Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2021
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Project Runway goes to Comic Con in an epic queer love story about creativity, passion, and finding the courage to be your most authentic self.
Raffy has a passion for bedazzling. Not just bedazzling, but sewing, stitching, draping, pattern making―for creation. He's always chosen his art over everything―and everyone―else and is determined to make his mark at this year's biggest cosplay competition. If he can wow there, it could lead to sponsorship, then art school, and finally earning real respect for his work. There's only one small problem... Raffy's ex-boyfriend, Luca, is his main competition.
Raffy tried to make it work with Luca. They almost made the perfect team last year after serendipitously meeting in the rhinestone aisle at the local craft store―or at least Raffy thought they did. But Luca's insecurities and Raffy's insistence on crafting perfection caused their relationship to crash and burn. Now, Raffy is after the perfect comeback, one that Luca can't ruin.
But when Raffy is forced to partner with Luca on his most ambitious build yet, he'll have to juggle unresolved feelings for the boy who broke his heart, and his own intense self-doubt, to get everything he's ever wanted: choosing his art, his way.
"If Raffy's art-world powerhouse mother and her hatred for cartoons, crafting, and pop culture feels over the top, it's a small misstep in a sequin-filled romance that's also a love letter to the craft and creativity of cosplay." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The adorkable romance between Raffy and Luca keeps the occasionally dense narrative moving forward quickly, making this book an enjoyable read...A charming, geeky love story filled with all the con drama readers could wish for." - Kirkus Reviews
"Teen readers active in the con and cosplay scene will love seeing themselves depicted with the gentle humor of an in-group character. A crafty queer romance about self-acceptance, and a delightful addition to YA collections." - School Library Journal
"La Sala crafts a fabulously gay story of hope, friendship, and love worth fighting for. Queer nerds, rejoice!" - Booklist
"Heartfelt and hilarious, Be Dazzled is an artfully crafted ode to teen ambition and first love. From the book's charming cast to Raffy's quick-witted voice, La Sala's contemporary debut simply dazzles." - Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of Us
This information about Be Dazzled was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ryan La Sala lives in a subterranean cottage covered in arts and crafts supplies, somewhere in New York City. He writes about surreal things happening to queer people. He is the author of Be Dazzled (out January 5, 2021) and Reverie, which was selected as a Barnes & Noble book club pick, a Kids' Indie Next pick, and an Amazon Best Book of the Month.
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