As I haven't seen mentioned in other reviews, trigger warnings for cheating (as well as otherwise mentioned aphobia and thoughts of assault).

I feel like much of the horrible handling of Vanilla being asexual can be explained by the fact Merrell did not set out to write an asexual character, as explained in the acknowledgments. Vanilla in the first half reads more simply sex-repulsed (allosexual people can be sex-repulsed), with wording changing later on, presumably when Merrell discovered asexuality.

Possible explanation aside, that does not excuse this book. They call him Vanilla like his disinterest makes him bland, his boyfriend acts like Vanilla's love is lesser for not wanting sex, and then he gets pushed and cheated on for it. This is a ya book, and many ace people already hear they're never going to find someone or be accepted for being ace, or get told they own their partner sex anyways. Teens should be told they're going to find someone who accepts them, not be exposed to this.

Angel's handling is less talked about but equally horrible. They feel like they were thrown in there for extra diversity points and not because they matter themself. If you take Angel's pov out of the story the plot stays almost exactly the same. The author spent no time developing them and barely anytime on what their home life as a nonbinary person looks like, even though it's hinted to be an unaccepting environment. The word nonbinary is never even said, and other people within these reviews simply assume they're a drag queen even though their gender is discussed outside of the concept of drag.

This book improperly handles every topic it comes across and should not be considered asexual representation.