This book made me uncomfortable many times with discussions of sex. This is Dr. Ruth in 2022. (Google her).
And although it made me uncomfortable, I will recommend you read this book because discussions are desperately needed with regard to sex. This topic shouldn't be taboo or uncomfortable, especially in this day and age.
Aside from that, this was just a great read. I loved the characters, I loved the plot, I loved how the story developed and ended.
I will definitely read her other books. (I actually already got one and can't wait to start it!)

This is a well-written book with likeable/believable characters. Although it is not a book I would recommend to my students, I feel that it definitely has its place as it hits on a topic that all teens have questions about.

Phoebe Townsend appears to be a good student who doesn't make waves and follows all the rules. She writes for her school newspaper, hangs out with friends, and looks forward to graduation. However, Phoebe has a secret hobby that no one, not even her best friend, knows about, sexual research.

This book was a fun and important read. It truly feels like this scenario could happen in multiple places in our current political and cultural climate in the US. I appreciated the realism with which the author wrote the book; it’s not a clear-cut subject and people will have varying reactions to the book’s events, just as they do in the story.

I loved this book so, so much! It's relevant for today's youth. It has allusions to everything a 30 year-old could hope for. I laughed out loud. I have not felt so connected to a narrator in a long time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for this ARC of On the Subject of Unmentionable Things. All opinions are my own.

Talking about sex is hard; talking about sex with teenagers is even harder. However, somehow, On the Subject of Unmentionable Things by Julia Walton manages to demonstrate just how important (and even easy!) it can be to discuss sex in a frank, scientific, clinical manner with teenagers instead of lying to them or shorting them on their sexual health education.

I know this is a loaded issues—when and how to teach sexual health to students is a fraught subject in many school districts, so to this point, this book nails some of the very real problems schools face in attempting to balance truth and perceived "propriety" in schools. The main character, Phoebe, has a clinical interest in sexual health, to the point where she has a doctor's office model of female anatomy stashed under her bed. Her interest also stems from the utter inadequacies of her own health education in her public school—something she seeks to remedy by starting her own anonymous blog.

I loved how this book balanced issues of social media bullying and harassment, health, romance, and parent-child relationships all in one. So many YA books forget that teenagers have parents or other adults in their lives, but in this book, Phoebe's parents show up often, and other adults are integral to the plot (especially mayoral candidate Lydia Brookhurst, who is waging a Twitter war against Phoebe's online persona, Pom, and her blog Circle in the Square). The teenagers in this novel are written so believably—their feelings, their dialogue, their actions are all true to life, and the way they learn to deal with the expectations of the outside world also smack of a verisimilitude that lends it an authentic voice.

Overall, this book isn't about sex, per se, but about how to be honest and how to be safe. Even though it isn't a book I can see reading with a whole class, this is a book I could feel good about recommending to my students (with some content warnings).

loved this book about a girl who has a blog that talks about sex and does it so its easy to understand. She finds love with a cute boy and finds her voice and helps take a stand against the town or someone running for mayor. I loved her parents and they helped each other. Great book and loved all of the fruit.

Phoebe is a typical innocent looking teen who writes for her high school newspaper. What most people don't know is that she has a secret identity she's told no one about. She's actually Pom, author of a sex blog. It all started when Phoebe bought 3 boxes containing interesting looking "stuff" from a garage sale that used to belong to a recently retired gynecologist. Those boxes led to her obsession with the factual side of sex, the blog and eventually Pom's twitter. It all would have been fine except a misstep caused Lydia Broookhurst, a rich businesswoman, to take notice of her blog. The thing is that Lydia Brookhurst is a staunch advocate of abstinence only sex-ed and runs a purity rings jewelry line. Being rich, she uses that money to strongly advocate against the blog eventually leading her to run for office.

I LOVED this book. There were moments where I couldn't help it and ended up laughing out loud to the point that my coworkers had to ask me if I was ok. I loved Phoebe and how she knew who she was and didn't let people's opinions discourage her or corrupt her view of herself. Lydia gave me very strong Trump vibes and unfortunately her character is realistic enough that I'm sure there's a Lydia walking around somewhere. I loved this title so much that I'm trying to see if I can get a signed copy to add to my personal collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

#OntheSubjectofUnmentionableThings #NetGalley.

In small-town California, high school senior Phoebe is the anonymous author of a blog that provides research-backed facts and information on sex ed for teens, which gains the attention and ire of the town's conservative population, in particular town mayor candidate, Lydia Brookhurst. The book tackles sex ed, misinformation, and censorship well. Phoebe is a well-fleshed out character, and her friendship with Cora is one of my favorite parts of the story. I will say that the book is painfully white, with romantic interest Jorge as the only POC involved. Not one of my top books of the year, but a solid choice.

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book*
I've had to contemplate my review for this book for a couple of days. I was expecting a quick, quirky, light-hearted, fun read. My expectations were half met. It was indeed a quick read. It also checked the box of being quirky per the textbook definition. Light-hearted and fun, maybe not as much. I did enjoy this book, I was just not anticipating such strong political overtones. I was really looking forward to the concept of this book; a teenage girl writing a sex blog for teenagers. Sounds like an opportunity for a witty, comical, provocative, and amusing source of entertainment. I think it kind of missed that mark. While it definitely had a fair amount of wit, a decent portion of comedy (a few laugh-out-loud moments if I am being honest) it did not quite live up to being provocative and amusingly entertaining. The sex talk was all from a textbook. I was hoping for a little more personal experience. A lot more naughty. I agree with and support the basis for the need for such a blog to exist, but as a grown adult I was looking forward to a bit more X-rated content. I also think the entertainment quality was eclipsed by the presence of politics. While the political aspects were valuable to the story, I feel like the entertainment value was compromised by their existence. I, personally, try to remain neutral and this book definitely felt agenda-driven in a specific direction. After all of the build-up against the antagonist just to be disappointed with the outcome at the end was a bummer, too. All of that aside, the book was well written. It was concise and just descriptive enough. It pulled me in relatively early and kept me reading until the end. It had some entertainment value and gave me something to read over the weekend. Hence the 4 stars. The subtraction of 1 star for missing its mark. For allowing politics to overtake what could have potentially been a very entertaining and enjoyable book otherwise. If that was the author's intention, my apologies for the misunderstanding and for creating my own expectations. Overall, I would still recommend this book for a coming-of-age teen looking to get some education in that area without being embarrassed. Just still wish there hadn't have been such a strong political taste in my mouth afterward.

Phoebe Townsend appears to be a good student who doesn't make waves and follows all the rules. She writes for her school newspaper, hangs out with friends, and looks forward to graduation. However, Phoebe has a secret hobby that no one, not even her best friend, knows about, sexual research. What started out as a personal quest for accurate information turned into a blog. As Pom, Phoebe publishes sexual facts that teens might not be comfortable discussing with someone in real life. When Phoebe decides to start a social media page and open the blog up to questions, a storm is let loose in her small California town. As Pom, she is labeled a dangerous pervert who needs to be stopped by an ultra-conservative business woman in her town. When this woman decides to run for mayor, Phoebe is under constant attack from all sides. As the pressure builds for Pom to reveal themselves, Phoebe comes to realize how important the power of the truth is and how far the public will go to destroy it. Such a fantastic commentary on the power of the truth, media, and how far people will go to hide the truth.

Phoebe Townsend is very much a quiet, rule-following staff writer for her school's newspaper. Feeling like she has no one to turn to when she has questions about all things sex education, she does what any good reporter would do and begins researching the topic herself. Understanding that lots of other teens are in the same dilemma, she decides to publish her research under a pseudonym on a blog. Her blog becomes the target of a local shady politician who wholeheartedly believes in abstinence-only sex education. In the midst of continuing to write the blog and maintain her secret, Phoebe navigates teen romance.

Walton does an incredible job of brining awareness to the issues that surround abstinence-only approaches and normalizes that a teenager being interested in and knowledgeable of this topic does not necessarily make any statement about her lifestyle or choices. The support Phoebe receives from unexpected people and places serves as a great reminder of the way we should support others.

This book was a fun and important read. It truly feels like this scenario could happen in multiple places in our current political and cultural climate in the US. I appreciated the realism with which the author wrote the book; it’s not a clear-cut subject and people will have varying reactions to the book’s events, just as they do in the story. I also very much appreciated the hope that she infused - that even though people can be really mean, some people will stand up to them and some good can come of a difficult situation. I wish I had had a blog like Phoebe’s when I was her age! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

On The Subject of Unmentionable Things follows our intrepid teen sex researcher and reporter as she updates her anonymous blog. The background context of a local election with a religious campaginer who wants the blog disbanded and the author revealed provides a nice narrative that grounds the story and makes it feel very of the times.
Overall, this is a solid addition to any YA section of a public library. It does an excellent job of contextualizing sex to teens in a way that is relatable and informative. However, the book struggles with some pacing issues throughout, and because of it struggles at points. Solid overall.

A refreshing read about sex education and sex positive teenagers. Definitely an important book historically for keeping up with the new trends in the way sex is talked about and handled for high school students. Overly cliche at times, but charming. The main character Phoebe’s development is questionable (either non existent or spelled out for us in detail) but the case of characters are all unique and complement her well. I would heavily recommend this book to high school aged students.

I have to say this book had one of the best first lines I’ve read so far this year. Loved the topic and found myself cheering on the MC as she wrote on sexual health issues. Although her friends and love interests felt realistic, her parents arc felt kind of forced. The issues outside of her account felt half done but since her blog is the main issue I’ll stick to that. The bullying and pressures everyone in the story deals with is well done and I liked how the story concluded. This book tackled a subject that gets swept under the rug and I really liked reading it. I would say it’s a solid read that I would recommend to others.

I've been so behind on NetGalley reviews that some books have taken me several weeks to decide what I think of them, but this one was so good I knew what to say about it right away. (Also, while I'm trying to improve my feedback ratio, it is worth noting that this particular book brought it to 69%, in one of the best coincidences I've seen since I started reviewing.

Phoebe Townsend is a high school junior with average social standing and above-average passion for the school newspaper, but what no one knows about her is that she's behind The Circle in the Square, the popular blog created to provide comprehensive, medically-accurate sex education to teenagers who have unanswered questions. Phoebe's a virgin, but her access to doctors' resources and determination to end the stigma around sexual exploration have made the blog a hit. Even her best friend, Cora, turns to the blog for sex advice not realizing who writes it.
When Phoebe creates a Twitter account for the blog and forgets to hide her location, her hometown of Linda Vista, California discovers that "Pom," the author of the blog, is a local. Lydia Brookhurst, mayoral candidate and part of the wealthiest family in town, soon discovers it and calls it an attack on morality, accusing Pom of being a pervert who wants to corrupt children and go against traditional values.
At first, Phoebe finds it entertaining to come up with responses to the clearly-uneducated Lydia, but soon a campaign begins to find out Pom's identity, and Phoebe is at risk of being doxxed.

If you like the show "Sex Education," you'll love this book. A lot of the main plot points are really similar without being exactly the same. Other book comparisons, I think, would be "The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me" and "Have a Little Faith in Me."
I liked that once everyone found out Phoebe ran the blog, no one got angry at her and accused her of lying to them. Not even her parents or the love interest! This was nice to see, because I'm so tired of "you lied to me" in books when anonymity had clearly been important to the main character. Phoebe wasn't punished for it, and never lost friends or love interests over the reveal. There were much worse things for the characters to worry about.
And no love triangle either. (If you don't like that about the show Sex Education, read this book). One of the love interests is already ruled out by the time Phoebe even realizes she's interested in the other, main one.

Phoebe is your average high schooler, however just like anyone else, she has a secret. She runs an anonymous blog about sex. This quirky, yet informative book talks about all the "unmentionables" you wouldn't normally hear about in your normal Sex Ed class. Phoebe is the voice of reason when it comes to questions about sex. People post questions on her blog to ask if certain things are "okay" and ask her professional opinion on the matter, and she does her research to better guide them. I did enjoy this book, as sex is always an uncomfortable topic to discuss in a public/group setting. And often times, teenagers tend to joke about the topic in the classroom. The author did a good job discussing sex without it sounding overly sexual and provocative.

This is a funny book that talks about teens and sex. I liked our characters and how they developed and changed as the whole town argues about what teens should know about sex. Very much similar to how groups of different people are today. The book is about sex, but it’s done in a way that makes the reader feel empowered and not shameful. I would recommend this book to teens aged 15 and up. I think teens need to read this one, but I know it's probably going to get some backlash.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

What a fricking awesome, sex-positive book. This is one of my favourite reads so far this year.
Phoebe Townsend is a teenage girl from a small town in California, and she writes an anonymous, sex-positive blog called The Circle in the Square (yes, that’s a condom reference). Phoebe has been interested in the scientific aspects of sex since a memorable experience at a summer camp made her realize that everything she thought she knew about human anatomy, and about sex, was wrong. 

The Circle in the Square gains popularity when a conservative woman from Phoebe’s town expresses her concern with this blog all over Twitter about how inappropriate it is to “tell kids it’s okay to have sex”. The people who find Phoebe’s blog so upsetting are the people who think “abstinence only” is the best method of sexual education, and Phoebe has seen that herself in her own high school sex ed classes.
What started as a personal interest in the scientific aspect of sex quickly became an online platform to help educate people, specifically teenagers, about human anatomy, bodily functions, safe sex practices, consent, and provided a Q&A where people can anonymously ask questions that they may otherwise feel uncomfortable asking adults in their lives.

The characters in “On the Subject of Unmentionable Things” have well written, strong personalities that shine through in the way they all interact with one another. Phoebe, Cora, Jorge, and David are such a fantastic group of teenagers. They feel so real and just so much *more* than a lot of superficial teenage characters in YA fiction.
I wish everyone had parents like Phoebe’s. The way they support her and are eventually open with her about their own issues is really important; it made me happy to read such a strong family dynamic, and such strong defense of a teenage girl talking about things that some may find controversial. 

“OtSoUT” made me laugh out loud numerous times, made me anxious and hopeful for the best, and made me smile like a fool at the simple sweetness in the quieter moments of the book.
This book is so sex-positive, so fun, and well worth the read.
Author, Julia Walton, has clearly done her research on the best way to write this book in a way that is accessible, factual and information, inclusive, and makes the topic of sex comfortable to read in a light YA fictional format.



“Why did I become Pom?
Scientific curiosity?
Wishful thinking?
Or maybe I wrote the blog because I believe it wasn’t something I was supposed to write. 
Those might all be true in part, but now I would also have to add:
Because I enjoy sex. 
Which might be even more scandalous.”

What parent and child doesn’t want to have the sex talk? I mean, its not at all awkward.  Wouldn’t it be easier if they could talk to someone else about it? Well, in this laugh out loud tale, our teen protagonist Phoebe knows more about sex that most adults; but, she’s not a pervert! Her goal as an adult is to become a sexologist and although she’s only 16, her commitment to her research is unparalleled and she has chosen to share that knowledge with others via a blog. Everything goes just fine until her blog catches the attention of a local politician hell bent on keeping her town pure. What will happen when these two come head to head, just read to see.
I LOVED this book and devoured it in one sitting. Although the ENTIRE book is about sex, it’s done in a way that makes the reader feel empowered and not shameful. I would recommend this book to teens aged 15 and up. I’m not sure it would make its way into a classroom, but I would recommend it my own children. *Sigh* so good!