ARC Review: Conjoined at the Soul by Huston Piner

"Today is a day of historic importance. See, I woke up this morning and discovered I’m gay. I know I know I know, it’s not quite that simple. I didn’t just go to bed last night as the straight Randy Clark only to have the gay pixie come and sprinkle fairy dust all over me in my sleep."

Boy oh boy, am I in a pickle here. On one hand, I just want to give this book all the stars because it was an ordinary romance/coming-of-age novel featuring a gay protagonist, and in a way, that already ticks all my boxes. I'm incredibly happy that we're getting more rep in books, not just about coming out, but about guys like Randy Clark knowing he's gay and then going on to live through exactly what straight people probably (how the hell would I know?) live through: first loves, disappointment, manipulation, bullying and all the other good stuff that makes us resent high school for the rest of our lives.

And while I did love all those aspects - the way Randy has to navigate High School and its bullies who call him gay because he gets a boner every time he's in the locker room, or his precarious first encounters with another closeted gay kid - I just didn't feel like this book was as fleshed out as it could have been. Yes, Randy's development throughout the book is amazing: he makes mistakes, falls in love with the wrong person, realizes he's worth more than being used by someone who won't admit he's gay, and eventually finds someone who appreciates him for who he is. 
Nevertheless, there were so many things that I just didn't like. The first half of this book just suffered from the old showing vs. telling tragedy. The first chapters tell us everything about the characters without ever showing actual proof. One character is described as hilarious without making a single funny comment or joke in the entire novel. 
The best friends Annie and Jeremy are stereotypical: Annie is the black, loud girl who calls everyone 'honey' and 'sweetie' and of course knows way more about gay guys than Randy, and Jeremy is the quiet, shy type that of course turns out to be gay. Randy's family is also one-dimensional: there's the Turd (his brother) who is obnoxiously unlikable, there is his mother who just looks the other way whenever Randy's father says something mysoginistic or racist (which is everything he says). Also, there is one particular moment where Annie and Mike make out during class while the teacher actually applauds and let me tell you, I don't know what school Randy goes to but teachers did not allow us to make out in the classroom - no matter the circumstances. There's also the cheating that occurs at one point that just made me think of adding unneccesary drama to spice up the plot as well as the fact that almost every single guy in this book turns out to be gay - which would be awesome if that would actually happen in real life but which just felt forced at some points in the narrative.

Nevertheless, this did end up mostly being a quick, enjoyable read and I do want to give credit to the fact that we so rarely get books about LGBTQIA+ individuals without the entire focus being on coming out and instead on navigating your life, searching for love.

3/5 Stars for Conjoined at the Soul

*I received an ARC of this through netgalley in exchange for an honest review, so thank you!*