Check out me reading this in my ARC vlog: https://youtu.be/RfN1kpTWm1s

This is a book following a closet-gay teen in 1987 New York, right under the AIDS panademic. He also gets his first openly gay friend and is introduced through a whole new world through him. It is definitely a hard book to read, with hard-hitting themes and events in the book. The author note especially got to me. The book follows a touching story that ended somewhere I did not expet. However, for me there is something about the writing that I could not get fully into the story. I also didn't particularly love the characters, and found myself not being as invested in the story as I wish I was. It is not a bad book by any means, and I know a lot of people will love it. There was just several elements to the story that I personally felt didn't work for me. 3.5/5 stars.