The opening of Just Juliet was so stellar I would've rated it four stars. We have a cute f/f pairing where the readers could actually see them as a couple. There's also an older teen m/m couple who has a healthy functional relationship.

What made this an incredibly disappointing read is the terrible characterization of the supporting characters of color.

Lacey is the best friend of the protagonist, Lena. She's black, carefree, liberated and are often painted as the "unlikable bitch" because of her strong persona. We also have another teen of color who is Asian. She's so bland, a fade into the background character. I cant remember her name, though I faintly recall she's Japanese. (dont quote me on this) Sounds familiar? This reminds me of that dumbstruck Asian character in Pitch Perfect.

This isn't the icing on top. Lacey was seen several times saying homophobic things. While the Asian!character is also lowkey homophobic. I'm not saying homophobic poc doesnt exist. My point; however, is given how this is being promoted as progressive, I hoped the poc would get a decent treatment. Nope, they were botched.

Aside from the lack of LGBT of colors, the narrative also implied that the white characters are inherently more socially aware than poc. They are here to teach us a lesson. This is white savior complex and I noticed it's damn right thriving in this genre. You can't hide this thinly veiled racism.

Verdict: This is an LGBT book written for white readers, not readers of color. I'm not recommending this to anyone.