May the Best Man Win: Zr Ellor

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One reason I wanted to do dual narrators in this book was to show how nothing happens in a vacuum. Jeremy and Lukas are both influenced by each other, in ways they don’t always understand but become clear to them and the reader over time. They’re also influenced by their school and their families, neither of which are quite as supportive as they need. Oftentimes, when we or a person we care about is acting out, there’s something wider in their world at play. By showing what drives Lukas and Jeremy to act as they do, I hope readers will learn to look beyond the surface when a friend is struggling.

You wanna talk about the plot, what plot? The only thing here was two teenagers who don't know how to communicate, transphobic and homophobic people everywhere and a homecoming prom that's only here so we have an excuse to read a book about two teenagers that aren't even good to themselves. At least I learned more about toxic friendship ;)

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May the Best Man Win is a contemporary, but world-building is just as important in this setting as it would be in SFF. Can you tell us how you built out Jeremy and Lukas’s world? Overall this book was beautiful and fantastic and it made me cry so much! *remembers* I couldn't have asked for anything more...well maybe a less annoying Jeremy? But even Jeremy himself changed and I was really satisfied! Thank you Z.R. Ellor for writing this magnificent fantastic book! This will always stay in my heart ( ´◡‿ゝ◡`) CWs: sibling death; ableism and internal ableism; misgendering, deadnaming, and transphobia; homophobia; bullying; racism; references to sexual harassment/assault; references to abusive parents and divorce; underage drinking; infidelity; graphic physical assault Did you do any research for this book and if you did, what’s one of your favorite things you learned?

edit: ok so i just read that there’s a very lesbophobic line in this,,, still going to read because autism and trans rep but just want to warn everyone!!! kind of disappointed because this was one of my most anticipated books of the year but whateverrrrrwhen i started reading this book, i noticed it switches from very light-hearted to very, very dark in a matter of seconds. in example, at some point there's a pretty serious conversation and then there's a comparison with a chihuahua. normally this doesn't really bother me, but with this book the balance between light/dark just felt...off.

TW: Transphobia, dead naming, misogyny, bullying, attempted sexual assault, harassment, violence, homophobia, ableismSol was probably my favorite character which probably says something since they were just a side character mainly used to advance Jeremy and Lukas' developement. They are a nonbinary latinx person, (like me) so that probably helps. I would've loved to hear more about them. While we're on the topic of characters that deserved better we should probably talk about Naomi as well. She's an Asian girl that barely got any "screen" time. She, sadly, was also used as a way to develop Lukas and Jeremy more. A trans boy enters a throw-down battle for the title of Homecoming King with the boy he dumped last summer in ZR Ellor's contemporary YA debut.

i think a lot about how much i thought this book would mean to me when i saw that it was about an autistic boy who was grieving for his brother, and that there was a trans character and that it a queer romance. i am a trans autistic person who’s brother died not long before i read this so i was so prepared for it to hit hard for me and!! it did but in the wrong way

May the best man/woman win.

I had many problems with this book but first off, the characters. Specifically the main ones. As a transmasc (and non binary) person i was really excited to meet 𝗝𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘀, our main character. He's definitely my least favorite mc that i've read about in a while. Most of what happens with Jeremy throughout the book is just him messing up his relationships. He has huge anger issues which never get better throughout the novel. Jeremy definitely has a right to be selfish but there's definitely so much development that he should've gotten. As I said though, this book isn’t without flaws. The major part of the book that irked me was the school only acted on bullying if the bullying got physical. I get why it was included in the story, but it brought up a whirlwind of emotions about memories that I’ve been trying to suppress. As I said, May the Best Man Win is a story that centers two angry, grieving, messy teenagers who don't know where to place their rage and their frustration when it feels like the world is taking away their control, and so they project all of that onto each other, especially when they already have a challenging history as exes. Each of them knows the other person "can take" their ugliness and their anger, so they pour all of it into this homecoming race. Is it healthy? No. Does it set a "good example"? No. But it does make sense.