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Complications arise in this YA novel when a brilliant teenage coder’s
anonymous sex education blog goes viral and a friendship becomes romantic.

Amber Henderson is a senior at private Wilmont Academy—possibly “the last
non-religious school on the planet still operating under the abstinence only
policy.” Because plenty of kids are having sex anyway, they really need some
good advice, such as how to obtain reliable birth control. Amber can rely on
her sex-positive parents, but she’d love to help the less fortunate. She and
Dean Winters vie for the title of the school’s most talented coder, so when he
proposes a bet (for bragging rights and a deadmau5 T-shirt) to get under
Principal Tanner’s skin via hacking, Amber has a perfect idea. She’ll set up an
untraceable sex advice blog on the dark web, making sure everyone knows it’s
written by a Wilmont student, and help information-starved students while
riling Tanner. Though Amber and Dean are both hot as well as gifted and share
much in common, she considers him out of her league; she’s also tormented by
memories of a bad encounter with her ex-boyfriend. The coders’ growing
relationship is put sorely to the test when Tanner blackmails Dean into
uncovering who’s behind the increasingly popular blog. Lee (Love Beyond
Opposites, 2018, etc.) sets up a classic confrontation between cool kids
and an uptight administrator: They’re smart, funny, and gorgeous while he’s
venal, underhanded, and vindictive. The point of view alternates between Amber
and Dean, each voice distinctive but both capturing a true teenage feel. Their
developing romance is sweet and sizzling, with a lot of sensitivity toward
Amber’s fears. That Dean can’t figure out the identity of the advice-giver is
somewhat contrived as an obstacle, given that he and Amber are the only two
members of the Code Club. Another tip-off is that Amber’s mother writes erotica
and her father is a teen psychologist. The emotions can become melodramatically
overwrought, and both main characters are altogether a bit too flawless,
especially in looks. Still, it’s an engaging novel that nicely illuminates the
coder subculture and deals honestly with teenage sexuality.

An entertaining, well-told love story/drama.