It's not a perfect book BUT I think it deserves 5 stars because it tries something that I've rarely seen in MM romances and I want people to read it. It's a very political book, with some tough conversations about being a person of color and queer, and with John organizing a rally for trans rights throughout the story. I love reading sweet and smut stories like the next person, but we need stories like this. We need to remind ourselves that being openly queer is a political act. 

I think the author has also done a good job of representing the experiences of all the POC characters in the book (the MCs, their families, and their friends, they're all people of color). And then, on top of all of this, mental health is an important factor in the story, which creates another layer of difficult topics handled in this story.

I can't wait to read other books from Ellis.

I received a copy of this book from the author, and this is my honest review.