Book Review: Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… by Jason Reynolds

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 256 pages
Author: Jason Reynolds
Publisher: Atheneum
Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds tackles it—you know…it—from the guy’s perspective in this unfiltered and undeniably sweet stream of consciousness story of a teen boy about to experience a huge first.

Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.

Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.

Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.

Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.

And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!

Thank you Simon Teen for the gifted copy.

I LIKED IT.

I do admit, that the central premise of this book isn’t my favorite. So I didn’t know what to except going in for how I’d feel. It was a surprisingly quick read with a lot of good woven in.

I loved how loving and supportive Neon’s family was. The conversations are embarrassing and sometimes hard to hear, but it always came from a place of love and I loved the security of his family. The sibling banter was great and I thought the all of the small side characters shown well too.

The twenty four concept was unique and I loved the backwards glimpses into each moment. I think Aria and Neon were cute and I would have loved even more of their relationship too.

This wasn’t on my radar but I’m grateful I got the chance to read it!

Overall audience notes: