content warnings: homophobia, mentions of conversion therapy
representation: main bisexual half-jewish main character, gay mormon love interest, main m/m relationship, side gay/bi characters

I really enjoyed this! It is quite possibly the most stressful book I've ever read, especially in the last half, but it was a good kind of stress.

I always really enjoy reading stories with religion as a central focus, and this book has that in spades. It's about a boy called Tanner who moved to a town with a massive Mormon population a few years ago, forcing him to go back in the closet after previously being very open about his bisexuality. Then, in his final semester of high school, he meets a TA for one of his classes, Sebastian, who graduated the previous year and ~~feelings~~ happen, but unfortunately Sebastian also happens to be the Bishop's son.

One thing I loved about this books look at religion, and specifically the LDS, was that it looks at both sides. While it never budges on its stance that the traditional Mormon view on LGBTQ+ people is vile, it also acknowledges a lot of the good of religion through Sebastian's character. Sebastian is gay, and having grown up in the household and town that he did has made him not only be in denial about his sexuality but also a little scared of it. And while this is never treated as anything other than horrible by the book, it also looks at the good it has brought Sebastian. He's a deeply religious person who finds comfort in his beliefs and the book never tries to belittle that.

I'm not going to lie, the characters honestly did nothing for me, which is why this isn't a five star. While I enjoyed Tanner, Sebastian, Autumn and Tanner's entire family, and I did love the romance between Tanner and Sebastian, I can guarantee that in a month I won't be able to remember half their names. They weren't bad characters by any means. They worked for the story and I didn't dislike any of them, they were just left very little impact.

Even though I know the rest of their work is very different from this, I'm excited to read more from Christina Lauren.