“We all make mistakes as we develop into the person we’re meant to be. It’s how you make up for those mistakes that matters.”
Let me preface this review with pointing out one overarching theme in this book: Jay is a disaster gay. No, he is the epitome of a disaster gay. If you were to look up the term “disaster gay” in a dictionary, I am one hundred percent sure that you would find a picture of Jay there.
And that fact alone might or might not be the reason this book is so addictive because I guarantee you at least once every chapter, you’ll flinch thinking of how you yourself did the same disaster-gay-energy like thing Jay did.
In Jay’s Gay Agenda, we follow young Jay as he is taken out of his small town where he was the only out gay person in his school and gets plopped down in Seattle, where the gays are thriving. Not one to be unprepared, Jay already has a list down of all the things he wants to do—his fabulous Gay Agenda—now that he is finally, finally not the only gay dude. But some of those bullet points—meet another queer person, have a first kiss in the rain while slow dancing to a Shawn Mendes song—might be easier than others to cross off. Like, say, lose your virginity.
Honestly, this book was just all kinds of fun. Any person on the LGBTQIAP+ spectrum probably knows what it’s like to watch all your straight friends have grand romances, first loves, and heartbreaks while you’re sitting in the corner, dreaming of what it will be like for you to experience all of that once you are finally surrounded by people like yourself. And in this book, that’s exactly what Jay does. He daydreams and then he finally gets the opportunity to have all of the teen experiences—having your first kiss, making some very, very questionable decisions and finding a guy who’s really something, not just the idea of something. Add to that a heap of drama, new friendships, and a design class teacher who is the incarnation of a walking dad pun, and you have all the ingredients for one hell of a young adult novel.
While there are some things in this book that will make readers cringe, such as there being some cheating and in true fashion, Jay does not deal with it in a mature way, but come on he’s a teenager and that’s when you make these kinds of bad calls—I think that overall, this is the kind of feel-good, uplifting queer YA story that will take readers’ hearts by storm. Jay isn’t perfect by any means and sometimes I really, really wanted to scream “what are you doing?!” at this dude, but that’s also what makes this story so great. There is so much room for growth and becoming the person you know you can be in here and I loved that aspect. Quite like the quote above, it takes getting things wrong for you to realise what is right sometimes and I loved how that stayed true throughout the story.
While I could mention the adorable love interest and the incredible friend dynamics, not to mention the really hard-hitting, honest, and relatable commentary on friendship this story has to offer, I really want readers to pick this up without knowing too much of the story, because I feel like that will give you the best reading experience. Just know that you’re in for a great, fun time. June has an addictive writing style and the dialogue flows really well—you’ll be finished with the book before you know it!
Jay’s Gay Agenda is a heartfelt, hilarious, and honest debut novel about the mistakes we make on the way to finding our way and the people who help us stay true to ourselves. Perfect for fans of Jonny Garza Villa and Lev A.C. Rosen, Jason June’s debut moves right into the ranks of feelgood and upbeat YA romcoms!
Jay’s Gay Agenda is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 1st 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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 this 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, where he can flirt with Very Sexy Boys and search for love. 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.
From debut novelist Jason June comes a moving and hilarious sex-positive story about the complexities of first loves, first hookups, and first heartbreaks—and how to stay true to yourself while embracing what you never saw coming.
