Escape to the enchanting yet culturally rigid landscape of 1990s Italy in this unforgettable own-voices YA coming-of-age romance.

Lee (Leda Balni) doesn’t know it yet, but they’re nonbinary. Their male soul would feel perfectly at home in their body if not for the crushing expectations of a society where strict gender roles rule supreme. When puberty abruptly ends the carefree days of tree climbing and gaming, Lee’s world fractures. Suddenly, friends only see Lee as a romantic prize—when they bother to see them at all. Desperate for deep emotional connection, Lee pours their fury into competitive volleyball, chasing the impossible dream of making it to nationals.

The only person who understands even a sliver of Lee’s inner darkness is Nico, their childhood frenemy. Ever since moving north from Sicily, Nico’s favorite pastime has been tormenting Lee, but Lee is no victim. Over years of fierce sparring, their antagonism twisted into an unlikely friendship—the one stable anchor in two otherwise turbulent lives.

Now, post-puberty, everything is changing. Popular, brooding, and fiercely protective, Nico struggles to reconcile old loyalties with confusing new feelings. As Lee’s growing alienation turns to anger, the two hurt each other time and again, yet find themselves utterly unable to stay apart.

Then Alex enters the picture. Handsome, determined, and intent on winning Lee’s heart, his arrival threatens to shatter the fragile bond Lee and Nico have spent a lifetime building…

Witty, heartfelt, and beautifully raw, Forget Nico is an evocative, high-angst, enemies-to-lovers novel exploring identity, friendship, and the messy, beautiful path to discovering who you are—and who you love—beyond the boundaries of the culture surrounding you.