Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

28 reviews

tesz's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

“Irene kissed me again. And I hadn't dared her to do it, but I was glad that she did."

that was where it started. Where everything began for Cam, a character who I came to love and admire deeply. The novel began when Cam was twelve, recalling how she came to kiss a girl, named Irene outside her house, on a hot summer's day. The descriptions were slow, yet beautiful. I loved what I saw in my mind while reading this book. Not because what I saw was was picturesque or stunning, but rather real. The book to me was so real, which is the reason I have come to love it so much. Some books are unnecessarily slow, but others (including this one), are supposed to be slow. Without the book's beautifully written descriptions, I don't know if I would have connected to the characters and story as much otherwise.

Part One
Emily M. Danford made a great choice so the novel was written in Cam's point of view, I could tell who Cameron was and how she changed through the course of the book → the difference between lots of first person point of view written books to this one is the fact that 'the miseducation of cameron post' presents a truly genuine character, not just a stock 'teenage girl', which I'm rather tired of reading about. Cam is written as if she's an actual human, with independent thoughts and ideas and was just overall a really strong character. If the book hadn't been written in her point of view, I don't really believe readers would have interpreted as her as being such a strong character, since most of her struggles are internal→ trying to find her true, authentic self when everyone around her is trying to take that away from her, as well as living through the guilt of her parents death that she was made to believe was her fault.

Part Two
The second part of the story, I loved. The character, 'Lindsey', was one of my favourites → she was portrayed as being a brave, comforting character that really helped in Cam accepting who she was. I loved how Danford wrote about their relationship, again being so true to life. She didn't sugar coat teenage relationships or make them out to be something that they usually aren't but rather wrote openly and honestly through Cam's thoughts. I feel the quote,

“I hadn't really fallen in love with Lindsey, and she hadn't with me; but we were okay with that, and liked each other maybe more for it." (page 99),

illustrates this. It encapsulates the idea that you don’t always have to be madly in love with someone to enjoy your life with them in it. Lindsey really helped Cam on her journey of self discovery and was a very charming character, who you could rely on to always make our protagonist feel better → through thought-provoking phone calls to sexy vampire movie gifts.

Then the character, Coley, came into the story. From my interpretation, she was included to show the audience that even if you don't want to fall in love with someone, you can't help it → emphasising the theme of authenticity, presenting the idea that you cannot change who you are/chose who you love.

Part Three
In part three, when Cam was sent off to the camp, the characters, 'Jane Fonda' (the 'artist' and 'supplier') and 'Adam Red Eagle' (the 'kind spirit') were introduced. I'm saying this now → I love these characters; Cam, Jane and Adam have a very special place in my heart. Danford characterised Jane as an intriguing, opinionated, witty and understanding person who seemed to be able to make every situation a little bit better, with her spontaneous polaroid captures and ridiculous observations. Adam was portrayed as a perceptive, honest and relaxed character who was certain of themselves and their identity, which I really admire. He was a character who was comforting and humorous during times when those values were needed most. Cam, Adam and Janes’ friendship grew to become something very special, everyone learning something about the world and themselves after a while of being together. In Cam’s case, it lead her to finally forgive herself for believing that she was the cause for her parent’s death. She finally able to move on and see a future for herself, outside the restrictions she’s been bound to her whole life. The path will continue to lead now being up to her. Not her aunt, not the camp, not even coley- solely her.

Thoughts :))
So I’m writing this a year later because this novel means so much to me and I still have things that I want to say about it.
I’ve read since finishing the novel that Danford roughly based it on her life, which makes complete sense as to why the story and characters seem so genuine.
The book encapsulates this feeling of nostalgia for a time I’ve never lived and
melancholy for memories capturing moments I’ve never experienced. This book is really; a living, breathing ordeal. Throughout the whole time of reading, the lyrical words enabled me to imagine the story through a cinematic lens. I was picturing the reflections of sunsets over an ugly town, empty bedrooms with an unmade bed. I heard commercial tv echoing through abandoned hospitals and 90-s music jams blasting through a radio.
I love you, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and while the movie did not at all give you justice, just know that you remain to be my favourite book ever <3.

(don’t judge how I write about this book as if its a person okay- my ego is fragile :D)

Content Warnings

amaliewebs's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective

5.0

this was such a painful yet heartwarming book, a very emotional read. i love a good coming-of-age book and this one just hit a bit too much. i really enjoyed following cameron growing up and dealing with grief, friendship, love, sexuality, etc, and a lot of her struggles were very relatable to me. the religious aspect was a lot to read, as well as the conversion therapy, but i feel like it was very realistic of the time and town she was growing up in. still was very heavy to read though. and there are a lot of very dark aspects of it and it's definitely just an intense book at times.

i love love loved the found family aspect, as well as the whole story of discovering your identity. its such a vulnerable book and it was so easy to connect with cam and her struggles. i was so invested in her journey and really loved the depth of her character. such an important and emotional book, i enjoyed it so much.

Content Warnings

beereadsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-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

quinn24's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a reread, I read this when I was 14 and it was the first book with a lesbian main character that I ever read. In hindsight it probably shouldn’t have been but what are you gonna do? This was very emotional, all the characters are complex and feel very human, even the characters I hated I couldn’t help but feel a connection to. I think it did a really good job of being nuanced when it came to the issue of conversion therapy. It shows how harmful it is, even in the small ways, even when you don’t believe what they’re teaching you. It allowed the characters to be angry and to hurt but it also acknowledges that the people doing this harm genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing and that they are saving their souls. It’s a very fine thing to balance, to be able to acknowledge all of these things but not seem like you’re excusing them and I thought it was done really well. There are some coming-of-age YA cliches of course, and I noticed that the tense was a little funny in some places because it’s supposed to be that Cameron is telling the story from later on in her life. But overall it was very good and I know a lot of people hate the ending but I personally loved it. It made me cry so.

Content Warnings