I enjoyed the story and the early 2000s setting. I found the writing to read quite young at points, especially with regard to character’s feelings, which were told rather than shown more often than not. As a queer skateboarder I am still really happy this book exists.

Many moments in this book that genuinely moved me. The coming out scene, in particular, really stayed with me. It wasn’t overdone or dramatic for drama’s sake; it felt honest, tender, and full of heart.

I will admit, I made the mistake of watching the short film first, which had me anticipating certain moments in the book. I found them, but they felt more simplified and quieter in tone, yet still impactful in their way.

This is more than just a coming-of-age story. Honestly, this one will be sitting with me for a long time.

I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait until I can read the next book by Matthew Francis. Five out of five stars from me and would be more if I could.

I really enjoyed the SCRAPS short film on YouTube and was excited when I saw the story was being expanded into a novel. A queer coming of age story set in the skateboarding world of the early 2000s definitely appeals to my interests. I did like getting to see more of Gus and Bridger’s story beyond where the short film ends. It was a quick, breezy read that has some nice small town atmosphere.

Unfortunately the writing held me back from being able to fully enjoy this. There were so many odd word choices when it came to descriptions. And I felt like there was more of an emphasis on describing locations and actions instead of the characters’ thoughts and emotions. It seemed like I was just getting an overview instead of being able to viscerally feel what they were going through. Also, I wasn’t a fan of how the POV switches happened. The book is mostly from Gus POV but sometimes in the middle of the chapter it would change to being Bridger, Gus’ dad, or one of Bridger’s friends' perspectives for a paragraph or two before switching back. It just felt a bit sloppy.

If you liked the short film and are dying for more of the story then check out the sample of the book and see if you enjoy the writing. If it works for you then the book should be a fast, cute read.

This book was incredible! I have never read anything like this before. It was so emotional and written so perfectly. I loved getting to know the MMC’s and the other side characters. Such a good romance read that makes you feel so many different emotions throughout. I enjoyed this book the entire time reading.

The book is poorly written and could have benefited from two or seven more rounds of editing. Some of the issues include POV hopping between characters, telling rather than showing, overuse of character filters such as "saw," "thought," "watched," etc., and odd physical reactions and body language descriptions (e.g., grinning sneakily, whispering through grimaced teeth).

Overall, it reads like bad fanfiction—not something worth reading.

I watched the short film on YouTube, and I loved the depiction of skater teens in rural Montana in the 90's. I was excited about reading more of Gus and Bridger's story, and I felt that it hit all the right marks.

Gus being the shy artist and learning to skate from Bridger while also dealing with coming-out was well written and heartfelt. The story beats between the two characters were really great, and I also enjoyed the side characters especially Tara and Max. At the same time, the story does feel more like a screenplay/movie rather than a novel. There are shifts in point of view which I think would fit well for a movie, but they take some getting used to after the first few beats of the story. For that reason, I'm looking more forward to the full length movie.

At the same time, I would still highly recommend this story to lovers of YA M/M romance titles like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the movie Shelter.

Thanks to the writers and Netgalley for a copy.

This one honestly felt more like a screenplay than a novel—and that tracks, since it started as a short film. The first third is basically a scene-for-scene adaptation, and I could picture the movie version way more clearly than I could connect to the book. The short film? Genuinely good. But turning it into a novel didn’t really work for me.

The comparisons to Heartstopper aren’t just vibes, think Heartstopper and skateboarding in the early aughts in a blender, but not fully blended—you can still spot the chunks. scenes, characters…. identifiable to me in a way that would be more than a coincidence

The writing itself feels pretty unpolished in a way that might be fine for younger readers, but threw me off, that screenwriting style again. Incredibly straightforward in its telling of people’s inter motivations, just handed to you like stage directions.

Becuase of that, the POV shifts all over the place—sometimes we’re in a parent’s head, sometimes side characters, sometimes it’s omniscient in a way that makes you question whether the narrator is seeing or knows this. Like a film.

And the main character’s identity arc? It felt like a Big Deal for about five pages, and then suddenly he was out and chill about it. There’s some very soft background homophobia implied, but it’s never shown or explored in a way that felt era-appropriate.

At the end of the day, I just don’t think this needed to be a book. If you liked the short film, you might enjoy spending more time with the characters. I won’t be picking up anything else by this author but would definitely watch the feature length film in preproduction.

Bro this is the easiest 5 stars ever

Every so often, a book finds you at just the right moment and this was that book for me. From the very first page, I knew I was in for something special. The tone, the atmosphere, the vibes— they all whispered, “This one’s going to leave a mark.” And it did.

Francis captures teenage angst with a rawness and nuance that’s rare to find.

𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰... 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘺... 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

The struggle with identity, the desire to fit in, the quiet storm of being different— it was all so real, raw. Bridger and Gus weren’t just characters; they felt like living, breathing teenagers with fears, desires, and vulnerabilities that echoed truths I’ve known or seen.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴," 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, "𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹." 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯-
𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱.
"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴," 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯-
𝘶𝘦𝘥. "𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺."
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘎𝘶𝘴'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳, 𝘎𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.
𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.
"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦," 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥.
"𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

Their relationship, slow-burning and tender, unraveled in a way that made every glance, every conversation mean something.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸... 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶," 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.
𝘎𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥. "𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩," 𝘎𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦. "𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴... 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭."

But what really stunned me was the depth across the board— not just the leads, but the supporting cast too. Max, Tara, even Gus’s dad… each one was thoughtfully written, layered, and purposeful. Francis didn’t just give us a story; he gave us a world filled with characters who felt authentic, flawed, and whole.

There were moments in this book that moved me to tears, moments that made me smile, blush, ache, and think. The coming out scene especially hit home. It wasn’t dramatic for the sake of drama. It was intimate and full of heart. Gus’s father’s response wasn’t about gender; it was about embracing love in its fullness, in its wholeness, while you still can before a life of regret settles in.

This is more than a coming-of-age story. It’s a quiet, powerful exploration of love, friendship, identity, and the aching beauty of adolescence. Tbh I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.