A review by booked_moody
Pictures of You by Leta Blake

5.0

β€’Pictures of You
β€’You Are Not Me
β€’Only You

"πšƒπš‘πšŽ πšŽπšŸπšŽπš—πš’πš—πš πšŽπš—πšŒπšŠπš™πšœπšžπš•πšŠπšπšŽπš πšπš‘πšŽ πš˜πš—πšŽ πšπš‘πš’πš—πš π™Έβ€™πš πš—πšŽπšŸπšŽπš› πš‘πšŠπš πš’πš— πš–πš’ πšŽπš—πšπš’πš›πšŽ πš•πš’πšπšŽ πš‹πšŽπšπš˜πš›πšŽ πšπš‘πš’πšœ πš™πšŠπšœπš πšœπšžπš–πš–πšŽπš›: πšπš›πš’πšŽπš—πšπšœ πš πš‘πš˜ πš”πš—πšŽπš  πš–πšŽ πšπš˜πš› πš πš‘πš˜ 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜, πšŠπš—πš πš πš‘πš˜ πš•πš˜πšŸπšŽπš πš–πšŽ πšŠπš—πš’πš πšŠπš’."

β€’ οΌ­ο½™ οΌ΄ο½ˆο½ο½•ο½‡ο½ˆο½”ο½“ β€’
You know how sometimes you can tell the difference between reading a book and letting a book consume you?  This series was a consume situation.  I had a vague idea of the premise but basically went in blind and did not at all expect the emotional reaction I experienced. 

This story was such an honest rendition of the universal teenage experience of self discovery - with the added nuance of trying to navigate life as a, largely unaccepted, queer person in the 90's.  Everything is depicted so realistically with this nostalgic overlay that keeps your heart in a chokehold. 

That first taste of war between the heart, the body, and the conscience - and learning the delicate balance of feeding them all with the least amount of collateral damage.   Discovering the difference between the heartbreak that carries an undercurrent of hope - and the heartbreak that leaves you desperately scrambling for anything to keep yourself afloat.  

Recognizing who you are as a person and the realization that you have the power to change into who you want to be. While also acknowledging that that choice isn’t without pain and discomfort but if you learn to trust yourself, there's light on the other side of that pain.  Just wow.  

All of this from a few books?  YEAH DUDE.  I finished a couple of days ago and my heart feels lighter after experiencing Peter's journey with him but also still full of ache for other characters.  This is one that will stick with me for a long while.