We want to say this very directly up front. Make no mistake about it, this uber-popular graphic novel (and resulting Netflix series) is something no Christian should ever subject themselves to… and should certainly never allow their child or teen to read/watch.

We will list the concerning content here and share more of our heart in the next section. (remember as you read this, all of this is delivered in a short, colorful graphic novel format that young children are inevitably be drawn to)

The biggest concern to know about is the overall feel and message. This book pulls young readers into a highly, highly emotionally charged story they are familiar with from countless stories but perverted here, adds in a sense of desire for justice for the main character who has been bullied, mixes in a budding “romance” between two people who seem destined for each other… all illustrated and presented in a way that normalizes homosexuality and makes it all seem so natural and right despite God very clearly telling us it is the complete opposite of that.

Here are the details to bring this content into the light:

• This colorful illustrated book starts on page 1 with a drawing of a text conversation trying to find a location. We come to realize the book is launching with two teen boys finding a hookup spot at their school. So, on page 2 we see Charlie (main character) and this other boy (Ben) making out, illustrated before our eyes (or should we say, before young readers eyes).
• The next shock to the system comes when we quickly return to this text conversation to see Ben frustrated and we literally see two variations of the F-word (“F---“ and “F---ing) spelled out on page. Again, remember… graphic novel. To give an example of how boldly this comes across, young readers see things like, “Stop, you f---ing prick!” and “I’m such an idiot, such a f----ing idiot”
• By the end of this short book, we believe we counted 15 uses of the F-word. Each time shown. And to make it worse, it is across many different characters, including those we are emotionally led to see as the “good guys” of the story.
• In another shocking moment, we see drawn out Ben actually forces himself on Charlie. We see Charlie begging him to stop with tears in his eyes.
• To further confuse and pull young readers away from biblical views we see Ben embracing a girlfriend later in the story even as he aggressively pursues Charlie.
• As the person Charlie will “fall for” (Nick) comes into the picture, we see Charlie day-dream about him, hoping he will say, “Charlie… I’m gay too, and I’m in love with you. Will you go out with me?”
• Some of the most heart wrenchingly sad parts of this is seeing the emotional playing out of this gay attraction. We see all the small flirty looks, soft touches, accidental embraces, etc. that we are used to from normal heterosexual relationships. We even see the stereotypical scene where someone helps instruct in playing the drums by coming behind the other person and “guiding” them in a scene that turns romantic. But here it is aimed at something God calls wrong and perverted, presented as good and ok.
• The s-word is also used multiple times, again spelled out. We also read, “kick his a—” with the last word shown.
• We see bold-faced lying from Charlie.
• We see illustrated multiple romantic embraces.
• There are also many different crude derogatory statements like, “He’s kind of a dick”, “Ben’s such a dick”, “all my other friends are dickheads”, etc.
• The language proceeds to include multiple flippant uses of “Oh my God”, “for God’s sake”, etc.
• We see Jesus’ name used in vain a couple times.
• Nick turns to a search engine and we see him submitting questions like “Am I gay?” and “I like girls but now I like a boy” and being presented with pages and tests he can take.
• A seemingly wise teacher shares that, “gay and straight aren’t the only two options”.
• To further reinforce to young readers how “normal” this all should be, Nick sees a girl he hasn’t seen in years and, you guessed it, she’s gay now too.
• Nick, who is supposed to be all kind and sweet, shouts two of the F-words at someone, to which the previously mentioned gay girl’s girlfriend comments, “I actually love him”.