Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
I original gave this 4 stars but I genuinely can't stop thinking about this and it has been over a year so I bumped it up.
This book is not predictable. It is a little bit too long. While it was interesting and a quick read, toward the end I found myself trying to rush. It's a good book though, and the exploration of bisexuality in teens, especially boys, needs more representation. I think it's more of a 3.5 than a 4 and will probably read as a 4 for many teens.
This book begins at the end. Nate and Cam get into a fight right at the beginning. Cam is charged with stabbing Nate, yet it’s hard to see why when they become friends. Nate recounts their relationship as part of his deposition following the fight. Cam insists that Nate tell the whole story of what happened in their fight during his deposition, which seemed strange since he is the one who was charged.
The ending was a complete shock to me. I had no idea what would happen at the end of the deposition. However, when I look back on the story, there were hints at what would happen throughout it. My jaw dropped open when I read it. It was an amazing twist!
I found this story so compelling and hard to put down. I loved it!
Thank you Page Street Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The ending was a complete shock to me. I had no idea what would happen at the end of the deposition. However, when I look back on the story, there were hints at what would happen throughout it. My jaw dropped open when I read it. It was an amazing twist!
I found this story so compelling and hard to put down. I loved it!
Thank you Page Street Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. Just wow. First time leaving a comment here, but I owe it to Zack Smedley, others who haven't read this book, and the future me ('cause unlike Cam I don't have an eidetic memory, so I'm bound to forget) to say that: this book is everything you need.
You're not really religious? Not struggling to tell the world who you are? Don't enjoy looking at the stars? It doesn't matter. You need to read this, because it will give you an experience you didn't know you needed. Beautiful and realistic writing. Moving. Complex characters.
To anyone who is considering adding this to their 'want to read' shelf, do it now. Buy it now, or borrow it now, or listen to it now, or really anything. It's easy to promise that you won't regret it.
I didn't.
You're not really religious? Not struggling to tell the world who you are? Don't enjoy looking at the stars? It doesn't matter. You need to read this, because it will give you an experience you didn't know you needed. Beautiful and realistic writing. Moving. Complex characters.
To anyone who is considering adding this to their 'want to read' shelf, do it now. Buy it now, or borrow it now, or listen to it now, or really anything. It's easy to promise that you won't regret it.
I didn't.
Deposing Nathan | Zack Smedley | 27Jan2020
-------------------------
One-Sentence Review
Maybe I went in hoping to be sucker punched, I came out of it just badly bruised.
---------------------------
Published/Pages : 07May2019 | 400 pages
Location: West Virginia
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult
TW: Abuse, Bisexuality, Religion (Christianity)
Characters: Nathan Copeland, Cameron Haynes, Aria Harrington, Bill Copeland, Lori, Violet
-------------------------------
Rating Analysis
Premise: 8/10
Introduction: 9/10
Number of Characters: 8/10
Character Development: 8/10
Backup History for the Story: 8/10
Fiction Quality: 8/10
Pace of the Story: 8/10
Dramatic Effect: 7/10
Climax: 10/10
Impact it Made: 7/10
TOTAL: 81/100 (8.1 Stars = 4.05 Stars ~ ★★★★)
--------------------------------
Review
Reaction Section
-------------------------
One-Sentence Review
Maybe I went in hoping to be sucker punched, I came out of it just badly bruised.
---------------------------
Published/Pages : 07May2019 | 400 pages
Location: West Virginia
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult
TW: Abuse, Bisexuality, Religion (Christianity)
Characters: Nathan Copeland, Cameron Haynes, Aria Harrington, Bill Copeland, Lori, Violet
-------------------------------
Rating Analysis
Premise: 8/10
Introduction: 9/10
Number of Characters: 8/10
Character Development: 8/10
Backup History for the Story: 8/10
Fiction Quality: 8/10
Pace of the Story: 8/10
Dramatic Effect: 7/10
Climax: 10/10
Impact it Made: 7/10
TOTAL: 81/100 (8.1 Stars = 4.05 Stars ~ ★★★★)
--------------------------------
Review
Reaction Section
I’M NOT A HUGGER BUT ALL I WANT TO DO IS GIVE NATHAN COPELAND THE BIGGEST HUG EVER
Another moment that I wish I could rate a book more than 5 stars. Zack Smedley has created gold! I could not stop reading. I fell in love with Nathan and Cam from the get go. In the beginning, their relationship was enviable. They connected on such a deep level so quickly. I wanted to cheer for them and see them find happiness together because I felt like they deserved it. I know what it is like to struggle with yourself and hate yourself because society and/or religion tells you that you are wrong, which is why I connected with this story so much. It is dark and heartbreaking, but it holds a very important message that I believe everyone should read. Humans are so focused on labels and our differences. We are told to celebrate our differences, but then people turn around and bully us because we are different. That is why I believe that stories like Deposing Nathan should be heard! We should be able to celebrate each other's differences because our differences make us unique and more colorful and more human. This story was an emotional rollercoaster, but I enjoyed every last twist and turn. I was left wanting more, so I hope that Smedley ventures back to Nathan and Cam some day. I would like to know what the future holds for these two characters. They both have their faults, but that is what makes them even more relatable. I highly recommend this book!! Please read it!
This book was an incredibly tough read. Trigger warnings for internalized homophobia, homophobic violence, biphobia, infidelity, gaslighting, and child abuse. This book was emotionally brutal. Definitely take stock of your mental health before getting into it. This book was a gut punch, to be quite honest.
So much about Nathan's relationship to Catholicism hit so achingly close to home. There were moments at the beginning of the book that reminded me of the comfort I found in Catholicism as a teenager, but the majority of the book really reminded me why I cannot be Catholic any more. Why I can't be Christian at all anymore. I respect the hell out of the fact that Nathan and Cam both are able to find an equilibrium between their bisexual identities and their Catholic identities and are able to find some peace in their religion. But I cannot fucking do it. Nathan's absolute anguish over his "sin" and his fear of hell should never exist for anyone. Exploring your identity should not include an existential crisis over what hell is and how overwhelmingly awful it will be for all eternity. I simply can't square the practice of Catholicism as I experienced it and as other people like Nathan experience it with my view of human rights and human decency and this book kind of punched me in the face with that. I really was not expecting it and it made this a tough book to read for me, even as I appreciate what it was doing.
I also really really appreciated the ending.
So much about Nathan's relationship to Catholicism hit so achingly close to home. There were moments at the beginning of the book that reminded me of the comfort I found in Catholicism as a teenager, but the majority of the book really reminded me why I cannot be Catholic any more. Why I can't be Christian at all anymore. I respect the hell out of the fact that Nathan and Cam both are able to find an equilibrium between their bisexual identities and their Catholic identities and are able to find some peace in their religion. But I cannot fucking do it. Nathan's absolute anguish over his "sin" and his fear of hell should never exist for anyone. Exploring your identity should not include an existential crisis over what hell is and how overwhelmingly awful it will be for all eternity. I simply can't square the practice of Catholicism as I experienced it and as other people like Nathan experience it with my view of human rights and human decency and this book kind of punched me in the face with that. I really was not expecting it and it made this a tough book to read for me, even as I appreciate what it was doing.
I also really really appreciated the ending.