Playing Through Every Choices Book, In Order (Part 30: The Freshman 4)

Hey! Today, we take a short little road trip to a music festival before we head back to Hartfeld for our sophomore year!

Next time, we start sophomore year, which hopefully goes a teensy bit better than freshman year...

Link to previous reviews: https://www.reddit.com/user/stresseatingdog/comments/sj3s3m/all_choices_reviews_megapost/

SPOILER WARNING, AS ALWAYS!

The Freshman, Book 4

M/C: Stella

Final LI: Zig

Favorite Chapter: Chapter 6

Favorite Character(s): Zig, Zack, Kaitlyn, Chris, Abbie, Tyler

Least Favorite Character(s): Surprisingly, no one (probably because the book is so short lol)

Overall Rating: 6/10

Review:

This book is a lot better than the previous installments, and it was a shock to me. After all, the first three books were so rife with petty drama, toxicity, and bitchy characters that I thought Book 4 would follow in their footsteps. However, in a very refreshing change of pace, this book strays away from that trend. All of the characters felt like actual friends in this one, y’know? Like, they weren’t constantly bitching at each other or M/C, and it was so nice! Zack being the main focus of this book was odd, since he was literally the “gay best friend” trope ever since Book 1, but I’m not complaining - I really like his character. Becca popping up at the end was also a welcome surprise! Zig’s canonical bisexuality is declared in this book, and I absolutely love that! More bi characters, please! However, in this case, Zig being bi just depresses me, because this series is freaking genderlocked. Why give us a hot bi male LI and then lock him off to just women? I literally hate that so much. Look, I know un-genderlocking this series is hard, what with Kaitlyn’s sexuality, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be upset. Dating Zig with a female M/C just isn’t as fun as romancing him with a male M/C. Just sad, is all. Moving on, another complaint I have is with Zack and Brandon breaking up. Their breakup was handled well, and Zack’s emotions are definitely understandable, but I just wish Zack and Brandon’s relationship didn’t cost diamonds to put together in the first 3 books - it feels like a total waste considering they break up anyways. Anyways, this book was a step up from the previous 3, even if it was extremely short. Perhaps sophomore year will be even better? Let’s see…