[Review] Jay's Gay Agenda - Jason June

Summary: There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure—he’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in his small rural Washington town. While all his friends can’t stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience—his Gay Agenda.

Then, against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly belongs. But as Jay begins crossing items off his list, he’ll soon be torn between his heart and his hormones, his old friends and his new ones . . . because after all, life and love don’t always go according to plan. (Pub Date: Jun 1, 2021)

This is a fun read about a country boy who'd lived all his life as the only gay person in town and now is free to discover a new world when his family moves into Seattle. 

3.5 rounded up. 

I thought the beginning of this was endearing although I wonder if it was necessary to spend that much time in Jay's old life. In any case, it was cute to see him finally get to live life like he'd never dreamed he could. 

At the same time, the whole triangle bothered me. I think the author wanted to pass a message for us not to be too romantic, that it is fine to enjoy ourselves, but the way it developed felt messy and it made me anxious. I knew it would go wrong, I knew why, and I knew Jay also knew that. To be honest, I had even a feeling of how that would happen. So was it really a message to be less of a perfectionist and have fun or a message that when you finally have fun, things will go wrong to punish you? 

Aside from that, which did get in the way of my own fun, there are great scenes. The feels this book gave! Jay is as misguided as it can get, but it's so easy to relate to him... I'm looking forward to this author's next works.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.