Review by fearlessfictionalfemme - The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School

fearlessfictionalfemme 's review for:

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book held so many emotions but still overflowed with queer joy. Reyes captured the rawness of feeling alone, fearing your family’s reaction, actually facing rejection, and trying to find acceptance anyway. It covered suicidal thoughts, gay panic, new friendships, the heartbreak of losing them, and the warmth of parents who truly accept you. That part reminded me of my own family and made my heart so full.

I loved Yami and Caesar’s sibling relationship and how much closer they grow when they share their truth with each other. I want to keep that part vague to avoid spoilers, but it made me so emotional. Bo is such an authentic character, and seeing her live so honestly pushes Yami to imagine she can be just as brave. My favorite moment was when Yami spent the holidays with Bo and her parents. Bo’s family reminded me of mine and the love they showed Yami felt so genuine and healing.

Some parts were painfully relatable. The rejection from family hit home for me, and the way Caesar’s situation made Yami question how well she really knew him felt so raw. I don’t know if I tapped back into my own teen angst or just related too much as a lesbian, but the way Yami’s mom treats her really got to me. Especially the way her mom tries to blame her for what happened to Caesar. I’m glad her mom comes around in the end, but I felt like the lack of real accountability was missing something for me. Yami is so ready to forgive because her mom finally accepts her, but I wish there was more reflection on that hurt.

The ending was incredible. At first I wanted the mean girls (Emily, Karen, and Jenna) to maybe change, but I’m glad it didn’t go that way. It felt more real. For most of the book I was convinced Jenna had a crush on Bo, which might have been implied or maybe I just read it that way, but either way it was so relatable. This story was messy and joyful and real. I loved it.

Content Warnings