A review by ravensandlace
The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes

4.0

Title: The Meadows

Author: Stephanie Oakes

Genre: YA Dystopian

Format: hardback library book

Series: NA

Star Rating: 4 stars

tw: queerphobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny, PTSD, suicide, conversion therapy, blood, parental death, 

*the trigger warnings are also located at the front of the book

This book was read for my YA Not Club.

So I was in a bit of a bind. I needed a book for my YA Not Club. We are to pick a new book (released this year) YA book. I had missed the last meeting due to illness. So I rushed over to the library and pulled this one. I happened to be on my TBR and the author had written another book I enjoyed, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly. So I had a feeling I would enjoy this book.

Anyway, my intuition was correct. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a very slow burn but the book rewards you for your patience by dropping little bits of information. I took my time with this book because I did not want it to end. I soaked up all the mystery of the Meadows and I loved the feelings of dread that the Meadows gave me. There was constantly a sense of uneasiness that pervaded throughout the whole book. It made me incredibly uneasy and I was enjoying every single second of it. 

Eleanor was the perfect main character. For some reason, I felt like I couldn’t trust her fully. I felt like the secret she was holding was bad and I just couldn’t trust her at all. But after a while, I felt like I could trust her, and I enjoyed her character arc quite a bit. I was rooting for her the whole way. Even when I felt like I couldn’t trust her, I was still rooting for her and hoping for the best for her. 

This book also filled me with a sense of hope. Even though this book was about conversion therapy, I still felt so much hope. I had hoped that Eleanor could fix the world and let others know that they were perfect just the way they were. I am part of the LGBT community but I was blessed with a family that loves me for who I am and would never think of sending me to one of those conversion camps. My heart truly broke for all those girls, even the mean girls. I know that they weren’t being mean to be mean. They were hurting and they had no way to let out that hurt. 

Overall, this was a great book and I have nothing but high praise for it. I think every child, queer or not, should read this book. Hell, I think every adult should read this book. It‘s a very important book, especially in today's current climate. You can feel the hurt, the pain, the suffering, that these girls went through. If you aren’t moved by that, then you are just heartless. I can’t recommend this book enough.