The Rules of Us

by Jennifer Nissley

Come out. Break up. Stay friends? In this heartwarming queer love story about love of all kinds, exes navigate new crushes, new feelings, and a newly uncertain future after unexpectedly coming out to each other on prom night turns their lives—and their friendship—upside down. Can they figure out how to move on without losing each other?

Jillian and Henry are the kind of couple who do everything together. They take the same classes, have the same hobbies, and applied for the same super-competitive scholarship so they can go to the same dream college. They even come out as gay to each other on the same night, after junior prom, prompting a sudden breakup that threatens their intertwined identities and carefully designed future. Jillian knows the only way to keep everything on track is to approach their breakup with the same precision and planning as their scholarship application. They will still be “Jillian and Henry”—even if they’re broken up. 

Except they hadn’t planned on Henry meeting the boy of his dreams or Jillian obsessing over a cool girl at school. Jillian is desperate to hold on to her best friend when so much else is changing. But as she and Henry explore what—and who—they really want, it becomes harder to hold on to the careful definitions she has always lived her life by. Stuck somewhere between who she was with Henry and who she might be on her own, Jillian has to face what she can’t control and let go of the rules holding her back.

• ISBN10: 0593484908
• ISBN13: 9780593484906
• Publish Date: 2 January 2079 (first published 9 May 2023)
• Publish Status: Cancelled
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593484906

Reviews

[Inkslinger]

Jillian and Henry's story is complicated.. and not just because their relationship is being pulled in opposite directions by their recent revelations. They're also smart, messy, complicated individuals who are prone to allowing their feelings to dictate their behaviors.

 

Both Jillian and Henry are extremely driven, college-bound students. It seems as if they've shared everything since they met, been absolutely in-step with one another all the way. Here those steps are starting to falter.

 

From a character standpoint, they each are alternately flawed and frequently relatable, if somewhat hypocritical. Unfortunately, this aspect of Jillian's personality is heavily frontloaded in the story, which made me dislike her for awhile.. but as things evened out, I began to root for both of them.

 

Generally speaking, the characters are diverse and adorable. I liked the supporting cast as much as the leads, sometimes more. I cared about them as people and their struggle resonated with me. It's not always easy to do what's right for oneself without causing collateral damage to those in our immediate circle, try as we might.

 

Initially this author had a small habit of interjecting really cringe internal monologue in what appeared to be an effort to use niche modern vernacular. While that would be fine for me if the rest of the book's tone matched it, the lines would come out of nowhere after a flowery description or more standard stylings. It just felt, out of sync with the writing as a whole.

 

I promise you though, it gets better. If it throws you off at the beginning, push on. Nissley does ease up on those kinds of phrases. Once they become fewer and farther between, softer even.. they stop jarring the reader out of the moment.  

 

The story itself is inherently cute, filled with themes of self-discovery, hope, and perseverance. I was pleased to see important topics discussed as well, like the flaw in idealized allyship over the importance of an individual's needs and wishes. I read it through in one shot and enjoyed it immensely.  

 

(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)