" Gay Bar is an unexpected memoir of queerness and the spaces it inhabits.

Jeremy Atherton Lin finds himself at home in gay bars be they in London, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. But this home - from before his birth until today - has always been fluid, recast as a space as reflective of the outside world as of the gays then queers then others who congregate inside its walls. Lin recounts his own journey weaving a story of drag bars in Blackpool, drugs in West Hollywood, and history in the Castro, but at each stop on this journey he does so much more: he asks readers to consider what it means to be queer, what it means to have queer spaces, and what telling queer history really means. Gay Bar memorializes raunch, sex, friendship, and adventure; it tells the story of a shifting identity trying to find grounding in physical spaces that are themselves equally as shifting.

Gay Bar isn't a historical account of gay bars. It isn't an anthropological study of queerness. Lin's book is an attempt to piece together the past, present, and future of spaces that have - for better or worse - been gay."

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I was in the mood for a YA story with plenty of feels, so when I saw this book's cover and read the blurb, I requested an ARC for review, but mostly because I genuinely wanted to read it.

Having grown up quite literally in the middle of nowhere myself, I immediately identified with Jay's circumstances of watching all of my friends begin their romantic adventures, while I waited impatiently for my turn. It was extremely lonely and isolating and not at all recommended.

So when Jay's family moved to Seattle, I was thrilled to see where the story would go from there, allowing Jay more opportunity to grow into the person he was meant to become.

Then my heart did a little happy dance when Jay met a cute, nerdy, gay, Asian guy named Albert and they eventually began a slow and steady courtship.

And then the rains came... : (

I don't want to throw out a bunch of spoilers; *HOWEVER*, this story did not come with any type of Trigger Warnings, which I don't feel was quite right.

One of my very biggest no-no's in romance is CHEATING, which in my opinion definitely happened here and on more than one occasion.

Some may argue that, since they hadn't officially stated their status as boyfriends, it wasn't cheating, but I respectfully (and whole-heartedly) disagree.

At one point, Jay had just had an amazing date with Albert, definitely wanting them to become boyfriends, then, as he was walking home from that date, (view spoiler)[got a text from the guy he'd been having sex with and -- without even a moment's thought about Albert's feelings -- went to the guy's place and GOT PLOWED like the South 40. (hide spoiler)]

Then Jay continued to avoid telling Albert that he'd been sleeping around, because he thought it "might" affect them becoming boyfriends.

Ummmmmmmm, YOU THINK???

Aside from the cheating and some over-the-top grand gestures, I did like the story's humor and quirkiness, but it never quite approached full-on love, though.

Overall, I'd rate it at around 3.25 stars, but only recommend it once the readers had been provided with a trigger warning about the *repeated* cheating and lying.

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My ARC copy of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair, unbiased review.

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"JAY'S GAY AGENDA is the charming, funny, sex positive book I wish I had read growing up. Jason June does an incredible job of exploring messy teen relationships through Jay, a charming and deeply flawed protagonist. Painfully relatable and laugh-out-loud funny, JAY'S GAY AGENDA is the teen romcom of your dreams."