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neverly's review against another edition
1.0
I'm mad that such a good title and beautiful cover went to this book.
That's not a good review, but it's a wonderful TLDR.
There are many issues I had with this book. Starting with, as other reviewers have mentioned, an ableism problem. I do not have the words to properly express what is wrong with how the disabled character (B.T.B.) is written in this book, and I am certain that there are other reviews on this site (or others) which express the issue better than I can. In short, he is only there to face ableism (which is never meaningfully addressed), occasionally provide support to the MC, or be conveniently forgotten when it's not a convenient time. It's gross, and the way he is presented in this story left a sour taste in my mouth. Would not recommend to anyone sensitive to ableism.
The MC herself was also atrociously annoying. In general unappreciative of the people around her and rather rude, and not in a way that felt constructive to the narrative. The narrative justifies this behavior, even. She also has a problem with women. Almost all the women in this story are presented through the MCs eyes as shallow, boy-crazy, or bitchy. What? You could argue that this is to show how "different" the straight women are from our MC, but even the other WLW characters in the story are treated poorly. Could hardly stand it.
If those two things are not enough to throw down my personal rating of this book to hell, it reads like a revenge fantasy written by a 15 year old who's seen one too many tumblr textposts. The dialogue was so bad and cringe-worthy that it almost distracted me from the glaring issues in the book. Every single inner monologue the character has made me want to skip ahead, and the conversations between the teens in the story? Actually comically unrealistic. Maybe there's some niche of the world where talking like this is natural, but having grown up around some people who were rather religious, this reads closer to an r/Atheism view of religious teenagers than what they are actually like.
Over all a mess of a novel, and one which would have benefitted from edits concerning the way B.T.B. was treated in the book. I am willing to forgive cringy-ness and I am willing to ignore some unrealistic dialogue, but the way he is written is just... unpleasant. I understand that some people liked this story, and liked its romance. But the issues that lie in B.T.B.'s characterization and the treatment of the other side characters was not something I was able to ignore.
That's not a good review, but it's a wonderful TLDR.
There are many issues I had with this book. Starting with, as other reviewers have mentioned, an ableism problem. I do not have the words to properly express what is wrong with how the disabled character (B.T.B.) is written in this book, and I am certain that there are other reviews on this site (or others) which express the issue better than I can. In short, he is only there to face ableism (which is never meaningfully addressed), occasionally provide support to the MC, or be conveniently forgotten when it's not a convenient time. It's gross, and the way he is presented in this story left a sour taste in my mouth. Would not recommend to anyone sensitive to ableism.
The MC herself was also atrociously annoying. In general unappreciative of the people around her and rather rude, and not in a way that felt constructive to the narrative. The narrative justifies this behavior, even. She also has a problem with women. Almost all the women in this story are presented through the MCs eyes as shallow, boy-crazy, or bitchy. What? You could argue that this is to show how "different" the straight women are from our MC, but even the other WLW characters in the story are treated poorly. Could hardly stand it.
If those two things are not enough to throw down my personal rating of this book to hell, it reads like a revenge fantasy written by a 15 year old who's seen one too many tumblr textposts. The dialogue was so bad and cringe-worthy that it almost distracted me from the glaring issues in the book. Every single inner monologue the character has made me want to skip ahead, and the conversations between the teens in the story? Actually comically unrealistic. Maybe there's some niche of the world where talking like this is natural, but having grown up around some people who were rather religious, this reads closer to an r/Atheism view of religious teenagers than what they are actually like.
Over all a mess of a novel, and one which would have benefitted from edits concerning the way B.T.B. was treated in the book. I am willing to forgive cringy-ness and I am willing to ignore some unrealistic dialogue, but the way he is written is just... unpleasant. I understand that some people liked this story, and liked its romance. But the issues that lie in B.T.B.'s characterization and the treatment of the other side characters was not something I was able to ignore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Contains ableism towards a side character with a mental disability (unspecified). This ableism is never meaningfully addressed.breezie_reads's review against another edition
1. The ableism in this book is disgusting. You can have an autistic character without infantilizing them. And it IS autism, not Aspergers. If the author had done any research into a disability she wanted included in her book, she would have known that. But the autistic character wasn't there because she wanted queer AND disability representation. The autistic character was there for character development of everyone else and so we could see who the nice people were and who the mean people were.
2. I have an issue sometimes with people who middle-aged and older writing young adult novels about teenagers because 9 times out of 10, they don't know what they're doing when they're writing these teenaged characters and they come off as completely unbelievable. No teenager talks like that or acts like that.
3. Insta-attraction is a no-go for me. Almost always an immediate DNF.
2. I have an issue sometimes with people who middle-aged and older writing young adult novels about teenagers because 9 times out of 10, they don't know what they're doing when they're writing these teenaged characters and they come off as completely unbelievable. No teenager talks like that or acts like that.
3. Insta-attraction is a no-go for me. Almost always an immediate DNF.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia
space_bandit's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Bullying and Pregnancy
Minor: Death of parent
scarhatesjeffybezos's review against another edition
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia
nicolinebl's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. As someone who is very far away from Christianity (was one when I was young tho) it felt a bit preachy at the start of the book. I honestly found Jo a bit annoying because of how preachy and holier than thou she sounded.
But honestly, it's been a while so I had to get used to that. And when I got over myself, I quite enjoyed the book. Look, Dana was an a very annoying best friend imo. The homophobic people from Georgia weren't the greatest either (fuck Jessica!). But my goodness, I loved BTB, Mary Carlson & George. Not everything about this was the greatest like the plot basically being her having to hide her gay which just gives us some miscommunication and lying to have a plot. But I enjoyed the ride.
But honestly, it's been a while so I had to get used to that. And when I got over myself, I quite enjoyed the book. Look, Dana was an a very annoying best friend imo. The homophobic people from Georgia weren't the greatest either (fuck Jessica!). But my goodness, I loved BTB, Mary Carlson & George. Not everything about this was the greatest like the plot basically being her having to hide her gay which just gives us some miscommunication and lying to have a plot. But I enjoyed the ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Ableism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
kaylamac7777's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Homophobia
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Miscarriage
mia_flanagan's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia and Outing
Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Alcohol
sandy_21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, and Sexual content
Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
field_of_books's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a cute and cosy teen book accentuated with a forbidden sapphic romance. Our main characters are a good example of how you can be LGBTQ+ and still have Christian faith, demonstrating tolerance and acceptance. They show that growing up in a religious environment doesn’t always have to be painful or traumatic.
The book has the cute romance and dialogue on religion going for it- however I found the main characters decisions to be morally grey and felt they should have been held more accountable. I felt that outside of the romance and religious dialogue, there wasn’t a huge amount going for this book. It just needed a little bit ‘more’.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Bullying and Cursing
Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Alcohol