** spoiler alert ** 
 For my money, the best kinds of LGBT coming of age stories are the ones where the LGBT elements are not at the forefront, where they're an important part of the development of the characters but the entire story doesn't revolve around a character coming to terms with their sexuality. 
 Luckily this is one such story. Sixteen year old Austin is confused about his sexuality, he's confused about his relationship with his best friend Robby, and his girlfriend Shann. He's confused about whether the effects of masturbation really do have a negative effect on his readiness for battle and he's confused about the impending end of the world. 
 I really liked Robby, but I have a soft spot for gay teenager characters. There's a moment that kind of broke my heart: 
 "Robby Brees was in his underwear, sitting on his bed. He put his face into his palms and cried." 
 That little paragraph really struck a nerve with me. 
 Austin's narration reminds me of Todd from The Knife Of Never Letting Go. He has this kind of genuine innocence about him, despite how much he's experienced. His whole "I never lie" schtick is really quite endearing and I like his relationship with Ingrid. "You are a good dog, Ingrid." 
 I figured that when the end of the world was mentioned it was used metaphorically, but as I progressed through the story I realised that Austin's narration may actually be talking in a literal sense, and I thought that was a nice change from a regular ol' teenage-boy-is-confused-about-being-in-love-with-his-girlfriend-and-his-best-friend schtick. 
 Then again i feel like Austin is an unreliable narrator after his description of that movie they watched. It has very strong similarities between the events Austin, Robby and Shann experience later on in the story. 
 Austin's 'sexual intercourse' with Shann also parallels his homosexual grandfather's. A single act creates a child and that is seemingly the end of the parents' relationship. 
 I suspect that a large chunk of the story is Austin's fantasy of a possible future based on movies he's seen and the history he's learned about his family and the past. 
 Although if that is the case, it leaves me wondering whether it's a fantasy, a nightmare or something in between. It isn't exactly the happiest of endings, but it does allow Austin and Robby to continue their relationship to whatever end they desire. It's never really spelled out whether they end up together, but I feel like it's implied.