Just Stu

This is the first review for this book on here so you better believe I’m going to do it justice! *rolls sleeves up* Let’s begin!

Just Stu is the second book in Merlina Garance’s Leicester trilogy, the first being The Flourishing and a third on its way. The story follows John, a divorcee who is trying to start a new life and become a better person, as he makes friends in Leicester, where he just moved, and starts discovering and trying new things along the way.

The book can be enjoyed on its own, but if you read The Flourishing you’re in for a great time. Just Stu gives the characters we already know and love a space to shine in less trying times, making it all the sweetest to see Andy, Thalia and Claire again. If you still choose to read Just Stu first, be aware of the fact that it pretty much spoils the ending of The Flourishing.

I think there are lots of things to love about Just Stu. Starting with my favorite, it has a lovable cast of queer characters, with representation extending from the sexual orientation and gender identity of the characters to mental and physical health issues. Merlina Garance’s characters feel alive with every page, making you wish you could live in their book just to be friends with them.

Compared to The Flourishing, Just Stu is more emotion-driven, full of fluff (and just a tiny bit of angst) and queer joy. If at some point during The Flourishing you were anxious about the way the story was unfolding, Just Stu is your much deserved back rub from the author.

In spite of being a romance novel, Just Stu gives a lot of attention to its friendship, its queer found family and the little moments of queerplatonic love shared between all the characters. The level of spice is sensibly lower than The Flourishing’s, the main couple sharing a wide range of acts of intimacy that most of the time don’t involve sexual activities. This book is sweet, honest and feels like a mug of hot cocoa after a long, tiring day.

If you love friends to lovers romance, queer found families, rock music, tabletop RPGs, mutual care and just a tiny spoonful of drama, Just Stu will give you all of this an more.

I’ve received an ARC for this book in exchange for my honest review. Just Stu out September 25!!!

Friends to lovers is possibly my favourite trope and books like Just Stu are why. Actually, my favourite trope is friends to friends AND lovers. Utterly unparalleled.

Just Stu is a book to savour, even if you read it quickly. It's calming and considerate of the reader, full of affection for its characters (shoutout to Thalia, it was lovely to see more of you in particular!), and leads you gently through two years of the protagonist's life after his divorce and move to Leicester.

Front and centre is John's friendship with his new acquaintance Stu. They meet through other new friends and find immediate kindred spirits in each other. A close, romantic friendship develops that had me (and the supporting cast of characters) cooing with cuteness.

John remains beautifully oblivious until the moment he looks at another couple and feels longing, and his feelings travel right to Stu. There ensues a crisis of fear of rejection and fear of ruining the friendship that has helped make him feel whole again, and the second half of the book where the two circle each other, testing the waters as they begin to name their feelings to themselves and each other.

It's truly a wonderful book, full of sweet affection that blossoms into full-on romantic and sexual attraction. It's about finding yourself later in life, fixing past wrongs and reconciling with pain, self-improvement and queer community. It's about noticing how easy it is to embrace the people you love as they are, and being brave enough to offer the same grace to yourself, to live the life you want to live.

Merlina's writing makes me feel all kinds of things. This book brought me peace in a way few things do. I loved it, it's going to be a forever favourite.

Merlina was kind enough to send me an ARC of their upcoming book and let me tell you, I devoured it in a few hours and it literally had me giggling and kicking my feet.

I want to share a little bit of the thoughts I had while reading this book.

John is a 41 year old that's trying to find his feet in a new place after divorcing. He makes fast friends with a group of beautiful queer people that become his found family before he even notices. And then we have Stu, lovely and beautiful Stu. I can't express with words how precious this character was to me. Flirting through their characters in an RPG campaign and bonding over rock music, they become best friends and slowly, without realizing, it grows into something more.

With a diverse group of characters with representation of all kinds, this book reminded me of something so important and that is that we don't have to accommodate to other people to be more palatable to them, to hide who we are just to not make others uncomfortable. It reminded me that we just need to surround ourselves with the right people and they will accept everything that we are with no question, they will encourage us to be who we truly are meant to be and they will do everything in their power to help us be happy. Because that's what real friends, partners and family do.

There's this particular quote that stuck with me and that I want to share:

"From now on, I want you to expect everything. Every bit of respect you've not gotten before, expect it from me. And I want you to hold me accountable to it. If I mess up, don't bear it because it could have been worse. You deserve good things, not just good enough."

This one had me sitting down to take it in, not because I didn't know this, but because I forgot how important it was to have someone say this to you. I'll carry it with me wherever I go and try not to forget again, because this is what we all deserve.

I honestly fell in love with all the characters in this book. It felt like a warm hug yesterday when I needed it the most.

I want to thank Merlina for sharing this with me before it's out, it was a privilege. And for the rest of you, the book will be available the 25th of September so you better mark that day in your calendars. If you're feeling impatient you can check out Merlina's first book also set in this universe called The Flourishing.

This was a beautiful read and I hope everyone else enjoys it the same way I did.