Robin Talley is one of my favorite authors. In Our Own Private Universe, Akina and her best friend, Lori are in Mexico helping to build a church. Aki's father, a minister, is one of t he leaders. Aki is bisexual and Lori is straight. They make a pact to have a summer fling.

When Aki meets Christa there is instant chemistry. But Christa's parents are very strict and if they find out that she's gay, all hell will break loose. So Aki and Christa hide their attraction until one of the boys in the group threatens to expose them.

There is family drama, kid drama and tests of friendship. All in all, a really good read. ( )

In my opinion, Our Own Private Universe is Robin Talley's best since Lies We Tell Ourselves. I'm really glad there's another book in the YA canon that discusses faith and sexuality, and I think Talley did a good job of incorporating modern day political issues into the plot.

I really liked Aki as a character. She was determined and intelligent and well-rounded. Her love of music and subsequent fallout from her quitting music played into the plot a bit less than I would have liked. At times I forgot that she was a musician. Otherwise, she was quite well-written. I'm sure there's criticism about a white woman writing a black character, and since I'm not black I do not feel comfortable going too into it, but it definitely shows when I think of books I've read from black authors. I really loved Aki's family as well - they were probably my favourite characters in the book (and Jake, who was ... a complete badass I love him). They were all so supportive of each other, and I love families that are like that. The family drama was probably the least dramatic in the book. Aki and Drew's dad is like, a really good dad. Wow. I really liked him. I liked the modern-day political climate presented in the book - it didn't go too dramatically conservative or too dramatically liberal, which I found to be pretty accurate.

As a bi person, I found the portrayal of bisexuality to be really accurate - I don't know if this is an ownvoices book, but I really related to a lot of what the bi characters talked about - struggling with identity, wondering how you like different genders. Even though it was a bit pedantic towards the end, I'm really grateful that there's discussion around bisexuality and what it's like to be bisexual, and how bisexuality differs from pansexuality, and how different identity can be for people. (A pan character! This might be the first pan character I've seen!) Our Own Private Universe succeeds in bi representation very well, and I'm pleased.

The romance wasn't the stand-out to me, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like Aki and Christa lacked the chemistry I wanted them to have. There's a reason for that: they're both lying to each other about who they are, and frankly everyone is lying to each other. I do wish there wasn't so much lying, because it realy took away from how I felt about the romance in the end. While they came clean to each other, I'm still a tad dismayed at their dishonesty. Everyone seemed really immature (I mean, I guess they're 15/16, but still). But they do have a solid relationship by the end, and I'm happy that we're finally getting some nice f/f romances. ( )

Our Own Private Universe is a young-adult LGBT coming-of-age story. Aki is pretty sure she’s bisexual and she is just starting to accept it. The only person she’s told is her best friend Lori. Aki and Lori are spending the summer on a mission trip to Mexico with their church, at which Aki’s father is the pastor, and two other churches. Aki and Lori make a pact that they will both have summer flings while on the trip. Upon arriving in Mexico, Aki meets Christa, a cute girl from one of the other churches, and falls instantly in like. Luckily for her, Christa is bi too. Aki thinks Christa would be the perfect girl for her to have her fling with. Christa thinks Aki is cute too and soon a clandestine relationship between the two begins. After a time, Aki wants more than just a fling but there is one problem – Christa has a boyfriend back home.

I thought Our Own Private Universe was a realistic portrayal of an LGBT teenager’s struggle to define her identity. Aki has so many questions. What does it mean to be bisexual? Now that she’s been involved with a girl, if they break up, does her next relationship have to be with a boy? Should she come out to her parents? How do two girls have sex anyway?

Since the author is married to a woman, I assume that she’s a member of the LGBT community and was able to draw from her experience to make this book authentic. In the acknowledgements she says that this book is the book she wished she had when she was a young-adult reader herself. I also think this book would be a great resource for LGBT teenagers. Even though Aki is fictional, I think it would help them to feel like they’re not alone. It always feels good to be represented in a positive way in popular culture. It’s also good to learn about people who are different than you so straight teens would benefit and enjoy this book as well. ( )