Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala
Synopsis
"Raffy has a passion for bedazzling. Not just bedazzling, but sewing, stitching, draping, pattern making--for creation. He's always chosen his art over everything--and everyone--else and is determined to make his mark at this year's biggest cosplay competition. If he can wow there, it could lead to sponsorship, then art school, and finally earning real respect for his work. There's only one small problem... Raffy's ex-boyfriend, Luca, is his main competition.
Raffy tried to make it work with Luca. They almost made the perfect team last year after serendipitously meeting in the rhinestone aisle at the local craft store--or at least Raffy thought they did. But Luca's insecurities and Raffy's insistence on crafting perfection caused their relationship to crash and burn. Now, Raffy is after the perfect comeback, one that Luca can't ruin.
But when Raffy is forced to partner with Luca on his most ambitious build yet, he'll have to juggle unresolved feelings for the boy who broke his heart, and his own intense self-doubt, to get everything he's ever wanted: choosing his art, his way."
My Thoughts
This book was a fun cosplay design adventure and I really enjoyed a lot of this book! For anyone who has been to a comic con like event so much of this story will be hilariously relatable.
Raffy and Luca's journey through this book is quite the rollercoaster. Raffy is out and Luca is not. But while Raffy's mother accepting of his identity, she is definitely not accepting of his extracurricular crafting. Luca is only kind of out to his mother and his parents are determined to keep him away from anything and everything anime and cosplay. This book also has a strong theme of not losing sight of why you enjoy doing the things you do for fun which is always a nice reminder.
There were a lot of wonderfully relatable nerd moments in this one. Slowly seeing the story of Raffy and Luca getting closer was sweet and heartwrenching at times since you know from the first chapter they've broken up. I think my biggest complaint in this book is that the way the story is told, one chapter from Now and the next from Then alternately. I don't usually mind dual storylines in books. This one just didn't feel like it lined up right to me. The jumps back in time were predictable, and not necessarily confusing, but the way that the time jumps went right up to the end of the book kept taking me out of the character growth that is happening in the Now chapters. It was frustrating and took me out of the story quite a bit. I loved Raffy as a character and Luca was so dang charming, and knew it. They were really wonderful characters to get to know and I still really enjoyed their story.
Thanks to Netgalley for the digital ARC!
Genre: lgbtqia+, contemporary, ya
Representation: gay MC, bi MC, lesbian
Content Warnings: HP reference, underage drinking, language