Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues

Author(s): H.S. Valley

Teen (Ages 15+) | Secondary School Fiction | Gifts for Teens

What happens when your enemy becomes your friend … with benefits? 


Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school. 


Tim Te Maro and Elliott Parker – classmates at Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept – have never gotten along. But when they both get dumped the day before the big egg-baby assignment, they reluctantly decide to ditch their exes and work together. When the two boys start to bond over their magically enchanted egg-baby, they realise that beneath their animosity is something like friendship … or physical attraction. Soon, a no-strings-attached hook-up seems like a good idea. Just for the duration of the assignment. After all, they don’t have feelings for each other … so what could possibly go wrong? 


From debut Kiwi author H.S. Valley, the latest winner of the Ampersand Prize, comes this gleefully addictive romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan. In a word – it’s magic.


Product Information

What happens when your enemy becomes your friend … with benefits? Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school.

2020 Ampersand Prize Winner

'Sweet and sexy in equal measure,Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues explores all the confusion, messiness and joy that comes with queer first love.' – Erin Gough, author of Amelia Westlake

H.S. Valley grew up on the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, at the foot of Takarunga. She now lives near the Waitākere Ranges with her partner. She has a bachelor's degree in design. She won the Ampersand Prize for her debut YA novel, Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues.

General Fields

  • : 9781760508753
  • : Hardie Grant Children's Publishing
  • : Little Hare
  • : March 2021
  • : {"length"=>["8.268"], "width"=>["5.315"], "units"=>["Inches"]}
  • : August 2021
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : H.S. Valley
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : English