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asurasantosha's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is such a cute and enjoyable story. It's not trying to be super complex and despite the enriching inclusion of some difficult themes (homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc) it has a pretty rose-y attitude. I recommend it if you're looking for so.ething meaningful but light-hearted and sweet.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Transphobia, Ableism, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Bullying
Minor: Sexual content
brimacca's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Mental illness, Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual harassment
lasavon's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Cursing, Ableism, Homophobia, and Hate crime
Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, and Child abuse
Minor: Physical abuse
raichou's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really liked this book and the characters.
Im so happy for Skylar that, after all this time of doubting and being able to trust in others, he finally got a family and friends that care for him the way he deserves.
He's dealing with so much internalised stuff, that he has a really hard time believing that people actually do like him.
Sure there were some parts in the book were Skylar and Jacob made stupid decisions because they're young and experiencing everything for the first time.
But after all I'm glad they were able to figure it out in the end.
Im so happy for Skylar that, after all this time of doubting and being able to trust in others, he finally got a family and friends that care for him the way he deserves.
He's dealing with so much internalised stuff, that he has a really hard time believing that people actually do like him.
Sure there were some parts in the book were Skylar and Jacob made stupid decisions because they're young and experiencing everything for the first time.
But after all I'm glad they were able to figure it out in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Child abuse
evelynyle_88's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love the way Jordon wrote the whole story about this book. This is cute, sweet yet funny. And most of all, we have pansexual rep in this book which I love! Thank you. I read the beginning of this pretty designed book. I love all of the aspects.
This book is somehow heartwarming with a simple high school story thing. I love how the issues captured as the story goes.
Thank you for the beautiful story, Jordon Greene ^^
This book is somehow heartwarming with a simple high school story thing. I love how the issues captured as the story goes.
Thank you for the beautiful story, Jordon Greene ^^
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Ableism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Hate crime and Bullying
Minor: Sexual content, Child abuse, and Abandonment
stardustandrockets's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I had such high hopes for this book. I really did. Unfortunately it fell incredibly short. The whole time I was reading, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what I didn’t like about it, but after reading lower rated reviews on StoryGraph, I figured it out thanks to people putting into words what I couldn’t.
The plot follows Skylar, a newly adopted nonverbal boy, who likes skirts and wears one to school. This sends the conservative Christians into a spiral because “boys in skirts are against God!” *eyeroll* This prompts a super sexist dress code proposal spearheaded by none other than Jacob’s toxically Christian father. All with the sub plot of romance between Skylar and Jacob. It's also a dual POV in 1st person which I didn’t love, but that’s not the book’s fault. I’m just not entirely a fan of 1st person.
Don’t get me wrong, this book was cute—in an extremely superficial way. The nonverbal rep is good, though you’re trying to tell me that people can lip read literally everything this boy says? When only about 30% of the English language is lip readable? Sounds fake, but okay. The only thing really diverse about this book is Imani, the Black pansexual witch. Though she’s written as the stereotypical Black sidekick which wasn’t great. I did like how Wicca was explained though. It was a nice contrast to the extreme of Christianity. The only other “diverse” characters were Jacob (a white, gay, rocker boy) and Skylar (a white, nonverbal, gay boy who likes wearing skirts). Otherwise there was zero diversity because cis-het white boys is the opposite of diverse. The characters were underdeveloped and all we got was surface level personality. Even the romance wasn’t developed well. It starts out as a love-at-first-sight slow-burn, which I absolutely love. However, everything gets thrown away after Skylar throws a tantrum and then guilt trips Jacob because he can’t read sign language well. So much of the development was off-screen and that was incredibly frustrating. And don’t even get me started on the amount of homophobia.
The toxic Christianity runs strong in this small North Carolina town and gods forbid you’re gay. The first time the f-slur was thrown around I almost rage quit the book. Then it was used again and again and again. Jacob even said something along the lines of “they can’t call me that slur, but I can use it on myself and that’s okay.” And like, I get reclaiming things that were once seen as slurs (i.e. queer), but I draw the line at the f-slur. Their classmates slinging it at them was bad enough. There was also one use of the r-slur by Skylar towards himself and that wasn’t okay either. I get that he’s extremely traumatized from years in bad foster/group homes, but never once did a character on-page ever call him that. So I felt it was extremely uncalled for.
Overall there was a lot more telling than showing and it made for a clunky reading experience. There was supposedly a conversation about sex between love interests that we only find out about because Skylar mentioned it, and there were a lot of random time skips (which is fine, but not when important stuff happens and we find out after the fact). Would I recommend this book? No. It had so much potential and it fell incredibly flat. For me, the only redeeming quality is the cover. Not even the conflict was satisfying because they failed. Then the decision was overturned after the fact by the NC Supreme Court. So what was the point?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Ableism, and Sexism
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
Frequent use of the f-slur and one instance of the r-slur.vaniavela's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Skylar, a nonverbal teenager who just wants love and family. Jacob, a teenager who just wants to be himself without his father's hatred.
For starters, I have to appreciate the diversity with the main character. Books with non-verbal characters are almost non-existent and to have a teenage protagonist with this disability, is a huge step forward. I can't speak to the accuracy, but I can say that I really enjoyed reading this , and I look forward to reading more books with non-verbal characters in the future.
Now yes, I hate love at first sight. I understand attraction at first sight. Sometimes we see someone and think they are attractive. There's nothing wrong with that. In the story they could have had an encounter where they both found each other attractive and later, developed romantic interest and fell in love. But no, here it was just like love at first sight. The characters began to like each other immediately, and as the plot progressed, the only reason they were really together was because they found each other cute and attractive.
Skylar's parents were sweet and I would have loved to see the development of their relationship with Skylar. However, I am aware that the adoption process is often traumatic. I really didn't feel that this was portrayed authentically. Sky came from an abusive home and grew up with religious trauma, it would have been logical to have difficulties in the process. But everything was too perfect to have a traumatic childhood.
Now, the stereotypes. Imani struck me as a stereotypical character, even though she plays an "important" role in the story. She is always portrayed as eccentric, loud, and obnoxious, all of which are stereotypes of black women. Also, all the other main characters are white and that disappointed me.
Another thing, I'm not disabled, so I can't speak on that, but I'm pretty sure there was no need for the amount of ableism in this book. I read reviews from disabled people, asked acquaintances and read on the internet, and many agreed that indeed, this book was very ableist.
Bonus points for the beautiful cover, nothing else.
P.S: I read a review where it said that SJM being named had to have been a red flag. I incredibly agree.
Rep: nonverbal, gay MC, gay love interest, lesbian, gay and pan scs
CW: homophobia, mentioned childhood abuse, ableism, bullying.
For starters, I have to appreciate the diversity with the main character. Books with non-verbal characters are almost non-existent and to have a teenage protagonist with this disability, is a huge step forward. I can't speak to the accuracy, but I can say that I really enjoyed reading this , and I look forward to reading more books with non-verbal characters in the future.
Now yes, I hate love at first sight. I understand attraction at first sight. Sometimes we see someone and think they are attractive. There's nothing wrong with that. In the story they could have had an encounter where they both found each other attractive and later, developed romantic interest and fell in love. But no, here it was just like love at first sight. The characters began to like each other immediately, and as the plot progressed, the only reason they were really together was because they found each other cute and attractive.
Skylar's parents were sweet and I would have loved to see the development of their relationship with Skylar. However, I am aware that the adoption process is often traumatic. I really didn't feel that this was portrayed authentically. Sky came from an abusive home and grew up with religious trauma, it would have been logical to have difficulties in the process. But everything was too perfect to have a traumatic childhood.
Now, the stereotypes. Imani struck me as a stereotypical character, even though she plays an "important" role in the story. She is always portrayed as eccentric, loud, and obnoxious, all of which are stereotypes of black women. Also, all the other main characters are white and that disappointed me.
Another thing, I'm not disabled, so I can't speak on that, but I'm pretty sure there was no need for the amount of ableism in this book. I read reviews from disabled people, asked acquaintances and read on the internet, and many agreed that indeed, this book was very ableist.
Bonus points for the beautiful cover, nothing else.
P.S: I read a review where it said that SJM being named had to have been a red flag. I incredibly agree.
Rep: nonverbal, gay MC, gay love interest, lesbian, gay and pan scs
CW: homophobia, mentioned childhood abuse, ableism, bullying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Bullying
Minor: Child abuse
shelby9's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Ableism, Bullying, Hate crime, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual content
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Gun violence
harperxxxx's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I loved it, there was a few spots that made me anxious (ie bullying and the religious stuff and the mention of "counseling") but overall it was rather cute and sweet. I totally cried over Skylar and Jacob a few times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse
Minor: Trafficking, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Suicide, and Child abuse
roadoutsidemyhouse's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Ableism, and Homophobia
Minor: Abandonment, Body shaming, and Child abuse