Book Description 

Theater star Teddy McGuire is ready for all his dreams to come true. He and his best friend, Annie, have been counting down the days to the end-of-the-year drama club trip to New York City. To make it even more magical, if they can win the annual scavenger hunt, they’ll get a chance to meet their popstar idol, Benji Keaton.

But the universe has other plans: when Annie can’t go on the trip, Teddy is forced to room with tech crew loner Sebastian, who has no interest in the scavenger hunt—or Teddy—and seems to have a secret agenda of his own.

On a larger-than-life adventure across the city, the boys will discover a lot more than what’s on their checklist, including masquerade mishaps, obstacles of Jurassic proportions, Hollywood starlets, and, most surprisingly of all, sparks beginning to fly between them.

In a joyful romp from author Robby Weber about chasing your destiny, Teddy and Sebastian are about to learn the secret to making their own luck.

My Review 

Based on the cover, I thought the boys were around 13, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were actually seniors in high school. 

Teddy has been looking forward to this trip and the scavenger hunt for years, so it’s a sharp disappointment when he finds out that not only is his best friend not going, but that he’ll be paired with the brooding Sebastian. 

So the setup here is great: there’s an Odd Couple vibe here with overeager Teddy determined to win the scavenger hunt and then Sebastian, who just wants to see the city on his own terms without the strict limits of the contest. 

As would be expected, the boys learn from each other. Teddy learns to appreciate the small things and take in the here-and-now, and Sebastian learns that maybe the contest isn’t a silly waste of time. The boys also learn more about each other– they bond over Benji Keaton. And of course, there is even a little bit of romance to be found. 

Teddy is the only narrator, which works well because there are several points in which Sebastian has gone off to do his own thing and it’s more impactful that the reader finds out what Sebastian is going at the same time as Teddy. 

I would absolutely recommend What is This Feeling? This was a sweet coming of age story paired with a queer romance. I am definitely going to look for more books by Weber in the future! 

I received a digital ARC of this book from HarperCollins/NetGalley.