Thank you for this advanced copy. As a teen librarian, I am always looking for LBGTQIA books to add to my collection and was excited to read this new title. Unfortunately, this particular book fell flat. I did not feel invested in the characters and wasn't surprised by how any of the story played out.

<b>Received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</b>

This book was well written, but in all honesty it made me feel quite tense through my reading of it. Perhaps because I knew a few people who would use their religion as a way to punish others whilst I was growing up.

There is an honesty to this book I didn't expect, considering it is aimed toward a YA audience. Adam is a character who despite the adversity he faces sticks close to his ideals and who he is as a human, something that is truly hard to do at the age of seventeen especially.

The other characters, such as Paul were interesting as well but I did find myself wishing this book was just a touch longer, with more information about the other secondary characters such as Rhonda, Paul and Martin.

The racism and sexism inherent in this novel also served to rile me and make me feel uncomfortable, which I know was partially the point. It was realistic in its casual nature, as most people who believe in such things don't even realize there is something wrong with being that way. It was nice to have a voice point out how wrong it is to treat women and minorities the way they were treated within this novel and are often treated in the real world.

Also whilst I can understand some people would be bothered by the "Stereotype" of Adam's friend Mike I embrace his presence within this novel, as ignoring that gay people like that exist is an erasure in its own right.

Overall I would recommend this book to others, who are interested in different point of views on what it is like to be Christian members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

While I liked this book, I had some problems with how some of the characters were portrayed and how they spoke to each other. I also felt that there were large blocks of dialog and not very much describing in between the dialog, which made it feel rushed. This is the first fiction book that I've read with much religion in it, and as someone who is not religious, it was kind of strange. I think it would be interesting to hear what someone who is religious would have to say about this book. Overall, after I got into the writing style, I enjoyed the story.