If we have more books like this for people to fawn over and delight with, we will be having a future generation of considerate, loving and intelligent kids. No wonder book bans are so big right now.
There are three boys in this cover, but the narrator is the one in the jersey, Ezra Miller. The one looking like he’s getting ready for RuPaul is Lucas, and the one dressed all casual in navy blue polo is Finley. They’re three gay guys who have stuck together through thick and thin at their high school, and there’s a chance Lucas and Finley might have a thing going on. Ezra on the other hand has been having this secret affair with Presley, the star football jockey. But not only is Presley strictly closeted, he takes every chance to belittle Ezra when in public, like Marcus’s behavior toward Henry in We Are The Ants.
Even worse is the slimy Principal York who gives detention to anyone wearing a speck of pride-related clothing. The excuse behind it is he and Superintendent Bett’s Watch What You Say policy. Anyone who’s paid attention to laws being either pitched or put through about censorship in schools knows this is first and foremost about torturing and silencing kids who threaten their oh-so-delicate lives by being allowed to represent themselves as outside the conformist norms.
On Tiktok, there’s something called a Maeve Kimball trend, where people fresh off of being dumped burn something of their exes, record it, and post it with the hashtag. Ezra decides in that moment to burn Presley’s football jersey and do the same thing, but he makes a new Tiktok account because he doesn’t want people to know it’s him. And it goes viral. Knowing whoever burned this jersey is a boy, the world finds out someone on this high school’s football team is gay and got dumped. And with this newfound attention, Ezra decides to keep this going, his anonymous Tiktok being called Last Boyfriends, and he puts his name in for Prom King, even though the principal disapproves, because this could be a chance to show to the highest that queer people matter even in conservative rundown towns.
Even among the truly great social justice books like The Hate U Give and Anger Is A Gift, The Last Boyfriends Rules For Revenge manages to stand out. I did not know I was queer when I was in high school, but this book made me really wish I was so I would’ve been able to know the amazing feeling of being yourself like these three do. I also really wish I could’ve participated in a drag show with them.
I have an education in journalism, and it is honestly quite sad how disjointed the profession now is. There aren’t very many Vivian Singhs out there. A lot of journalists are overly paid off by sponsors that are too conservative to be okay with calling out for change. (The Palestinian Genocide and the mainstream media’s looking the other way and double standard favouring the despicable IDF is the most disgraceful thing of this entire age.) We hear so much about journalists being blackmailed away from revealing corruption, so seeing Ezra expose disgraceful acts on his own and hiding under anonymity to prevent being attacked back is very cathartic for me.
But also, the book is just plain fun. Some of their decisions are a little iffy, making you wonder if this next move would be used against them by their enemies. But in a way, that is the point, reminding us that back when the LGBTQ community of only two generations ago was protesting the right to be themselves…they were protesting. It was a resistance. The protagonists and their friends are super kind to each other, and as people in their community and outside stand with them, we feel the excitement of being in solidarity with someone under attack.
As Ezra finally learns to be proud of himself, and he and his friends go for what they set out to do and make a significant bunch of friends along the way, you can feel your inner queer telling yourself maybe it’s time to get off the couch, organize a party, and live. The oppressed really fight back here. And let’s hope we can lead by their example.
My grade: 5 stars out of 5
William J. McGinn 
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