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books4em's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, this was good. I wouldn’t call it a romance, the love story is definitely a subplot and honestly I didn’t fully see the chemistry between the two characters. The book centers around being gay in the Bible Belt in the early 2010s. There’s a lot of homophobia, but it centers around queer characters. So the representation is good, but it might be triggering for many people. The growth of the main character is a main plot point as well, and there were so many facets of it that it’s almost too much going on in 350 pages. Not bad for a debut, and I will read further stories by this author but I think this was trying to do too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia