This book opens with the main character, Ben, getting kicked out by their parents after coming out as nonbinary. It's December in North Carolina and Ben is terrified. They call their older sister Hannah, whom they haven't seen in ten years, since Hannah moved out of the house at 18 and cut all contact with her parents. Hannah immediately welcomes Ben into her home, and her husband (a high school chemistry teacher) helps get Ben enrolled in a new school for the last semester of their senior year. The first half or so of this book mainly focuses on Ben trying to recover somewhat from this trauma- they reluctantly start therapy and medication, and pour all of their time and energy into art and texting with their best friend in California. Until the exceedingly friendly fellow senior who was assigned as their first-week guide, Nathan, begins to break into Ben's self-imposed solitude. Nathan introduces Ben to his friend group, ropes them into student council projects, and invites them to parties and movie screenings in the park. Is Nathan just a fabulous friend, or does all this kindness mean something more?

The main reason I gave this book a lower rating, despite being quite excited to read about a nonbinary protagonist, is that I don't enjoy queer stories where teens are kicked out of the house. I am very lucky and privileged in that I can't relate to stories of parental rejection. Some readers will find this aspect of the story deeply cathartic; I struggled with it and almost put the book down a few chapters in. I also wished that there was more exploration of gender identity in the book. I did enjoy it more once the tone lightened into a somewhat predictable but still sweet teen romance.