the Homo Sapiens Agenda with the way he thought and handled situations. He reminded me a lot of Simon from Simon vs. Obviously, that simply meant I spent so much of this book just being so ANGRY for Sebastian that he felt so trapped. I liked this because it wasn’t vilifying religious beliefs but appropriately pointing out the problems with them in today’s society. What I like about this book though was that the religious aspects weren’t centre stage in a way that would put you off reading if you’re not one for any praying in your fiction, but also that whilst the negative aspects of Mormon belief was addressed, there was plenty of time for Tanner to research the good aspects and present those to the reader. And there can be fewer things harsher than that. The book looks at the extreme internal conflict this causes for Sebastian who can’t change who he is but knows that if he told his parents the truth they would not accept him. It was such a tricky topic to tackle as being ‘actively’ gay as a Mormon was a one-way ticket to being cast out of society. The most interesting and unique thing about this book has to be the religious elements. We agonisingly follow them through the story as they work out their feelings for each other, whether they’re allowed to have them and how they could ever be together.

Sebastian is the son of a Mormon bishop who is very devout. Of course, a spanner is thrown in his works when he meets Sebastian. The story is his journey in being re-closeted as his parents, who are the most wonderfully accepting and outwardly supporting fictional parents of their LBGT+ son, fear that as the town is so Mormon it wouldn’t be safe or easy for him to be open about his sexuality.

Moving for his mum’s work, he ends up in a small, heavily Mormon town in Utah. The book follows Tanner, a bisexual male who grew up in a very accepting part of LA. I thought the challenges were going to come from a different angle. This book somehow wasn’t actually what I’d been anticipating.

This feels like a story that’s going to stick with me. I really enjoyed how the aspect of religion, particularly Mormon in this case, spiced up the complications of this love story and made a happy ending seem almost impossible. It paled slightly for me because I read it so soon after What If It’s Us but that’s okay. And since I identify as bi, it always makes me especially happy to see my own identity reflected on the page in a positive way.This book is such an emotional read and so good. This is a fun topic for me, since I don’t get to see bisexual characters on the page as often as gay or lesbian characters. Feel free to join in – the more the merrier! Each week, she provides a prompt, and I get to talk about my favorite books that fit the topic. I’ve really missed doing Friday Favorites, and since no one was currently hosting it, Cait Functionally Fictional decided to jump into the gap.

Autoboyography characters