On the Subject of Unmentionable Things stars Phoebe Townsend. She’s a fairly typical teen in many ways. Quiet, but not unpopular. Works on the school newspaper, and has a crush on the editor. And anonymously runs a sex education blog. Which has just gone viral. All Phoebe wants is to quietly spread some of the knowledge she’s gained through her own extensive research. Purely theoretical research, it should be noted – she doesn’t have much in the way of personal experience. But a local political candidate with highly traditional values is insistent that the blog is pornographic. That the person who writes it is a pervert, and teenagers should be kept far away from the information it contains. It’s an ideological battleground, and it’s about to get ugly.
My thoughts on On the Subject of Unmentionable Things
On the Subject of Unmentionable Things is the third novel by author Julia Walton. It’s a YA contemporary with a highly endearing cast of characters. I’ve seen it compared to Sex Education, and I can see where that comes from, although it’s a more grounded story. It’s a fun read, and a quick one.
I felt an immediate fondness for Phoebe, our protagonist. She’s a good student, has a solid relationship with her parents and obviously isn’t somebody who starts trouble for the sake of it. Her best friend, Cora, is the more volatile one of the two. She also obviously thinks Phoebe is a bit of a prude. Little does she know that her best friend is secretly Pom, the author behind sex-ed blog ‘The Circle in the Square’.
The blog has largely flown under the radar since Phoebe started it up, until recently. Lydia Brookhurst, running for mayor on a platform of old-fashioned family values, starts calling out the blog for its inappropriate content. Which obviously wins it far more readers than it’s ever had before.
Phoebe doesn’t mind the added attention on her research. What she’s a little less keen on is Brookhurst’s insistence on finding out who Pom really is. But she’s got plenty to keep her mind off that. Assignments for the school paper, trying to impress her cute editor, Neil, and pretending to tolerate her best friend’s boyfriend.
Obviously, things are about to get a lot more complicated…
The book juggles a few key plot threads. The major ones have already been touched on; Phoebe’s maintenance of the blog and her own anonymity, and Brookhurst’s attempts to unmask her. Brookhurst’s campaign is also intolerant in a few other dimensions, one major one being her distaste for the food trucks that call her town home. The way a certain subsection of the town is whipped up into opposition with these businesses, and the consequences of that, form another plot element.
Phoebe’s parents have a role to play as well. Quiet and unassuming, they work together as risk management consultants. They’re a little conservative and cautious, and Phoebe hides her blogging activities from them as much as anybody else, but their politics don’t seem to align particularly with Brookhurst’s. Even so, they end up being hired to work on her campaign, which causes some friction in the household.
Phoebe’s crush on her editor, and her growing friendship with one of the football players she’s assigned to interview, is another storyline. As is her friend Cora’s relationship with her artsy, quiet but very physically affectionate boyfriend.
There are a lot of genre staples in there, but I felt like Walton brought something fresh to them. I enjoyed all of the characters, even the unpleasant ones. Even if the antagonists weren’t always particularly multifaceted, they were interesting to read.
On the Subject of Unmentionable Things glosses over LGBTQ+ issues a little
For a book about sex education, there was surprisingly little spotlight on different sexual orientations and gender identities. The issues were touched on, and at one point Phoebe reflected on her own lack of knowledge on these topics. I appreciated that as a nod towards the lack of education in this area, even for people who’ve sought out a lot of information. Given the level of awareness of a lot of teens these days, I think it just felt strange that so many of the questions Pom answered were about fairly basic anatomical information and things you could easily Google. And almost none were about issues of sexuality and identity.
That being said, there were some mentions of the local LGBTQ+ community, so the story clearly didn’t intend to erase or ignore those groups.
Phoebe discussed ideas around consent and emergency contraception, which I sadly don’t think will ever stop feeling relevant. Some of the themes around political censorship and media bias also feel increasingly topical. In all, the book definitely felt like a very current read.
I really enjoyed the relationships in this book
Phoebe’s friendship with Cora was a great component of the story. I loved how the author handled the conflict of Phoebe’s indifference towards her best friend’s boyfriend. I thought the potential love triangle set up between Phoebe, Neil and Jorge (the football player) was also dealt with really nicely.
The relationship between Phoebe and her parents was also sweet. She obviously loves and respects her parents, even though she has a keen awareness of some of their limitations. And she finds them a little embarrassing sometimes, because of course she does. While this wasn’t a core storyline it also wasn’t without importance in the narrative, and I thought the balance there was great.
Phoebe makes mistakes in her relationships, but she has a good heart and a willingness to admit when she’s wrong. She’s also aware of when she needs to stand up for herself and expect more from people letting her down. I guess you could make the argument that she’s a little too self-aware for a teenager in some of these situations? But I thought she fell on the right side of idealised. And, what can I say, I like seeing teenagers get the chance to get it right sometimes as well.
I was thoroughly entertained by On the Subject of Unmentionable Things
It’s a lovely, fresh and fun standalone read. It would make a great palate cleanser, or a good choice to help you out of a reading rut. The writing is smooth, the banter amusing and the main characters incredibly easy to root for. I’d particularly recommend it to any fans of Sarah Dessen, I read a bunch of her books as a teenager and feel like this satisfies a very similar niche.
Have you read On the Subject of Unmentionable Things? Let me know what you thought in the comments!
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