This book had an interesting take on how two ethnic families function within a small American community. Theo always feels like a let down to his parents, the spare son who is gay and does not do well in school. Whereas, Gabriel is trying to fit himself into his parents narrow minded closet. The two of them constantly struggle with self doubt and loathing, because their parents fail to provide them with support or are silent when they should speak up. These two work extra hard to keep things they love, and feel they are hardly ever truly seen. Theo, for continuously begrudging his families café, works tirelessly to raise money to appease his landlord Uncle. He feels left behind by his perfect older brother who is at University and does not connect well with his parents. Gabriel's parents understand so little about him and constantly make him feel worthless and like they would not love him if he actually was himself and did the things he enjoyed and loved, as opposed to the soccer they want him to participate in. It was nice when these two were finally able to set aside their anger/shyness (Theo/Gabriel), when Gabriel finally told Theo the truth about himself and why he played soccer when he was terrible. They helped each other to feel seen and understood. Gabriel complimented Theo's outside the box thinking, while Theo encouraged Gabriel's overall ambitions. Their work ethic fused well and they were so sweet. Also, the food they made sounded really delicious and had me craving. I do think there could have been a little more depth to the story. Overall though it was a great enemies-to-coworkers-to-friends-to-lovers story. There was a lot of sass, a lot of caring, a lot of pushing boundaries and being open. I also liked when both boys were able to confront their friends about their bad behaviour. Although, I did not like Gabriel taking all of the blame for his friendship with Meli falling apart (Meli is the kind of friend who did not seem to care his parents were selling the café that Gabriel loved). She was very narrowly focused on herself and no one else. Thank you to HCC Frenzy for sending me an arc of this book in order to provide an honest review.
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