Sacrilegious, heartfelt, and sweet. Magical, rich, and thoughtful. There are lots of triplet words I could use to describe this debut novel. Full disclosure: I know the author, and I could read a lot of HIM in it, but it was also universal in so many ways. If you've ever been young; ever lost someone you loved; ever had a regret; ever turned something around... you'll relate to this story. If you ever had a youth pastor or parent or teacher tell you to be something other than you are for dubious reasons... you'll relate to this story. The descriptions are rich and colorful, which is no surprise given that the author is a talented visual artist (it's a gift for someone so good in graphic design and visual art to be able to put all of that into words). The characters are real instead of stereotypes, and while the author clearly put his personal life into this, it wasn't a thinly veiled attempt at a messy memoir. I thoroughly enjoyed this and read it in about two sittings (plane rides! the best!). Highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to more from this promising writer.