Every Variable of Us

This is a voice-driven YA novel with intense characters and really self-aware writing: “And can I just point some messed up shit out? Two high school girls stealing a frozen pizza and hair extensions, and this guy feels it's necessary to draw his weapon. And they wonder why there's a new hashtag against the police every week.” (Copaganda rating? Zero. Excellent job.) One of the things I hate most about YA novels is their frequent refusal to name specifics or make pop culture references, and this book absolutely does not have that problem. However — and I realize this book was probably drafted before 2020 — there are a lot of Harry Potter references and it is now generally considered bad form to include Harry Potter references in queer novels, so I do wish that that had been edited before this book hit ARC metaphorical shelves. Love the casual queers-in-STEM rep. Four stars. Publishes on March 1st, 2022. Bookshop link here.