Don't Ask, Don't Tell by TR Stoddard

Don't Ask, Don't Tell by T.R. Stoddard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Apparently the title is a huge give away as to the content of the book, but I was completely in the dark as I have never heard of this policy before, is this a policy only heard of in America? Anyway for those who don't know, the policy is designed to infringe on the rights of gay students, by issuing warnings and reprimands for any student who even "acts" gay, or shows predilection for the same-sex in any way.

The main character Rachael goes undercover in high school as Cassie to find out more about the policy and to try to bring it to an end. She makes some great friends in 'Reformation hall' and succeeds in bringing together a large group of well represented LGBTQ to stand up for their rights.
When Vinny commits suicide because of the bullying and discrimination he suffers from simply by being black and gay, it's the kick that Rachael needs to blow her investigation open.

Problems with the editing of this book meant that simple mistakes go unnoticed: words missing from sentences, wrong homophones are used on more than one occasion and a couple of times the wrong character names were used. The writing feels stilted, the conversations doesn't flow and for me it was an uncomfortable read. The over use of the "super-secret spy journal" really irritated me.

Overall the story was good and the premise behind it was brilliant but for me, the writing needs some work to make this a truly enjoyable story.

Thanks for reading.