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queercontent 's review for:
Surrender Your Sons
by Adam Sass
They promised a well-researched novel that took its subject seriously. But SYS dipped too far from the realm of believability for that to be the case, and I'm worried you won't get enough warning before picking this novel up.
Connor is pinballed from one emotional scene to another in what seems like the longest day in history. So much changes in such short blocks of time, with months worth of personal growth happening in mere hours. The camp seems like it's been left in stasis, too—like the other campers waited for a hero like Connor to arrive before taking action.
One commenter says SYS 'doesn't know what it wants to be', and I definitely feel that. There's some truly gripping suspense scenes that'll knock your socks off, but there's also too many odd encounters around them that drop like a 'comedy of errors'.
Another commenter points out that everything and nothing happen at the same time, and I feel this as well. Big chunks of introspection often derail the small acts of violence bracketing them, which distracts from the consequences of these acts and weighs on their ability to drive urgency.
My biggest concern is reading comments calling this 'real' and 'honest' when it isn't. I think these commenters came to SYS for the same reason I did: that I was promised reality with an empowering twist into genre fiction. But there isn't anything real here beyond 'conversion therapy still happens', and it's clear these commenters don't realise that themselves.
For anyone who's endured conversion/aversion therapy, however, I urge you to take extra precautions before reading this novel.
I didn't hate it over all, but I didn't love it either. A nice read if you're looking for romance with a heavy build-up, but not a nice read if you enjoy linear narratives without huge jumps (or ultraviolence against queer minorities).
Edit, December 2020: Adam Sass plans to release the original manuscript where characters battle each other with superpowers!?
Connor is pinballed from one emotional scene to another in what seems like the longest day in history. So much changes in such short blocks of time, with months worth of personal growth happening in mere hours. The camp seems like it's been left in stasis, too—like the other campers waited for a hero like Connor to arrive before taking action.
One commenter says SYS 'doesn't know what it wants to be', and I definitely feel that. There's some truly gripping suspense scenes that'll knock your socks off, but there's also too many odd encounters around them that drop like a 'comedy of errors'.
Another commenter points out that everything and nothing happen at the same time, and I feel this as well. Big chunks of introspection often derail the small acts of violence bracketing them, which distracts from the consequences of these acts and weighs on their ability to drive urgency.
My biggest concern is reading comments calling this 'real' and 'honest' when it isn't. I think these commenters came to SYS for the same reason I did: that I was promised reality with an empowering twist into genre fiction. But there isn't anything real here beyond 'conversion therapy still happens', and it's clear these commenters don't realise that themselves.
For anyone who's endured conversion/aversion therapy, however, I urge you to take extra precautions before reading this novel.
I didn't hate it over all, but I didn't love it either. A nice read if you're looking for romance with a heavy build-up, but not a nice read if you enjoy linear narratives without huge jumps (or ultraviolence against queer minorities).
Edit, December 2020: Adam Sass plans to release the original manuscript where characters battle each other with superpowers!?