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thekatreturns's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This is an all time favorite. It will break your heart and piece it back together over and over again. An ode to the power of community in the face of absolute tragedy, and a desperate call for an end to such tragedy. This is an immensely difficult read for anyone who grew up in a homophobic environment, but it is absolutely worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Outing, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Grief, Mental illness, and Homophobia
writingcaia's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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
4.25
Finding yourself amidst great loss and a messed up decision by your new family, this is what Cameron is going to go through after losing her parents and having her first kiss.
A coming of age book about grief and queerness. It’s a beautiful tale of finding your self as a gay person, of going against convention, of loving and having your heart broke, but it is also about religion and society being against who you are, and trying to change you by force, and if you’re not changed, which you won’t be but if you believe then you’ll hate yourself for not being able to be different.
Although Cameron does go to a conversion board school/camp, it is not those hardcore ones you might have seen or heard about, still it’s messed up, and obviously doom to fail no matter how the person eventually leaves it. It can f you out a lot, especially if one already has low self worth.
It was also about looking back at who you were, who your parents are as persons and who they are in you.
I really enjoyed the characters she meets at the conversion school, they really brought something extra to the whole queer plot diversity.
It was an engaging story but somewhat I was wishing for more, thus the missing ⭐️.
A coming of age book about grief and queerness. It’s a beautiful tale of finding your self as a gay person, of going against convention, of loving and having your heart broke, but it is also about religion and society being against who you are, and trying to change you by force, and if you’re not changed, which you won’t be but if you believe then you’ll hate yourself for not being able to be different.
Although Cameron does go to a conversion board school/camp, it is not those hardcore ones you might have seen or heard about, still it’s messed up, and obviously doom to fail no matter how the person eventually leaves it. It can f you out a lot, especially if one already has low self worth.
It was also about looking back at who you were, who your parents are as persons and who they are in you.
I really enjoyed the characters she meets at the conversion school, they really brought something extra to the whole queer plot diversity.
It was an engaging story but somewhat I was wishing for more, thus the missing ⭐️.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Confinement, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse
barnacleg00se's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
I like the story, and I don't have much to say about it. I don't think it was quite exceptional, but it was fun to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Confinement
valereads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Starting on a positive note, I loved the writing style of this book. It really drew you in and had the dreamy feeling being a kid in a hot summer. I hardly wanted to put this book down while I was reading it.
That said I have a couple of issues with it and a couple of things that aren't exactly issues but I;m not sure what else I'd call them.
I think I saw somewhere that this book was originally meant to be twice as long and it felt like it; certain plot points that seemed like they should come back later but were just dropped and forgotten instead.
The book is written in the past tense and gives the impression that Cameron is looking back and describing these events some time after, I wasn't necessarily expecting the events of the book to catch up with this but it definitely didn't go with the abruptness of the ending. Which leads me into the ending itself, I've gone back and forth a lot on my feelings about the ending, whether it was appropriate or too sudden I'm not sure. I feel like it would have been more satisfying if the issues around her parents were a continuous theme rather than something that happened at the start and then were mentioned a couple of times but weren't treated as anything significant again until the end.
I did like the characters, they felt like real people. I've got to say the weakest one was probably Coley which kinda sucks considering her importance to the story. Personally I would have also liked more exploration of Cameron's psychology, especially with the dollhouse though I understand why that wasn't included.
Overall I would certainly recommend this so long as you read the content warnings. I'd especially recommend to fans of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson.
Content Warnings: conversion therapy, homophobia, biphobia, drug use, underage drinking, self-harm, genital mutilation (happens off-screen and not to the MC)
That said I have a couple of issues with it and a couple of things that aren't exactly issues but I;m not sure what else I'd call them.
I think I saw somewhere that this book was originally meant to be twice as long and it felt like it; certain plot points that seemed like they should come back later but were just dropped and forgotten instead.
The book is written in the past tense and gives the impression that Cameron is looking back and describing these events some time after, I wasn't necessarily expecting the events of the book to catch up with this but it definitely didn't go with the abruptness of the ending. Which leads me into the ending itself, I've gone back and forth a lot on my feelings about the ending, whether it was appropriate or too sudden I'm not sure. I feel like it would have been more satisfying if the issues around her parents were a continuous theme rather than something that happened at the start and then were mentioned a couple of times but weren't treated as anything significant again until the end.
I did like the characters, they felt like real people. I've got to say the weakest one was probably Coley which kinda sucks considering her importance to the story. Personally I would have also liked more exploration of Cameron's psychology, especially with the dollhouse though I understand why that wasn't included.
Overall I would certainly recommend this so long as you read the content warnings. I'd especially recommend to fans of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson.
Content Warnings: conversion therapy, homophobia, biphobia, drug use, underage drinking, self-harm, genital mutilation (happens off-screen and not to the MC)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Self harm
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Minor: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
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