ARC Review: This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender

Title: This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
Author: Kacen Callender

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Hardcover, 304 Pages
Publication Date: October 30th, 2018

Summary: Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life. Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravel—but this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend. After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

I received an advanced copy of this book at BookExpo this year, and I also got the book signed by the author, so I was super excited to give it a try when I went on vacation last month! And I'm really glad that I did, because This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story was such a great book that I breezed through it super quickly on the plane (it's less than 300 pages -- excluding the acknowledgements -- which made it super easy to breeze through). So without further ado, let's get into my review!

Something that's really great about this book is how many different types of representation are present. I really appreciated all the different voices that came out in this story. Oliver James, one of the main characters, is almost completely deaf, and there's the LGBTQIA+ relationship between him and Nate, and a lot of discussion of POC as well. This book is definitely a kick-ass story that includes a lot of important voices! 

As for characters, Oliver James (also dubbed Ollie) was definitely one of my favorites. He was sweet and kind and caring at all times, and I could definitely see why Nate found himself falling for him -- who wouldn't want to be loved by the incredibly amazing Oliver James? From the minute he landed on the page, I was swooning over him right alongside Nate, and I shipped their relationship super hard. Ashley's character was also super bubbly and adorable -- she reminded me of a lot of people that I knew when I went to high school (many, many moons ago now, LOL), so I found myself smiling a lot whenever she came up in a scene and did her typical "Ashley" things. She was such a sweet and genuine character that I really enjoyed getting to know!

Something that I really appreciated about this story was how it was super hilarious, but also really deep at some points. This book certainly takes you on an emotional rollercoaster and plays with your emotions in all the right ways. There were times where I was laughing out loud, gasping in confusion, and even blushing during some of the particularly steamier scenes. Nate's narrative voice made the story really easy to follow, and it was also really easy to get into his head, which I liked as a reader. (Also, Nate was definitely a better person than me -- I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive someone for cheating on me the way Flo did to him. That's just how I feel about it, so I was really impressed with how kind and forgiving he was.)

Overall, I enjoyed reading This is Kind of an Epic Love Story. It was a quick, funny read that also had some adorable moments that kept me reading the book from start to finish. This is a story that I think everyone should definitely check out if they're looking for a new book to pick up -- so what are you waiting for?