Jay's Gay Agenda by Jason June

From debut novelist Jason June comes a moving and hilarious sex-positive teen rom-com 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, that’s perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Becky Albertalli. 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.

I was looking forward to a cute, sex-positive book about a boy finding himself in a big city but what I got was an 18-going-on-12-year-old boy who lied constantly, for no reason, to all of his friends (as well as cheated on them :/) and then he had the audacity to wonder why they were all mad at him in the end.

There was some positives about this book, including LGBTQ+ representation and um, I'm sure there's other stuff. There really isn't that many positives. I'd take the time to make a list, but considering 99% of this book was just Jay making lists, I honestly hope I never see a list again.

Jay's entire personality trait was the fact that he wanted a boyfriend and/or dick. I mean, it's fine to want to be in a relationship and/ordick. There is nothing wrong with that. But if that's your entire personality, then there might need to be some stuff you have to work through first, or the situation is just going to end up badly. The relationships in this book is 100% an example of this and I hated it. You should be in a relationship because you feel like you want to be in one, not that you need to be in one.

Every other sentence was a joke that tried way too hard and fell flat or a pop-culture reference that will be irrelevant in two years. Jay kept on making lists for every little thing, which is fine until they show up on every other page. I literally had to hold myself back from ripping one of the lists completely out of the book. They became so annoying.

I can't. This book was not it. I ended up skimming through most of it and read the entire thing in an hour and a half. That is an hour and a half I will never be getting back.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

First of all, this book made me laugh so much and I loved how queer it was.
I loved the mix of friendship, romantic and sexual relationships! ☺️
The main character, Jay, had depth to it, felt realistic and he has flaws too.
Why I don't give full stars: I listened to the audiobook (LOVED the narrator btw) and I found it a bit annoying having to listen through Jay‘s lists EVERY time though by skipping ahead a bit I didn't have to listen through all of it but If I had read a physical book I would've just skipped the lists. I also didn't like that the main character was lying to people about things

More a 4.75 than a 4. i loved this book way more than i thought i would.

Jay's Gay Agenda was my favorite read of May. This is a book about Jay who struggles between following his hormones vs his heart when he moves from a small town where he's the only gay kid to Seattle.

A laugh out loud, genuine, fun, wholesome and sex-positive book that focuses on figuring out balancing sex, romance, and friendship.

There was so much I liked about this book. First of all, it was really funny. I laughed out loud so many times. So many highlights of all the bits that made me laugh. Jay's voice is so honest and humorous, it made for a delightful read! Jay feels like a real person, a real teenager. He's not perfect. He's selfish, messy, he makes mistakes, and he's very much driven by his hormones. It made it so much easier to relate and connect to him that he felt so real. You might wanna shake him to make better choices, but you might also admit that most other teenagers would do the same in his shoes.

This is easily the most sex-positive YA book I've read. I really appreciated all the conversations around sex, being ready, and especially consent. There was so much to take away in here. I loved how worried Jay was about his virginity thinking he's the only one, even though there were others around him. Also, the other topic that was handled very well was stereotypes and how damaging they can be.

I've been talking about how great Jay is, but all the side characters were great too. I loved that Jay's parents were so in love. It was great to read a YA where the parents aren't a major part of the problem. The friend group was amazing too. Max the Gay Guide, Lu the BFF, Albert the VSB (Very Sexy Boy) and many others. Even the smaller side characters had some great punchy lines, and played an important part in the book.

Speaking of the friend group, I loved how friendship was such a big part of this book. It wasn't only about the romance. Jay's relationships with his friends were just as important as his relationships with boys, if not more. And they play equal part in the book.

Overall, this was a great read on finding yourself, figuring out who you are in a new location, with newfound popularity. And in the end, it's all about being true to yourself, owning up to your mistakes and staying close to your friends.