imo if a character is fired for being gay in act I, that has to be addressed later in the book. And actually addressed not just show us look the homophobe also abused her own child also just kinda didn’t have a plot. A solid chunk of the problems in this book would be solved if it was labeled as a coming out/coming of age story and not a romcom. The romance aspect truly sucks. They go on like 4 dates before the third act breakup and im supposed to care that they get back together?? I don’t know why the author tried to bring up Native American activism if they were going to make the only Native American character a villain. Clearly the author cares a lot about being queer in a red state so that’s probably what the book should have been about in its entirety, instead of a weird plot point about being a fake bridesmaid.