Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Perfectly Us

AUTHOR: Jaclyn Osborn

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 237 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2021

BLURB:

One summer. Two hearts forever changed.

Alex is magnetic. His vibrant personality and easy smiles draw people toward him. No one would guess he’s secretly hurting.

Shiloh is quiet. His social awkwardness and anxious mind make it hard for him to make connections. He’s always felt different. A little broken.

When these two meet, they recognize something in each other. One hides his pain, while the other wears scars from his. They’re opposites in every way, but like magnets, it’s what brings them together.

What starts as a tentative friendship soon blossoms into so much more, bringing about a summer of self-discovery, healing, soft kisses under the stars, and two imperfect people who learn just how perfectly they fit together.

REVIEW:

I read somewhere once that pain recognizes pain, that tragedy leaves a mark on our souls, like a scarlet letter that only those who’ve also been marked can see. I don’t know if it’s true, but Shiloh looked into my eyes and saw right through me. Can he see my mark? 

Perfectly Us is a gentle story of first love. It’s a simple, character-driven novel with a message of how being flawed, being imperfect, is okay. It’s about the happiness two young adults bring each other just from being together. I became engrossed in the excitement felt by these characters, their desire, the exhilaration of their perfect first kiss. Jaclyn Osborn transported me back to being eighteen again, to the dog days of summer when time stood still between high school and college. To that transitional period between childhood and adulthood, that special time when newly minted young men and women feel invincible and vulnerable simultaneously.  

Nineteen year old Shiloh suffers from anxiety and depression, now largely managed with medication, but a mental health crisis in his past still haunts him. He’s quiet, awkward and flusters easily. When he meets the irrepressible Alex, he doesn’t know what to think. Alex has just graduated high school and is enjoying life to its fullest before starting college in a few months. He has an effervescent, magnetic personality and never stops talking. He can’t stop thinking about – and can’t resist flirting with – Shiloh. He’s out-and-proud and the life of the party but he has his own share of turmoil hidden in his past.  

The boys are opposites: Alex is sad on the inside, Shiloh is sad on the outside; Alex is the outgoing extrovert, Shiloh is the shy introvert. But Alex is exactly what Shiloh needs: someone to pull him out of his shell, put him at ease, and talk enough for both of them.  

This is also a story of one boy’s sexual self-discovery. Shiloh has a sex drive – he finds pleasure in masturbation – but has never felt sexual attraction toward any girl or boy. That changes, very slowly, when he meets Alex. At first, he just likes to be around him, to be noticed by anyone other than his dad. He feels relief that Alex thinks he’s a normal guy, doesn’t know his history, and most importantly, doesn’t judge him on his past. He thinks he might be crushing on Alex but still doesn’t feel arousal. He longs for closeness and intimacy without sex. They become good friends and gradually Shiloh feels more. When Alex shows him an article about demisexuality, Shiloh has his answer. 

Unlike many books about teenagers that only contain off-page or fade to black sex, Perfectly Us includes age appropriate, not too graphic intimacy. 

Some M/M readers don’t enjoy young/new adult books; I love them. While I do sometimes like to be absorbed into an angsty tale filled with tragic coming out stories, bullying, being disowned and thrown out of homes, possible homelessness and so forth, my favorite kind is much gentler. Perfectly Us is such a book. It’s about feeling things for the first time, that rush of emotions from the newness of a relationship as it develops. It’s about discovering that first person – your person – that you care about romantically for the first time in your life. In Alex and Shiloh, Ms. Osborn has created sympathetic characters we can all relate to. Each man is fortunate to have a strong support person in his life: Alex’s best friend, Ruben, and Shiloh’s dad, Landon, have been there through the toughest of times with them. 

Imagine my jubilation at discovering an epilogue set fifteen years into the future! Talk about having complete confirmation of a happily ever after. This is just what a YA/NA novel needs since the protagonists are teenagers when they meet. The ending, combined with the overall warm, engaging story and wonderful characters makes Perfectly Us a must read for lovers of sweet, first love. 4.75 hearts

RATING: 

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