Review: To Catch a Firefly – Emmy Sanders

To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders is a tender MM childhood friends-to-lovers romance filled with slow-burn longing, unspoken emotions, and the quiet beauty of being truly seen. Featuring a neurodivergent main character with selective mutism and his free-spirited best friend, this dual POV story explores years of unrequited love, deep connection, and the ache of holding back. If you enjoy heartfelt queer romance with emotional vulnerability, pining, and poetic intimacy, this one’s for you.

To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders
Genres: Contemporary, MM Romance

Buy Links:Buy on Amazon

He was my beginning. And my never-ending.

Ellis
There’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless.

Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying. He hears me, even though I rarely speak a word. But I always knew this place wouldn’t be enough for my free-spirited friend. I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.

So why, when I finally try to get over him, does he sweep back into town? Why is he upset? Why is there tension between us for the first time in years?

I never saw a future where Lucky could be mine. But now, unless I want to lose my friend, I might not have a choice but to tell the truth. My heart belongs to him. It has from the start.

If only I knew how to hold onto a creature that’s meant to fly.

To Catch a Firefly is a standalone, childhood friends-to-lovers romance told in dual POV. There’s epic levels of pining, a neurodivergent MC with selective mutism, two friends who always come back to one another, glass hearts and romantic declarations, and a HEA beneath the night sky.

This blog post contains affiliate links. If you buy something on my recommendation, I will receive a small commission. Purchasing via these links will not cost you any extra and will help me cover the costs of book blogging. You will find more info on my privacy policy and disclaimer pages. Thank you!

I feel like I need to split this book in two to review it fairly because Part I and Part II? I loved them.

The slow-building friendship, the anticipation, the tenderness, it all had me deeply hooked and emotionally invested. Ellis is the kind of character you just want to wrap in a warm hug. Sweet, neurodivergent, artistic, and full of quiet depth — I adored him. Honestly, I’d love to have a friend like Ellis.

I’m a sucker for a friends-to-lovers romance (my all-time favorite trope), and this one delivered a unique take by portraying a neurodivergent main character with so much care. Emmy Sanders did a beautiful job with Ellis’ voice.

But then came Part III… and that’s where things fell apart a little for me. And I was genuinely disappointed, because I wanted to love it until the very last page.

⚠️ Spoilers below — skip ahead if you’d prefer to avoid them!

First, the reveal of Ellis’ condition it came way too late, and felt disconnected from everything that had happened before. These characters were neighbors, and their families were close, why didn’t Lucky already know more about Ellis’ past? The emotional weight of that scene was lovely, but narratively… it didn’t make much sense.

Second, the communication gap was drawn out way too long. Lucky and Ellis have known each other for 16 years, talk constantly, and still somehow manage to miscommunicate at every crucial turn? It just didn’t add up.

Then there’s Danil. Why was he even there? Lucky brings him around while still clearly in love with Ellis, and Danil’s role felt forced, especially when we get a love declaration right before a wedding. 🙄

Also: Ellis, who had zero experience — no kissing, no porn, no real conversations about sex beyond the abstract — suddenly being fully confident in their first intimate scene? That didn’t feel natural to me. A bit of hesitation would’ve gone a long way toward making it believable.

And once the main conflict ended, the book slipped into full-on cheese mode. All potential threads: the illness of Ellis’ mom, his unresolved trauma, Lucky’s doubts about Ellis’ ambition, even the subplot with Ellis’ sculpture were completely brushed aside. There was space for more complexity, but we didn’t get it.

Spoilers end here!

Still, there were many things I enjoyed. I love a soft romance, and Ellis’ emails were absolute perfection. That final chapter? It had my heart. I definitely believe in this couple 💖 — even if the story could’ve gone deeper.

Final Rating: 4 stars!

Did you read To Catch a Firefly? Did you fall in love with Ellis too, or did Part III throw you off like it did for me? Let’s talk in the comments!