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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
5 stars for deep emotional attachment, cannot be objective about this book
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-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
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
"Gay the Pray Away" is a heartfelt and empowering YA debut about Valerie, a teen raised in a conservative Christian homeschool cult, whose world shifts when she meets Riley, a confident queer girl. Natalie Naudus blends tender romance, sharp humor, and honest depictions of religious trauma into a moving story of self-discovery and love.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have pretty mixed feelings about this. I read an ebook version from the library, and almost DNFd it. Not because it is a bad book or because i was disinterested, but because the topic is a hard one. I pushed through, though, in the last 48 hours before it needed to go back, and i’m glad i did.
If you’re reading this review you probably already have the gist of it:
Mixed-race girl living in “christian” cult family figures out she’s queer and….
Content-wise it’s contemporaneous with The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Surrender Your Sons, but thankfully there’s less torture… kinda.
Anyway,there’s a HEA 🥰 and as challenging as I found it, def. 4½ ⭐️
If you’re reading this review you probably already have the gist of it:
Mixed-race girl living in “christian” cult family figures out she’s queer and….
Content-wise it’s contemporaneous with The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Surrender Your Sons, but thankfully there’s less torture… kinda.
Anyway,
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Stories like this desperately need to be told, and I’m grateful that this book is starting/contributing to the conversation. But it’s just…so unrealistic. I was also raised in a c0nservative borderline-cult, and stumbling across a progressive book one (1) time is not nearly enough to make to make you immediately question everything. You just can’t unlearn more than a decade of brainwashing that quickly. Perhaps even more unrealistic is the insta-love. I’m sorry, but people who claim to be in love with someone they’ve known for like a week are lying to themselves. And I can tell you from my own experience that purity culture is absolute hell to de-program from your brain, but you’re telling me that the MC can While I respect the book for shedding light on this topic, none of it is realistic. If readers use this as a guide for helping people out of cults, they will be sorely disappointed when it doesn’t play out like it does here. As for the writing skills, I’ve read better works on AO3.