This is the debut novel from Matthew Hubbard, a writer who writes the kind of stories he wishes he’d had as a teen in rural Alabama. Hubbard grew up on a mountaintop farm and knows more than he is willing to admit about small towns. He lives in Chattanooga with his husband, their dogs, and their cat.
Ezra Hayes has been secretly dating high school football star Presley Daniels and has kept it a secret because Presley is not out. But when he discovers Presley is a lying cheater and his best friends Lucas and Finley are having their own problems with their boyfriends, they all want revenge.
They concoct plans to get even by sabotaging the largest party of the year, entering a drag competition, and having Ezra run against his ex for Winter Formal King. Then the school district starts to actively censor queer voices with their “Watch What You Say” initiative. Taking to TikTok to vent frustrations as an anonymous account, they begin “The Last Boyfriends Student Rebellion.”
As their TikTok videos go viral, they shift their focus from revenge to exposing the injustice the queer community is facing at school. When they discretely film their homophobic principal ripping up Ezra’s “Winter Formal King” campaign posters and post the video to TikTok, it gets millions of views and puts the principal in serious trouble. With the school board and PTA determined to find out who’s behind the TikTok account, the boys must decide whether they’re willing to confess and risk serious consequences or continue exposing more scandals. When the school and community begin rallying behind the Last Boyfriends, Ezra realizes that this is a necessary battle to fight back against outdated opinions and redefine what it means to be queer in a small town.
This queer coming-of-age debut novel has a highly original storyline, likeable characters, and plenty of humour. It’s very surprising that this is the author’s debut novel, as the writing is top-notch and puts forth a compelling, multi-layered story with all the feels. The novel includes many meaningful subjects, including friendship, injustice, queer identity, first love, infidelity, and coming of age.
The characters are very colourful and realistic, each having distinct personalities and voices. The story is very well balanced, focusing simultaneously on revenge and love. The story depicts a world where teenage queer relationships have become the norm, but there are still those with outdated opinions that are causing issues for them.
Seeing as the story takes place in small town Alabama, some of the narrative is unrealistic. An example would be when Ezra’s father mentions he was part of a queer alliance in high school. As commonplace as these alliances may be today, they were not so 10 or more years ago. The positive here is that the overall story is depicting characters young and old with contemporary enlightened mindsets. This provides for very encouraging and positive messages to be shared with readers, especially queer young adults who may feel alienated. Books like these show everyone that it is completely normal to be queer, to express your authentic self, and to find your tribe and support network.
Narrator Lee Osorio does an excellent job making this feel like a multi-cast audiobook with his delivery of very distinct voices and personalities for all the characters. Osorio paces the story well and brings much-needed dramatic flair to many important scenes, especially the confrontational scenes between Ezra and Presley. As the storyline shifts from a revenge plot to a fight for injustice, Osorio also shifts his performance of Ezra to become more empathetic and bold.
Overall, this is an outstanding debut novel that can be easily enjoyed by YA, New Adult, and older readers. The complexity of the themes coupled with a contemporary narrative that is extremely relevant today makes this one stand out. If you enjoy stories with important messages, humour, and dynamic characters, then don’t hesitate on this one!
