Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Annie on My Mind

I have had this book on my to read list for 10 years. This was filled with so much more hope, love and acceptance and happiness than I thought it would have been which is why I think I held off a decade on reading it. The extreme challenges of being gay in the early 1980’s and prior decades are very clear but what also is clear are how the times were changing and what that looked like for these girls who were exploring and recognizing their true selves.

I listened to the 2008 audiobook which includes a wonderful interview of the author and is so eye opening to listen to as 25 years had passed since the book was published at that point and now an additional 16 years have gone by and I wonder how Nancy’s answers would have been today especially since she mentioned in that interview hoping for more transgender representation which we indeed do have today, although an increase in attacks on the trans and LGBTQIA+ community including queer youth- another group she focused on in the interview.

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haileyhardcover's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I thrifted this book months ago and it has been sitting on my book cart ignored since then… I just wasn’t excited about it. A book from 1982? Older than ME, even? I just didn’t think it would be very good… I almost tossed it in my donate pile. I finally decided to pick it up thinking it would fill a couple of days of reading time and get me to the end of the year… instead, I read the whole thing in one sitting.

This story is so compelling. At several points my jaw literally dropped reading what Annie and Liza (especially Liza) had to go through.

I ran the full gamut of emotions reading this book. The butterflies and hope of a first love, the fear of being found out, the rage of having to fight against bigotry and oppression, the desperation to just be allowed to be yourself and love someone, the joy of acceptance. There’s so much in this relatively short story, and it is so worth the read.

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town_scar's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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thatchickengirl23's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

3.5 star rating based on my enjoyment.

I'm usually able to enjoy books that are geared towards younger readers despite no longer being the intended audience, but I think this is one of those times where it did hinder my enjoyment of the story. But still, I did appreciate this book and I think it's an important one for people to read, especially the intended audience. Even though there are more resources today than in 1982, this could still be a reassuring book for young girls who might be struggling with their sexuality. This was very well written and still holds up well today.

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Annie on My Mind was a love story that was really a Window to both the Lesbian and Homophobic cultures of the 1980s. Annie and Liza's love story was the central point of the story, but I think what's more important about the book is the reactions of all of the various secondary characters as they find out about the girls' relationship.

I really enjoyed seeing Liza and Annie's relationship through Liza's reflections and how childlike wonder allowed them to find each other and fall in love. Although I loved the reflective part, the changing between first and third person from reflections in the letter to Liza at MIT was a bit jarring. I also really loved the descriptive aspects of the book, the author really captured the way people looked and acted quite well, my favorite was, " Those two old women, whale and pilot fish, eagle and sparrow, heads back, mouths open wide, eyes shining, singing as if they were both desperately trying to be fifteen years old again," about Poindexter and Baxter.

The teachers' relationship was beautifully written as a picture of what lesbians dealt with in, seemingly, the 1960s, 70s, and into the 80s and the many sacrifices they had to make to continue being together. The details we get at the end of their history, as well as the hints about their life together in their house, showcase what difficult choices had to be made at this time.

The reactions of all the other surrounding characters, either blind ignorance, religious homophobia, or well-meaning homophobia, also provided insight into the changing of the times, as we see much older characters react aggressively, like Baxter and Poindexter, middle-aged characters react by ignoring it like Liza's parents or the Board of Trustees, or the students at Liza's school either asking about their sex life, recommending therapy, or having a "love the sin hate the sinner" mentality, it shows the changing of generational reactions to LGBTQ+ people and what this looked like in the 1980s.

All in all, I quite enjoyed Annie on My Mind, but perhaps more as a history lesson than as a romance novel!

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finleyfrogreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

chirimoya_222's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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