I was very intrigued by this concept and when reading immediately thought to myself: "I am really curious to see how the author places a queer woman within the Republicans and how the relationship between a Republican and a Democrat might look like."

Sadly, I have to admit that while there were a lot of concepts I loved (I am always SO excited when I can add a book to my "vegan-character" shelf), this wasn't a book for me.

I thought that the main theme, the politics, where dealt with only at the beginning and the end (properly) and in the middle there was a love story that I didn't get sucked into and that was riddled with drama. Somehow, I also felt completely disconnected by the fact that the story takes place over the course of a year and there were so many time jumps where I was left wondering "but wait, what happens in the middle of this?". Hence, I ended up being not at all invested in the love story, for me personally it could've gone either way and I also wasn't able to connect with the characters.

As for the politics and religion as themes... I ended up being even more atheist and democrat with the believe that no, I don't think being friends with a republican could ever be an option for me.

All in all, I am giving this two stars. I have to admit that the most exciting thing for me about this book was Shelley's veganism.