Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for FORWARD MARCH by Skye Quinlan! I’m so excited because I have SO MUCH to share with you today! First, there’s my review, THEN there’s new posts on #booktok and #bookstagram (with a link to the stories I uploaded immediately after finishing the book!), PLUS more information about the author and tour! And now without any further ado, let’s get to the review!
I received this book for free from TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Forward March by Skye Quinlan Published on March 8, 2022 by Page Street Kids
Genres: Contemporary, Queer, Aspec, Romance, YA
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: TBR and Beyond Tours
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, TikTok
What’s worse? Someone using your face for catfishing or realizing you actually do have a crush on the catfished girl?
Harper “Band Geek” McKinley just wants to make it through her senior year of marching band—and her Republican father’s presidential campaign. That was a tall order to start, but everything was going well enough until someone made a fake gay dating profile posing as Harper. The real Harper can’t afford for anyone to find out about the Tinder profile for three very important reasons:
1. Her mom is the school dean and dating profiles for students are strictly forbidden.
2. Harper doesn't even know if she likes anyone like that—let alone if she likes other girls.
3. If this secret gets out, her father could lose the election, one she's not sure she even wants him to win.
But upon meeting Margot Blanchard, the drumline leader who swiped right, Harper thinks it might be worth the trouble to let Margot get to know the real her.
With her dad’s campaign on the line, Harper’s relationship with her family at stake, and no idea who made that fake dating profile, Harper has to decide what’s more important to her: living her truth or becoming the First Daughter of America.
tl;dr
- I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!!!!
- first there were happy tears, then sad tears, and then more happy tears
- perfectly queer, delightfully nerdy, and everything I’ve ever wanted in a book
- VERDICT: read this as soon as you possibly can!
what i loved
um, I freaking LOVE THIS ENTIRE BOOK WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND SOUL!!! I’m literally trying to figure out whether I should lead with the ace rep or the marching band and I don’t think I’ll be able to decide so let’s talk about both of them! the mc, Harper, is a saxophonist in her marching band, and as she learns the terms for through the course of this book, she is also asexual! Personally, I think she is probably demi-romantic as well. I LOVE seeing ace characters in books, and I’m so happy that teens now can just… read about it? and know? like, I’m part of the ‘three way calls and aim’ generation and I did not know the word asexual existed (outside of like, worms) until I was halfway through college. I’m pretty sure I had more I wanted to say here, but it’s 10:29 at night and I can’t remember what it was. Oops.
what i didn’t
look, I love standalones because you get closure at the end, but I NEED MORE. MORE HARPER, MORE MARGOT, MORE SARAH, MORE EVERYONE (except the one character I hate, but luckily I don’t think we need to see anymore of them) PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!!
favorite character?
oooh, this is a hard one! Harper is definitely my number one favorite, but someone else comes in at a close second. You can find more details about them in the spoilers section….
(so don’t read it until you’ve finished the book!)
will i re-read it?
YES DEFINITELY I ALREADY CAN’T WAIT!!!
three words to describe the book
QUEER MARCHING BAND CATFISHING
and yes, those are three of my ‘gimme words‘, but I didn’t really ever expect to see all three of them used to describe just one book 😂
*my ‘gimme words’ are words that are mentioned in the synopsis and/or reviews of things that make me go ‘YES GIVE THAT TO ME RIGHT NOW PLEASE!!!‘
goodreads review
do you like stories about queer nerds? do fun arguments about Doctor Who and Criminal Minds sound like a good way to flirt? do you have a mighty need for more books about marching band or asexual characters?
then do I have the book for you!
here, have three!
MARCHING BAND!!!!!! like, I would give this 10/10 stars just for the fact that there is a MARCHING BAND on the COVER of a book!!!!! but then!!!! HARPER. MARGOT. NADIA. SARAH. the colors!!!! the confetti!!!! I FREAKING LOVE THE TITLE FONT!!! just… everything about this cover is (almost*) absolutely perfect!
11/10 stars!!!
*the only thing I would change is to make it more purple, which… I did.
- Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills
- Full Flight by Ashley Schumacher
- The One True Me and You by Remi K. England
- The [Un]Popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez
- #and I am also marching band trash
- #ace ace baby
- #it’s catfish guys of course somebody’s gonna have doubts
okay, we have to talk about View Spoiler »THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!! and I really loved that they were so supportive of View Spoiler » My favorite scene is definitely the one where they View Spoiler »is my second favorite character!
I know this is supposed to be my ‘Favorite Quotes’ section, and Forward March has lots of quotes I wanted to put in here (my highlights are 42 pages long), but I’m just sharing one quote today. This is technically the dedication, not part of the story, but it struck me in such a way that I want to highlight it.
highlights
photo coming soon!
About Skye Quinlan
Skye Quinlan (she/they) was born in California during an earthquake and raised in the Midwest, where cornstalks outnumber people. She studied physical and cultural anthropology at Oregon State University, with a focus on ancient civilizations and a minor in creative writing. Forward March (Page Street Kids, March 8th, 2022) is her debut novel. When she’s not writing, you can catch her at the nearest metaphysics or craft store, dressed up in cosplay at the nearest convention, or ruining antique furniture with epoxy resin and paint. Skye still lives in the Midwest with her wife, their two dogs, several lizards, a snake, and the occasional little human (their niece). She is represented by Moe Ferrara at BookEnds Literary Agency.
I have several questions for you today! Number one being: were/are you in marching band??? I was and it was one of the best decisions I ever made! Also, I want to know what your ‘gimme words’ are. What words or phrases do you hear and immediately FEEL A GREAT NEED for whatever is being discussed? And of course, what do you think about Forward March? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
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