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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
sad i didn’t love this as much as everyone else seemed to
Review can be found on *Milky Way of Books*
I never expected a YA contemporary to be so sweet and yearning! "Autoboyography" focuses not only on the growing story of Tanner and Sebastian but also in the matter of religion and how sometimes, religion becomes a part of your life, to the point of stifling your true self.
Tanner was hilarious; he tries to see his life through an easy route even if it means that he can't express himself. His family is very supportive, despite that his parents tell him that in order to fit into the new school he has to hide the fact that he is gay.
Controversial to my opinion, but after reading the book I understood that his parents acted that way because they feared for Tanner's well-being.
Sebastian was a sweetie! He was cute, shy and beautiful! I couldn't help but root for him, as he tried to manoeuvre his family life and the expectations they had from him. When close to the ending we have his own POV, that broke my heart.
This book was a nice surprise from the writing duo and I wouldn't mind if they wrote more YA like this one!
I never expected a YA contemporary to be so sweet and yearning! "Autoboyography" focuses not only on the growing story of Tanner and Sebastian but also in the matter of religion and how sometimes, religion becomes a part of your life, to the point of stifling your true self.
Tanner was hilarious; he tries to see his life through an easy route even if it means that he can't express himself. His family is very supportive, despite that his parents tell him that in order to fit into the new school he has to hide the fact that he is gay.
Controversial to my opinion, but after reading the book I understood that his parents acted that way because they feared for Tanner's well-being.
Sebastian was a sweetie! He was cute, shy and beautiful! I couldn't help but root for him, as he tried to manoeuvre his family life and the expectations they had from him. When close to the ending we have his own POV, that broke my heart.
This book was a nice surprise from the writing duo and I wouldn't mind if they wrote more YA like this one!
1.5/5
I get why other people may love this book, but I'm going to politely decline ever reading anything by Christina Lauren again.
Let's get into my issues with this book:
1. His parents
I do not get why the parents would move their whole family out to Provo, Utah. The mom and dad are written to be huge supporters and accepting of their son's sexuality, from aprons, PJs, and bumper stickers, they are #allies and Super Cool. My problem is that we learn that the mom's (who was raised LDS) sister attempted suicide from how her parents treated her after she came out. The mom is somehow still ok with moving her son out there, knowing how unaccepting the Mormon religion is of homosexuality. The reasoning behind it is that she got a great position at a tech company, even though she worked at Google in California. There are literally a million high-paying, high-ranking jobs in tech, and she could've looked anywhere else if she wanted a state with a lower cost of living. But no, they want a mansion instead of knowing their son is comfortable, and both parents actively tell him to stay in the closet because it's not safe, which can lead to a lot of inner pain and turmoil. That's insane, and how supportive can you be as parents when you move to a state that prompts you to tell your son to go right back into the closet? They aren't winning any parent of the year trophies from me, that's for sure.
Also, I find it so stupid that the whole fam moved out to Provo, Utah, with a 90% Mormon population, and the mom didn't bother to teach her son a single thing about Mormonism or that he didn't do a lick of research on Google (ironic). He would find out something really basic about the religion and be like *gasp* I never knew. Bro, BFFR
2. Tanner and Autumn's relationship
Auddy, as the nickname for Autumn, is the stupidest shit I've ever heard. If you want the nickname Auddy in your book, just name her Audrey, the whole thing is dumb.
It pisses me off that Tanner thinks it's ok to constantly flirt and act coupley with Autumn, knowing that she's in love with him and knowing that he will never reciprocate, he just uses her for his own comfort, disregarding how she feels constantly. Not once in this book is Tanner ever a decent friend. It gets real fucked when after Sebastian and Tanner break up for the first time, Tanner is emotionally screwed, goes to her house, and takes her virginity?? Like, in no way is that ok. She then goes through the whole Fury moment, which is so valid. She doesn't go to class, ignores his calls, and listens to heavy metal, obviously avoiding him. But then he shows up, says sorry, and then everything is A-OK. It gets worse because Sebastian then asks Autumn about it, and she says it's her fault!?!? She's like yeah, actually, my B, I've wanted to do it for a while, and you were emotionally messed up, girl no it's not your fault.
3. Bi Rep
Another point that annoys me is that while the Bi rep is fantastic, it's annoying as hell that Tanner constantly explains to Sebastian that he likes both guys and gals, but it's less the parts and just the person. He explains this once, twice, and a third time to Sebastian, but it never fucking clicks. Sebastian constantly says how lucky Tanner has it that he can just go and fall in love with a girl, and he just never seems to learn that this isn't the case. It would've been nice if he did comprehend the subject of bisexuality by the end of this book, but it never happens.
4. Prom
Weird thing to complain about, but the amount of times it's mentioned in this damn book is insane. Auddy (stupid af nickname, how did a book with two writers not come up with anything better) keeps bringing up prom. First, she mentioned to Tanner that they should go together, but he was busy thinking about Sebastian (refer back to point 2). She then hooks up with another kid, Eric (who is supposedly another really good friend, even though he doesn't have a single line of dialogue) and decides to go with him, she then constantly tells Tanner that he should ask another girl Sasha. Tanner's inner monologue is just what it would be like to go to prom with Seb (even though his parents told him to stay firmly in the closet). Prom and who Tanner should go with takes up so much of this book, so imagine my surprise when Prom as an event never fucking happens. Tanner says something about prom to Seb, who quickly shuts him down, and the word prom, swear to god, is never mentioned again. I'm so sick of how much time was wasted on this subject. Except for the one weird moment where Autumn goes dress shopping, and brings Tanner along, and he keeps saying that the dresses are too revealing and she should cover up. I will fight every man that tells a woman what to wear. Mind your damn business, I highly, highly doubt a dress shop in Provo, Utah, is selling dresses that barely cover your nips for prom, and if they did, then she should wear the hell out of it if she wants.
5. Tanner and Seb
Saving the best for last.
a. While dress shopping, Tanner thinks two girls overhear him talking to Autumn about Sebastian and constantly freaks out about it for 20 pages, but then it just disappears, like *poof* an actual interesting conflict point is just gone.
b. I find it weird that Tanner is 17/18, a senior in HS. Meanwhile, Seb is a college student volunteering as a TA in the seminar class, it's just kinda icky.
c. Point 3, but like the book just ends with Sebastian showing up in California and them making out, it's not a satisfying ending at all, there are so many open questions
d. Sebastian, near the end, all of a sudden gets his own POV, we went a solid 20 chapters in Tanner's POV, but then it switches last minute. I personally thought it was so unnecessary, either do dual POV throughout or don't pop up with this, it's so inconsistent, and I just don't care at all
e. Sebastian says some really shitty things to Tanner. Tanner said, "I Love You", and Seb just said that was really inconvenient. Huh?? and then breaks up with him. I get your religion stopping you from being your true self or whatever, but how can you justify being a dick.
f. It is so immediately Instalove. Seb walks into the classroom, and Tanner is struck by how "right" his face is and then proceeds to write a book on how much he loves him after one (1) interaction. Ew. It's just Tanner thinking about how great Sebastian is, and how hot he is, but there are very few interactions between the two that would fool me into thinking that they are really in love. We read about them eating lunch once, working on his book twice, and we, as readers, are told they go on lots of hikes but don't get to read about a single one, so how am I supposed to really believe they love each other?
This review was long as fuck, and I was originally going to give 2 stars as a treat, but there's no way I can justify that after typing this out.
I get why other people may love this book, but I'm going to politely decline ever reading anything by Christina Lauren again.
Let's get into my issues with this book:
1. His parents
I do not get why the parents would move their whole family out to Provo, Utah. The mom and dad are written to be huge supporters and accepting of their son's sexuality, from aprons, PJs, and bumper stickers, they are #allies and Super Cool. My problem is that we learn that the mom's (who was raised LDS) sister attempted suicide from how her parents treated her after she came out. The mom is somehow still ok with moving her son out there, knowing how unaccepting the Mormon religion is of homosexuality. The reasoning behind it is that she got a great position at a tech company, even though she worked at Google in California. There are literally a million high-paying, high-ranking jobs in tech, and she could've looked anywhere else if she wanted a state with a lower cost of living. But no, they want a mansion instead of knowing their son is comfortable, and both parents actively tell him to stay in the closet because it's not safe, which can lead to a lot of inner pain and turmoil. That's insane, and how supportive can you be as parents when you move to a state that prompts you to tell your son to go right back into the closet? They aren't winning any parent of the year trophies from me, that's for sure.
Also, I find it so stupid that the whole fam moved out to Provo, Utah, with a 90% Mormon population, and the mom didn't bother to teach her son a single thing about Mormonism or that he didn't do a lick of research on Google (ironic). He would find out something really basic about the religion and be like *gasp* I never knew. Bro, BFFR
2. Tanner and Autumn's relationship
Auddy, as the nickname for Autumn, is the stupidest shit I've ever heard. If you want the nickname Auddy in your book, just name her Audrey, the whole thing is dumb.
It pisses me off that Tanner thinks it's ok to constantly flirt and act coupley with Autumn, knowing that she's in love with him and knowing that he will never reciprocate, he just uses her for his own comfort, disregarding how she feels constantly. Not once in this book is Tanner ever a decent friend. It gets real fucked when after Sebastian and Tanner break up for the first time, Tanner is emotionally screwed, goes to her house, and takes her virginity?? Like, in no way is that ok. She then goes through the whole Fury moment, which is so valid. She doesn't go to class, ignores his calls, and listens to heavy metal, obviously avoiding him. But then he shows up, says sorry, and then everything is A-OK. It gets worse because Sebastian then asks Autumn about it, and she says it's her fault!?!? She's like yeah, actually, my B, I've wanted to do it for a while, and you were emotionally messed up, girl no it's not your fault.
3. Bi Rep
Another point that annoys me is that while the Bi rep is fantastic, it's annoying as hell that Tanner constantly explains to Sebastian that he likes both guys and gals, but it's less the parts and just the person. He explains this once, twice, and a third time to Sebastian, but it never fucking clicks. Sebastian constantly says how lucky Tanner has it that he can just go and fall in love with a girl, and he just never seems to learn that this isn't the case. It would've been nice if he did comprehend the subject of bisexuality by the end of this book, but it never happens.
4. Prom
Weird thing to complain about, but the amount of times it's mentioned in this damn book is insane. Auddy (stupid af nickname, how did a book with two writers not come up with anything better) keeps bringing up prom. First, she mentioned to Tanner that they should go together, but he was busy thinking about Sebastian (refer back to point 2). She then hooks up with another kid, Eric (who is supposedly another really good friend, even though he doesn't have a single line of dialogue) and decides to go with him, she then constantly tells Tanner that he should ask another girl Sasha. Tanner's inner monologue is just what it would be like to go to prom with Seb (even though his parents told him to stay firmly in the closet). Prom and who Tanner should go with takes up so much of this book, so imagine my surprise when Prom as an event never fucking happens. Tanner says something about prom to Seb, who quickly shuts him down, and the word prom, swear to god, is never mentioned again. I'm so sick of how much time was wasted on this subject. Except for the one weird moment where Autumn goes dress shopping, and brings Tanner along, and he keeps saying that the dresses are too revealing and she should cover up. I will fight every man that tells a woman what to wear. Mind your damn business, I highly, highly doubt a dress shop in Provo, Utah, is selling dresses that barely cover your nips for prom, and if they did, then she should wear the hell out of it if she wants.
5. Tanner and Seb
Saving the best for last.
a. While dress shopping, Tanner thinks two girls overhear him talking to Autumn about Sebastian and constantly freaks out about it for 20 pages, but then it just disappears, like *poof* an actual interesting conflict point is just gone.
b. I find it weird that Tanner is 17/18, a senior in HS. Meanwhile, Seb is a college student volunteering as a TA in the seminar class, it's just kinda icky.
c. Point 3, but like the book just ends with Sebastian showing up in California and them making out, it's not a satisfying ending at all, there are so many open questions
d. Sebastian, near the end, all of a sudden gets his own POV, we went a solid 20 chapters in Tanner's POV, but then it switches last minute. I personally thought it was so unnecessary, either do dual POV throughout or don't pop up with this, it's so inconsistent, and I just don't care at all
e. Sebastian says some really shitty things to Tanner. Tanner said, "I Love You", and Seb just said that was really inconvenient. Huh?? and then breaks up with him. I get your religion stopping you from being your true self or whatever, but how can you justify being a dick.
f. It is so immediately Instalove. Seb walks into the classroom, and Tanner is struck by how "right" his face is and then proceeds to write a book on how much he loves him after one (1) interaction. Ew. It's just Tanner thinking about how great Sebastian is, and how hot he is, but there are very few interactions between the two that would fool me into thinking that they are really in love. We read about them eating lunch once, working on his book twice, and we, as readers, are told they go on lots of hikes but don't get to read about a single one, so how am I supposed to really believe they love each other?
This review was long as fuck, and I was originally going to give 2 stars as a treat, but there's no way I can justify that after typing this out.
I think overall I prefer Christina Lauren's adult books... this foray into YA fell a little flat for me, mostly because of the intense insta-love... This trope is definitely my least favorite in the genre because it feels SO unrealistic. I thought both Sebastian and Tanner were cute kids, with great chemistry and huge issues to face, but the insta-love cliché was super distracting to me. Tanner "fell in love" with Sebastian LITERALLY the first time he saw him! Without knowing anything about him! I enjoyed learning more about LDS and really sympathized with the tough choices especially Sebastian had to make-- I can't imagine being in a situation where my family and a community that I love wouldn't accept me-- it's heartbreaking. The emotion felt really raw and genuine and it just broke my heart. But I also thought Tanner's parents were pretty problematic-- even if they're trying to protect him, pretty much forcing your kid back into the closet because of your preconceived notions/lived experiences and how controlling they were about his friendships or relationships with other LDS kids was well-intentioned but... seemed problematic to me. I wish this book hadn't been so intensely insta-love-y because I would've enjoyed it a lot more. It also could've been a lot shorter-- it really dragged at some parts.
Cara, o que eu reclamei de livro adolescente esse me fez engolir todas as reclamações. hahahah
amei amei amei
amei amei amei