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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It is so hard to find novels that so perfectly illuminate the contradictions of being rural and queer. Of never quite fitting in. Of needing to hide your true self in the shadows.
This book brought bright bright light to those contradictions and the darkness that hides in rural America. A religion consumed with loving a man (Jesus) that condemns men who love other men to eternal hellfire. A sport that is built on brain trauma and boys touching boys (albeit in pads) feeds a toxic homophobia and toxic masculinity in small towns across this country. A community in "support" of the MVP but not one can tell when that MVP needs help, wants out. And the men or women who, so broken from where they're from, can hardly get a grasp on where they are going. In my case, got called a f*ggot and gay for the first time in third grade. The teacher, bless her heart, threw the dictionary at the boys head and told him to read the definition of gay... Happy! This book took me back to the sleepless nights on Grindr, talking to men twice my age, in some cases doing more than talking. Took me back to the secrets and lies and thick skin that you have to grow to survive in a place where teachers hear gay slurs and racial epithets and turn a blind eye, or in many cases do the bullying themselves. To survive in a place that will eat you alive if you don't find the ones around you, hiding in plain sight, that will pull you from the dark and save you. I listened to this book via Text to speech on my phone at work, a workplace I have to hide in the closet lest my financial security be wrenched from beneath me. It is books like this that make those of us in the flat lands, the flats, the hills, or the bright lands strong enough to get through our days. There may be situations where you have to stay in the closet for your own protection, but this book reminded me that it's worth it as long as you don't hide the truth of who you are from yourself. The darkness will grab hold and chase you if you try to hide from your true self. I am so grateful to the author for the bright that came from this book and i will be thinking of him and this book for.the rest of.my life. Top ten books I've ever read. Thank God for John Fram and thank God for the Bright Lands.
10/10
This book brought bright bright light to those contradictions and the darkness that hides in rural America. A religion consumed with loving a man (Jesus) that condemns men who love other men to eternal hellfire. A sport that is built on brain trauma and boys touching boys (albeit in pads) feeds a toxic homophobia and toxic masculinity in small towns across this country. A community in "support" of the MVP but not one can tell when that MVP needs help, wants out. And the men or women who, so broken from where they're from, can hardly get a grasp on where they are going. In my case, got called a f*ggot and gay for the first time in third grade. The teacher, bless her heart, threw the dictionary at the boys head and told him to read the definition of gay... Happy! This book took me back to the sleepless nights on Grindr, talking to men twice my age, in some cases doing more than talking. Took me back to the secrets and lies and thick skin that you have to grow to survive in a place where teachers hear gay slurs and racial epithets and turn a blind eye, or in many cases do the bullying themselves. To survive in a place that will eat you alive if you don't find the ones around you, hiding in plain sight, that will pull you from the dark and save you. I listened to this book via Text to speech on my phone at work, a workplace I have to hide in the closet lest my financial security be wrenched from beneath me. It is books like this that make those of us in the flat lands, the flats, the hills, or the bright lands strong enough to get through our days. There may be situations where you have to stay in the closet for your own protection, but this book reminded me that it's worth it as long as you don't hide the truth of who you are from yourself. The darkness will grab hold and chase you if you try to hide from your true self. I am so grateful to the author for the bright that came from this book and i will be thinking of him and this book for.the rest of.my life. Top ten books I've ever read. Thank God for John Fram and thank God for the Bright Lands.
10/10
The representation in this book was wonderful and I'm so glad to have found a gay, own voices horror novel. Definitely interested to see what john fram does next. (also I live in Texas and they mentioned my city at one point which was really cool.)
I always open my reviews with a quote, and so it's never good when I can't find even one to share. So we will start there.
I had some high hopes for The Bright Lands but it did not turn out well. I feel strongly that this book bit off way more than it could chew, and tried to be too many things. You've heard lots of reviews state it is "Beartown meets Friday Night Lights" and for the first 1/3, I'd say that I maybe got a twinge (a very, very, very tiny twinge) of the Beartown comparison. But the fact that there is a football stadium on the front of this novel is incredibly misleading; there is almost no football in this book other than that one of the main characters is a high school football hero.
This book grabbed every cliche and stereotype of this state and amped it up to 10. If you read this novel, please don't think all of Texas is like Bentley because I've lived in 4 states and I can find you a town like this just about anywhere (Vermont, I'm looking at you).
I considered DNFing this multiple times, but I wanted to be able to give this my honest review. I found the characters to be flat and one dimensional; I didn't know any of them well nor did I feel anything for them. We were told, not shown (cardinal sin) there are too many characters to keep straight.
I never give any plot spoilers, (there are plenty of reviews out there revealing those if you want to know more) - but the supernatural element that was tossed into this book really clinched it for me. I don't feel that it fit, it didn't make sense and that is where I fully lost interest. I felt the plot lacked focus and ran all over the place.
I had some high hopes for The Bright Lands but it did not turn out well. I feel strongly that this book bit off way more than it could chew, and tried to be too many things. You've heard lots of reviews state it is "Beartown meets Friday Night Lights" and for the first 1/3, I'd say that I maybe got a twinge (a very, very, very tiny twinge) of the Beartown comparison. But the fact that there is a football stadium on the front of this novel is incredibly misleading; there is almost no football in this book other than that one of the main characters is a high school football hero.
This book grabbed every cliche and stereotype of this state and amped it up to 10. If you read this novel, please don't think all of Texas is like Bentley because I've lived in 4 states and I can find you a town like this just about anywhere (Vermont, I'm looking at you).
I considered DNFing this multiple times, but I wanted to be able to give this my honest review. I found the characters to be flat and one dimensional; I didn't know any of them well nor did I feel anything for them. We were told, not shown (cardinal sin) there are too many characters to keep straight.
I never give any plot spoilers, (there are plenty of reviews out there revealing those if you want to know more) - but the supernatural element that was tossed into this book really clinched it for me. I don't feel that it fit, it didn't make sense and that is where I fully lost interest. I felt the plot lacked focus and ran all over the place.
I found this book super enjoyable and I really liked what it had to say. It reminded me of the kinds of YA thrillers that I enjoy, which is more of the scream tv show over pretty little liars. However the completely unnecessary and underdeveloped supernatural plot line as well as the ending as a whole brought this down from somewhere in the four range.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail