About the Book
-
Author:
- Riley Redgate
- Genres:
- Contemporary
- Girl-Girl Romance
Cover Story: Look At Us
BFF Charms: Eventually x 2
Talky Talk: Dual P.O.V.
Bonus Factors: Queer-Affirming Christianity, Coach Taylor Award
Factor: Homelessness
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: This Book Could Save A Life
Cover Story: Look At Us
The window framing the two girls’ almost-kiss, with the city around them fading to black and white, is the perfect way of showing the intensity of their secret love.
The Deal:
Gloria Forman loves living in a small town: proud parents, good friends and a close-knit church community surround her. She knows it would break their hearts to find out she’s attracted to girls, but following queer content online can’t hurt anyone as long as she deletes her browser history … right?
Xia Harper hates living in a small town. She’s not ashamed of being queer, but the bigotry all around her keeps her in the closet out of sheer self-preservation. She’s afraid to come out even to her parents, who are so grateful for their well-paying new jobs that they can’t understand what her problem is. The bookstore where she works is her only refuge – until Gloria shows up, studying for hours every day, almost as if she’s got nowhere else to go. Can it be that even the so-called “perfect” church girl has problems of her own?
BFF Charm: Eventually x 2
Xia starts out as pretty self-absorbed (understandably, but still). In her efforts to keep from getting outed, she’s made herself so unlikeable that no one wants to go near her. Gloria, on the other hand, is too selfless for her own good. She still worries about her parents’ feelings after they literally turn her out of the house. Both girls have a lot to learn from each other, which makes it very satisfying when they do.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
This is a slow burn, and a delicious one at that. Xia and Gloria don’t even talk to each other for the first few chapters, until a small act of kindness – Xia paying for Gloria’s books at the store – breaks the ice. The courage it takes for them both to admit their feelings after lifetimes of denial is downright heroic. The first time they held hands, I wanted to throw confetti. (But don’t worry, romance readers – they do more than that.)
Talky Talk: Dual P.O.V.
I found it both touching and ironic how little they know what’s going on in each other’s heads – just like in real life. Xia worries that Gloria’s emotional reserve means she (Xia) is doing something wrong, while at the same time Gloria is terrified of Xia finding out that she’s homeless. To the reader, it’s blindingly obvious that all they need is to talk to each other, but they don’t know that – yet.
Bonus Factor: Queer-Affirming Christianity
A lot of stories I’ve read about LGBTQ+ people from Christian backgrounds show them having to choose between their gender/sexuality and their faith, as if the two were mutually exclusive, but not all Christians believe that. Gloria finds people, both online and in person, who don’t believe that who you are or whom you love should be considered sinful: “I cannot and will not believe,” she reads, “That the Almighty made me to walk this Earth alone.” As for Xia, she’s an atheist, and neither one ever judges the other for their beliefs or tries to convert them.
Bonus Factor: Coach Taylor Award
Mr. Avery, owner of the bookstore where Xia works, sees past her prickly attitude and respects her for the smart, thoughtful fellow bookworm she is. He gives her and Gloria a safe space when they need it the most.
Factor: Homelessness
Gloria doesn’t like to admit to herself that she’s homeless at first. Surely her parents will take her back … won’t they? But she’s sleeping in a place that was never built to be slept in – the orchestra pit of her school’s auditorium – counting down what’s left of her pocket money, and not knowing where her next meal will come from when it runs out. She puts immense effort into pretending everything’s okay: keeping up her grades, wearing her hair in a bun so no one can see it’s dirty, letting Xia treat her to dinner and feeling awful about it. All to protect her parents’ reputation, in the event they take her back.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Gloria’s parents are terrifying – not just because they throw their daughter out into the night, but because they honestly believe they’re following God’s will when they do it.
Relationship Status: This Book Could Save A Life
“Pride [is] like the opposite of fear,” Xia tells Gloria. I hope this book gets out to whoever needs it, and makes them feel less afraid.
Literary Matchmaking
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour is also about starting from scratch after losing everything.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo also features a Chinese-American lesbian protagonist.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston is also about growing up queer in a small evangelical town.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review.
