It’s always the quiet ones, right? Staff writer on the school newspaper by day, Phoebe Townsend moonlights as Pom, a blogger who writes about any and all sex questions a teen might possibly have. It’s sex ed for teens, by a teen. She doesn’t have followers, but she started it for herself so she doesn’t really care. At least until Lydia Brookhurst, a local businesswoman, finds her blog and starts tweeting about how awful and unmoral it is. Think of the children! Think of how much sex they’ll be having now! Next thing Phoebe knows she’s got thousands of followers, everyone’s debating the morality of a blog she meant only as a place to share her research (because no one else wanted to answer her questions), and most importantly, everyone in town knows that whoever the writer is, they’re a local teen.
Her editor wants to write a story on her alter ego, she’s been assigned to write the latest sports article (what team’s even playing right now?), and worst of all, the woman who started this all is not only on a campaign against Pom, she’s decided to run for mayor with a regressive platform. Phoebe just wants to keep her head down and get through the rest of her year, but if she’s not careful, she won’t have a choice about coming clean.
On the Subject of Unmentionable Things comes out August 23rd of this year and luckily enough I was able to get a digital review copy from Netgalley (“lucky” meaning Random House Children’s has me on the auto approval list…) Thank you Random House/Netgalley! While browsing for a book to review for this particular post, the cover caught my eye. When I read the description, I knew I’d found The One.
Reading about Lydia Brookhurst and her campaign felt like a nightmare reborn. The tweets, the focus on divisive hot-button issues to fire up a base instead of discussing anything meaningful or positive, just…I could go on and on. Brookhurst was the worst sort of conservative candidate and all too familiar. Phoebe as the POV protagonist added another layer of horror, because she was actively targeted as “being a pervert” trying to “corrupt children.” But while that’s going on in the background, you have a pretty typical teen just trying to live her life. She has a crush on her editor, her best friend has a boyfriend and Phoebe has to navigate the changes that’s brought to their friendship, and she’s juggling a large variety of mundane and not so mundane responsibilities.
Walton also has a deft touch with her secondary characters. I appreciate it when it feels like they are real, well-rounded people with their own lives going on outside any interactions with the protagonist. The scenes with her parents were well-written, and I deeply appreciate that Phoebe’s school rival was only infrequently brought up in the book. There was enough other stuff going on, and high school books don’t always need a bully/significant rival. Sometimes there’s just that one really annoying person in your orbit, and there’s nothing much to be done about it. At the end, Phoebe sees her doing something good and she essentially goes in her head, ‘Well…good for her. Cool she’s had a decent moment.’ and that’s it. It’s a tiny part of the story, but I really appreciate it. Character growth doesn’t always rely on the protagonist interfering in another’s life. People are more than what you see of them. It doesn’t excuse them, but it also doesn’t have to limit them.
Now, for a discussion w/SPOILERS!
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I think one of the most significant moments of this book for me was when Brookhurst won. It felt like 2015 all over again. Despite all the heavy stuff covered, the tone of the book remained light enough I was sure Brookhurst was going to lose. Brookhurst had inspired local vandals, she’d publicly outed Phoebe’s identity which lead to harassment and threats of violence/rape, and people were realizing how much of a legitimate threat she was. But it was too little too late. People hadn’t taken that threat seriously enough, figured she wouldn’t win, and meanwhile her supporters came out in droves. I felt kind of sick, honestly. But it was also a reminder (for me at least) of how important it is to not let people like that slide, to speak up, and to organize as a community. Brookhurst winning ended up motivating people to take action on their own and as a community, and I appreciated that. That something horrible can happen and it isn’t the end.
Past that, while it felt predictable that the first boy she has a crush on doesn’t end up being Mr. Perfect, I absolutely adored the boy that ends up being her love interest. Quarterback of the football team, he’s also obsessed with gardening. He has a stall at the local farmer’s market, and enjoys trying to create his own hybrids of fruit. He’s the one who was interested in her writing the sport’s article, and when she tries to get out of it with emailing over some questions, he calls her out on being lazy. He’s pro the blog beforehand, and while there’s some rocky waters after the big reveal (more due to the danger she’s in instead of the fact she’s Pom), things are fixed by the end of the story. Her best friend is great too—there’s a scene where Phoebe asks for her help to distract the school librarian, and while I’m still cringing imagining myself in the librarian’s shoes, the shameless lengths she went to cover for Phoebe was purely epic. (1) high school library and librarian will never be the same. R.I.P.
And to wrap up the spoilers (and back to Brookhurst), Phoebe comes across information she could have used against Brookhurst. No one else would have had to know. If they did, few would have blamed her. But as she sits across from her, with Brookhurst planning on blackmailing her in turn, Phoebe says release the information. I don’t care. But whether you do or not, I’m not going to share what I know about you. Because that’s not what I’m here for. And leaves. That was such a powerful moment. Despite everything she’s gone through because of Brookhurst, she decides to be the better person. I loved it.
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End Spoilers
This is a great book, and there is so much left I could discuss about it. I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to getting it for my library. The sex ed element just feels like a matter of fact background element, one that comes up when it comes up, and otherwise isn’t a big deal. I’d still recommend further reading resources for anyone interested, but it’s not a bad starting point. Along those lines, Phoebe’s cis/interested in boys, but is pro LGBTQIA+. When asked a question about gay sex, she realizes her blog (as a personal research project she just happened to share online) is very focused on things from that point of view, and starts doing broader research to cover more topics as well as linking to more in-depth information. As a content warning, Phoebe is doxxed and she has to suffer some of the unfortunately normal crap that goes along with it. Walton doesn’t dwell on it, but there are threats of violence and rape along with other harassment. Her parents end up buying a new house to make it safer for her.
TLDR is: If it isn’t already on your list for August, I’d recommend it! I’d give it a 9/10.
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