Boy Erased--"I wish none of his had ever happened. Sometimes I thank God it did."

Title: Boy Erased: A Memoir

Author: Garrard Conley


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character and several secondary characters are gay

Content Warning: Conversion therapy, suicidal thoughts, depression

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Garrard is sexually assaulted and outed as gay to his conservative religious parents when he is in his freshman year of college. His parents send him to Love in Action, a now-defunct conversion "reparative" therapy center in order to "cure" Garrard of his "sin of same-sex attraction" so he would become heterosexual. Garrard's stay at Love in Action is extremely psychologically damaging.


What I think: This post has been in my drafts folder longer than anything I have ever written--I read Boy Erased over two years ago, around the time I first started blogging, and it affected me profoundly. The book--well, I am going to quote myself from Ziggy, Stardust & Me:

I used to be able to read about topics of sickness and child death, but having kids seems to have wired my brain differently; now I get upset to the point of panic attacks when reading or watching children suffering (It's embarrassing. During one memorable incident at a teacher in-service I left the room sobbing after watching a PSA about children getting injured in a meth lab explosion).

I realize that Conley is over 18 even during the events in the book, but I could not help but imagine my trans child in conversion therapy, being told that something is very wrong with him, and my heart just breaks for every single person who has had to undergo that.

"You didn't think this was the end of the story, did you?"--Books that need sequels

Top 10 Most-Wished-For Sequels

I just bought a long-awaited sequel today, I have another one on order, and I literally squealed with excitement when this one was announced! (And if this one ever becomes a reality, I will be so, SO overjoyed). Ooh, and I almost forgot about this upcoming one!

Clearly, I enjoy a good sequel, so let's ignore the 20 or so books in my to-be-read pile and the 10 in my I've-read-but-still-need-to-review pile and talk about the books that need sequels. Sometimes, I am just so in love with the characters, universe, and/or plot that I need MORE.

I need to know what happens next for these beloved people whose lives I've shared through the pages of their stories. I would camp outside of a bookstore to buy these sequels, like us older people had to do for concert tickets in the pre-Internet dark ages.

In fact, most of these books had me have immediately visiting Archive of Our Own to see if there are any fanfictions about these books, and if there are, I will link to the pages.

Uma said it best.



In alphabetical order, here are my top 10 most-wished-for sequels:

Dumplin' and Puddin'--"All of the best things in my life have started with a Dolly Parton song"

Titles: Dumplin' and Puddin'

Author: Julie Murphy


LGBTQ+ Representation: Minor characters are drag queens in m/m relationship. Supporting character is a lesbian; another supporting character comes out as asexual.

What each book is about (in 75 words or fewer):

Dumplin'--Willowdean has always felt confident in her plus-size body but experiences some insecurity when the cute private school jock, Bo, becomes attracted to her. Will can't understand why Bo likes her. In order to regain her confidence, Will (and a group of other girls) decides to enter the Miss Clover City beauty pageant, which is run by her former-beauty-queen mother. Will is determined to prove that beauty comes in all sizes.

Puddin'--In order to please her parents, Millie goes to fat camp every summer. But this summer, she is determined to stick up for herself and attend journalism camp instead. Meanwhile, Callie is the mean-girl dance team member, next in line for captain, with the hot boyfriend. When Millie and Callie end up having to work together at Millie's uncle's gym, they form a surprising friendship.


What I think: I decided to review these books together for a couple of reasons. First of all, they are companion novels, written by the fabulous Julie Murphy. Each book can stand alone, but many of the same characters appear in both stories. Second, many of the same topics and themes are addressed in both stories making them easy to write about together. Finally, Dumplin' the movie premiered on Netflix months ago. I still haven't seen it since I have no one who is willing to loan me their Netflix password 😉, but I have obviously read the book. Everyone on my Facebook and Twitter who raved about the movie got this reply from me:

Dumplin' is a great YA book; I highly recommend it. The companion book, Puddin,' is EVEN BETTER than Dumplin.' Seriously, read them both. 

Let's talk Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters books--9 reviews in one!

Let's talk Cassandra Clare books!  I plan to review three (maybe more!) of them separately, but I am squishing reviews for nine of the books in this one post.  Lots and lots of spoilers as well as my very biased opinions appear in the following reviews. 👼

Review #1: Original Mortal Instruments trilogy-- City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass

Author: Cassandra Clare


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer):  Teenage Clary discovers that she is actually a Shadowhunter, a group of warriors descended from the angels who have special powers to carve runes on their skin and defeat demons. When Clary's mother disappears, Clary becomes part of the Shadowhunter world, learns about other magical creatures that actually exist, solves the mystery of her parentage, falls in love with Jace, and fights many battles against scary creatures--including her own human father.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): I was late to the Mortal Instruments party.

Saving Alex--"We still have a lot of work to do"

Title:  Saving Alex:  When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began

Author:  Alex Cooper with Joanna Brooks

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): When fifteen-year-old Alex tells her parents that she is a lesbian, she thinks her parents are sending her away to live with her grandparents.  However, Alex's parents send her to the Siales, a husband and wife team who take in "rebellious" teenagers and "fix" them.  Until Alex manages to escape with the help of school staff and a lawyer, she is physically and mentally abused in order to "cure" her of her homosexuality.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  Saving Alex that reads like one of those delightfully trashy unauthorized Kitty Kelley biographies that I went through a phase of reading in high school (don't judge).  I do not mean, however, to negate the seriousness of Alex's story by comparing it to a sensationalist novel.  Saving Alex is an autobiography and therefore is authorized, and it is truly horrifying.

Simon Vs. The Homosapiens Agenda--"White shouldn't be the default anymore than straight should be the default. There shouldn't even be a default."

Title: Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda

Author: Becky Albertalli

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer):  Simon is gay and hasn’t come out to the world yet.  He is in an email “relationship” with Blue, another student from his high school in the same situation.  Simon thinks he might be falling in love with Blue, but when some jerky kid finds out about the emails, Simon’s life suddenly becomes much more complicated.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  First of all, this book reminded me of all of the GOOD times I had in high school--NOT the angsty parts.  Definitely a point in its favor!