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dianet's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.75
This book tackles some complex issues. What I loved about it is that it confronted those issues straight on without being overly judgmental of either Emmy or her parents. It made them real 3 dimensional people struggling with real problems instead of cliched characters. This book is not going to appeal to people that want to hate on any particular ideology. The ending was what bumped this up to 5 stars for me. It was left open ended and it was perfect. To top it all off, the prose is absolutely gorgeous.
These are my favorite 2 paragraphs of the entire book:
"When we focus on salvation - who gets saved and who gets damned - what we're really prioritizing is who is right and who is wrong," Pastor Sherman continued, taking her cue. "But we ignore what it means to be true. So instead of loving folks, we try to get them to see why they're wrong and why we're right."
"We've fought wars because of this. We've justified stealing humans and their lands with this logic. And in our crusade - and I do not use that word lightly - to make the world right, we've lost the truth. Which is, simply, to love one another without condition, to the best of our conditional ability."
These are my favorite 2 paragraphs of the entire book:
"When we focus on salvation - who gets saved and who gets damned - what we're really prioritizing is who is right and who is wrong," Pastor Sherman continued, taking her cue. "But we ignore what it means to be true. So instead of loving folks, we try to get them to see why they're wrong and why we're right."
"We've fought wars because of this. We've justified stealing humans and their lands with this logic. And in our crusade - and I do not use that word lightly - to make the world right, we've lost the truth. Which is, simply, to love one another without condition, to the best of our conditional ability."
goblue's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
emallovesreading's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, and Sexual content
eeden33's review
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
carpentd's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.5
tayparks's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
sarahsager's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dhonings's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cara_lucia's review against another edition
2.0
I can see I'm in the minority here, but the characters felt too thinly-drawn and the themes not delved into deeply enough for me. It felt like I was watching everything happening from very far away. I did enjoy the writing, and in particular the examination of how queer folks with unsupportive families/communities, and/or a limited belief in the possibility of a fulfilling romantic relationship for themselves, can be vulnerable to falling into co-dependent, dysfunctional, or even abusive relationships.