A review by abbie_
I Felt the End Before It Came: Memoirs of a Queer Ex-Jehovah's Witness by Daniel Allen Cox

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

Thanks to Libro.fm and Penguin Canada for my free ALC! 

A collection of essays from a white, queer ex-Jehovah’s Witness turned porn star turned author, this book intrigued me from the get go. However, I expected more of a memoir and overlooked the fact it was written as essays. As a result it felt quite disjointed and scattered. It seemed we’d spend ages on one topic that could have been shorter, then quickly brush past a huge chunk of his life to arrive somewhere else - it could be a bit disorienting. I actually found the later essays, when Cox had left the JWs and Canada for New York and was forging his own path as a model. These sections felt raw and honest and well thought-out, whereas the sections about his youth growing up in the JWs felt muddled. I imagine it takes a lifetime to heal from the trauma of growing up in a cult-like religion which hates queer people, and so I can forgive that Cox might not have the ability yet to write with utter clarity about that time in his life.

Would definitely seek out some of this author’s fiction, and would be interested in reading from some of the other authors mentioned in this book who left the religion. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings