Riley Weaver Needs A Date To The Gaybuntate Ball, I realized that you can in fact capture universal queer joy in a book. Riley was an incredibly lovable and relateable character, with his quest for love hitting close to home with me. The pacing, characters, and plot were all superb and really hit the nail on the head. I fell in love with this magical Gaybuntate world and found myself wanting to hear more from the characters. Thus, I give this book a 10/10 and I truly cannot wait for it to come out and for the world to experience this wonderful story that Jason June has created.

This was such a fun story! I found it randomly on Twitter and I’m so glad I did. I’m so glad this book exists. I love that the drama of high school is present but it’s not too heavy. The trauma of being LGBTQ+ in high school and the world when you are out is hard enough and held enough heavy energy. Despite that it was fun, the group of friends are great and well developed. I just really enjoyed it and cannot find fault with any of it. I hope young folks have access to this book is all the places.

I'm clearly not the demographic for this book, but it does presents a lot of issues for thought concerning the types and relationships between various 'groups' in the LGBTQ+ world.

Gay-friendly and queer-inclusive (except could be clearer on trans inclusivity),
Riley Weaver is excited to finally be a high school junior, which means he can join his school's LGBTQ+ club and attend their Gaybutante Ball, which helps LGBTQ folk network for future jobs. And he wants to get out of his otherwise nurturing small down.

However, there's a local bully jock--a gay one, this time, who sneers at femme gays. Riley lays a wager he can find a date for the club's annual ball, and hijinks ensue.

I use the word "hijinks" deliberately here, as there is a kind of comic tone to the constant one-liners and to the somewhat superficial treatment of characters. Riley gets away with an awful lot, but as the book's protagonist, he has the plot armor you expect in a slightly comic story. That plus some unexamined assumptions that poked at me here and there relating to trans inclusivity raised a couple of eyebrows or three. Though all in all, let's Get More Gay out there for kids to read. They can discuss issues themselves, if they get enough books to compare them!