Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School

Glad I read this, it made me cry and laugh.

I really loved the discourse around coming out and how it should always be on your own terms and that we don't owe other people that info.

I also thought the conversations around cultural identity were handled really well.

This book touched on so many difficult issues around race, sexuality and mental health. It did this while also being funny and even quite fluffy at times. I wish I'd been able to read something like this as a young adult/teen.

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mairi99's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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filipa_maia's review

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I had high hopes for this book, but it disappointed me. Don't take me the wrong way: this is a very important book about a very important topic. How many teenagers (and adults) suffer in silence, trying to hyde who they are? When the rejection comes from your own house, what can you expect form everyone else?

I felt sorry for Yammi many times throughout this book: trying to be straight, feeling the catholic guilt... The part where she starts saving money waiting to be kicked out of her house broke my heart.

Now let's get to the negative points: this is the slowest of slow paced if I've ever read - we spend half the book just getting to know Yammi and then everything is rushed towards the end; the lack of communications between that family just was a deal breaker for me; her mother constantly showing love and affection towards Cesar and never Yammi; the mother being a complete homophobic and then, by the end, everything is reversed; the father (I don't need to say more); the way things turn out to be at the end... was just 'meh'...

Anyway, maybe this book was written for a different target audience, maybe I'm just not the right age. Despite all this, I think this book can help someone.

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naisdayz's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring sad 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? Yes

5.0

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School is a very important book. It touches on a variety of topics, from coming out (in an immigrant household specifically), being outed involuntarily, religious guilt and shame, as well as racism and homophobia generally.

It took me a bit to get into the book, but once I did, I devoured it.

Since the book tries to do a lot, it obviously doesn't cut very deep on all topics - but I think it's a great base for doing further research or reading other books about related issues. Therefore, I don't necessarily view it as a weakness.

The mom's switch-up toward the end seemed a little sudden to me, as well. I wonder if she would have reacted the same if Cesar hadnt attempted suicide.

I loved Yami as a character and a narrator. I often found myself smiling or even laughing at her sarcastic remarks. I really wanted to give her a hug.

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spoopfish's review

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hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.75

Character development was slow, sometimes it felt like it was unrealistically so. I have religious trauma myself and had a difficult coming out to my own parents, but the extremity of the main character’s hang ups about coming out to other queer people was kind of ridiculous. That being said, the characters were (mostly) fleshed out and I cried at some point, but I think the latter was more reflective of my own personal experiences as a lesbian. The romance was very well developed, including all the realistic trappings of stupid teenagers being stupid, and the useless lesbian trope, something I can’t help but love. Story was cute and the cultural bits were lovely to see, but again, the writing was somewhat annoying in how “fellow kids” relatable it tried to be for contemporary youth. Sure, mentions of TikTok and Twitter make sense, but there’s a point where having characters dab and twerk so much feels… out of touch, to put it lightly. The story resolution was a bit too convenient with a specific character’s development. If you can get past these things, though, I’d recommend giving it a read - it’s a good look into the mind of a closeted lesbian, parentified teenager who’s honestly just trying her best while connecting to her indigenous latina roots.

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