This book is not for everyone.

I loved this book because it takes a deep look at every character and displays them not as good or bad, right or wrong, but explores each in a way that shows them as multifaceted humans. Each chapter is a different character, some of them from the queer task force and others from the homophobic town. With the exception of one character, each PoV is used once, for one chapter, and never revisited again, allowing the author to explore eleven different lives as snapshots.

What I loved most about it is inevitably the thing others will hate. Every prospective reader has to decide for themselves if they *want* to be inside the head of a bigoted character, or a character who isn't entirely on the right side of history. Having grown up in a town where many of these characters resemble real people that I've met, it was cathartic for me.

It brought a strange feeling of hope as I watch my own town have their first tiny pride parades and hang their own queer flags in the windows of homes. As I watch queer people living openly in a way that I never saw as a tiny closeted teen. The fictional town reminded me that change is hard and slow. In a fast-paced era that's quick to condemn, it reminded me to be safe, and to extend compassion to people who show the promising capacity to someday fully understand.

But again, these things that I valued in this book will be exactly the reason that others stay away, and I absolutely cannot fault anyone for that. If you're still on the fence about whether you should read it or not, understand that as hopeful as it made me, the book is full of difficult, dark material and should be handled with care.