Perfect for fans of:
- Mistaken identity trope
- Authentic asexuality rep
- Marching band shenanigans
- Messy friendships and breakups
- Campfires and cute smores moments
Have you ever really enjoyed a book while simultaneously wanting to strangle almost every single secondary character in it? Well, have I got the book for you, buddy.
Forward March follows Harper McKinley, a certified band geek in her senior year. With a Republican father who’s running a presidential campaign and her mother hovering over her as the dean of her school, Harper just wants to make it through the year unscathed. But when someone makes a fake gay dating profile posing as her, things start to fall apart. Harper can’t afford for her parents—or anyone else—to find out for multiple reasons: her parents’ approval, not to mention the news would jeopardise her father’s campaign and most importantly, Harper doesn’t know if she even likes anyone like that. But upon meeting Margot Blanchard, the girl who swiped right on Harper’s fake dating profile, Harper thinks it might be worth to find out what she feels. With her dad’s campaign on her line, though, Harper will have to ask herself what’s more important: finding her true self or becoming the First Daughter of America.
If you couldn’t tell, I’m really torn on how I feel about this book. Did it accomplish what it set out to do? Absolutely. Did I have a great time reading it? Undoubtedly. Would I still sacrifice most of the characters to a higher power? Pretty likely.
What this book got almost infuriatingly right is how messy friendships can be when you’re a teen (and let’s be real, later on in life). Quinlan offers up flawed characters that get things right only to get them wrong in the next second and explores how much jealousy and envy can shape a friendship. At times, I had to put down the book because I was just so angry at Harper’s friends and the way they treated her. Harper doesn’t have an easy life—as the daughter of the school’s dean and her father who’s in politics, she’s kept on a pretty tight leash and can’t really participate in a lot of activities that might get back to her parents, not to mention that they themselves seem to have an agenda for how Harper should portray the perfect daughter of a political figure. I really loved how we got glimpses of her relationship with both her parents and how one influenced the other, even though it also really showed how isolated Harper is. To be clear, while these passages invoked a lot of heavy emotions in me, I can only commend Quinlan’s writing ability—to make you feel something so viscerally and get you to be in a protagonist’s corner 100% right from the get go? That’s pure talent.
The support Harper needs from her friends after someone has created a fake profile of her on a dating app is also often overshadowed by petty jealousy, shame-blaming and much else and it’s not an easy experience reading about the way she is treated horribly by these people she considers her friends. Again, Quinlan does an amazing job at showcasing how teens can cut out someone else completely just because they’re told to by the “alpha of the group” but this definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s messy and heartbreaking and while I wouldn’t be as forgiving as Harper is, it’s pretty cathartic following her find her real friends along the way.
My favourite part by far—and one that I can already see people cheering on—is the asexual representation in Forward March. Harper and Margot have undeniable chemistry, yet Harper questions whether she feels romantic or sexual attraction for anyone at all. I loved how Harper got to explore her feelings and experiment with what she’s comfortable with and most of all, I loved how open the conversation around asexuality was. Oftentimes, there’s this tunnel vision of asexuality where people believe that it’s just one thing and it really isn’t. Harper reaches out to one of her friends, who’s nonbinary, and they help her find her footing when it comes to perhaps being on the ace spectrum. It’s a conversation that felt so realistic and well thought-out because it truly showcased that most of us learn about gender and sexuality through our friends or the internet (because it’s still not really talked about in schools) and I loved how, even when other things like drama got in the way, Harper still had people who helped her understand herself better.
The development of Harper and Margot’s relationship is also so cute. After a very rocky start (I mean, Margot literally thought she was flirting with Harper for months only to learn that it wasn’t her), the two have some super sweet moments and their friendship solidifies into something more in a well-paced arc. It’s also a very nice reprieve to see Harper get the support and encouragement she needs and sorely lacks from others in her life. You could really tell how much Margot cares for Harper and I enjoyed their heart-to-hearts a lot.
There’s also something to be said about storytelling in Forward March. Though at first I was a bit confused about different strands of the narrative, they all interweaved seamlessly and elevated other parts and messages of the story which I quite enjoyed. There’s also a storyline involving Harper’s brother (which I won’t get into detail because spoilers) that warmed my heart. I honestly love sibling relationships like these and Harper’s brother might just be one of my favourite characters overall—can you say wholesome AF?
Overall, this is a well-done debut. Quinlan has a way with words and definitely gets the tone of today’s teenagers right, which makes me excited for what’s up her sleeve in the future.
Encapsulating the messy reality of friendships, Forward March is a fun and introspective YA debut. With a cute love story that’s dedicated to all the proud “band geeks” out there, authentic asexuality representation and a captivating catfish storyline, this one’s not to be missed this spring!
Forward March is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of March 8th 2022.
Will you be picking up Forward March? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
What’s worse? Someone using your face for catfishing or realizing you actually do have a crush on the catfished girl?
Harper “Band Geek” McKinley just wants to make it through her senior year of marching band—and her Republican father’s presidential campaign. That was a tall order to start, but everything was going well enough until someone made a fake gay dating profile posing as Harper. The real Harper can’t afford for anyone to find out about the Tinder profile for three very important reasons:
1. Her mom is the school dean and dating profiles for students are strictly forbidden.
2. Harper doesn’t even know if she likes anyone like that—let alone if she likes other girls.
3. If this secret gets out, her father could lose the election, one she’s not sure she even wants him to win.
But upon meeting Margot Blanchard, the drumline leader who swiped right, Harper thinks it might be worth the trouble to let Margot get to know the real her.
With her dad’s campaign on the line, Harper’s relationship with her family at stake, and no idea who made that fake dating profile, Harper has to decide what’s more important to her: living her truth or becoming the First Daughter of America.
