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rhythmofryn's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
OKAY LOOK. I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’m also bisexual. If anyone was going to be able to unpack this book, I dare say, it’s me.
Things that I liked:
-Tanner’s parents. Their support was so wholesome and kind an realistic and I appreciated it deeply.
-lack of biphobia. We LOVE to see it. Tanner is bi and sees no issue in that and never has a crisis about liking people of any gender. Lack of negative stereotypes 🥳 💖💜💙
-the lack of demonizing the Church and its members. I was SCARED going into this because I thought it’d be a soapbox for the authors to bash the Church and say that it’s evil and all its members are homophobic sheep cult members, etc. Everyone hates the Mormons and thinks we’re freaks so you learn to start flinching preemptively. This book didn’t do this. Tanner’s POV was unfamiliar with the Church which made sense bc the authors could explain to him and the audience, but there was real and genuine attempt to understand what it’s like to be a member and the culture here and I cannot overstate how much I appreciated that respect for my beliefs.
-Tanner’s mom leaving the Church. I hate to think that people could ever be so homophobic towards their own family but seriously, decades ago, it was bad and her beef with the Church and wanting to shield Tanner from that were very relatable and real to me. Helped the parent position a lot.
-the weather descriptions were perfect lol? That’s a Utah winter babey
-fascinated by the descriptions of how people dress and act here. Are we really that well-groomed?? Gonna be real, never lived outside Utah and I don’t have a ton of non-member friends so I can’t speak for this one. Also, I never picked up on the “must be polite always” thing but yeah that’s so real.
-that moment of being outed and seen as other and being terrified and knowing you shouldn’t be but you are and you’re so worried that this will completely shift how people view you and then you’ll no longer be worthy of their love??? …yeah. No further comment.
-constant hope of future revelation from the Prophet to change everything? …also yeah. If we could lift the Priesthood restrictions, what else could change 🤞😔
Things I didn’t like:
-no one they met was named Nephi/Ephraim/Teancum/Moroni/Alma/Sariah lmao. Points off for realism. (I’m 100% not joking here because I’ve personally met or known of people with all of these names)
holy sweet glory someone tell me why Tanner and Autumn had sex. It added nothing to the story, didn’t even really meaningfully change their friendship (how???), and didn’t present a major source of conflict for Tanner and Seb so like hello?? Why??
-I’m just super confused about how Seb was apparently grappling with his sexuality the whole time and alsohis worthiness?? I wasn’t clear if Tanner and Seb had legit sex but even as far as they got that I could tell, that’s enough to disqualify you from a mission so if he’s really so devout, then ??? Also, I feel like there’s no way that Seb’s mom could submit his papers for him. He would have to do it himself so smh.
-THE RANDOM POV SHIFTS. We start in 1st person POV for Tanner and then it shifts to 3rd person for Seb and I was like okay weird but that’s fine but THEN IT WENT TO 3rd person for Tanner???? And then the book ended in 1st person for Tanner. Hate it. Make a choice y’all and stay consistent.
-Sebastian as a a character. Tbh I was disappointed. I was looking for some real grappling with doctrine and attraction and wanting something but feeling that’s it’s wrong and contemplating sacrificing your entire culture and identity and being absolutely terrified and I feel like I kinda got that but not really. I know that the authors probably felt like they couldn’t write that super personal struggle from Seb’s point of view so they choose to center on Tanner. As a queer person, I wanted to see that struggle. Sebastian believed that he wasn’t wrong in his feelings and I guess I always did believe I was wrong. While I’m typing this, I’m realizing this didn’t hit for *me* because it doesn’t align with my experience and what I wanted to see but it might work for other religious queer people.
In conclusion, I appreciate a lot of this but I have a lot of issues with it. 3 ⭐️
Things that I liked:
-Tanner’s parents. Their support was so wholesome and kind an realistic and I appreciated it deeply.
-lack of biphobia. We LOVE to see it. Tanner is bi and sees no issue in that and never has a crisis about liking people of any gender. Lack of negative stereotypes 🥳 💖💜💙
-the lack of demonizing the Church and its members. I was SCARED going into this because I thought it’d be a soapbox for the authors to bash the Church and say that it’s evil and all its members are homophobic sheep cult members, etc. Everyone hates the Mormons and thinks we’re freaks so you learn to start flinching preemptively. This book didn’t do this. Tanner’s POV was unfamiliar with the Church which made sense bc the authors could explain to him and the audience, but there was real and genuine attempt to understand what it’s like to be a member and the culture here and I cannot overstate how much I appreciated that respect for my beliefs.
-Tanner’s mom leaving the Church. I hate to think that people could ever be so homophobic towards their own family but seriously, decades ago, it was bad and her beef with the Church and wanting to shield Tanner from that were very relatable and real to me. Helped the parent position a lot.
-the weather descriptions were perfect lol? That’s a Utah winter babey
-fascinated by the descriptions of how people dress and act here. Are we really that well-groomed?? Gonna be real, never lived outside Utah and I don’t have a ton of non-member friends so I can’t speak for this one. Also, I never picked up on the “must be polite always” thing but yeah that’s so real.
-that moment of being outed and seen as other and being terrified and knowing you shouldn’t be but you are and you’re so worried that this will completely shift how people view you and then you’ll no longer be worthy of their love??? …yeah. No further comment.
-constant hope of future revelation from the Prophet to change everything? …also yeah. If we could lift the Priesthood restrictions, what else could change 🤞😔
Things I didn’t like:
-no one they met was named Nephi/Ephraim/Teancum/Moroni/Alma/Sariah lmao. Points off for realism. (I’m 100% not joking here because I’ve personally met or known of people with all of these names)
-I’m just super confused about how Seb was apparently grappling with his sexuality the whole time and also
-THE RANDOM POV SHIFTS. We start in 1st person POV for Tanner and then it shifts to 3rd person for Seb and I was like okay weird but that’s fine but THEN IT WENT TO 3rd person for Tanner???? And then the book ended in 1st person for Tanner. Hate it. Make a choice y’all and stay consistent.
-Sebastian as a a character. Tbh I was disappointed. I was looking for some real grappling with doctrine and attraction and wanting something but feeling that’s it’s wrong and contemplating sacrificing your entire culture and identity and being absolutely terrified and I feel like I kinda got that but not really. I know that the authors probably felt like they couldn’t write that super personal struggle from Seb’s point of view so they choose to center on Tanner. As a queer person, I wanted to see that struggle. Sebastian believed that he wasn’t wrong in his feelings and I guess I always did believe I was wrong. While I’m typing this, I’m realizing this didn’t hit for *me* because it doesn’t align with my experience and what I wanted to see but it might work for other religious queer people.
In conclusion, I appreciate a lot of this but I have a lot of issues with it. 3 ⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Religious bigotry
zinelib's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
When a bisexual teen moves from Palo Alto to Provo, he goes back in the closet because all the happy Mormons are total dicks if you cross them (cross = mind your own business living your best gay life in a town they dominate). And then...he falls in love with the bishop's son, who has a lot to unpack.
What's such a bummer about this book is it seems that there's no way for a kid who loves and believes in Mormonism to stay in the church if he wants to love who he loves. You can be gay, but you can't do gay.
It's a long will-they-or-won't-they, but not too long!
What's such a bummer about this book is it seems that there's no way for a kid who loves and believes in Mormonism to stay in the church if he wants to love who he loves. You can be gay, but you can't do gay.
It's a long will-they-or-won't-they, but not too long!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
vagaybond's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.75
This was so emotional. I'm not used to a YA book having such nuance. And to be as heartbreaking as this. No one died but I feel as emotionally wrought as I did watching the movie Holding The Man (2015) which was based on a book a man wrote about the love story between he and his partner after his partner died of AIDS and before he himself did. There is so much pain in queerness and I often wish to escape it all and have fluffy romance where nobody has to deal with things like I've been through.* And I know there are people who have been luckier than me who don't know pains related to it. But this captured this pain so well and so poetically. I often wish undying love were not so undying too.
*(Disclaimer: my family is imperfect and they were abusive to me, but I did assume coming out specifically would go okay until I actually came out and reality proved otherwise. I wasn't on speaking terms with my biological family from 19-27 or so. Honestly the reaction to coming out is probably what was the last straw, and I'm not sure that a last straw would have existed otherwise. And I needed that no-contact time to survive and become the person I am.)
*(Disclaimer: my family is imperfect and they were abusive to me, but I did assume coming out specifically would go okay until I actually came out and reality proved otherwise. I wasn't on speaking terms with my biological family from 19-27 or so. Honestly the reaction to coming out is probably what was the last straw, and I'm not sure that a last straw would have existed otherwise. And I needed that no-contact time to survive and become the person I am.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, and Gaslighting
Minor: Bullying
aromarrie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tanner & sebastian deserve the world ⛰️🧡
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content
unusuallyy's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, and Lesbophobia
brookeisbusyreading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
First, I want to thank the authors for that ending! I try to accept whatever ending books have because obviously they’re written that way for a reason, but I was BEGGING for this book to end the way I wanted it to lol
Tanner and Sebastian’s struggles, family dynamics, and views on their sexuality was kind of addictive to read about. I don’t want to call current queer romances ‘light-hearted’ or ‘flowery’, though they mostly have a happy ever after (that I’m not complaining about). I like that Autoboyography didn’t have that feeling. The romance was paced differently for one thing.
I’ve also got…different feelings about religion and sexuality or gender identity now than I did when I was little. There’s some religious trauma in there too. Naturally, I connected with Sebastian’s struggles even if I, thankfully, wasn’t around such a religious household. I can sympathize with him.
I love the title of this book too! I don’t know what else to say except that it’s just a really good book!
Tanner and Sebastian’s struggles, family dynamics, and views on their sexuality was kind of addictive to read about. I don’t want to call current queer romances ‘light-hearted’ or ‘flowery’, though they mostly have a happy ever after (that I’m not complaining about). I like that Autoboyography didn’t have that feeling. The romance was paced differently for one thing.
I’ve also got…different feelings about religion and sexuality or gender identity now than I did when I was little. There’s some religious trauma in there too. Naturally, I connected with Sebastian’s struggles even if I, thankfully, wasn’t around such a religious household. I can sympathize with him.
I love the title of this book too! I don’t know what else to say except that it’s just a really good book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia
rafacolog's review against another edition
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
thejenstamps's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
After reflecting on this beautiful novel for a few days, I can safely say that this is my favorite read of 2023 - and easily top five of all time.
I wish this was required reading for high school kids.
I wish this was required reading for high school kids.
If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, love someone who is LGBTQIA+, want to understand the community more, and/or are an ally, you’ll adore this book.
And if you don’t fit into one of those categories above, you probably should definitely read this book.
And if you don’t fit into one of those categories above, you probably should definitely read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
peh27's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
mimo_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ok so despite one of the main plot points of the book being abt seb being ,, deeply mormon ,, it never went fr into detail so it still felt like a light read~
felt perhaps a bit two dimensional at times but im also not the target audience here i thought it was cute n fun
felt perhaps a bit two dimensional at times but im also not the target audience here i thought it was cute n fun
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Outing