Set in a future world where the Outrage has happened in England - an indiscriminate large scale bomb blast - that has turned the politics and society morals back over 100 years so that gays and anyone who isn't white is banned, imprisoned or worse. (Think Nazi Germany at its height). IN this world of fear lives Gabe who is gay and in a relationship with Eric, the son of one of the leaders of the hate regime. The book opens with a snap inspection in a classroom where Gabe has a contraband video disk in his bag from a hidden cache that he discovered in an abandoned library. He visits the Library with a gang of friends who all have secrets to hide - and they band together to help divert attention away from Gabe. This is a novel where you know its all going to end badly as Gabe and Eric are captured after trying to steal the disk back late one night. Gabe is tortured and imprisoned by Eric commits the greatest sin - he tells the authorities that Gabe forced him into a relationship. This all happens in the first half of the book. What happens in the second half of the story is unexpected.
At times a very gritty, gut-punching novel but I found the premise of the ultra conservative movement gaining so much momentum from one incident a little far-fetched...I think the author should have come up with a more plausible reason for the country turning back on the steps it had made to be more inclusive and diverse. I also found the ending a bit too convenient.
Nevertheless, an engrossing story of forbidden love and living under a totalitarian regime.

In this YA dystopian novel, in England the Protectorate is in charge. There are rules for everything, and you're safe only if you follow them. Gabriel is a natural rule breaker. His biggest crime is being gay. And his boyfriend's father just happens to be the chief inspector at Degenerate Investigations.

CW: homophobia, homophobic language, self harm, suicide references, scenes of violence, ableism, racism.

This book has strong world building, with a fleshed out, painfully realistic dystopian setting. It has the standard YA dystopian set up of 'society changes drastically for the worst after an event', in this case 'the outrage'. Hussey draws parallels to things like nazi book burning and UK section 28. I really liked the use of movies to highlight the importance of seeing people like yourself in the media (althought there were some questionable movie choices). There are some strong ideas in this book, and an interesting plot and compelling characters along the way.

A lot of it reads like a sweet, tragic love story. Eric and Gabe are so wonderful, soft and sweet and tough and loyal. They have a group of likeminded friends, and form their own private resistance against the police state that they live in. There is also a trans character who I really liked. However, as the plot progresses, things turn bad. Very bad. This book is not an easy read. It's very heavy. Halfway through I was really struggling because of how horrific some of the events are.

This book is a wake up call to people in countries where being queer is legal now. Other countries are much more similar to the dystopia portrayed in the novel and the fight is far from over. It's also a look at how easy it is to lose victories, which is especially important given the current situation with trans rights in the UK and US. Progress isn't linear, and this is a good exploration of how our current politics and situation could lead to a loss of rights that we've gained. Whilst the opression on grounds of sexuality and gender is explored in depth, I did feel like the racism and ableism were brushed over somewhat, and therefore the book wasn't as layered as it could have been. However, it's a much more realistic dystopia than I usually see in YA novels, and I felt incredibly invested in the characters and their stories. Although it features a love story, this isn't a romance, it's a revolution.

4.5 stars. ( )