Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - Annie on My Mind

I really enjoyed this novel.

I wish I had read it when I was 15 and in love with a girl. Nancy Garden captures beautifully the immediacy of first love, and the purity and fear involved in falling in love with a friend.
To me, the novel felt more like it was more about Liza overcoming her internalized homophobia, as much as it was about the love story with Annie. Garden doesn't shy away from addressing how difficult it is to come to terms with your sexuality when you're surrounded by homophobia and prejudice.

I do feel that both characters could have been developed more deeply. I found the central conflict of the novel (the drama with Liza's school) to be very frustrating and anxiety inducing and it didn't offer much character development. It felt at times that the plot of the novel was centered too much around the homophobia that they had to overcome. Which was a little cliche, but understandable considering that it was originally published in the 80's. The homophobic remarks made by characters in response to Liza and Annie's relationship can be very triggering so TW to my fellow queer folks with religious trauma.

That said, I was wholeheartedly invested in their love story and couldn't put it down. Their relationship was so cute and I literally screamed with happiness into my paperback copy:
“Have you ever felt really close to someone? So close that you can't understand why you and the other person have two separate bodies, two separate skins?”

OH MY GOD. If you know you know.

I definitely grew to love and relate to both Liza and Annie. It's hard to say whether this book reopened or healed some old wounds. Maybe both. The metaphor of the snow monster was very striking and stuck with me. Liza lost sight of the goodness within herself because of the hurt she felt her relationship caused others. She saw her sexuality as a beast she had to fight. It wasn't until she could live with the seeming paradox that her 'beast' was pure and made of love that she found peace inside herself and was able to reconnect with Annie.

A really sweet book. For sure a winter read.

Content Warnings

kajoreads's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.5

Not my personal favourite, but I’m glad it exists.

Content Warnings

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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.

Content Warnings

bookhails's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

elysh_kaye's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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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.

Content Warnings

repunzee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

Content Warnings

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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