A review by maudebs
Deliver Me by Kate Jarvik Birch

2.0

There I was, chugging along and vaguely enjoying this perfectly inoffensive - if not immensely original - YA dystopian entry when 70 percent of the way through we're introduced to a male character (with floppy hair!) for the sole purpose of 'no homo'-ing the protagonist and her relationship with her best friend. She talks to him for about two pages, thinks about wanting to touch his face, and then mentally recalls him every time a character discusses love for the rest of the book just so her strong friendship with her childhood friend isn't called into question. It was the most inane addition to what was a perfectly okay novel about railing against society and fighting for freedom, and I felt sort of personally disgusted that the author felt the need to so clearly flag a reminder that This Book Is Heterosexual in case any poor young girls reading it might be led to believe anything else is okay.

We can have books with no romance, even! Or maybe the ideal future doesn't have to be a husband and kids? I didn't think these concepts were so revolutionary but they must be, if they don't even make it into a book about balking against the norms.

2 stars because I liked the babies.