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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I came back to this book after DNFing it many years ago and I’m glad I did!! I am a sucker for all things coming out stories and climbing up a (literal or metaphorical) mountain. Tanner and Sebastian have my heart. There was a little bit of insta-love and I also really disliked the best friend Autumn — that brought it down from a 5. But it was a beautiful exploration of sexuality, first relationships, and religion.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-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
I'm so mad I waited to long to read this book!
Its such an inspiring and emotional story about the push & pull of religion and being yourself. Who you were born to be or who you were taught to be. Also the lesson of having the control of you are, who you tell and how you communicate that to others. I really liked during one part where one of the characters finally tell someone about themselves and the character makes it about them, acting like the victim because they weren't trust with the info sooner. It was stated that its not about them and that the LGTB+ individuals should have thr control of when and who to tell without push back with that kind of reaction. Other authors always miss that point and it's really important that this is common knowledge and communicated to everyone.
I like how is gives an honest view of the Mormon religion without totally demonizing their beliefs. It's shows the negative but doesn't brutalize their practice.
I thought it was really creative that the authors used the format of the characters writing a book to communicate their feelings, thoughts and wishes. It added an extra layer of depth.
I highly recommend this book to all teenagers and young adults. Obviously anyone of any age can read it and I recommend it, but the topic and how it's written is great for those age ranges.
Its such an inspiring and emotional story about the push & pull of religion and being yourself. Who you were born to be or who you were taught to be. Also the lesson of having the control of you are, who you tell and how you communicate that to others. I really liked during one part where one of the characters finally tell someone about themselves and the character makes it about them, acting like the victim because they weren't trust with the info sooner. It was stated that its not about them and that the LGTB+ individuals should have thr control of when and who to tell without push back with that kind of reaction. Other authors always miss that point and it's really important that this is common knowledge and communicated to everyone.
I like how is gives an honest view of the Mormon religion without totally demonizing their beliefs. It's shows the negative but doesn't brutalize their practice.
I thought it was really creative that the authors used the format of the characters writing a book to communicate their feelings, thoughts and wishes. It added an extra layer of depth.
I highly recommend this book to all teenagers and young adults. Obviously anyone of any age can read it and I recommend it, but the topic and how it's written is great for those age ranges.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Outing
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual content
The sexual content is all off page but it's talked about and at one time topic is a little heavy but not bad for teenagers. It's a great lesson of losing your virginity.
Religion is a BIG topic. Bigotry of those practicing and those that don't practice is discussed and the out comes.
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.5 stars
I wanted to adore this book and fall in love with it but it didn’t work that way for me. It’s cute and my heart broke for these two boys but the religion part was too much for me. If it really was only a story of two boys falling in love, I would give it a 4+.
I wanted to adore this book and fall in love with it but it didn’t work that way for me. It’s cute and my heart broke for these two boys but the religion part was too much for me. If it really was only a story of two boys falling in love, I would give it a 4+.
⭐ 2.5 (maybe?)
🎧 audio
It's now quite obvious that this book isn't meant for me but I'm still disappointed that I didn't enjoy it. Reading it felt like a chore and I only finished it because I was listening to the audio while I drove to work and cleaned the house. But I honestly wish I DNF'ed this book.
The rest of this review will definitely contain spoilers:
I disliked this story and the characters in it so much that I hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Maybe someone with a relationship to the Mormon faith would enjoy parts of it. Maybe a queer person, a Jewish person, or even someone closer in age to these characters would like this book. I am none of these things, but not having commonalities with characters doesn't usually detract from my reading experience. For instance, I loooove Blood Like Magic by Liselle Samsbury and I'm not a young Black girl living in Canada with magical powers.
The relationship between Tanner and Sebastian is your typical teenage insta-love and it is so suffocating. Other than his bff Autumn, Tanner supposedly has friends at school but we almost never hear from them or about them. Everything is about Sebastian, even Autumn is thrown to the wayside.
I was thinking that maybe I'm just too old now to appreciate a teen love story, but I'm not. There are other YA romance books that I've still enjoyed in my 30s.
There's a scene where Tanner and Autumn are at a store and some girls from school overhear them talking about Tanner's queerness. He is so stressed out about this but literally nothing ever comes from it. What was the point?
And when are we going to stop giving JKR/HP a platform?! Who thought it was a good idea to have HP references in a story about queer love. It's actually stupid. I know this was written almost 10 years ago, and maybe JKR wasn't as publicly vile back then. But am I to believe there have been no new editions since then that could have taken at these pointless HP mentions?
🎧 audio
It's now quite obvious that this book isn't meant for me but I'm still disappointed that I didn't enjoy it. Reading it felt like a chore and I only finished it because I was listening to the audio while I drove to work and cleaned the house. But I honestly wish I DNF'ed this book.
The rest of this review will definitely contain spoilers:
I disliked this story and the characters in it so much that I hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Maybe someone with a relationship to the Mormon faith would enjoy parts of it. Maybe a queer person, a Jewish person, or even someone closer in age to these characters would like this book. I am none of these things, but not having commonalities with characters doesn't usually detract from my reading experience. For instance, I loooove Blood Like Magic by Liselle Samsbury and I'm not a young Black girl living in Canada with magical powers.
The relationship between Tanner and Sebastian is your typical teenage insta-love and it is so suffocating. Other than his bff Autumn, Tanner supposedly has friends at school but we almost never hear from them or about them. Everything is about Sebastian, even Autumn is thrown to the wayside.
I was thinking that maybe I'm just too old now to appreciate a teen love story, but I'm not. There are other YA romance books that I've still enjoyed in my 30s.
There's a scene where Tanner and Autumn are at a store and some girls from school overhear them talking about Tanner's queerness. He is so stressed out about this but literally nothing ever comes from it. What was the point?
And when are we going to stop giving JKR/HP a platform?! Who thought it was a good idea to have HP references in a story about queer love. It's actually stupid. I know this was written almost 10 years ago, and maybe JKR wasn't as publicly vile back then. But am I to believe there have been no new editions since then that could have taken at these pointless HP mentions?
3.5★
The slowburn was UNREAL and had me SCREAMING at the book from start to finish. There were sad screams, happy screams, mad screams, scared screams, it was just a whole lot of screaming tbh. But, that being said the fact that the romance took so long to blossom just made it all the more beautiful and made you cherish it so so so much more. Immediately, you begin to root for Tanner and Sebastian, and the ending leaves you with the perfect feeling <3
The slowburn was UNREAL and had me SCREAMING at the book from start to finish. There were sad screams, happy screams, mad screams, scared screams, it was just a whole lot of screaming tbh. But, that being said the fact that the romance took so long to blossom just made it all the more beautiful and made you cherish it so so so much more. Immediately, you begin to root for Tanner and Sebastian, and the ending leaves you with the perfect feeling <3
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
Yes
Too annoyed with MC's insta-love despite family trauma about LDS.