I had very strong feelings of "Alec deserves a boyfriend who does not attempt suicide every time Alec talks a bit too long with another boy at a party."

I love Alec. He is my favorite character in the book and just about the only character I don't want to smack upside the head at one point or another for their attitude toward their sexuality. Renault, of course, had difficulty with the concept of gay liberation/pride, but I'd still be shocked if Alec didn't end up an activist: "I'm not prepared to accept a standard which puts the whole of my emotional life on the plane of immorality . . . Criminals are blackmailed. I'm not a criminal. I'm prepared to go to some degree of trouble, if necessary, to make that point."