By setting the novel in 2013, Lo showcases the ways in which discovering and embracing queer identity became easier after the legalization of gay marriage, while also emphasizing the challenges still associated with life as an LBGTQ+ individual. Aria arrives in Woodacre just as the reversal of California’s Proposition 8 (“Prop 8”) goes into effect, making gay marriage legal once again. Joan’s neighbors have lawn signs condemning the proposition, and the local Fourth of July parade includes a gay pride float—showing that even in quiet rural towns near major liberal cities, the general culture has shifted toward acceptance. Queer public intimacy and colorful, nonconforming expressions of self are the norm in places like San Francisco.

Having grown up in Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, Aria is familiar with the concept of queerness. However, even teens who grow up in liberal places in the age of social media and widely accessible information don’t necessarily possess knowledge of concepts that don’t pertain to them; Aria lacks the language to talk about sexuality and gender identity, admitting to Steph that the word “genderqueer” feels like “a foreign language” (282). Queerness itself is becoming normalized, but the nuances aren’t yet part of everyday life; for many teens like Aria, exploring one’s sexuality is like being “buoyed by a wave in an ocean [you’d] never known to exist” (76).