Need an -ism? This book's got it!

It really tries to sell you on the whole "teens will be teens!" idea, but we all realized that this is messed up right?

I first want to thank Netgalley for giving me permission to read this title. The book was an amazing read. I think that I will most definitely be ordering this book to put on the shelves at our library. I believe that the teens will thoroughly enjoy it.

YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. I can't scream enough about this book. Amazing representation, tropes that I LOVE, and I flew through this.

The description of this book refers to it as “hilarious and provocative,” and both of those are true.

Any young adult novel that opens with a main character in a park waiting to meet someone he contacted through an app in the hopes of losing his virginity—well, that’s certainly provocative, right? I’m no prude, but I must admit, the level of frankness in this book exceeds many other YA novels that I’ve read. Heck, I’ve read a lot of adult gay romances, and I can honestly say I have yet to run across a mention of the bleaching of a certain body part, but I found it here.

It's also provocative in that it is quite non-PC for a book covering LGBT+ themes. Just as an example, one of the main characters gives an adult woman a nickname based on her large breasts, which made me very uncomfortable. In a book about respecting others, to reduce a woman to her body parts struck a very sour note for me.

If you can’t cope with that kind of thing, this is not the book for you.

If you can, Social Intercourse has its strengths. It’s certainly often funny. But with that humor, it explores some very weighty issues—the consequences of bullying, the exploration of sexual orientation and how hard it can be to come out, and the need to embrace your identity and support others in doing so. Also, the characters who express non-PC views do largely change their attitudes by the end of the book, which did help mitigate some of what was said earlier.

So, this was an interesting read. I’m curious about what the author will come up with in future books.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Beckett is an out gay teen living with his single dad, desperate to have some relationship experience before he graduates high school. Jaxon is the golden high school quarterback, raised by two moms, one of whom has started dating Beckett's dad. Both Jaxon and Beckett are unhappy with the situation, so they devise a plan to get each of their respective parents back with their original partner. But a different romance starts to brew as the two work on their plans--one that neither of them suspected.

This was such a fun read! A lot of the scenes throughout the novel reminded me of Parent Trap at times, as Beckett and Jaxon concoct this scheme in order to actually stop their parents from dating each other. The story itself is also different than a lot of LGBTQ books I've read; instead of focusing on Beckett and Jaxon's coming out stories, the core conflict is focused on something complete different, and I found that really refreshing.

Despite the refreshing story line, there were some problematic moments throughout the book as well. There were some stereotypes that were perpetuated, specifically with Jaxon and his moms, though Beckett also embodies the typically feminine gay stereotype. There also aren't a lot of female characters throughout the story, which can be fine, but the ones that are presented are generally flat. If they were more complex, it wouldn't have bugged me so much.

Though there are some problematic aspects within the story, it was still an overall fun read, though probably not one that I'll revisit again. If you're looking for a fun, LGBTQ romance for the summer, this one is worth picking up!

I was not a huge fan of this book. The characters were very unappealing and just UGH! The story line reminded me of a messed up weird version of the Parent Trap and I just couldn't get into it, though I did finish it. The cover also is not to appealing. It's odd looking and not so colorful. We do have it in our library but I don't think we'll get to many people picking it up. Sorry

This had a fairly good story, but I couldn't get past the biphobia and just complete disregard to trans people. I found a lot of issues in that manner and I kept waiting for them to get better but they didn't, so I can't comfortably recommend this to people.

Page turner but may be difficult for those who struggle with the sexism and racism in the gay community.

*I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Warning: There are many mentions of sex in this book, but nothing happens on-page, so to speak.

I give the warning because, the beginning made me feel a little awkward. Although, I will admit to being more of a prude than most. There are also multiple mentions on what is going on with theirs dicks, but I mean... they're guys who are trying to understand their sexuality, so it was more chuckle-worthy or just made me think 'oh you poor dear....'

This book has gay and bi rep, which I thought was done really well. The boys are brought together by their parents who have started dating which is a huge shock since Jaxon's mom has been married to his other mom since he was young. Their main goal is trying to break up their parents. I don't blame them for trying, but I will say the way Beckett talks/thinks about Jaxon's mother was a problem for me. AND she is really never given a chance to redeem herself from being a clingy, dimwitted tart. He honest to all calls her "Big Titties" for most of the book .... mostly because of how he found out she and his dad were dating, but still.

How Beckett acts about people made me dislike him more. I don't mind the gossiping about people or complaining, so I can't put my finger on why exactly I mostly disliked him. Only mostly, because then he would go do something great like remind his best friend that being fat didn't mean she couldn't be beautiful and fierce. I still think Shelby's character deserved more than to eat/want snacks constantly and then what happened to her at the prom, but how author's treat their bigger characters when they actually are included in a book is a story for a different day.

Jaxon, I did like more. He is still pretty immature, but I understood it. He is struggling with being bi and doesn't want to tell anyone because he is the President of the Student Council and star Quarterback of the football team. He picks his battles, but not always the right ones, which could be annoying or just not make sense. This isn't to say he doesn't do horrible things too. He does something that could TOTALLY emotionally scar one of his mothers and that is not okay.
Side note: Love the football team, Terry is my favorite character!

Now, I did mark this book as a tear-jerker, but I don't want anyone thinking this is a sad book/ one where something irreversible happens to a main character. Mostly, my eyes would begin to tear up because of the support shown to the characters. I think some of these conversations are ones that many young LGBT+ people want/need to hear. There is some awesome dialogue and a few really great emotional moments in this book.

It was hard to like this book because of how horrible the main characters could be in order to get what they wanted: their parents to break up and get back with their original partners. I almost have up 15% into the book and even further in. BUT, I thought the writing was good and if I could ignore the sh*tty things they do, I enjoyed watching them become a couple and, in Jax's case, become more comfortable in his own skin.

Will I recommend this? Honestly, I'm torn. Most likely, just because I feel we still have a lack of LGBT+ books, especially ones that end happily, but I'll be careful with recommending it.

The love story is really cute and charming, but there are a lot of very obvious stereotypes that are a little concerning.

Worthy of a purchase for YA collections. While there are similar books that have a bit more substance, teens will still enjoy this romantic comedy of enemies turned love interests.

So...I could never put this in my middle school library. It's graphic and raunchy and completely inappropriate for tweens and young teens.

It's also sweet and hilarious and UTTERLY FANTASTIC.

I'm not kidding...I laughed at something on nearly every page (mostly Beck and his near-perfect narrative voice)--sometimes I laughed so hard there were tears. And even though things get quite graphic, it really approaches touchy subjects (masturbation, sex, parental abandonment, bullying, bigotry) in a way that older teens will relate to. (Although sometimes maybe not...I'm not sure how many teens I know would go to a drag queen spa. But it sure made for an excellent scene.)

Things get a little cheesy at the end, and the characters are a little cliched (hot jock, geeky gay kid, fat best friend, scary football team), but it didn't even bother me because the narrative was SO GOOD. I would read a sequel to this one in a heartbeat.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I think the characters were fun and interesting. I would be hesitant to put it in my classroom or recommend it to students because it does get a little graphic at times. It is not a hugely inappropriate level or unrealistic for teens, though. Overall a really great book.