Anything Could Happen by Will Walton

Anything Could Happen by Will Walton
"When you’re in love with the wrong person for the right reasons, anything could happen.

Tretch lives in a very small town where everybody's in everybody else's business. Which makes it hard for him to be in love with his straight best friend. For his part, Matt is completely oblivious to the way Tretch feels – and Tretch can’t tell whether that makes it better or worse.

The problem with living a lie is that the lie can slowly become your life. For Tretch, the problem isn’t just with Matt. His family has no idea who he really is and what he’s really thinking. The girl at the local bookstore has no clue how off-base her crush on him is. And the guy at school who’s a thorn in Tretch’s side doesn’t realize how close to the truth he’s hitting.

Tretch has spent a lot of time dancing alone in his room, but now he’s got to step outside his comfort zone and into the wider world. Because like love, a true self can rarely be contained."- summary from Amazon

I absolutely ADORED this debut. It was such a quick, engrossing read that I had problems putting it down (a problem when reading it during breaks at work) and flew through it so fast. Walton took a coming-out story and made it different, focusing instead on all the different kinds of love we find in our lives as well as the love we need to have for ourselves and who we are so that we can be our truest selves.

Tretch is a fantastic main character and I am positive many readers will find a bit of themselves in him. The book may focus on a gay teen boy but the feelings, emotions and experiences he goes through throughout the course of the book are ones that are felt by all. Every person has a part of themselves that they hide from everyone else, trying their best to put out what they think everyone wants to see. It may not be as big as homosexuality but it still creates a similar sense of isolation from those around you.

I really enjoyed the parallel too between Tretch's situation and that of Matt's two dads- it provides an interesting contrast and also shows what Tretch is missing. That ability to be open about who you are and being able to share that with someone is magical. It was adorable seeing Matt's dads together whenever they were in a scene. Along with that, it was really cool to see a friendship like Matt and Tretch's- a real, close friendship even though Matt doesn't know Tretch is gay. (SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD) The way they interact and hang out together was a bit of an inspiration; I kind of want to read a sequel to see how things are between them now that everything is out in the open.

Overall, I highly recommend this debut and cannot wait to see what Walton comes out with next. Everything about this book- the writing, characterization, humor, insight- was simply superb.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.