content warnings: homophobia, religion-based hatred
representation: colombian-american side character, gay jewish side character, korean-american side character, lesbian side character

I really enjoyed this book! First of all, Michael Crouch is a fantastic narrator and I would highly recommend the audiobook (he was also the narrator for Rufus' chapters in They Both Die at the End).

I also feel like I need to preface this review by saying that this book does not look down upon religion. I'm aware that the concept of an atheist attending a religious school and joining a group called Heretics Anonymous who are against their schools practices sounds like it will just be about the main character making fun of religion, but I can promise you that this book doesn't do that. While the main character is an atheist and doesn't understand a lot of aspects of religion, he isn't purposely disrespectful. At most, he says something ignorant and is immediately corrected. In fact, his entire character arc centres around him understanding and respecting religion, even if he doesn't practice it himself. Despite this, the book does criticise a lot of things about Catholicism and the contents of the Bible, in particular the hypocrisy of many Catholics in their practices. The book never makes out the Church or the Bible to be bad things, though, just flawed things.

The religion aspect was one of my favourite things about the book, other other being the fantastic characters.

➽Michael is the protagonist and admittedly my least favourite character in the book. I enjoyed his narration and character arc, but I really wasn't a fan of the romantic subplot and the way he treated his romantic interest at times made me feel very uncomfortable. In particular, after a conflict between the two in which he was in the wrong he never wanted to make things right because he acknowledged he had done something wrong; he wanted to make things right because he missed his girlfriend and wanted forgiveness. It made me really not like him as much towards the end :/

➽Lucy is a Colombian-American Catholic feminist, and was wonderful to read about. She's the only Heretics Anonymous member who is Catholic, which means that she understands both the good and the bad in her religion better than any of the others. She wants to be a priest, something she can't do because she's not a man, and there are many things about her religion that she doesn't agree with (their views on LGBTQ+ people, abortion, etc.), but she also loves being Catholic and finds comfort in her religion. I loved that her Colombian heritage is an important part of her character, from her occasionally speaking Spanish to her explaining certain customs to Michael, but it was also not something that was the most important aspect of her character.

➽Avi is gay and Jewish, which, as you can imagine, causes a lot of conflict. In particular, one of the teachers at the school gets fired because she marries her girlfriend, something which is an important part of the book for Avi as he attempts to go to serious lengths in an effort to right this wrong. His religion is touched on multiple times, but Katie Henry has incorporated these discussions naturally and without ever feeling forced. Neither his sexuality or his religion makes up the entirety of his character, which I really appreciated. He also works on the school paper, which is important to him particularly towards the end of the book, and he is never reduced to the Gay Best Friend.

➽Max is Korean-American and Unitarian, a sort of subset of Christianity, something which is explained at length in the book and to be honest I can't explain that well so you should probably just google it if you don't know what it is. Max was a really fun character whose main motivations is his wanting to wear cloaks (literal cloaks) during school hours, something which is against school rules and makes him want to wreak havoc on the dress code. As with all the other characters, he is never reduced to a stereotype and was a great side character.

➽Eden is a Celtic Reconstructionist Polytheist, which is a form of paganism, and the book goes to great lengths to make sure that both Michael and the reader don't believe misconceptions about her beliefs. You witness a ritual she undergoes, and she speaks often about what her belief system is. She's a driving force behind Heretics Anonymous trying to ensure that the school doesn't just cater to its Catholic students and is instead inclusive of all religions, and honestly she was probably my favourite character.

Katie Henry has created a fantastic cast of characters, making her characters have intelligent discussions about morals and beliefs, but also allowing them to be dumb teenagers who make rash decisions they instantly regret. She also allowed her characters to argue without it seeming over dramatic or friendship-ending, something which is expected of a group of friends with such different belief systems.

The different schemes Heretics Anonymous came up with were honestly fantastic. The things they protest are never too petty, always stemming from real injustice, such as the shitty and offensive sex ed. many religious schools have, and the sexist and humiliating ways in which female students are forced to prove they are following the dress code.

I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fun contemporary that is full of deeper themes (a favourite sub-genre of mine).