This book was practically perfect. I consider myself a fairly pessimistic person, and always find at least one or two annoyances with every book. Even if they are minor. I think good reviews should always point out the good AND the bad, so I like to explore what I like and what didn't work as well for me. So as I'm reading this book, I'm like WHAT am I going to say that I would change?? Upon closing the book, I realized I got nothing.

So this book is initially about Milo and Hollis (and the book features them as duel narrators) and how they are half siblings-- related through their sperm donor. They had met as small kids and haven't kept in touch, but now Milo wants Hollis to help him find out who their sperm donor is. Milo SAYS it's for medical reasons (he has severe allergies), but it becomes obvious that the reason goes way deeper than that.

Eventually they find out that there are more people that had children using the same donor as theirs-- meaning they have OTHER half-siblings. They all join in group email sessions discussing everything from their feelings about finding their donor to home life to genetics to everyday life things.

Milo has this pot-head friend at school, and I kind of thought ah-ha!! This is what I'm not going to like about this book. The D-Bag friend. But, no. JJ freaking GREW on me. Once we really get to know JJ, it's impossible not to like him.

So what exactly did I love about this book: Besides everything?? Okay, I loved the way the author handled Hollis and her hook-ups with Gunner (a football player that she was using to get back at a friend and also distract her from her feelings). It could have left me with a bad taste in my mouth-- but I kind of loved Hollis for it. FINALLY!! A girl who admits that she likes hooking up. It's okay for us to do it too people!! Also, I think a lot of people use sex and sexy-times as a way to feel good about themselves or for all sorts of various reasons that have nothing to do with the person they're hooking up with. I love that that was explored.

I loved all the siblings and their relationships with each other!! I loved the parents and all their issues and complicated feelings about the kids wanting to find the donor. I loved how Ms. Friend took us on a journey-- and that journey ended up being really exciting. By mid-point in the book, I was on pins and needles waiting for them to figure out how to find their donor & wondering what this man would think about finding out his sperm donation resulted in having 5 children.

This was the most unique book that I've read in a long time. It didn't go into any usual tropes and it didn't randomly let a romance take over the plot when there were bigger issues to deal with. I can't wait to read more by Natasha Friend!!

OVERALL: This book needs WAY more attention. I thought it was witty, silly, nuanced, and one of the most unique YA books I've read in a long time. Do yourself a favor and add this to the TBR.

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This is a great choice for our fans of realistic fiction that are ready for some more mature topics. This book really showcases so much that I love about many teenagers - the way these characters are so quick to help each other out and make connections in spite of their differences, all while navigating family drama and all the limitations placed on them by adults. ( )

"That's all they wanted, wasn't it? Milo thought. To know where they came from? It wasn't right, it wasn't wrong, it just was."

In the 90s, test-tube babies, as babies conceived in vitro fertilization were called back then, were headline news and a huge topic of conversation in the LGBT community. I remember regular conversations with lesbian friends about who'd they'd prefer to have as their sperm donor if they decided to go that route to have a child. A stranger via a sperm bank? A family member? A friend? Gay guys were scrutinized on the dance floor by their lesbian friends like never before. I also had a friend who donated her eggs, which is a much more complicated and painful procedure than donating sperm.

One of the main arguments against using a sperm bank was that the kids wouldn't know who their dad was beyond a number and some basic descriptive information. Some countered that it was the same as being adopted. There were more issues, of course, and this novel addresses many of them.

I was drawn to this book but a bit skeptical. The description gave me pause:

A fresh, humorous, and timely YA novel about two teens conceived via in vitro fertilization who go in search for answers about their donor.

Milo has two great moms, but he's never known what it's like to have a dad. When Milo's doctor suggests asking his biological father to undergo genetic testing to shed some light on Milo's extreme allergies, he realizes this is a golden opportunity to find the man he's always wondered about.

Hollis's mom Leigh hasn't been the same since her other mom, Pam, passed away seven years ago. But suddenly, Leigh seems happy—giddy, even—by the thought of reconnecting with Hollis's half-brother Milo. Hollis and Milo were conceived using the same sperm donor. They met once, years ago, before Pam died.

Now Milo has reached out to Hollis to help him find their donor. Along the way, they locate three other donor siblings, and they discover the true meaning of the other F-word: family.

Trigger alert! I thought. Such a novel could be rife with homophobic sentiments and cringe-worthy scenes of heteronormativity. I don't read a lot of LGBT novels due to the obligatory gay bashing scene and/or homophobic attitudes presented as "facts," but this novel is a breath of fresh air.

As the description states, the story is about a teenaged boy named Milo who lives in Brooklyn and a teenaged girl named Hollis from Minnesota, both of whom have lesbian moms. They met once when they were little kids and at the beginning of the novel are brought together again as teens. They track down more half siblings--kids whose heterosexual parents couldn't conceive. There's also Milo's best friend, JJ, a major character in the story, who is adopted.

There's so much that is gracefully packed into this story. There are the big issues at hand: what the kids struggle with, how the in vitro kids have similar yet different issues from the adopted, and how the parents cope with their own challenges regarding their decisions and fears. Also touched upon are numbing one's feelings, dating, bullying, gender vs genes, and grief after losing a parent/partner, among other things.

I was pleasantly surprised by this tender and seemingly "real" novel. I put "real" in quotation marks because I don't have direct experience with these issues, but I have friends who've dealt with a variety of them, both when they were children and now as parents. From what I know of their stories, this novel rings true.

In the end, being a teenager is hard no matter where you come from and who your parent/s is/are. As Milo's friend JJ says, "None of them get us, dude...They're parents."

Bottom Line: Highly recommend to teens and YA readers interested in non-traditional family stories and LGBT issues.
Source: Review copy via NetGalley

This review first appeared on my blog at http://www.wildmoobooks.com/2017/03/the-other-f-word-by-natasha-friend.html ( )

Hollis lives with her mother (her other mother died a while ago). Hollis is contacted by her half-brother (Milo) who she met when she was seven after the death of her mother. Milo wants to track down their father, a sperm donor. He wants to know if she's interested in working with him to do this. Milo is hoping to find answers to help alleviate his allergies. As the story unfolds and they work to find their "dad", they learn they have other step-siblings (Abby, Josh, Noah) from the donor. With the help of Milo's friend (JJ), they work to see if they can locate and meet dad. Through it all they bond and become close. Good story, I took a while to warm up to it but once it got going I loved it. ( )

Family is the other F word and in Hollis and Milo's case, it's a fairly loaded word. Milo and Hollis are the products of their mothers and a sperm donor. Milo reaches out to Hollis, hoping she'll join him on a quest to identify and find their sperm donor so Milo can get answers to questions about his allergies. He locates half siblings Noah and Abby and they're on board, too. The interaction among the half-siblings is wry and jocular and there's a level of suspense as they uncover more and more information on William Bardo. What's revealing about this book is that non-traditional families grapple with issues unique to their structure but like traditional families they experience love, arguments, embarrassing parents, doubts, good times, insecurities, you name it. Entertaining and affirming. ( )