What's it about? This is the 3rd in a series, which I didn't realise when I bought it. Tally was abandoned by her mother when she was born, left with her mum's friend, and brought up by Aunt Beast, her friend Raoul and his husband Henri. She's about to leave for college when she sleeps with her best friend Shane and gets caught up in whether a mysterious musician is her biological dad. She goes all the way across the US to meet him, and stays on the island where he lives, where she meets other people too, including Maddy, who she starts a relationship with. Things are confused and confusing on the island - Tally forgets to call home because time has no meaning, and odd things happen at open mic nights. This book is magical realism, something it does really well, even for me - I'm not a fan of the genre.
Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes, Tally explores her sexuality even though she never comes to any firm realisations about what she identifies as. Her friend Shane is trans, which is dealt with in a really lovely way right at the beginning of the novel.
Are any main characters non-white? Yes, Raoul and Henri, and I think Tally herself may be mixed race.
Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Not really.
Is there any sex stuff? Yes, it's done in a really beautiful way, nothing explicit but you definitely get the sense of what occurs between Tally and Maddy.
Are drugs mentioned or used? No.
Is there any talk of death? Yes, somewhat. It's not scary, but it is tense.
Are there swear words? Maybe a couple?
Would I recommend the book? Yes, especially is magical realism IS your genre. And even though I hadn't read the first two in the series, this one still made perfect sense to me.
How many stars? 7 out of 10. A decent read.
Where is the book going now? I'll probably keep it, I collect LGBT YA so it'll be an interesting one to add!