novelheartbeat 's review for:

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry

4.0

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"A heretic is someone who has belief, but not the right kind. At least according to the Catholic Church."

Full disclosure: I would NEVER have picked this book up on my own, ever in a million years. I don't read contemporary much to begin with, and even though the cover is interesting for a contemp, the fact that it sounds religious would probably have deterred me. But, Harper sent the book to me, and I was in the mood for contemporary, and my mom read it as a guinea pig (she IS religious, I am not) and she thought I'd like it. So, I took a leap of faith and picked it up - and I was super shocked because I actually loved it!!

First of all, this book is FREAKIN' HILARIOUS. I had SO much fun reading it, especially in the first half! I was giggling out loud almost every other page because the prose is so funny and engaging. I found myself grinning like an idiot, and I don't even remember the last time I had so much fun reading a book.

But, this book isn't just a fun and fluffy book. I also loved it because it had an amazing message - tolerance and acceptance, no matter what a person's gender, race, sexual orientation, or religion. This book had such an amazing cast of diverse characters!! An atheist, a feminist, a gay Jewish guy, an Asian, and a paganist. I loved their little ragtag group of misfits, aka the Heretics Anonymous!

"The only thing more dangerous that someone who doesn't care about the rules is someone who does - and wants to break them anyway."

I adored the characters. They felt so realistic! They each had their own distinct personalities. This was a very character driven book. It also gave me feels because it was 100% relatable to my core. I'm not an atheist at all, but I am agnostic. I was raised Methodist, but I've never been particularly religious. It kinda makes me cringe? Mostly I just don't like having it shoved down my throat. This book was kind of about fighting that very thing - and going against the rules when the rules were unfair.

No matter what your religion or beliefs, I definitely recommend this book!

P.S. THE LAST PAGE AHHH *feelsfeelsfeels*

 

This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.