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pageobsessed17's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
spacepanda120's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
milomarkle's review
5.0
Re-read: 5/5 stars
…wow…I forgot how beautifully written and impactful this book was. This has become one of my favorite books by far. This is such a fantastic representation of the effects of conversion therapy, and it has touched my soul deeply…
…wow…I forgot how beautifully written and impactful this book was. This has become one of my favorite books by far. This is such a fantastic representation of the effects of conversion therapy, and it has touched my soul deeply…
bigfoottruther's review
4.0
So well written! I got this as a library book, but I honestly want a copy of my own so I can highlight all of the beautiful quotes. Brynne Rebele-Henry's writing style was my favorite part of the entire book!
sara_naemi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
isabelbrieler's review against another edition
3.0
The story was really emotional but I cannot get behind the writing style - this book would have been better with a more straightforward narrative rather than the author trying to hard to make it ~artsy~.
ceceewing_'s review
3.0
I didn’t immediately want to write a review for this one because I can’t stand writing 3 star reviews but here we go! Let’s attempt this!
Things I liked:
-Mythological elements, specifically the Orpheus retelling element and how present it was in the story
-The characters
-The writing, it was beautiful and it was easy to get through
-The length. For the content, I’m glad this wasn’t longer because I don’t think I could have handled it.
Things I didn’t like:
-Char as a “villain” or whatever she was currently standing in for
-Violence against a trans person to motivate other queer characters
-Lack of a conclusion with a particular storyline with the main character’s mother
-No mention of types of queerness beyond gay and trans. No bi, pan, ace or otherwise queer characters, which makes it seem like lesbian, gay, and transgender are the only options.
I’m glad this book had trigger warnings at the beginning in multiple places but I would like to expand on those so no queer people go into this without warning. Full tw list: homophobia, homophobic slurs, transphobia, misgendering, dead naming, conversion “therapy”, vivid description of electroshock and other torture methods that conversion camps use, suicide, internalized homophobia, outing.
I wish I had more to say about this but I really don’t. This is a book designed to make people, especially queer people, cry and it just didn’t make me cry because I can always feel that manipulative writing and it just keeps me at a distance. I think there is some value here when it comes to depicting conversion therapy as torture, in refusing to look at it as anything but torture. I think sometimes narratives refuse to really tackle that head on and so in some ways this is a valuable story.
However, I don’t know who I could in good conscience recommend this to. The book was dedicated to queer teens, but I would never put this story in the hands of queer teens. It’s too horrifying, too scarring, especially for queer teens living in deeply homophobic situations. But I also feel like adults who are confident in their queerness have read conversion therapy narratives before and would have to be, like me, in a very strong frame of mind to read about the torture being done to queer teens. So, while I think there’s so much value in writing about the truth of the torture in these camps, the intended audience for this confuses me.
Like I said, I hate writing 3 star reviews because I go back and forth so often. I don’t know how to evenly describe the food and the bad so sometimes I doubt myself and the star rating I gave the book. Maybe, hopefully, my indecision and my middling feelings make sense. If this is a book you loved I would love to hear why, and if this is a book you can’t stand I would love to hear why as well. For now, these are my thoughts and I hope they make sense.
Things I liked:
-Mythological elements, specifically the Orpheus retelling element and how present it was in the story
-The characters
-The writing, it was beautiful and it was easy to get through
-The length. For the content, I’m glad this wasn’t longer because I don’t think I could have handled it.
Things I didn’t like:
-Char as a “villain” or whatever she was currently standing in for
-Violence against a trans person to motivate other queer characters
-Lack of a conclusion with a particular storyline with the main character’s mother
-No mention of types of queerness beyond gay and trans. No bi, pan, ace or otherwise queer characters, which makes it seem like lesbian, gay, and transgender are the only options.
I’m glad this book had trigger warnings at the beginning in multiple places but I would like to expand on those so no queer people go into this without warning. Full tw list: homophobia, homophobic slurs, transphobia, misgendering, dead naming, conversion “therapy”, vivid description of electroshock and other torture methods that conversion camps use, suicide, internalized homophobia, outing.
I wish I had more to say about this but I really don’t. This is a book designed to make people, especially queer people, cry and it just didn’t make me cry because I can always feel that manipulative writing and it just keeps me at a distance. I think there is some value here when it comes to depicting conversion therapy as torture, in refusing to look at it as anything but torture. I think sometimes narratives refuse to really tackle that head on and so in some ways this is a valuable story.
However, I don’t know who I could in good conscience recommend this to. The book was dedicated to queer teens, but I would never put this story in the hands of queer teens. It’s too horrifying, too scarring, especially for queer teens living in deeply homophobic situations. But I also feel like adults who are confident in their queerness have read conversion therapy narratives before and would have to be, like me, in a very strong frame of mind to read about the torture being done to queer teens. So, while I think there’s so much value in writing about the truth of the torture in these camps, the intended audience for this confuses me.
Like I said, I hate writing 3 star reviews because I go back and forth so often. I don’t know how to evenly describe the food and the bad so sometimes I doubt myself and the star rating I gave the book. Maybe, hopefully, my indecision and my middling feelings make sense. If this is a book you loved I would love to hear why, and if this is a book you can’t stand I would love to hear why as well. For now, these are my thoughts and I hope they make sense.
muren28's review
3.0
Not anything wrong with it necessarily, it just felt like an off brand Cameron Post (which is one of my favorite books)
bellaklatan's review
3.0
content and trigger warnings: self-harm, transphobia, misgendering, homophobia, violence against LGBTQ characters, death, car accident, child abandonment, surgery mention, harm/death of animals, grief, homophobic slurs, blood, violence, outing, religion, conversion therapy, abuse, harassment, electrocution/electroshock therapy, torture, starvation, suicide, body horror (in nightmares), nightmares