We are already 3 months into 2026! Also this is our first review from our super Review Team! I thought I knew most of the authors on site, but this one snuck by me. The plot sounds interesting, so I shall  put on my reading list  Thank you W_L for finding this story for everyone to checkout  

Southward
by gor mu

Reviewer: W_L
Status: Complete
Word Count: 40,259

First love doesn’t have to be your only love - especially in gay romance. That’s one of the things I appreciate most about Gor Mu’s wonderful story. It pushes back against the “true love” framing that can sometimes dominate teen gay romance, despite the fact that many gay people don’t end up with their first love. To me, Gor Mu offers an honest portrait of a gay teen discovering what love can look like.

The main character, Lautaro, who is of Korean and Argentinian heritage, is thrust into uncharted territory when his parents divorce. He must leave his home in New Haven, Connecticut, and move to Buenos Aires, Argentina - his mother’s hometown. As he acclimates to a new school, culture, and environment, Lautaro also has to confront his lingering, unrequited feelings for his former best friend, Noah, while trying to build something real with Valentín, a local Argentine boy from an impoverished background.

This story is a hidden gem in GA’s romance collection. I love Lautaro’s perspective, and his behavior feels true to a gay teen -from unspoken desire and complicated friendships to the slow, incremental steps toward exploring his sexuality. Gor Mu crafts a strong first-person narrative through Lautaro’s lens. Valentín, Lautaro’s love interest, is quietly compelling: he isn’t perfectly confident or polished, but his affection for Lautaro is unmistakable. Much of the story’s emotional tension comes from Lautaro’s pull between his past in Connecticut and his new life in Argentina. While Valentín’s father introduces a thread of homophobic conflict, it isn’t overwhelming, so readers don’t need to brace for anything too extreme.

Overall, readers will find an enjoyable romance about a gay teen learning to let go of his first love and open himself to a new one—within a new culture and country.

Category: Fiction  Genres: General Fiction, Romance  Sub-genres: Drama, General Romance  Tags: teen, gay, north america, south america, coming of age, love, high school,  Rating: Mature