And They Were Roommates

by Page Powars

A hilarious, unputdownable second-chance-romance about the most unlikely, gay roommate mishap. Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Gwen & Art Are Not in Love.

Romance is the last thing on Charlie’s mind.

On his first day at Valentine Academy for Boys, Charlie’s carefully crafted plan to hide his identity as the school’s only trans student is set in motion. Only to be immediately destroyed. Charlie has been assigned the worst roommate in the world (possibly the universe): Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke Charlie’s heart the year before he transitioned.

Except, Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie.

Who knows how long until Jasper realizes the truth? Charlie has one shot at freedom and a dorm room all to himself, but only if he helps Jasper write love letters on behalf of their fellow students first. No problem. Charlie can help Jasper with some silly letters.

Long nights spent discussing deep romantic feelings with Jasper? Surely, no unintended consequences will arise…

Genres: Romance, Queer, Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Audiobook, Fiction

Audiobook

First published May 27, 2025

About the author

Page Powars is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Indie bestselling author of And They Were Roommates, The Borrow a Boyfriend Club, and more coming down the line. He was raised by video game lore that requires stringboard analyses to understand. Now, he writes books for teenagers and adults. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner.

Reviews

[Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof. I have been highly anticipating this book for a couple years now, so it really hurt to end up not liking it. To start off with the positives, I really loved the academia vibes of this book. It reminded me at times of a classic movie with all the all-boys boarding school vibes. The plot had a lot of fun elements, but perhaps too much fun to the point that the entire plot felt preposterous and too many things happened to get proper closure on all of the subplots by the end.

This story is, at the crux, a romance, and I really struggled with that. I did see some romantic tension between Charlie and Jasper on page, but I needed more of an explanation of what drew Charlie to Jasper in the first place when they first met because, to me, Jasper just seemed like an annoying prick. I also just really detest this trend of second-chance romance in YA. Why did your summer camp fling when you were 13 ruin all romantic love for you? Are you okay? To see these two seemingly reconnecting to their "long lost love" when they're like, at most 16, just felt so unserious. Likewise, you cannot tell me this 16 year old is a best-selling poet when his book is the most basic tumblr poetry out there. Further, why is this 16 year old voted sexiest poet of the year lmao?? I loved the fun & silly vibes, but the entirety of Jasper and Charlie's relationship and Jasper's "career" made absolutely zero sense to me.

I really appreciated the trans representation and Charlie's struggles to see himself as enough. However, once again I was so confused/mind boggled by how this boy realized he was trans and within two years, at age 15-16, has already gotten top surgery (despite the mom being poor af?) and decided to go to this school that maybe is anti-trans because his mom went there and also his one (1) friend attend the sister campus, whom he'll have no contact with for the entirety of the term. And speaking of Delilah, I struggled to understand how she and Charlie were best friends when they only met two years ago, and she attends a school that doesn't allow cell phones during the year. Like how are y'all keeping in touch??

Finally, I do have to touch on the plot that brings out characters together; writing love letters for their classmates. With all of the angst and set backs that happened along the way, I thought this plot would end one of two ways, either with STRIP teaching the students to write their own, personalized love letters, or the campuses combining, rendering the delivery service obsolete, but instead neither thing happened and it just left me wondering, what was the point of it all??

With those issues in mind, I don't know exactly how this book would have worked for me. Perhaps Jasper being less of a prick. Perhaps a better conclusion to the issues between communication on the two campuses. Perhaps side characters (especially the mom and Delilah) that feel more like real people instead of props. It's not that this was a /bad/ book, and I hope it finds its audience. I fully realize I am not the target audience and am highly analytical, so the issues I have with reasons behind character actions may not bother others. I hate to give this a "bad" rating, especially to a trans author and book I was so anticipating, but I do have to be honest about my thoughts. Thanks so much to Macmillan Children's for the chance to read this book early.

[Noi (in & out) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I loved it more.
--------
"Two roommates. One secret. A lot of love letters."

A LOT OF LOVE LETTERS???? I'M IN, GIVE IT TO ME

[Lance]

This covers goes CRAZYYY

[Ann Zhao · Rating 5 out of 5]

However campy you think this book is, think campier. No, seriously. There's a twelve-year-old who calls himself Blaze Alpha Destroyer (Of Worlds) and speaks with the cadence and vocabulary of a medieval knight in shining armor in this book, and he's not even close to being the protagonist. I had a splendid (and, at some points, bizarre) time reading this book, and I can't wait to see what Page cooks up next.

[emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

rating — 1.5 out of 5 stars.

no one is more disappointed about this rating than me. i’ve had this book on my tbr for literal years (genuinely since like 2022/2023), but it did not live up to my expectations at all :( i spent so much of the book waiting — waiting to see a speck of chemistry between charlie and jasper, waiting for charlie to show us some of those famous brains of his. seriously, how the fuck did he beat out thousands of people for this scholarship just to have this school beat his ass constantly? i understand the adjustment period makes narrative sense for anyone in a new place, but having him constantly be intimidated by everyone’s brains when HE is supposed to be genius-level felt a little silly.

one of the best ways i can describe reading this is that it felt like the author had a fabulous time brainstorming for this book, but struggled to string everything together. it felt like a lot of energy was spent on coming up with things that were supposed to be funny or ~quirky~ or whatever that didn’t quite land for me (things like robby’s horse trading cards or blaze’s entire deal. which was exhausting, by the way). i really loved the concept of the book, and there was a lot of possibility with STRIP and the whole ranking system (the whole silliness of the valentine homages throughout the school!! the pin thing!! obsessed with that) but the execution fell so flat for me.

don’t even get me started on there being not one, but TWO hugely famous 15 year old poets associated with this academy. lmfao. i don’t care how good of a school it is, how the fuck are P.M. and jasper selling tens of thousands of their rupi kaur knockoff poetry??? how did they get these pub deals?? one of my niche pet peeves in books is when characters randomly have a huge social media presence for no reason. why the hell does jasper have one million followers? ONE MILLION? the school famously does not allow phones during the school year, so how the hell did he get those? what does he even do? sorry if this is nitpicky, but it’s something that always irritates me so i’m hyper aware of it. it’s easier to let things like that go when the book is good otherwise, but there really wasn’t much i liked about it. please don’t text, i’m in mourning about it.

thank you to netgalley & the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries]

The author has said this book is this image, and I'm screaming a little:

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

if Heartstopper is charming, this was just cute. However, I can see the ya audience ignoring the limitations of the genre.

[jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

how i decide to read books:

*scrolling through goodreads*

"... And They Were Roommates... cliché fanfic title... no thanks"

*accidentally glimpses at synopsis*

"a TRANS BOY???? take my money 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰"



-> first impressions am i right, should have stayed with my opinion of “cliché fanfic title, no thanks”. should also stay away from YA romance, i say for the 173739th time. i’ll never learn.

[Mai H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 Goodreads Choice Awards (Mai's Version) - Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fiction

🏆 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards | Opening Round Nominees | Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fiction

Pride Month 2025 #2

🍦 🍓 The Ripped Bodice's 9th Annual Summer Romance Bingo 🕶️ 🏄🏼

/ They Were Roommates

I love a pretentious private school boy. I blame Strake Jesuit. IYKYK

Well, well. Like I said in my LOVE IN FOCUS review, guess it's not second chance romance I hate. Just straight second chance romance.

Charlie is a closeted trans boy who is a transfer to Valentine Academy for Boys. Even though he requested a single room, he ends up roommates with Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke him before he transitioned. Chaos ensues.

While I didn't love every second, I did love a lot of it. YA is sometimes tough for me, but I did empathize with the internal struggles. I have different internal struggles, but we're all struggling, yeah?

And, god, Jasper. Blond. Middle part. Soft. Spicy. Poet. He'd 100% live in Silver Lake if he were a LA boy. And I, too, would've fallen so hard. But no. Bad. Don't. At me, not Charlie.

Is this a review? Are any of my reviews reviews? Why are you friends with me? Why do you follow me? Who knows?

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Young Listeners

[Hiba · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars ✨
This was a cute and fun read! I just wish there was more chemistry between the two main characters and I would've loved it more if all characters felt more like real people instead of caricature-like characters, their main purpose was to be quirky and funny but they add nothing to the story. And the romance felt a bit boring in the beginning only for it to become rushed by the end of the book.
This book had so much potential! I loved how Charlie was trying to hide his identity while living with his roommate, Jasper, the one who broke his heart before his transition. The whole premise was interesting and fun but I wish I would've enjoyed it more.

[Starr ❇✌❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2
*Review to come*

Pre-review comments below
"about a trans teen trying to keep a low profile at his all-boys boarding school, which proves difficult once he starts rooming with the strict principal's charming son, who's also his former summer camp fling from before he transitioned."
*literally vibrating* I am just slightly excited 👀

Update 10/22/24 HELL YEAH ARCS RELEASED GIMMEEEEE

[Anita Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this SO MUCH

[vee ! ᰔᩚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i would kill a man for jasper grimes

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

1 Sentence Summary: On Charlie’s first day of school at Valentine Academy for Boys, his plan to hide his identity as the school’s only trans student comes crumbling down when he is assigned Jasper Grimes as a roommate—the boy who broke Charlie’s heart the summer before he transitioned; at least Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie, but how long will he be able to pull this off without revealing himself?

My Thoughts: 3.5 stars rounded up! The whole premise of this book was absurd, but in a funny/entertaining way. My main complaint was that I wasn’t very invested in the romance because I found the love interest, Jasper, to be so obnoxious.

Overall, this was a fun read full of secret clubs, boarding school shenanigans, stress & panic, crazy schemes, poetry writing, new friends, trans representation, and teenage romance.

I did like the author’s first book, The Borrow a Boyfriend Club, a lot better, but this one was still pretty good.

Recommend to: Fans of boarding school romance and love letters.

(Warnings: swearing)

***
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠]

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have found my favorite read of the year so far!!! I read and loved Page Powars' debut novel so I was over the moon to see he was writing another. I said this in my review of his first book the borrow a boyfriend club, but i just think Page Powars and I have the exact same humor. Everything in this book just hit! The humor? HIT. The setting? HIT. The plot? HIT. The characters?? HIT HIT HIT HIT. I was so excited by just the premise alone, and it was executed so well. I loved Charlie and jasper so much it's not even funny. They felt like such real people, especially Charlie. The way Charlie's emotions were portrayed were just really relatable and felt real. Jasper is just iconic, he's so silly and goofy but also true to himself which i loved. More than anything i just found myself constantly thinking about this book whenever i was away from home. It was living r e n t free in the brain mush. Adding Page Powars to the roster of grocery list authors.

[Alec · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a gay trans man, I was very excited by the premise of this book, especially as I have been disappointed by most of the FtM representation I’ve seen in books before. I remain disappointed. I’m starting with the trans representation because many other reviews are commenting that it “seemed authentic” and, coming from a trans man, no, it didn’t. First of all, it created many plot holes. There is just no way Charlie could have come out, started hormones, gotten top surgery, and changed his legal sex and name in just 1-2 years while being under 16. There is also no way that the principal at his school is unaware that he is trans since he went to camp at the institution pre-transition and presumably applied while early in transition if he then deferred for a year. All schools but especially boarding schools require a lot of legal documentation for their students.
Beyond the obvious plot holes (which, coming from a trans male author are really inexcusable), Charlie’s transness is written in such an annoying way. Why is he weaker (and dumber) than almost everyone else? I know not every trans guy is athletic, but come on, why is there so much focus on how weak he is compared to all these pubescent cis guys? And why does he use his transition as an excuse to act so weird? Makes no sense for him to want to “avoid the spotlight” but then proceed to act deranged in every normal social situation. Not eating in the dining hall ever? Surviving off breadsticks (well, maybe that explains the inability to do basic fitness)? As someone who has been stealth as a trans man, it does you no favors to act weird and not like the other guys. He’s giving Amanda Bynes in “She’s the Man” and that is not a good sign for trans representation.
I guess it’s somewhat redeeming that all the side characters were also absurd, because maybe it balances out the weirdness of our trans protagonist, but beyond that, these side characters annoyed me. Many other reviews have gone into their unrealisticness and flatness so I won’t, but be warned.
YA lit has gotten very formulaic nowadays, and it’s very frustrating. People seem to randomly generate 6 quirky characters and 1 quirky setting and then write a main character with absolutely no self awareness or critical thinking skills and pull together a book full of plot holes, clichés, unfunny attempts at humor, clunky attempts at figurative language, and few redeeming qualities. Genuinely, who is greenlighting these books? Where are the editors?
I’m tired of reading trans books where the author wanted to write about a trans person and seemingly had no plan beyond that. I’m tired of badly-written books gaining readership and following just because the trans community is so desperate for anything about us. At this point I only read books like this to motivate me to write something better.

[zara · Rating 2 out of 5]

god this book is so fucking boring i spaced out on the second half and somehow nothing confuses me because the characters are so bland, the romance is so nothingburger, and the story is so weird but in a way that's just forgettable and not worth paying attention to. such a shame

[kristyn ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was just cute and gay. i couldn't ask for better! a perfect pride month read <3

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)]

I'm sorry. I loved Page Powars fluffy debut and was ready for more of the same. But sadly, I didn't like And They Were Roommates as much as The Borrow a Boyfriend Club, and I decided to DNF at 22%. 

I liked the writing, and I liked having two trans characters (especially at times like these). But what I didn't like was that Page Powars's fluffiness and wit were set in tenth gear. This story was just too over the top for me, and I didn't particularly like Jasper. 

But hey, if you like goofy and rather dramatic personalities, then this might be the book for you! 

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[Pierce Samuel ✞︎ (My Girlfriend's Ver.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

⚠ !! SPOILERS THROUGH OUT THE ENTIRE REVIEW !! ⚠

What And They Were Roommates means to me: Don't be scared of confrontation and to respect yourself and others. When you're constantly pushing yourself in an unhealthy way, it doesn't just hurt you, but others as well.

Pros:

- Characters were very fleshed out
- This was FUNNY. I laughed out loud multiple times
- The cover art is SO SO pretty. Like for real does anyone know if the artist posts online?? I LOVE the style
- OH MY GOSH LUIS??? I LOVE HIM. From what I can infer he is religious and queer (I'm guessing Christian or Catholic?? From his cross necklace and The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit motion he did.) AND I NEVER see that representation. It was great, Luis is great, I love him.
- First Person POV!!!!! (I just like books with that POV)
- CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! It is real, and Powars did an amazing job writing it.

Cons:
- I was on a Speech & Debate trip while reading the majority of this, and literally anyone who saw me reading it (NOT JUST MY OWN TEAM?? Like, OTHER COMPETITORS from my district to other states??) asked if it was gay smut. I CANNOT LIVE IN THIS SOCIETY. When I flew home from the trip, I had to take the dust cover off though. I fear my parents WOULD take the book away, because they are #Homophobic <\3
- Eli is the reason why varsity members think novices are weird (I say this as if I wasn't a novice literally a few months ago)
- Charlie PMO sometimes, but that is SUPPOSED to happen, as if a MC has no flaws, that's boring. Just Charlie REALLY PMO because how is this man so dense bru <\3

Anyway I am BEGGING for a sequel, I am INVESTED

[⋆｡°·☁︎ sydney ⋆｡°·☁︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR MAKING ME UNWELL
UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG THIS BOOK MADE ME LAUGH
AND TORE ME APART
I WAS SCREAMING
I WAS LAUGHING
I AM IN TEARS
ITS BEEN ROUGH OKAY
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[౨ৎ bennett •&#x16910;&#x1f337; · Rating 3 out of 5]

‧₊˚ 🍂 ᭪ started 29.05.25
˖ finished 31.05.25

❝you love me?❞
❝i never stopped.❞

[Anniek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needed a pick-me-up today and I knew this would deliver. While reading, I kept thinking how fun this would be as a movie. It reminded me of She's the Man but with an actually trans main character. Page Powars writes such funny books, verging on ridiculous but with enough heart to still give them enough depth. This has some similarities with his previous book in terms of the secret club only the students know about, but it's also wholly its own thing.

[DianaRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

i stumbled upon this book after seeing the author describe it on their insta, and was immediately enamored by the title, which those who spent hours on vine back in 2014-2016 will remember fondly.

i loved this queer YA novel with an academic setting, and am always reminded how grateful i am to no longer have the stress of academics, extra-circulars, and maintaining scholarships looming over my shoulder like our mmc charlie does.

my only disappointment with this book was the miscommunication!! my most hated trope, but overall the rest of the book was such a fun time.

as for the audio, the narrator did a fantastic job!

[Jackie ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I am so sorry. I wanted to love this, I really did. The premise is elite, but I can only suspend my disbelief so much.

I mean, the premise, yeah I can believe that.
The 16-year old love interest, Jasper, is some sort of best-selling poet? Umm. Ok, I guess.
Who was voted "Sexiest Poet of the Year?" Ok first of all wtf why, this is a minor.
Who apparently has a million followers and rabid fans. Ok, well, he's a poet and I don't think poetry is that popular but whatever.
Whose rival is also a best-selling 16-year old poet. Damn, how many people are really looking to buy a 16-year old's poetry?
And most egregious of all, whose debut poetry book was titled Love is a Broken Party Clown!! NO. NO. I can't abide by that. That is my last straw. This is the title of the poetry book that sold thousands and made this guy famous??? This is fake. Take me out.

Pre-read*⁀➷
This looks so fun, I love this premise! A second chance-romance with the guy who broke his heart? And they're roommates? And the heart-breaker doesn't recognize the MC after his transition? Sign me up.

[Nev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d been looking forward to this book for a long time because it sounded like such an interesting premise. Charlie, a young trans guy, is living stealth at his new all boys boarding school only to be put in a room with Jasper, the boy who broke his heart years ago at summer camp. But Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie after his transition. What will happen if he figures out Charlie’s secret… and will sparks fly between the two again as they have to work together writing love letters on behalf of the other students at school?

I’m honestly so sad that I didn’t end up enjoying this book more. But I found it hard to concentrate on the parts I was liking, because what annoyed me about the book just overpowered my reading experience. So many of the side characters were ridiculous caricatures instead of actual people. There were too many kooky, quirky characters and situations for me to be able to feel invested in what was going on because nothing felt real. Additionally, I didn’t feel like the chemistry and romance between Charlie and Jasper was developed enough. It was so rushed at the end. The plot about the love letters seemed like it was overtaking the book to the point where there wasn’t enough time for character development or moving the zany caricatures into fleshed out people.

I think if the book sounds interesting to you and you know that you enjoy a sillier tone in books then this might work for you. The story about academic pressures, being closeted in a traditional institution, and healing from old heartbreak does still shine through all the wacky situations in the book at times.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[bri]

Absolutely adorable, I couldn't suppress the massive smile on my face the whole time I was reading this. Cotton candy sweet.

(I also love that I get to read thinly-veiled Ouran High School Host Club fanfic in 2025. Everyone calling this a Drarry book has no idea what they're talking about. No one but Tamaki Suoh is melodramatically self-obsessed enough to have posters of himself on his ceiling in a way that is somehow charming. Thank you Page Powars for the gift of ponytail poet Tamaki Suoh and trans boy Haruhi Fujioka, can't wait to read your other thinly-veiled Ouran fic!)

[mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delight!!

I'm not a YA contemporary person. In fact, I usually really dislike YA contemporary and have accepted it's simply not a genre for me. However, after seeing this recommended again and again (and seeing the video of the author using the dedication to propose to his partner) I decided to give it a chance.

I'm so glad I did.

Admittedly, it was a bit of a rocky start for me. Not because the book was bad, but because I've been in an infernal reading slump and found myself struggling to get involved in the story. But the more the book progressed, the easier it was for me to completely settle into the story.

I loved how this felt like a coming-of-age academia movie. I loved how the friendships were handled in here. I loved seeing Charlie grow into himself.

The plotting itself was a bit weak (such as with the STRIP resolution/some pacing issues) and I did struggle to connect with the romance (which is completely subjective), but those things didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, this was lovely and if it sounds interesting to you, I highly suggest giving it a try.

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t get this finished before it released so no proper arc review but just know this was absolutely delightful, heartfelt, and make-me-laugh-out-loud-in-the-grocery-store-while-listening-to-the-audiobook funny, I had a great time