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A review by lbarsk
Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
3.0
Ahhh gosh I feel really conflicted about this book. There were good THREADS -- Pony and Georgia's parallel journeys to self-acceptance and truer expressions of their inner wants/needs/identities; the lesbian coming out subplot that I would've loved to see more of; the development of family dynamics; the evolution of friendships; connections with our queer elders and queer history.
But at the same time it was all so COMPRESSED. Like, one of those themes alone would've made for an interesting book! I've read other Queer Ownvoices YA stories that did tackle a more limited scope and enjoyed them! So maybe McSmith's next book will be something a little tighter? I dunno, I feel bad being like "this was just okay" when there were actually parts that shone for me and it was compelling enough to read in pretty much 24 hours. But there was just a little too much going on for me to truly get into it. I'M SORRY
But at the same time it was all so COMPRESSED. Like, one of those themes alone would've made for an interesting book! I've read other Queer Ownvoices YA stories that did tackle a more limited scope and enjoyed them! So maybe McSmith's next book will be something a little tighter? I dunno, I feel bad being like "this was just okay" when there were actually parts that shone for me and it was compelling enough to read in pretty much 24 hours. But there was just a little too much going on for me to truly get into it. I'M SORRY