So I really did care for the idea. I liked that at the end of day, this story is about standing up for what you believe in and fighting for love.I didn't read this book because of the LGBT themes, I read it because I previously enjoyed David Levithan's writing. I'm not particularly religious either. So I didn't fit into the Christian/Jew themes of this book. I am not in American politics either. So it could be why I didn't enjoy this book as much as other people? I don't know.I read this book looking for what I look for in every other book. A great plot, great characterisation, wonderful insight, and if there must be, epic love. But this book lacked all those things.Firstly, the plot was centered around this election. But we knew how it would end, which meant the book was very anti-climatic. I felt this story was too preachy and political for me. I skimmed past the paragraphs on the "past" which is our present because it was too political. Maybe I should have paid more attention to who the target reader of this book is. Secondly, this future world. Whilst I'm glad in the future you could be openly part of the LGBT community, the rest of it sucked and I hope it was contained to America only. Because of the emphasis on religion. Like I said, I'm not religious but wow, this book made me mad. The "non-malls" thing was beyond stupid. This emphasis on what Jesus wants was too much for me. Can I point out that this future world is actually not that diverse? Where was the mention of other religions?The characters were all empty and the relationships just thrown in without much thought because they were shallow, stereotypical and uninteresting . I didn't care for any character and I felt they were all just used as props for Levithan's political views. Duncan was vapid and I didn't understand his relationship with Jimmy, who I also didn't know. Levithan did not develop his characters at all.This story lacked complexity that would have made it great. It was too black and white. Which is a shame because the greys are what make stories. You had the bad and the wrong. The kind and the mean. I wanted those lines blurred. I wanted someone who wasn't directly involved in this election to speak up. I wanted a straight, atheist person who believes in equality too. But there was no room for them. No. Not even at that rally when it was clear it was about being either a Christian or Jewish.That is why your world wouldn't work, Levithan. You may think you created a dream-like, diverse world, but you didn't. You still left the gaps in your diversity because you simply put people into religions then oversimplified. Now that I think about it, Levithan is preaching only to the LGBT Christian/Jewish community about standing up for what is right, which is equality. And that's great, of course. Maybe it's my fault for picking a book not targeted at me.
