Title: The Temperature of Me and You
Author: Brian Zepka
Publisher: Disney Publishing
Publication date: Janaury 25, 2022
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Summary
Dylan is resigned to spending most of his winter at his Dairy Queen job. Single, since there aren’t that many guys to date in his small Pennsylvania town. However, that all changes when a boy shows up one day at close and makes a blizzard explode. A boy who is incredibly attractive and quite literally, too hot for this world.
As Dylan gets to know Jordan, he learns that Jordan has superpowers. When they start to spend more and more time together, Dylan starts to develop feelings. And maybe even more than that. After a few weeks of spending time together, Dylan starts to get a fever like Jordan. And get powers like Jordan. Now, Dylan has to press Jordan for answers. Because now, his life is in danger.
Review: The Temperature of Me and You
Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing for an advanced copy of this to review! It has all the elements that I love in my stories. Romance, superpowers, great friendships. Usually, this is a winning combination. However, parts of this book fell a little flat for me.
After a bit of a slow start, the book does start to pick up pace wise about halfway through. There are some great action sequences included, and I will admit that Dylan and Jordan have some good chemistry. It is a bit on the instant love side, which isn’t my favorite trope. But given Jordan’s life situation, it does make sense.
Overall, the plot feels a bit all over the place. The pacing for most of the book feels off, stretching out scenes that don’t need to be and skipping some important information. Some of the world building could have been done a bit better. I think this is partly becuase there is focus on details throughout that weren’t important to the structure of the world. I’m left with so many questions and not a lot of answers.
At times, it does seem like Dylan and Jordan are moving a bit quickly in their relationship. However, it does make sense in the context of the overall story. They are teenagers, after all. Some teenagers like to move quickly. Most of the characters in the book also felt a little underdeveloped, especially the side characters. They felt one dimensional and I just wanted more from them.
All in all, while I loved the idea behind the story, the writing didn’t quite live up to my expectations. But, if you’re looking for a gay superhero romance, you’ll definitely find it in this book! If you like things like The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune, you will still enjoy this story.
3/5 stars