Lose You to Find Me

Product Information

Warnings: swearing; implied sexual content; underage drinking; finger amputation; mentions of death; mentions of suicide) The cover and the summary makes this seem like it’s going to be a romance, and while yes, there is romance, that wasn’t really the main focus. It was more about finding yourself (hey, maybe the title should’ve tipped me off to that lol).

I liked that they all struggled with different things in their lives but also the amazing friendships they all had. I think that some people, especially teenagers, could learn a thing or two from this book. Because Lose You to Find Me is a story about perfection, and how it doesn't exist. The setting was interesting and fresh for the genre, I preferred that it was set more in the workspace than school, because it really highlighted the characters and boosted the story. Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of Tommy's character at first, and that was largely because of the cheating and disregard for other people's feelings, but really admired the character growth that he went through and eventually ended up warming to him. A romantic, heartfelt, and hilarious queer coming-of-age story from All That’s Left in the World author Erik J. Brown, perfect for fans of What If It’s Us and If This Gets Out.Tommy Dees is in the weeds–restaurant speak for beyond overwhelmed. He’s been working as a server at Sunset Estates retirement community to get the experience he needs to attend one of the best culinary schools in the world. And to make his application shine, he also needs a letter of recommendation from his sadistic manager. But in exchange for the letter, Tommy has to meet three conditions–including training the new hire.What he doesn’t expect is for the newbie to be an old crush: Gabe, with the dimples and kind heart, who Tommy fell for during summer camp at age ten and then never saw again. Unfortunately, Gabe doesn’t remember Tommy at all. The training proves distracting as old feelings resurface, and the universe seems to be conspiring against them.With the application deadline looming and Gabe on his mind, Tommy is determined to keep it all together–but what if life isn’t meant to follow a recipe? Lose You to Find Me by Erik J. Brown – eBook Details I really liked how this book was set in a work environment! The retirement community setting was actually very enjoyable, and i liked seeing all of the interactions with the residents, especially Al and Willa!Though most of the lyrics can easily be written off as typical prose commonly found in sad-girl anthems, one verse seems to explicitly point toward Bieber. There may be trigger warnings for individuals (miscarriage and terminal cancer). In addition, this is also an emotional book at times, but one of B. Celeste’s best of the series. At times I was frustrated with Raine, as if she communicated and was honest, perhaps a lot of pain could have been avoided, but the angst did not take away from the story. Lose you to find me by B. Celeste is the 3rd book in the Linden University series and tells the story of Raine and Caleb.

I read an eARC of All That’s Left In The World last year and i absolutely loved it, so of course i jumped at the chance to read this one and i’m so glad that i did! Lose You to Find Me absolutely exceeded my expectations in every way. This book started out GREAT! Tommy was a really fun MC, the set up was intriguing, and I was really liking Tommy and Gabe’s dynamic! And then it all came crashing down when it was revealed that Gabe has a boyfriend. 😐😐😐 And the story took a terrible turn. Suddenly, I was no longer having fun seeing these 2 rekindle their friendship/romance. I was just annoyed and honestly????? pretty disgusted with them. I definitely think that Erik J. Brown is a new auto-buy author. I loved his first book, All That's Left in the World, and now I also love his second book too! This was really sweet and emotional and just so easy to read, I absolutely flew through it. The main takeaway from this book is about figuring out your future, and how it might not be exactly what you had planned but that that's okay, and I really love that. So much of this book is about romance, but so much of it is also about friendship, and the friendships within this book are OUTSTANDING. The characters are all really loveable, and sure they can be messy and dramatic, but that's part of being seventeen right? This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.

Tommy is going into his last year of high school and it’s time to plan out his future. When he asks his boss at the retirement community to write him a recommendation for culinary school, she tasks him with training a new hire… who is he? None other than the boy that he fell in love with at summer camp so many years ago, Gabe. BUT HE DOESN’T REMEMBER HIM?!?!? Usually I talk way more about the plot, but in this book it was different from what I'm used to–which is mainly why I don't want to spoil it for anyone. All I will say is, so realistic. And that REALLY rarely happens in YA romance. Especially gay ya romance. Which I can't blame the authors for–some of us suffer enough in real life and we don't need that on paper–but it's nice to have something that feels like a thing that could happen and not another fairytale where everything always goes according to how the main character wants it to be, even if they come across some hardships along the way. What he doesn’t expect is for the newbie to be an old crush: Gabe, with the dimples and kind heart, who Tommy fell for during summer camp at age eleven and then never saw again. Unfortunately, Gabe doesn’t remember Tommy at all. The training proves distracting as old feelings resurface and the universe seems to be conspiring against them. What he doesn’t expect is for the newbie to be an old crush: Gabe, with the dimples and kind heart, who Tommy fell for during summer camp at age ten and then never saw again. Unfortunately, Gabe doesn’t remember Tommy at all. The training proves distracting as old feelings resurface, and the universe seems to be conspiring against them.

Usually my favorite character of every book is the female lead, because the book is usually written from their perspective. And so it sort of is here, too. B’s written from both Raine & Caleb’s POV, and this time, I am so, SO much on team Caleb that it’s hard for me to see past his pain. Not that I am not team Raine, but oh my heart hurts so bad for Caleb. (And here come those pesky tears again)Tommy Dees is in the weeds—restaurant speak for beyond overwhelmed. He’s been working as a server at Sunset Estates retirement community to get the experience he needs to attend one of the best culinary schools in the world. And to make his application shine, he also needs a letter of recommendation from his sadistic manager. But in exchange for the letter, Tommy has to meet three conditions—including training the new hire. Snappy banter among a vibrant cast makes for a charming read about finding who and what really matters in life. The title is perfectly fitted for this book, to lose him, she had to find herself, their growth apart made them better people for when they came together again. To not shoulder things as a whole but being able to lean on the other or others was their biggest learning curve.

The author writes in a very simple, but fresh and engaging style that really does resonate with me, and I didn't ever feel that there was too much happening, despite how much Tommy was juggling. It wasn't just a second-chance romance - it was a chance to be yourself; to find a future that you could be happy with, rather than holding onto the remnants of the past. And I thought that it was so very realistically portrayed, convincingly so, that you couldn't help but empathize with him. 😟 Willa seemed annoyed. “First off, neither of us was waiting for anything. She had a family. She was living her life and I lived mine. Second, plenty happened. Just because it didn’t work out and we aren’t still together doesn’t mean nothing happened. That’s my point, hon.” The last verse also indicates a final farewell to her former beau. "And now the chapter is closed and done / To love love, yeah / To love love, yeah / To love, yeah / And now it's goodbye, it's goodbye for us," she sings. Lose You to Find Me is a book about growing and finding yourself, and If you’re reading this review, I truly hope that you find yourself. At the bookstore- buying this book. One of the antagonists did unethical and definitely did illegal things, and the main cast chastised him for those illegal acts while committing a illegal act themselves against him, so that's nice... /s The hypocrisy is lost on these people.

Featured Reviews

This was seriously cute, and I was so invested in the characters that I didn't really care about the will they - won't they romance, which if I had, admittedly could have ended up being a little annoying, as Gabriel was a difficult character to like. Last night, Selena Gomez dropped a new song, a powerful breakup balled titled "Lose You to Love Me." There’s cooking, working at a retirement community restaurant workers, coming out, college decisions, and childhood friends reunited to maybe something more? year-old Tommy works as a waiter at Sunset Estates, an upmarket retirement community where rule number one is ‘ Never say no‘ to the residents. He is hoping to follow in his late father’s footsteps by studying at La Mère Labont culinary school, but he needs something special to make his application stand out. Enter Gabriel De La Hoya, a childhood crush from summer camp who helped Tommy to realise he was gay and whom Tommy hasn’t seen for the last six years. Gabe turns up to work at Sunset Estates, and Tommy is assigned to train him. But while Tommy struggles to keep his feelings for Gabe under control, Gabe doesn’t even seem to recognise Tommy.