The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar: Chapters 1–8

by Sonido Reyes
In this novel, a teen boy's attempt to win back his ex-boyfriend is complicated by his bipolar disorder and his own internalized shame.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–16, Chapters 17–24, Chapters 25–31, Chapters 32–42
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. overbearing
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    I almost want to be annoyed at Yami for being so overbearing about literally everything I do.
  2. preface
    furnish with an introduction
    He’s been prefacing his questions this way ever since his cousin told him his tone doesn’t always translate, which I guess makes him sound sarcastic when he’s not trying to be.
  3. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
    And to get right with God, my penance was to break up with him.
  4. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    Sometimes I feel a little bad that she coddles me like this, when she’s always been more than happy to accept help from my sister.
  5. lackey
    a servile or submissive follower
    When I went to Rover, Nick and a bunch of his little lackeys jumped me pretty much every chance they got.
  6. bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    Based on the intensity of the groans and Jeremy’s feigned bravado, I should probably not score higher than a 65 percent on this one.
  7. canonize
    declare (a dead person) to be a saint
    “Well, it depends. Like, if you’re so well-known for being good that you get canonized as a saint, then you’re guaranteed to get into heaven. And if you do something so bad that it’s a mortal sin, then you’re pretty much guaranteed to go to hell unless you confess to a priest and repent.”
  8. consensus
    agreement in the judgment reached by a group as a whole
    Everyone agrees on murder, but that’s pretty much the only consensus we’ve all been able to come to.
  9. surrogate
    someone or something that takes the place of another
    The woman is basically our surrogate grandma, for all intents and purposes, since Yami and I haven’t seen or heard from our abuela in years.
  10. grovel
    show submission or fear
    I find myself straight up groveling, begging for some kind of sign that I missed something—that Father John missed something—and I don’t have to spend the rest of my life pretending not to love Jamal.
  11. socialize
    interact with others
    Since the sun isn’t even down yet, I have no choice but to socialize.
  12. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    “You do?” I ask, tentatively reaching for another Taki from the bag he gave me earlier. “Is that all you have to say?”
  13. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Her hair’s all disheveled and one eye is still half closed.
  14. deadpan
    without betraying any feeling
    Yami stares at me deadpan despite my puppy face and pouty lash fluttering, so I add, “I’ll pay you back.”
  15. euphoric
    characterized by a feeling of well-being or elation
    There’s something euphoric about a straight guy pretending to hit on me when he knows I’m bi.
Created on Thu Jul 23 08:35:34 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Aug 25 13:46:21 EDT 2026)

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