A lovely and utterly engrossing coming of age story that works nicely as a companion piece to [b:Getting Off Clean|632865|Getting Off Clean|Timothy Murphy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312020858s/632865.jpg|619162], which I read recently.

This is far from a perfect. There are many holes in the book's internal logic and the relationships are sometimes presented in a confusing way (a character that's barely been mentioned is suddenly described as the narrator's best friend, and such). The time line seems a little mangled too (fifteen year olds don't drive cars!)

The writing is good however and the book explore themes of race and sexuality from a point of view usually ignored. It's not really a coming out story as the characters don't seem to experience any of internal conflicts usually associated with coming to terms with one's alternative sexuality. What should be considered homophobia in the book is also not very convincing. It feels more like a general disapproval of sexual activity.

Still the characters are engaging and I very much enjoyed the read.