Couch’s sophomore novel follows high school junior Blaine Bowers who has just been dumped by his boyfriend so he can pursue more “serious” guys instead because he considers Blaine to be too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. From Blaine’s passion for painting gorgeous murals to his rather relaxed style, Joey thinks that he can only get far in life if he surrounds himself by serious people—which, in his eyes, Blaine is just not.
Determined to prove Joey wrong and show that he can be serious, Blaine decides to enter the running as senior council president to beat out Joey’s new “serious” boyfriend Zach and get his man back in the same act. But the further Blaine gets in the race, the more he realises his reasons for competing may not be all that sound and he’ll have to ask himself how much of him he is willing to sacrifice of his identity to get the guy.
Blaine for the Win is the queer take on Naturally Blonde I never knew I needed but now can’t stop thinking about. It’s these types of narratives that explore identity and finding yourself that always get me super emotional. Blaine, for the most part, knows who he is, what he likes and what he wants out of life, but his boyfriend Joey dumping him and ridiculing his “goofy” attitude, personal style and his passion for painting murals throw Blaine for a complete loop. Couch really shows the pains of growing up here as you get to see this clash between what Blaine loves to do and what he begins to think others will “need” him to act like in order to be accepted by society at large. As he steps into this new role of competing for senior council president, he learns about himself and expands his horizon but also realises that he doesn’t have to change literally everything about himself just to be palatable to others when there are more than enough people in the world who love him just the way he is —it’s an empowering and uplifting message that will resonate with young and old readers alike.
It’s also always a pleasure for me to see (already great) authors grow between their debut and sophomore novel. You can tell Couch has improved on characterisation and story flow which I really appreciated in Blaine’s story. Though the secondary characters take quite a while to become their own fleshed-out presence, there’s no insta-love or out-of-character actions and instead everything ties up beautifully. The pacing is swift and thus the story keeps you on your toes with unexpected twists and great little hints which are carefully planted early on in the novel that make for that excellent “damn, I should have seen that coming” moments while reading.
And despite the driving topic of the novel being quite heavy, the story itself is filled with queer joy, upbeat commentary on society’s standards and above all, empowering messages that you’re amazing just the way you are, no matter what other people might make you want to believe. I really liked how mental health was introduced and discussed here—one of Blaine’s friends suggests to Blaine to simply “advertise” his candidacy with a poster proclaiming “Let’s talk” and it starts an avalanche of students reaching out to Blaine telling them about their mental health and the way they feel their school could do better in helping students combat their struggles. Throughout the novel, we get to see not only Blaine address his mental health (especially after such a public and painful break-up) but also his friends and their anxieties that otherwise might have been swept under the rug. It’s a brilliantly simple way to engage not only Blaine’s classmates but also the reader as you ponder just how important it can be to have that voice that speaks up for you when it concerns prioritising mental health in an institutionally competitive setting such as a high school.
Add to that an incredibly sweet sub plot concerning Blaine and his aunt (who moved in with Blaine’s family after some turbulence in her own life) that made my heart melt, moments of queer joy since Blaine has such a supportive friend group that helps him plan (and execute) his campaign and a lovely romance arc that doesn’t overbear the main message of the novel and instead infuses it with the sweetness of falling in love with the right person after having been burned by the wrong one, and you have yourself an incredibly well thought-out story that is sure to make readers excitedly flip the pages.
With the empowering message that you don’t have to change yourself for the approval of others, Blaine for the Win offers a feel-good queer rom-com with loads of relatable moments, a refreshingly engaging approach to mental health and a charming friend group that would go to political bat for you! Perfect for fans of Yes, No, Maybe So and Not My Problem.
Blaine for the Win is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of April 12th 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
After being dumped so his boyfriend can pursue more “serious” guys, a teen boy decides to prove he can be serious, too, by running for senior class president in this joyful romp from the author of The Sky Blues.
High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend—senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.
Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.
Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.
Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.
But is he willing to sacrifice everything he loves about himself to do it?
