content warnings: 

emotionally abusive parent, death of dog (put down), suicide joke, underage drinking, bullying, being outed online, doxxing, death threats, sexual harassment

rep: 

bisexual biracial British-Ethiopian MC [Frances], demisexual MLM major char [Aled], gay British Korean major char [Daniel], M/M established secondary relationship, British Indian major char [Raine], lesbian secondary char [Carys], past F/F relationship, diverse minor char’s incl. Black & agender

All I knew going in was that this was a popular book with queer rep. So I loved getting to watch the story unfold without preconceptions — slowly learning details about the characters and their hobbies (i.e., podcast/fandom involvement) and their life goals and whatnot. Also to discover that there's Q/PoC rep, as well as an explicitly demisexual major character! And that romance isn't a focus of the book, though the MC is explicitly bisexual.

Look, I have always held that friendship can be better than romantic partnership, and this is a fantastic example. I'm always here for boy/girl close platonic relationships — especially

without the "gay best friend" trope; Aled has A Thing with another boy but it's never stated that he isn't or can't be biromantic

— and there are also some top-notch friend-group scenes.

I also adore Frances's mom, she's so fun and supportive and generally lovely. (Protagonists don't need a tragic home life backstory to be sympathetic; adults can be allies.)

The biggest reason I couldn't give this 5 stars is the structure: the prose and pacing. While short chapters are easy to get through and borderline stream-of-consciousness narration is emotionally engaging, I just never really felt fully immersed in the story, especially as it abruptly shifts focus between timelines/subplots.

Still, I connected with the characters, enjoyed the multimedia content, and really appreciated how atmospheric this was (especially considering it's YA contemporary). It's a fantastic read overall.

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CONVERSION: 12.6 / 15 = 4.5 stars

Prose: 7 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow 8: / 10
Setting: 10 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 5 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5