-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Steven Salvatore
From the author of Can't Take That Away comes a sex-positive, fairytale-inspired YA novel that celebrates first love and self-acceptance, perfect for fans of What If It's Us.
Chase Arthur is a budding animator and hopeless romantic obsessed with Disney films and finding his true love, but he's plagued with the belief that he's not enough for anyone: he's recovering from an eating disorder and suffers from body dysmorphia fueled by his father, and can't quite figure out his gender identity. When Chase starts his freshman year of college, he has to navigate being away from home and missing his sister, finding his squad, and contending with his ex-best friend Leila who is gunning for the same exclusive mentorship. If only he can pull together a short for the freshman animation showcase at the end of the semester.
Then Chase meets Jack Reid, a pragmatic poet who worships words and longs to experience life outside of his sheltered world. But Chase throws everything into question for Jack, who is still discovering his sexual identity, having grown up in close-knit conservative family. Jack internalized a lot of homophobia from his parents and childhood best friend, who unexpectedly visit campus, which threatens to destroy their relationship. Chase will have to learn to love--and be enough for--himself, while discovering what it means to truly live.
"Salvatore renders Chase's experiences sympathetically, uses the animation project to create a romantic story-within-a-story, and fills the book with funny, pop-inflected dialogue. Taking on coming out, the challenges of art-making, the importance of mentors who get where one is coming from, and the joys and terrors of romance, Salvatore sweeps readers off their feet." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Salvatore has done a superb job of dealing with a dramatic complexity of issues while creating equally complex, highly empathic characters. Readers will urgently root for a happily ever after." - Booklist (starred review)
"[Chase's] growth, supported by queer mentors and friends, provides affirming representation of questioning and nonlinear healing. Frank, vivid sex scenes model consent, informed safety, and honest conversations about intimacy...A satisfying resolution delivers a nuanced reimagining of happily-ever-after. A dramatic and refreshing storm of emotion." - Kirkus Reviews
"A sex-positive, LGBTQIA+ romp through an artist's freshman year of college, with quick, witty dialogue and sure pacing that makes it a perfect crossover title for older teens and college students in the vein of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl and Margot Wood's Fresh." - School Library Journal
"Captures all the best and most terrifying parts of loving both yourself and others, masterfully balancing a dreamy romance with the raw honesty it takes to sustain it. This book is a true delight." - Dahlia Adler, author of Cool for the Summer
"Steven Salvatore writes complicated love stories with such sincerity, thoughtfulness, and emotional resonance. My heart didn't stand a chance-I loved it from once upon a time all the way to its joyfully complex ever after." - Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
This information about And They Lived ... 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.
Steven Salvatore is a gay, genderqueer author, writing professor, Mariah Carey lamb, and Star Wars fanatic. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. They currently live in Peekskill, New York, with their amazingly patient husband, whose name is also Steve. They are the author of Can't Take That Away and And They Lived, and also co-founder of the Pride Book Festival.
If you liked And They Lived ..., try these:
by Denne Michele. Norris
Published 2026
In this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man reckoning with the death of his father must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.
by Tony Tulathimutte
Published 2025
From the Whiting and O. Henry–winning author of Private Citizens ("the first great millennial novel," New York Magazine), an electrifying novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos.
by Carvell Wallace
Published 2025
A transformative memoir that reimagines the conventions of love and posits a radical vision for healing.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
