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Same Love
At seventeen, Adam has suspected for a while that he might be gay. His sketchbook has become full of images of good-looking men, and he isn't attracted to any of the girls he knows. When he reveals his feelings to his devout parents, they send him to a Christian camp, warning him that there will be no room in their lives for a gay son. The last thing Adam expects is to meet someone he is deeply attracted to; unfortunately, Paul is more committed to his Christian faith than Adam is.
Adam tries to bury his attraction to Paul by concentrating on his art and his new friends Rhonda and Martin. When it becomes clear how unhappy Rhonda and Martin are at Camp Revelation, Adam and Paul are both forced to question what the church tells them about love. But with a whole camp full of people trying to get Adam to change who he is, what kind of chance do Adam and Paul have to find love and a life with each other?
Adam tries to bury his attraction to Paul by concentrating on his art and his new friends Rhonda and Martin. When it becomes clear how unhappy Rhonda and Martin are at Camp Revelation, Adam and Paul are both forced to question what the church tells them about love. But with a whole camp full of people trying to get Adam to change who he is, what kind of chance do Adam and Paul have to find love and a life with each other?
125 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2017
About the author
Tony Correia
8 books11 followersTony Correia is the author of "Same Love", "Foodsluts at Doll & Penny's Cafe", and "Haters Gotta Hate." His work has appeared in magazines and newspapers across Canada and the US.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
June 20, 2017
I was provided a free copy via netgalley.
Just to pre-warn you this is a super ranty review.
I don't know what it is about the month of June but I am having no luck with books... this was so close to being a DNF.
The basis of this book is about a guy called Adam and his family is very religious. Adam is coming to terms with the fact he is gay and waiting for the right time to tell his parents. That isn't the case he is outed by someone at the church. He then goes home to his parents hurling extremely offensive terms at him (which I was mortified to read, however I do understand why this was done... Kind of). He's then shipped away to a religious camp and the story moves on from there.
My issues were that we literally went from chapter to chapter, this had the potential to be something really good and showing us how people deal with these types of things. Instead we just got a play by play of things that happened with not much development. Revelations happened so quickly, the hypocrisy in this book is one thing that had my eye twitching with rage. Before I even start I'm going to make this very very clear I do not have an issue with gay characters what so ever. My problem with this is that throughout the book they are preaching to Adam that homosexuality is wrong and a sin etc. However along the way we meet three other gay characters, TWO of those tells Adam how wrong he is, and want him to go into therapy. One even states "he has homosexual thoughts, but he has a wife". I mean. I can't. I really can't. Another character doesn't want to admit he's gay, Adam accepts this and is then told "you would be lucky to have me as a boyfriend". How does this make any sense when you're arguing with someone, telling them it's a sin etc. THE HYPOCRITE. Finally we have the final person who comes out (but doesn't really), he grinds on Adam and wants to make him love him. It's just really not well done. Moving on from that I had a few other issues, the female character was portrayed as a slut for sleeping with her boyfriend outside of marriage, I mean fair enough. HOWEVER my issue was that this wasn't addressed, no one stood up for her and they just dismissed things. It really is infuriating. One of the characters is Diabetic, and depends on insulin. In one part of the book, they take there blood and a character says "It's not like I'm breastfeeding" HANG ON A MINUTE. I didn't realise that feeding your child was such a disgusting act. That really really rattled me. Suicidal feelings isn't handled well, it's just ignored, like this is a big thing. Things need to be addressed properly not ignored.
For me the saving features of this book were Rhonda and Mike (who we only see/hear from in like 3 chapters). Rhonda stands up for what she believes in, she questions things and is continually shot down. She was just such a good character, but even then we didn't see enough of her.
Randall literally reminded me of Randall from Recess, if you've seen it and read this you'll 100% get what I mean.
I honestly wouldn't recommend this book if you are all for equal rights, this really grated on me. I see where this book comes from, but there were so many things that I found disturbing, and things weren't addressed/handled well/not at all.
Just to pre-warn you this is a super ranty review.
I don't know what it is about the month of June but I am having no luck with books... this was so close to being a DNF.
The basis of this book is about a guy called Adam and his family is very religious. Adam is coming to terms with the fact he is gay and waiting for the right time to tell his parents. That isn't the case he is outed by someone at the church. He then goes home to his parents hurling extremely offensive terms at him (which I was mortified to read, however I do understand why this was done... Kind of). He's then shipped away to a religious camp and the story moves on from there.
My issues were that we literally went from chapter to chapter, this had the potential to be something really good and showing us how people deal with these types of things. Instead we just got a play by play of things that happened with not much development. Revelations happened so quickly, the hypocrisy in this book is one thing that had my eye twitching with rage. Before I even start I'm going to make this very very clear I do not have an issue with gay characters what so ever. My problem with this is that throughout the book they are preaching to Adam that homosexuality is wrong and a sin etc. However along the way we meet three other gay characters, TWO of those tells Adam how wrong he is, and want him to go into therapy. One even states "he has homosexual thoughts, but he has a wife". I mean. I can't. I really can't. Another character doesn't want to admit he's gay, Adam accepts this and is then told "you would be lucky to have me as a boyfriend". How does this make any sense when you're arguing with someone, telling them it's a sin etc. THE HYPOCRITE. Finally we have the final person who comes out (but doesn't really), he grinds on Adam and wants to make him love him. It's just really not well done. Moving on from that I had a few other issues, the female character was portrayed as a slut for sleeping with her boyfriend outside of marriage, I mean fair enough. HOWEVER my issue was that this wasn't addressed, no one stood up for her and they just dismissed things. It really is infuriating. One of the characters is Diabetic, and depends on insulin. In one part of the book, they take there blood and a character says "It's not like I'm breastfeeding" HANG ON A MINUTE. I didn't realise that feeding your child was such a disgusting act. That really really rattled me. Suicidal feelings isn't handled well, it's just ignored, like this is a big thing. Things need to be addressed properly not ignored.
For me the saving features of this book were Rhonda and Mike (who we only see/hear from in like 3 chapters). Rhonda stands up for what she believes in, she questions things and is continually shot down. She was just such a good character, but even then we didn't see enough of her.
Randall literally reminded me of Randall from Recess, if you've seen it and read this you'll 100% get what I mean.
I honestly wouldn't recommend this book if you are all for equal rights, this really grated on me. I see where this book comes from, but there were so many things that I found disturbing, and things weren't addressed/handled well/not at all.
March 11, 2022
A look at a teenager sent to a camp in the mountains to "pray the gay away". Seems targeted to younger teenagers and those grappling with being controlled by the structure of religion (as opposed to genuine spiritual expression and communion). The book touches on these issues and will give a motivated reader a starting point for their own exploration and research.
Some reviewers have problems with the language used by Adam's abusive parents, the depiction of the "christians" at the camp, or the representation of homosexual characters. Where to begin? Some parents are horrible and abusive and say bad things to their children. Christians are not all created equal. Some are lovely people and some are bigots. The "Bishop" at the camp, a gay man who married a woman and denied his nature, represents what Adam is "supposed" to do with his life, according to his parents and other authority figures. "Bishop" represents the sort of damaged soul that Adam might become if he takes that path. He does not represent what the author thinks should happen.
It is a strange feature of reviewers here who get upset when characters do something which is unpleasant and does not represent some ideal imaginary world. The beauty of fiction is we get to see how characters navigate the imperfect world. And we can find a sense of community with these fictional characters as we navigate our own imperfect world with a measure of grace, tact, determination and patience.
Some reviewers have problems with the language used by Adam's abusive parents, the depiction of the "christians" at the camp, or the representation of homosexual characters. Where to begin? Some parents are horrible and abusive and say bad things to their children. Christians are not all created equal. Some are lovely people and some are bigots. The "Bishop" at the camp, a gay man who married a woman and denied his nature, represents what Adam is "supposed" to do with his life, according to his parents and other authority figures. "Bishop" represents the sort of damaged soul that Adam might become if he takes that path. He does not represent what the author thinks should happen.
It is a strange feature of reviewers here who get upset when characters do something which is unpleasant and does not represent some ideal imaginary world. The beauty of fiction is we get to see how characters navigate the imperfect world. And we can find a sense of community with these fictional characters as we navigate our own imperfect world with a measure of grace, tact, determination and patience.
May 3, 2017
Same love is a story that has a lot of potential, but unfortunately not quite enough of an engaging writing style to really back it up. Adam is sent a way to christian camp after he is caught clothes shopping with a very out gay friend. Unsurprisingly, he meets another gay boy and they fall in love.
The story sounds like it should be solid - there is a snarky female friend character, and a native american kid with diabetes and severe depression to back up the ‘new gay kids finding their way in the world’ main plot. There is even my current favourite trope ‘horrible character explains why they have been being horrible all along’.
Unfortunately, even though it is trying really hard it still manages to feel predictable and full of cliches. None of the characters are really explored in much depth, and the book fails badly at telling instead of showing. I felt like I was just following the main character walk from one scene to another, without ever really being able to connect with him. There are some great emotional moments in the book, but it all felt at such a remove from the main character.
It was also a little bit difficult to ascertain the writer's view on some of the issues at times, because there were characters that said things I found INCREDIBLY objectionable, and I think they were there to make a point about how that character was being horrible and that behaviour wasn’t okay…. Except there was no response from any other character than indicated this so it was just left to sit as is.
I think the best audience for this book would be queer christians, as it does have some nice things to say about balancing feeling queer and your religion, and they would relate to some of the ways in which people are horrible.
The story sounds like it should be solid - there is a snarky female friend character, and a native american kid with diabetes and severe depression to back up the ‘new gay kids finding their way in the world’ main plot. There is even my current favourite trope ‘horrible character explains why they have been being horrible all along’.
Unfortunately, even though it is trying really hard it still manages to feel predictable and full of cliches. None of the characters are really explored in much depth, and the book fails badly at telling instead of showing. I felt like I was just following the main character walk from one scene to another, without ever really being able to connect with him. There are some great emotional moments in the book, but it all felt at such a remove from the main character.
It was also a little bit difficult to ascertain the writer's view on some of the issues at times, because there were characters that said things I found INCREDIBLY objectionable, and I think they were there to make a point about how that character was being horrible and that behaviour wasn’t okay…. Except there was no response from any other character than indicated this so it was just left to sit as is.
I think the best audience for this book would be queer christians, as it does have some nice things to say about balancing feeling queer and your religion, and they would relate to some of the ways in which people are horrible.
September 11, 2017
*Thanks to Netgalley for providing an arc for me! This does not have an impact on how I will be reviewing.*
2.25 stars
I was going to add a review in much earlier than right now but *shrugs* at least I'm doing it now.
There will be some minor spoilers below. Read with caution.
I want to start off by saying that I am not religious, so someone who is may have a different opinion of this book than I have. I went into this book apprehensive because it explicitly said in the synopsis that there were going to be religious aspects. I, of course, read the synopsis but decided to give it a go since there were LGBT characters. I have never read a book that wasn't nonfiction that was this much involved in religion (especially with an LGBT aspect to it).
Anyway.
These are just my thoughts.
I started out kind of skeptical, and I still kind of am, but I kind of liked it. There was a lot of potential for a book that handles the issues that it did, but it just didn't really do it for me. It felt like a very rough draft. Now, maybe the final edition is a little more rounded. But from what I read, I kind of doubt it.
Characters
Thinking back to the characters and how they all spoke and acted around each other makes me want to sigh. So I'll just start naming off some of the things I really had issues with character wise.
-The MC called a girl 'hussy' within the first page or two. And without a real reason?
-The MC's boyfriend(?), Mike, was labeled a 'flamboyant gay' very, very early on. It doesn't sit with me well that the author had to stereotype one of his characters as such rather than giving him a personality. Because, obviously, being a 'flamboyant gay' tells the reader all they need to know.
-Again, very early on, a girl that MC knows was JUST introduced and he calls her a 'bitch'. And that's all the reader needs to know about her, obviously. I quickly tire of the names that MC places on everyone without the reader even knowing who they are.
-MC's dad is sexist. Don't know if it was meant to make him seem more of a villain or???
-*Sigh* The casual use of the word 'slut'. Not necessary???
-I didn't care about any of the characters. There wasn't any real emotional connection.
-The MC's name is Adam. In case you were wondering. I just found it in my notes.
-One of Mc's bunk mates was so racist and generally awful. I'm wondering if the author intentionally tried to handle multiple issues in this one book. Sadly, it didn't work. Assuming that he had been. If not, I can't even begin to tell if this is all intentional or if it's just so MC would have a harder time at this camp.
-
-It got really tiring how MC's parents kept blaming him for being gay. Again, I understand that this is the point of the novel. But it was brought up again and again. We know. The readers haven't forgotten that he's done this 'ultimate sin'. But like I said, I am not religious so someone else can probably vouch for this book more than I have been.
-I liked some of the things that a character named Rhonda had said. "I'm tired of being taught to hate myself for who I am."
Writing
The low rating has to do with both the writing style and how the author chose to execute some of the plot.
-There were a loooooooooot of these huge blocks of dialog. Which, I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. Except there were no "he said" or "she said" or actions in between. It got pretty tiring to read and hard to keep track who was speaking. Maybe this was fixed in the final publication. I don't know. I only read the arc some months ago.
-There were a lot of homophobic slurs. Like. A lot. I get that that's the whole point of this book but it made me uncomfortable after a certain point.
-Everything started to escalate very quickly in the beginning. You went from reading MC at the mall with his kind-of-boyfriend to him being shipped off very quickly. I didn't see the need for how quickly everything sped through. But I feel that way about a lot of books. So maybe the pacing didn't mind some other readers of this book.
-I didn't really feel like this book was entirely necessary. Okay, that sounds really mean. Considering how much work the author probably put into this book. It just feels so outdated how his parents are freaking out and their pastor helps them decide to send him to, basically, "camp sinner". I guess it could be kind of realistic too? I have a friend who has parents that are very, very religious and don't approve of her orientation. In 2017. Anyway, maybe if this was published in earlier part of the 2000s that it could be labeled 'revolutionary'. We've come far in the LGBT rights as of now to publish something like this. That's just my opinion though.
-The writing reads like something like that of a fanfiction. Just kind of oddly paced and sloppy. Poor character development. The pacing is really jumpy and doesn't flow nicely.
-Sometimes the dialogue was really ridiculous and could have gone without.
-There weren't a lot of descriptors. Like, when they sang karaoke. It was basically "we sang, Rhonda booed, the song ended". And not much in between. It was just kind of disappointing.
-I didn't care about the romance. It was tiring to follow.
-There wasn't really a plot. Just a kind stuck at a church camp told he can't be gay
Overall
While I somewhat liked this book, I had a lot of problems with how the majority of the characters were portrayed and how they spoke to each other. I also felt that there were large blocks of dialog and not very much describing in between the dialog, which made it feel rushed. This is the first fiction book that I've read with much religion in it, and as someone who is not religious, it was kind of strange. I think it would be interesting to hear what someone who is religious would have to say about this book. Overall, after I got into the writing style, I enjoyed the story. And when it ended.
2.25 stars
I was going to add a review in much earlier than right now but *shrugs* at least I'm doing it now.
There will be some minor spoilers below. Read with caution.
I want to start off by saying that I am not religious, so someone who is may have a different opinion of this book than I have. I went into this book apprehensive because it explicitly said in the synopsis that there were going to be religious aspects. I, of course, read the synopsis but decided to give it a go since there were LGBT characters. I have never read a book that wasn't nonfiction that was this much involved in religion (especially with an LGBT aspect to it).
Anyway.
These are just my thoughts.
I started out kind of skeptical, and I still kind of am, but I kind of liked it. There was a lot of potential for a book that handles the issues that it did, but it just didn't really do it for me. It felt like a very rough draft. Now, maybe the final edition is a little more rounded. But from what I read, I kind of doubt it.
Characters
Thinking back to the characters and how they all spoke and acted around each other makes me want to sigh. So I'll just start naming off some of the things I really had issues with character wise.
-The MC called a girl 'hussy' within the first page or two. And without a real reason?
-The MC's boyfriend(?), Mike, was labeled a 'flamboyant gay' very, very early on. It doesn't sit with me well that the author had to stereotype one of his characters as such rather than giving him a personality. Because, obviously, being a 'flamboyant gay' tells the reader all they need to know.
-Again, very early on, a girl that MC knows was JUST introduced and he calls her a 'bitch'. And that's all the reader needs to know about her, obviously. I quickly tire of the names that MC places on everyone without the reader even knowing who they are.
-MC's dad is sexist. Don't know if it was meant to make him seem more of a villain or???
-*Sigh* The casual use of the word 'slut'. Not necessary???
-I didn't care about any of the characters. There wasn't any real emotional connection.
-The MC's name is Adam. In case you were wondering. I just found it in my notes.
-One of Mc's bunk mates was so racist and generally awful. I'm wondering if the author intentionally tried to handle multiple issues in this one book. Sadly, it didn't work. Assuming that he had been. If not, I can't even begin to tell if this is all intentional or if it's just so MC would have a harder time at this camp.
-
-It got really tiring how MC's parents kept blaming him for being gay. Again, I understand that this is the point of the novel. But it was brought up again and again. We know. The readers haven't forgotten that he's done this 'ultimate sin'. But like I said, I am not religious so someone else can probably vouch for this book more than I have been.
-I liked some of the things that a character named Rhonda had said. "I'm tired of being taught to hate myself for who I am."
Writing
The low rating has to do with both the writing style and how the author chose to execute some of the plot.
-There were a loooooooooot of these huge blocks of dialog. Which, I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. Except there were no "he said" or "she said" or actions in between. It got pretty tiring to read and hard to keep track who was speaking. Maybe this was fixed in the final publication. I don't know. I only read the arc some months ago.
-There were a lot of homophobic slurs. Like. A lot. I get that that's the whole point of this book but it made me uncomfortable after a certain point.
-Everything started to escalate very quickly in the beginning. You went from reading MC at the mall with his kind-of-boyfriend to him being shipped off very quickly. I didn't see the need for how quickly everything sped through. But I feel that way about a lot of books. So maybe the pacing didn't mind some other readers of this book.
-I didn't really feel like this book was entirely necessary. Okay, that sounds really mean. Considering how much work the author probably put into this book. It just feels so outdated how his parents are freaking out and their pastor helps them decide to send him to, basically, "camp sinner". I guess it could be kind of realistic too? I have a friend who has parents that are very, very religious and don't approve of her orientation. In 2017. Anyway, maybe if this was published in earlier part of the 2000s that it could be labeled 'revolutionary'. We've come far in the LGBT rights as of now to publish something like this. That's just my opinion though.
-The writing reads like something like that of a fanfiction. Just kind of oddly paced and sloppy. Poor character development. The pacing is really jumpy and doesn't flow nicely.
-Sometimes the dialogue was really ridiculous and could have gone without.
-There weren't a lot of descriptors. Like, when they sang karaoke. It was basically "we sang, Rhonda booed, the song ended". And not much in between. It was just kind of disappointing.
-I didn't care about the romance. It was tiring to follow.
-There wasn't really a plot. Just a kind stuck at a church camp told he can't be gay
Overall
While I somewhat liked this book, I had a lot of problems with how the majority of the characters were portrayed and how they spoke to each other. I also felt that there were large blocks of dialog and not very much describing in between the dialog, which made it feel rushed. This is the first fiction book that I've read with much religion in it, and as someone who is not religious, it was kind of strange. I think it would be interesting to hear what someone who is religious would have to say about this book. Overall, after I got into the writing style, I enjoyed the story. And when it ended.
September 27, 2017
2.7 stars!
***I received a free copy from the Publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.***
Adam is a believing-in-God, Reading-the-Bible, fearing-of-hell, Christian teenage boy... who feels attracted to boys.
"I’m gay. (...) I’ve tried to change, I swear. But I can’t."
When his parents find out, their reaction isn't the best!
It's like Adam has turned into this sinful, blasphamic, horrifing thing that will lead them all to hell!
So, the only possible way of dealing with such horrible ocorrence is shipping him off to Camp Revelation: what teens at church call “Juvie for Christians”. There, Adam is to seek God's light and look for salvation.
Adam knows he's gay, he knows what his feelings are... He even has a gay friend, Mike, who has accepted who he is.
But, Adam's faith is wavering... and he doesn't want to be hated by God. So he prays to God for a sign and he goes to the Camp.
For 4 weeks, Adam will stay in this Camp. There he will get to know 3 boys - Randall, Martin and Paul - and 1 girl, Rhonda; all of them with their own issues and religious doubts .
Will Adam survive 4 weeks in this Camp, where all they tell him is how wrong and sinful his feelings are?!
And what happens when Adam starts having feelings for one of his roommates?! Can he ever be reciprocated?!
Read the book to find out...
********************************
I Didn't enjoy this book much.
The characters in this book are extremely judgemental! ....In this book there's Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Slut-shaming, Hypocrisy, Negligence...
It was disturbing and depressing to read some parts of this book.... I felt extremely sorry for the teens stuck in this Christian Camp!!! They were taught all their lifes that they had to be perfect and if they commited any of the things their church considered sins, they'd be going to hell. Like Adam says:
"...our church tries to fit you into a certain mould, and if you deviate from it they crush your spirit."
And the counsellers and the man in charge of the Camp were cinical, hypocrites, uncaring and horrible... one of the teens in the Camp had a very serious issue that was not taken seriously! Just prayed upon... and that was horrible.
So, this book potraits a very ugly picture of Christianism... and God forbid every Christian to be like that!
Now, about the ending... it was a well put ending, but I didn't like that we were never sure of what end one of Adam's roommates had.
I am glad that, at least, Adam, eventually found a way to get away from it all... too bad not all others were that lucky!
(I wanted to take all of those teenagers away from that Camp! It pains me to believe they will all turn into future Bishops and Randalls).
So, there isn't much Acceptance and Support in this book... and that's why I wouldn't really recommend it.
And I cringe to think that this book was written in 2017...I really do hope that very few people think like this nowadays, since this book has some horrible ideals that seem to be from 50 years ago.
***I received a free copy from the Publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.***
Adam is a believing-in-God, Reading-the-Bible, fearing-of-hell, Christian teenage boy... who feels attracted to boys.
"I’m gay. (...) I’ve tried to change, I swear. But I can’t."
When his parents find out, their reaction isn't the best!
It's like Adam has turned into this sinful, blasphamic, horrifing thing that will lead them all to hell!
So, the only possible way of dealing with such horrible ocorrence is shipping him off to Camp Revelation: what teens at church call “Juvie for Christians”. There, Adam is to seek God's light and look for salvation.
Adam knows he's gay, he knows what his feelings are... He even has a gay friend, Mike, who has accepted who he is.
But, Adam's faith is wavering... and he doesn't want to be hated by God. So he prays to God for a sign and he goes to the Camp.
For 4 weeks, Adam will stay in this Camp. There he will get to know 3 boys - Randall, Martin and Paul - and 1 girl, Rhonda; all of them with their own issues and religious doubts .
Will Adam survive 4 weeks in this Camp, where all they tell him is how wrong and sinful his feelings are?!
And what happens when Adam starts having feelings for one of his roommates?! Can he ever be reciprocated?!
Read the book to find out...
********************************
I Didn't enjoy this book much.
The characters in this book are extremely judgemental! ....In this book there's Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Slut-shaming, Hypocrisy, Negligence...
It was disturbing and depressing to read some parts of this book.... I felt extremely sorry for the teens stuck in this Christian Camp!!! They were taught all their lifes that they had to be perfect and if they commited any of the things their church considered sins, they'd be going to hell. Like Adam says:
"...our church tries to fit you into a certain mould, and if you deviate from it they crush your spirit."
And the counsellers and the man in charge of the Camp were cinical, hypocrites, uncaring and horrible... one of the teens in the Camp had a very serious issue that was not taken seriously! Just prayed upon... and that was horrible.
So, this book potraits a very ugly picture of Christianism... and God forbid every Christian to be like that!
Now, about the ending... it was a well put ending, but I didn't like that we were never sure of what end one of Adam's roommates had.
I am glad that, at least, Adam, eventually found a way to get away from it all... too bad not all others were that lucky!
(I wanted to take all of those teenagers away from that Camp! It pains me to believe they will all turn into future Bishops and Randalls).
So, there isn't much Acceptance and Support in this book... and that's why I wouldn't really recommend it.
And I cringe to think that this book was written in 2017...I really do hope that very few people think like this nowadays, since this book has some horrible ideals that seem to be from 50 years ago.
May 15, 2017
Link to my blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress...
*Spoilers ahead: I have listed all the warnings and whatnot I could find in the book. They do spoil some of the plot, but it’s better than to go blindly into the book*
Warnings: Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Medication overdose (supporting character overdoses on his insulin). Supporting has depression and nothing is done about it. Intense dislike towards a diabetic person and their disorder. Racist language. Racist character. Non-consensual harassment (rubbing body parts up against another unwilling person). Slut-shaming. Lastly, the view of Christianity is a harsh one, and not necessarily true (from someone who has experienced a positive view of Christianity).
*Received from Netgalley*
So the cover caught my attention and the description made it seem as if it was a good book…and it just wasn’t. I’m going to do my duty and tell you why I didn’t like it and the few reasons why I did. Prepare for a long review and quotes. Get your snacks and towels, kittens.
I started not feeling the love for the main character within the first 50 pages of the book. He’s so flighty and indecisive and while those are two traits associated with teenagers, the way Adam portrays it and how he comes across in the book makes him out to be childish. And he’s not. He’s in his final year of school, but the way he’s been written, it feels like he’s 14/15.
Those of you who are wondering if Christianity is like this – well, it depends on how harsh your church/pastor is. My old one was pretty harsh – part of the reason why I left – and this book’s just bringing up all the old feelings I had when attending the church and believing. I didn’t mark the book down because it brought up old feelings – I speak about the way faith is portrayed in the book in the next paragraph.
So I marked the book down half because of the characters/plot/dialogue (all usual reasons) but I also marked the book down because of how Christianity is portrayed, and more accurately, how the author portrays Christianity. Please note the following: I do not know the author, and therefore I am not aware of his religion, or lack of one; which is to say that I am discussing how the author writes the religion that is shown in the book, and not the author’s religion. So there are a few quotes in the book that…irked me, but I’ll mark all those quotes in the ‘quote’ section of the review – there’s a quote section because I couldn’t stop myself from commenting on the quotes.
But anyway – so the author writes from the main male character’s point of view, and he goes to Christian camp to try to turn straight – because you can pray the gay away, didya know? And obviously at the camp, there’s a lot of talk about faith and God and most of it is negative towards anything that some readers might deem not sinful (masturbation, premarital sex, etc.). Like I know the author is trying to get into the whole religious thing to show the readers how heavy the camp is, but the way he's writing the story is just…not cool. It’s too much. I’m not sure if it’s just me and the feelings I have towards Christianity but I’m not liking the way everyone talks about faith in the book. I feel that the author is writing the Bible Camp view of faith (if you’re understanding me) with too much vigour – like he's enjoying it.
And speaking of the parents – look, I grew up with Christian parents and family. My friendship circle and my parents’ friendship circle is basically made up of Christians (well, not mine so much anymore). I know what’s expected (from parents) and what God expects. But the parents in this novel are terrible…It’s like the author was tired the one night of trying to flesh out the parents and decided: ‘all right! I’ll make them crappy and just make them send Adam away so they won’t have to deal with him!’
Ok, so, warning – I’m going to talk about one of the characters and depression. So one of Adam’s roommates is depressed. They don’t really talk about why he’s depressed and they do absolutely nothing to help the poor guy. Adam and mostly everyone at the camp calls themselves Christians and yet they do nothing to help him? *cough cough* very unchristianlike.
The only reason why I sort of liked this book is because of three characters – Martin, Mike, and Rhonda. That’s it.
I think the author thinks we can read Adam’s mind. He makes Adam think/say sentences and he’s like ‘ah, yes, I was thinking about this.’ like where? Please show me. Do you know what that’s called? Inconsistency.
Another problem I had with the book was the fact that Adam met one of the male characters – his love interest – basically immediately had a crush on him *cough cough instalove* and then when the love interest and Adam have a disagreement, Adam stops having a crush on the love interest.
Quotes:
“It’s about a preacher who uses an app to brainwash his followers into believing God is speaking to them on their phones.”
- I will literally pay you to be able to read this instead of the book.
“Two boys shopping for clothes,” Greta says. “How interesting.”
- So if boys can’t shop for clothes then they can’t wear them, right? And also let’s just bring up the fact that if they were two girls shopping together no weird thoughts would be there (but then again we could argue that if the one girl is a confirmed lesbian, the other would surely follow – if we were to play by the rules shown in the book.
“Camp Revelation.”
- A camp named after the book in the Bible that’s about the end of the world? Yeah, ok. That’s what the book’s about, right? Hopefully the Bible hasn’t changed the last time I read it. Which was in high school.
Turns out khakis and polo tops were the only things we’re allowed to wear at the camp.”
- Because jeans and a tank top will turn you to sin.
“Screens get between you and God.”
- Except the Bible tells us that God is everywhere and the only reason why screens get between us and God is because we allow it to.
“The way a man finds another a man’s wife attractive. And you know the commandment against acting on that.”
- ok A: If you’re happy in your marriage, you shouldn’t be looking at other women.
B: I’m like half sure that even thinking about finding another’s man’s wife is lust or covetousness (because women are property of their husbands – right?).
“I don’t know if I would compare being gay to being addicted to drugs.”
“Both end in death and destruction.”
- Hang on – how does being gay make you more likely to die? Romeo and Juliet were straight and they died. Gatsby was straight(ish) and he died. Jack Dawson was straight and he died (ok let’s stop with all the Di Caprio references).
“Rhonda gave everyone a scare yesterday. And she may have hurt the reputation of the camp.”
- The…reputation…of a camp that converts (or tries to convert gays or stop sinners or whatever)…is good? Oh right, people think they can pray the gay away.
Sarah is sitting next to Paul. I watch her as she takes his hand in hers. She looks into his eyes while she sings out of key at the top of her legs.
- *whispers* is that not a sin? Because seriously my youth had a whole talk on how to hug the opposite sex. Spoiler alert: Approach from the side, hug must not last more than 5ish seconds.
*Spoilers ahead: I have listed all the warnings and whatnot I could find in the book. They do spoil some of the plot, but it’s better than to go blindly into the book*
Warnings: Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Medication overdose (supporting character overdoses on his insulin). Supporting has depression and nothing is done about it. Intense dislike towards a diabetic person and their disorder. Racist language. Racist character. Non-consensual harassment (rubbing body parts up against another unwilling person). Slut-shaming. Lastly, the view of Christianity is a harsh one, and not necessarily true (from someone who has experienced a positive view of Christianity).
*Received from Netgalley*
So the cover caught my attention and the description made it seem as if it was a good book…and it just wasn’t. I’m going to do my duty and tell you why I didn’t like it and the few reasons why I did. Prepare for a long review and quotes. Get your snacks and towels, kittens.
I started not feeling the love for the main character within the first 50 pages of the book. He’s so flighty and indecisive and while those are two traits associated with teenagers, the way Adam portrays it and how he comes across in the book makes him out to be childish. And he’s not. He’s in his final year of school, but the way he’s been written, it feels like he’s 14/15.
Those of you who are wondering if Christianity is like this – well, it depends on how harsh your church/pastor is. My old one was pretty harsh – part of the reason why I left – and this book’s just bringing up all the old feelings I had when attending the church and believing. I didn’t mark the book down because it brought up old feelings – I speak about the way faith is portrayed in the book in the next paragraph.
So I marked the book down half because of the characters/plot/dialogue (all usual reasons) but I also marked the book down because of how Christianity is portrayed, and more accurately, how the author portrays Christianity. Please note the following: I do not know the author, and therefore I am not aware of his religion, or lack of one; which is to say that I am discussing how the author writes the religion that is shown in the book, and not the author’s religion. So there are a few quotes in the book that…irked me, but I’ll mark all those quotes in the ‘quote’ section of the review – there’s a quote section because I couldn’t stop myself from commenting on the quotes.
But anyway – so the author writes from the main male character’s point of view, and he goes to Christian camp to try to turn straight – because you can pray the gay away, didya know? And obviously at the camp, there’s a lot of talk about faith and God and most of it is negative towards anything that some readers might deem not sinful (masturbation, premarital sex, etc.). Like I know the author is trying to get into the whole religious thing to show the readers how heavy the camp is, but the way he's writing the story is just…not cool. It’s too much. I’m not sure if it’s just me and the feelings I have towards Christianity but I’m not liking the way everyone talks about faith in the book. I feel that the author is writing the Bible Camp view of faith (if you’re understanding me) with too much vigour – like he's enjoying it.
And speaking of the parents – look, I grew up with Christian parents and family. My friendship circle and my parents’ friendship circle is basically made up of Christians (well, not mine so much anymore). I know what’s expected (from parents) and what God expects. But the parents in this novel are terrible…It’s like the author was tired the one night of trying to flesh out the parents and decided: ‘all right! I’ll make them crappy and just make them send Adam away so they won’t have to deal with him!’
Ok, so, warning – I’m going to talk about one of the characters and depression. So one of Adam’s roommates is depressed. They don’t really talk about why he’s depressed and they do absolutely nothing to help the poor guy. Adam and mostly everyone at the camp calls themselves Christians and yet they do nothing to help him? *cough cough* very unchristianlike.
The only reason why I sort of liked this book is because of three characters – Martin, Mike, and Rhonda. That’s it.
I think the author thinks we can read Adam’s mind. He makes Adam think/say sentences and he’s like ‘ah, yes, I was thinking about this.’ like where? Please show me. Do you know what that’s called? Inconsistency.
Another problem I had with the book was the fact that Adam met one of the male characters – his love interest – basically immediately had a crush on him *cough cough instalove* and then when the love interest and Adam have a disagreement, Adam stops having a crush on the love interest.
Quotes:
“It’s about a preacher who uses an app to brainwash his followers into believing God is speaking to them on their phones.”
- I will literally pay you to be able to read this instead of the book.
“Two boys shopping for clothes,” Greta says. “How interesting.”
- So if boys can’t shop for clothes then they can’t wear them, right? And also let’s just bring up the fact that if they were two girls shopping together no weird thoughts would be there (but then again we could argue that if the one girl is a confirmed lesbian, the other would surely follow – if we were to play by the rules shown in the book.
“Camp Revelation.”
- A camp named after the book in the Bible that’s about the end of the world? Yeah, ok. That’s what the book’s about, right? Hopefully the Bible hasn’t changed the last time I read it. Which was in high school.
Turns out khakis and polo tops were the only things we’re allowed to wear at the camp.”
- Because jeans and a tank top will turn you to sin.
“Screens get between you and God.”
- Except the Bible tells us that God is everywhere and the only reason why screens get between us and God is because we allow it to.
“The way a man finds another a man’s wife attractive. And you know the commandment against acting on that.”
- ok A: If you’re happy in your marriage, you shouldn’t be looking at other women.
B: I’m like half sure that even thinking about finding another’s man’s wife is lust or covetousness (because women are property of their husbands – right?).
“I don’t know if I would compare being gay to being addicted to drugs.”
“Both end in death and destruction.”
- Hang on – how does being gay make you more likely to die? Romeo and Juliet were straight and they died. Gatsby was straight(ish) and he died. Jack Dawson was straight and he died (ok let’s stop with all the Di Caprio references).
“Rhonda gave everyone a scare yesterday. And she may have hurt the reputation of the camp.”
- The…reputation…of a camp that converts (or tries to convert gays or stop sinners or whatever)…is good? Oh right, people think they can pray the gay away.
Sarah is sitting next to Paul. I watch her as she takes his hand in hers. She looks into his eyes while she sings out of key at the top of her legs.
- *whispers* is that not a sin? Because seriously my youth had a whole talk on how to hug the opposite sex. Spoiler alert: Approach from the side, hug must not last more than 5ish seconds.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2017
This book is somewhat difficult for me to rate. On the one hand, I had a really good reading experience and zipped right through it. I really liked Adam and felt that he was lots of fun to learn about. The book also had some really witty parts coming from supporting characters that really helped hold up the book. I also liked that the book dealt with ways other than homosexuality that people can be pushed to fit into boxes where they don't quite manage to work their way into.
On the other hand . . . the book just felt unfinished and jerky. Like, there is a suicide attempt towards the end of the book and the whole issue just ends up being . . . dropped. No resolution, no followup, no nothing. It was disconcerting. Also, the feelings that Paul has towards homosexuality seems to jerk all over the place; one minute he's all, "I have feelings towards you that I've never had towards anyone else, and this is great," and the next minute he's all, "God requires that I not be homosexual," and I'm sitting there being all, "Whiplash!" This never really felt like it was resolved, even at the end; it felt like Paul hadn't come to terms with his sexuality, and that the relationship between Adam and Paul was only really beginning at the end of the book.
So I don't know. I liked this book, but it feels really hard to describe. It's a short read, but be prepared to feel like the story could really continue on after the book finishes. Sequel, maybe? I don't know.
This book was provided to me by NetGalley.
On the other hand . . . the book just felt unfinished and jerky. Like, there is a suicide attempt towards the end of the book and the whole issue just ends up being . . . dropped. No resolution, no followup, no nothing. It was disconcerting. Also, the feelings that Paul has towards homosexuality seems to jerk all over the place; one minute he's all, "I have feelings towards you that I've never had towards anyone else, and this is great," and the next minute he's all, "God requires that I not be homosexual," and I'm sitting there being all, "Whiplash!" This never really felt like it was resolved, even at the end; it felt like Paul hadn't come to terms with his sexuality, and that the relationship between Adam and Paul was only really beginning at the end of the book.
So I don't know. I liked this book, but it feels really hard to describe. It's a short read, but be prepared to feel like the story could really continue on after the book finishes. Sequel, maybe? I don't know.
This book was provided to me by NetGalley.
January 4, 2022
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC in return for an honest review on NetGalley.
At first I thought this was going to be a piece similar to The God Box (not a bad thing at all). I was glad that it went a bit beyond that book. It allowed different views on religion to sprout and expand. There was a focus on not just the issue that many religious people have with being gay, but also the issues with premarital sex and hypocrisy. This was a fantastic first look at major issues with organized religion (not religion itself as loving God and having a relationship with Him or other gods and goddess is not inherently bad). This book will save lives.
The pace is very quick. I read the book in two or three hours. I would have read it in one sitting, but I took my lunch at about half way through the book. It did not dwell on any issues for a long period of time, which was both good and bad. I felt there should have been more discussion on one of the major events towards the end of the book or at least some resources for teens going through the issues that the book raises. This book covers a lot of hard ground, I think adding the resources would help.
I am having a hard time describing how much I love this book without spoiling major points. The book is very much needed. It focused on spirituality and different ways of viewing Christianity. It also allowed by the end two gay characters to have a relationship that fit into those religious views (no sex before marriage, which is drastically not the norm when it comes to books about relationships especially about gay men).
I do have one note to the author: Thank you. This book is very important and I am beyond thankful for your work to provide it for teens (and adults) that need it. If I had this book as a teenager, I might have had an easier time with coming to terms with my religion and spirituality especially when I had issues based around faith when it came to my family. You have earned a very loud fan that will be promoting this book to people that can get this book into the hands of teens where it can be helpful.
I got an ARC in return for an honest review on NetGalley.
At first I thought this was going to be a piece similar to The God Box (not a bad thing at all). I was glad that it went a bit beyond that book. It allowed different views on religion to sprout and expand. There was a focus on not just the issue that many religious people have with being gay, but also the issues with premarital sex and hypocrisy. This was a fantastic first look at major issues with organized religion (not religion itself as loving God and having a relationship with Him or other gods and goddess is not inherently bad). This book will save lives.
The pace is very quick. I read the book in two or three hours. I would have read it in one sitting, but I took my lunch at about half way through the book. It did not dwell on any issues for a long period of time, which was both good and bad. I felt there should have been more discussion on one of the major events towards the end of the book or at least some resources for teens going through the issues that the book raises. This book covers a lot of hard ground, I think adding the resources would help.
I am having a hard time describing how much I love this book without spoiling major points. The book is very much needed. It focused on spirituality and different ways of viewing Christianity. It also allowed by the end two gay characters to have a relationship that fit into those religious views (no sex before marriage, which is drastically not the norm when it comes to books about relationships especially about gay men).
I do have one note to the author: Thank you. This book is very important and I am beyond thankful for your work to provide it for teens (and adults) that need it. If I had this book as a teenager, I might have had an easier time with coming to terms with my religion and spirituality especially when I had issues based around faith when it came to my family. You have earned a very loud fan that will be promoting this book to people that can get this book into the hands of teens where it can be helpful.
May 5, 2017
Received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was well written, but in all honesty it made me feel quite tense through my reading of it. Perhaps because I knew a few people who would use their religion as a way to punish others whilst I was growing up.
There is an honesty to this book I didn't expect, considering it is aimed toward a YA audience. Adam is a character who despite the adversity he faces sticks close to his ideals and who he is as a human, something that is truly hard to do at the age of seventeen especially.
The other characters, such as Paul were interesting as well but I did find myself wishing this book was just a touch longer, with more information about the other secondary characters such as Rhonda, Paul and Martin.
The racism and sexism inherent in this novel also served to rile me and make me feel uncomfortable, which I know was partially the point. It was realistic in its casual nature, as most people who believe in such things don't even realize there is something wrong with being that way. It was nice to have a voice point out how wrong it is to treat women and minorities the way they were treated within this novel and are often treated in the real world.
Also whilst I can understand some people would be bothered by the "Stereotype" of Adam's friend Mike I embrace his presence within this novel, as ignoring that gay people like that exist is an erasure in its own right.
Overall I would recommend this book to others, who are interested in different point of views on what it is like to be Christian members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
This book was well written, but in all honesty it made me feel quite tense through my reading of it. Perhaps because I knew a few people who would use their religion as a way to punish others whilst I was growing up.
There is an honesty to this book I didn't expect, considering it is aimed toward a YA audience. Adam is a character who despite the adversity he faces sticks close to his ideals and who he is as a human, something that is truly hard to do at the age of seventeen especially.
The other characters, such as Paul were interesting as well but I did find myself wishing this book was just a touch longer, with more information about the other secondary characters such as Rhonda, Paul and Martin.
The racism and sexism inherent in this novel also served to rile me and make me feel uncomfortable, which I know was partially the point. It was realistic in its casual nature, as most people who believe in such things don't even realize there is something wrong with being that way. It was nice to have a voice point out how wrong it is to treat women and minorities the way they were treated within this novel and are often treated in the real world.
Also whilst I can understand some people would be bothered by the "Stereotype" of Adam's friend Mike I embrace his presence within this novel, as ignoring that gay people like that exist is an erasure in its own right.
Overall I would recommend this book to others, who are interested in different point of views on what it is like to be Christian members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
June 15, 2017
I wish I'd liked this book better than I did. The topic was interesting enough, and something I don't think I've read about before- even though I know such books exist, I've never really picked one before.
However, there were problems: The idea was really interesting, but the execution was somehow lacking.
The characters felt shallow at times, and there was too much tell and not enough show to give the story the strength it could have had. I didn't really connect with anyone (even though Rhonda was the closest to a full shape).
The ending, while realistic, felt anticlimactic. It's such a pity cause I was so looking forward to liking this book, but it was like the author didn't know how to take the potential of the story and make it work.
*Review of an ARC given by NetGalley*
However, there were problems: The idea was really interesting, but the execution was somehow lacking.
The characters felt shallow at times, and there was too much tell and not enough show to give the story the strength it could have had. I didn't really connect with anyone (even though Rhonda was the closest to a full shape).
The ending, while realistic, felt anticlimactic. It's such a pity cause I was so looking forward to liking this book, but it was like the author didn't know how to take the potential of the story and make it work.
*Review of an ARC given by NetGalley*
July 24, 2017
Same Love is the first book I've read by author Tony Correia. This was a very quick read but I enjoyed it. The story is told in first person POV by Adam whose conservative Christian family sends him to a camp when they find out he is gay. While at camp he meets and becomes friends with Paul.
Adam and Paul obviously have feelings for each other but Paul is struggling to reconcile his feelings for Adam with his strong faith. There are other campers who are having normal teenage problems and reading about their troubles brought back memories of things from my teen years.
Same Love isn't really a romance and it's not exactly what I would call a coming-out story. To me it was more like a glimpse into the lives of several teenagers struggling to deal with their feelings and their relationships with each other and also with their families.
I'm grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. The current price on Amazon is a bit out of my range for a book that's just over 100 pages long.
Adam and Paul obviously have feelings for each other but Paul is struggling to reconcile his feelings for Adam with his strong faith. There are other campers who are having normal teenage problems and reading about their troubles brought back memories of things from my teen years.
Same Love isn't really a romance and it's not exactly what I would call a coming-out story. To me it was more like a glimpse into the lives of several teenagers struggling to deal with their feelings and their relationships with each other and also with their families.
I'm grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. The current price on Amazon is a bit out of my range for a book that's just over 100 pages long.
July 8, 2017
*Provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
I was really intrigued by the premise of this book, so I went in with high hopes, but low expectations. The overall plot of Adam being sent to a Christian camp after his parents find out about his sexuality, and his journey of self-discovery, and hopefully acceptance, is somewhat common in this genre, though I haven't found many authors that manage to pull it off well.
Correia brought some good ideas to the table by not only focusing on his gay characters, but also on other aspects that the Christian community views as wrong and sinful, such as . This was a strong point to his story, and one that he made a decent attempt to highlight particularly through the side characters of . These side characters were fairly well fleshed out compared to the rest of the book, and I appreciated what Correia was trying to do with them, and would have really loved to see more backstory and progression from these characters than we did.
That was my main problem with this story, almost every character was fairly one dimensional, and almost a caricature of the type of person they were supposed to be. Adam had some depth added to his character with his interest in drawing and comics, but even this wasn't developed very far, and did little to keep his character from being just another conflicted gay christian teen.
The romance plot was also pretty lacking. I expected this story to focus more on self discover and acceptance than an actual romance, and was fine with that idea going in. The romance tried to develop subtly, but felt really weak, and far too convenient. I understand that developing a romance plot in this type of story is probably difficult to do without falling into the trap of just having the only two remotely gay characters be totally into each other, but I feel that the romance could have been way more believable if there had been a little more nuance to it. I also expected at least one of the gay characters to be in denial, or , but this was handled in a very predicable way, and in my opinion .
There was also another somewhat of a surprise gay character in . This twist of sorts could have been really interesting, but instead just came off as stereotypical of closeted, bigoted, self hating gays.
I wish this were a first or second draft, and not a final copy about to be published for general sale. I think Correia has a lot of potential as a story teller, and with some work and guidance could produce some really great work. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book as is, but I am interested in seeing future works by Correia, as I feel he has a lot of meaningful stories to tell.
I was really intrigued by the premise of this book, so I went in with high hopes, but low expectations. The overall plot of Adam being sent to a Christian camp after his parents find out about his sexuality, and his journey of self-discovery, and hopefully acceptance, is somewhat common in this genre, though I haven't found many authors that manage to pull it off well.
Correia brought some good ideas to the table by not only focusing on his gay characters, but also on other aspects that the Christian community views as wrong and sinful, such as . This was a strong point to his story, and one that he made a decent attempt to highlight particularly through the side characters of . These side characters were fairly well fleshed out compared to the rest of the book, and I appreciated what Correia was trying to do with them, and would have really loved to see more backstory and progression from these characters than we did.
That was my main problem with this story, almost every character was fairly one dimensional, and almost a caricature of the type of person they were supposed to be. Adam had some depth added to his character with his interest in drawing and comics, but even this wasn't developed very far, and did little to keep his character from being just another conflicted gay christian teen.
The romance plot was also pretty lacking. I expected this story to focus more on self discover and acceptance than an actual romance, and was fine with that idea going in. The romance tried to develop subtly, but felt really weak, and far too convenient. I understand that developing a romance plot in this type of story is probably difficult to do without falling into the trap of just having the only two remotely gay characters be totally into each other, but I feel that the romance could have been way more believable if there had been a little more nuance to it. I also expected at least one of the gay characters to be in denial, or , but this was handled in a very predicable way, and in my opinion .
There was also another somewhat of a surprise gay character in . This twist of sorts could have been really interesting, but instead just came off as stereotypical of closeted, bigoted, self hating gays.
I wish this were a first or second draft, and not a final copy about to be published for general sale. I think Correia has a lot of potential as a story teller, and with some work and guidance could produce some really great work. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book as is, but I am interested in seeing future works by Correia, as I feel he has a lot of meaningful stories to tell.
May 3, 2017
[I received a free ebook of Same Love from NetGalley.com and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.]
Same Love is the story of a gay Christian teen, Adam, who is outed against his will to his parents and sent to a Christian reform camp. There, he struggles against the version of God and Christianity the camp teaches and finds himself developing a crush on his roommate, Paul.
I appreciated the diverse cast. Paul is Asian and another roommate, Martin, is First Nations. Martin's struggles with depression and his lack of a support system really resonated with me, and I was really disappointed that the author turned him into a plot-device to send Adam home from camp early. I'm also disappointed to not learn what happened to him.
Otherwise, I liked Rhonda and the book's overall theme that Christianity and spiritualism don't go hand and hand, and that one can believe in God and Jesus without being CHRISTIAN. But, overall, I thought the plot was rushed, the characters one dimensional, the dialogue stilted (the best bits where between Adam and his friend Mike), and felt that the book relied too much on cliches. I couldn't connect emotionally with the main character, or with Paul, the romantic interest.
It doesn't stand up on it's own, and is rather unremarkable. It's not BAD. But it's not great.
Same Love is the story of a gay Christian teen, Adam, who is outed against his will to his parents and sent to a Christian reform camp. There, he struggles against the version of God and Christianity the camp teaches and finds himself developing a crush on his roommate, Paul.
I appreciated the diverse cast. Paul is Asian and another roommate, Martin, is First Nations. Martin's struggles with depression and his lack of a support system really resonated with me, and I was really disappointed that the author turned him into a plot-device to send Adam home from camp early. I'm also disappointed to not learn what happened to him.
Otherwise, I liked Rhonda and the book's overall theme that Christianity and spiritualism don't go hand and hand, and that one can believe in God and Jesus without being CHRISTIAN. But, overall, I thought the plot was rushed, the characters one dimensional, the dialogue stilted (the best bits where between Adam and his friend Mike), and felt that the book relied too much on cliches. I couldn't connect emotionally with the main character, or with Paul, the romantic interest.
It doesn't stand up on it's own, and is rather unremarkable. It's not BAD. But it's not great.
May 18, 2017
Disclaimer: I received this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Though Same Love by Tony Correia is not without it’s high points, like the above quote that absolutely tickled me, it is a little rough around the edges. It started in media res, and not much background is really given on the characters we’re introduced to. Early on, I found myself foraging for information on our protagonist, Adam. When there’s mention of a character who is both 20 years old and “not much older than (Adam),” I used that to puzzle out just how old Adam might be, like some strange riddle. (If Adam lives in a yellow house, and the person who lives in a red house is older than Adam, and Brian is 20 years old, etc.) Age is something I find to be very important in an LGBT coming of age story, as there can be oceans of difference between 15 and 17 years old, so this lack of background was a little off-putting.
Things also go form 0 to 60 pretty quickly at the start of this book, but that’s to be expected from something that starts in what seems to be the middle of a fully fleshed out story. The dialogue is all very on-the-nose, and from the beginning through to the end, the characters’ priorities seem to vary wildly.
All this aside, it’s not an awful book. It was too quick a read to really regret. Throwing a few hours at a book that has some pretty basic issues isn’t what I would call a waste of time, and the book really did have some moments that were true gems. Taking into account the laundry list of fluffy, under-developed YA novels centering around straight romances that I’ve endured in my time, I really can’t find much fault with this novel’s existence. It’s fluffy, but at least it’s telling a different kind of story. For every slightly uninspired LGBT YA novel, there are about 20 flat-out mediocre YA novels centering around heterosexual romances. At the end of the day, I would take Same Love over it’s straight counterpart any day of the week.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mike asks.
“Can you turn back time?”
“Girl, I may be fierce, but I’m not Cher.”
Though Same Love by Tony Correia is not without it’s high points, like the above quote that absolutely tickled me, it is a little rough around the edges. It started in media res, and not much background is really given on the characters we’re introduced to. Early on, I found myself foraging for information on our protagonist, Adam. When there’s mention of a character who is both 20 years old and “not much older than (Adam),” I used that to puzzle out just how old Adam might be, like some strange riddle. (If Adam lives in a yellow house, and the person who lives in a red house is older than Adam, and Brian is 20 years old, etc.) Age is something I find to be very important in an LGBT coming of age story, as there can be oceans of difference between 15 and 17 years old, so this lack of background was a little off-putting.
Things also go form 0 to 60 pretty quickly at the start of this book, but that’s to be expected from something that starts in what seems to be the middle of a fully fleshed out story. The dialogue is all very on-the-nose, and from the beginning through to the end, the characters’ priorities seem to vary wildly.
All this aside, it’s not an awful book. It was too quick a read to really regret. Throwing a few hours at a book that has some pretty basic issues isn’t what I would call a waste of time, and the book really did have some moments that were true gems. Taking into account the laundry list of fluffy, under-developed YA novels centering around straight romances that I’ve endured in my time, I really can’t find much fault with this novel’s existence. It’s fluffy, but at least it’s telling a different kind of story. For every slightly uninspired LGBT YA novel, there are about 20 flat-out mediocre YA novels centering around heterosexual romances. At the end of the day, I would take Same Love over it’s straight counterpart any day of the week.
May 7, 2017
I thought this book was good but I felt like it was kind of anticlimactic unfortunately. I thought that it was an interesting topic being written about but I didn't like how everything that happened was very subdued. It was a short read so it didn't really go in depth about how he was feeling. I would've liked to hear more about how his relationship with his parents affected him. I also didn't really like the location because I actually live right near where it takes place and I just think it's kind of inaccurate the amount of unaccepting and close minded religious people the author made it seem lived here. I did however like how he managed to also touch on other minorities that people pick on by making the main characters not just four whites guys. Overall I think the book was good but I only really enjoyed it because it was an LGBTQ+ book.
May 10, 2017
*provided by netgalley in exchange of a honest review*
Sorry, if one star is kinda exaggerating but i couldn't stand another minutes.
First, filled with so much slurs (from his parents, i kinda understand but from his friends? not so much).
This book also misogynist, lack of characters development and not really well written that we could feel the main character.
Sorry.
Sorry, if one star is kinda exaggerating but i couldn't stand another minutes.
First, filled with so much slurs (from his parents, i kinda understand but from his friends? not so much).
This book also misogynist, lack of characters development and not really well written that we could feel the main character.
Sorry.
August 3, 2017
A copy was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was like if someone took Saved! and But I'm A Cheerleader!, took out all the comedy and satire, and just kept all the toxic parts. The only thing I liked about it was the character of Paul, but honestly he deserved a better book.
Adam is a gay teen, in the closet because of his hyper religious Christian parents. He gets sent to a Christian camp after the church gossip catches him and his best friend Mike -- aka the most flamboyant kid in school -- hanging out at the mall. Mike is every flamboyant gay stereotype. He calls Adam, "girl" and says things like, "My parents weren't thrilled to have Beyoncé for a son." The flamboyantly gay character works better when we have more than three pages to get to know them and know that they're more than just a tired stereotype. (Tiny Cooper, anyone?) But we don't get that development with Mike.
This book was like if someone took Saved! and But I'm A Cheerleader!, took out all the comedy and satire, and just kept all the toxic parts. The only thing I liked about it was the character of Paul, but honestly he deserved a better book.
Adam is a gay teen, in the closet because of his hyper religious Christian parents. He gets sent to a Christian camp after the church gossip catches him and his best friend Mike -- aka the most flamboyant kid in school -- hanging out at the mall. Mike is every flamboyant gay stereotype. He calls Adam, "girl" and says things like, "My parents weren't thrilled to have Beyoncé for a son." The flamboyantly gay character works better when we have more than three pages to get to know them and know that they're more than just a tired stereotype. (Tiny Cooper, anyone?) But we don't get that development with Mike.
June 25, 2017
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. This doesn’t affect my thoughts in any way.
Possible TW: Racism, Homophobia, Slut Shaming, Ableism
I would honestly really like to have someone else’s opinion on this book. So many things made me really uncomfortable, and I would love to discuss it, to see if I’m the only one (like, am I becoming really paranoid and see hate everywhere). I suppose it was made at least to some extent to reflect “real life”. I know this definitely happens to some teens. But is it really necessary to reflect such hate in fiction? This is open to discussion. I really want to know. It’s a bit hard for me to write this review because I have some really conflicted about this book.
What I did find interesting is that we got to see characters who are both Christians and gay, and it’s not something we get often in YA. However, I feel like it could have been dealt with in a better way. There is this post going around tumblr, where someone shows (by quoting the Bible) that being a loving person, and accepting people is the most important thing in religion. This is something I would love to see in a book, and I wish we’d had more of that in here. Sadly, I also know this is also often how things are in the non fictional world (and it’s also why I’m having so much trouble with religion, but it’s a complete other topic). What I want to say here, is that this book was heartbreaking in many way when it comes to family, and contained a lot of negativity, and it was, in my opinion, a pity.
I also had issues with slut shaming and racism in this book, and maybe it’s just made in a way to show that some people think like that and it’s bad and it’s find because our main character doesn’t. But really. It made me jump in my seat to see how Rhonda and Paul were treated (by Randall for example). And by the way, Paul is almost all the time described as Asian, but that’s not enough information. I believe he is Korean? I think that’s mentioned at some point. But again, you can’t just give minimalistic characteristic like that to your love interest. I think this should have been explored a bit more – once again, a pity.
And don’t get me started on the ableism. First we get Randall shaming Martin for being diabetic. And then the entire camp is shaming him for his mental illness – which was another issue overlooked by the book.
I want to believe this book was full of good intentions, and just badly executed. There were even some cute parts I enjoyed, but it’s overshadowed by all the parts that disturbed me.
I did like the ending though. But in the end, I don’t know what message I’m supposed to get from this book. Sure, our main character gets to accept himself more in a way. But most issues aren’t even solved in the end. The book isn’t even that long and I feel like a lot of elements could have been explored in a better way.
Full Review: https://clemisbookishworld.wordpress....
Possible TW: Racism, Homophobia, Slut Shaming, Ableism
I would honestly really like to have someone else’s opinion on this book. So many things made me really uncomfortable, and I would love to discuss it, to see if I’m the only one (like, am I becoming really paranoid and see hate everywhere). I suppose it was made at least to some extent to reflect “real life”. I know this definitely happens to some teens. But is it really necessary to reflect such hate in fiction? This is open to discussion. I really want to know. It’s a bit hard for me to write this review because I have some really conflicted about this book.
What I did find interesting is that we got to see characters who are both Christians and gay, and it’s not something we get often in YA. However, I feel like it could have been dealt with in a better way. There is this post going around tumblr, where someone shows (by quoting the Bible) that being a loving person, and accepting people is the most important thing in religion. This is something I would love to see in a book, and I wish we’d had more of that in here. Sadly, I also know this is also often how things are in the non fictional world (and it’s also why I’m having so much trouble with religion, but it’s a complete other topic). What I want to say here, is that this book was heartbreaking in many way when it comes to family, and contained a lot of negativity, and it was, in my opinion, a pity.
I also had issues with slut shaming and racism in this book, and maybe it’s just made in a way to show that some people think like that and it’s bad and it’s find because our main character doesn’t. But really. It made me jump in my seat to see how Rhonda and Paul were treated (by Randall for example). And by the way, Paul is almost all the time described as Asian, but that’s not enough information. I believe he is Korean? I think that’s mentioned at some point. But again, you can’t just give minimalistic characteristic like that to your love interest. I think this should have been explored a bit more – once again, a pity.
And don’t get me started on the ableism. First we get Randall shaming Martin for being diabetic. And then the entire camp is shaming him for his mental illness – which was another issue overlooked by the book.
I want to believe this book was full of good intentions, and just badly executed. There were even some cute parts I enjoyed, but it’s overshadowed by all the parts that disturbed me.
I did like the ending though. But in the end, I don’t know what message I’m supposed to get from this book. Sure, our main character gets to accept himself more in a way. But most issues aren’t even solved in the end. The book isn’t even that long and I feel like a lot of elements could have been explored in a better way.
Full Review: https://clemisbookishworld.wordpress....
July 23, 2017
This was a pretty average book with its good points being the general topic, the diversity of characters, and Adam's honesty. The bad points are the lack of character details, growth, or development, the stereotypes, and the bland writing overall. Together they make for a book that leaves you with a "take it or leave it" feeling...slightly more than meh.
Adam is close to graduating high school and needs his family's financial support for college despite working and putting money toward that goal himself. While that's his plan, the reality of his situation is that he's hiding an essential part of himself to keep that support because he knows if his truth comes out he'll lose the financial backing as well as any respect or emotional support of his parents as well. They're very strict, rigid, and intolerant Christians. The story wouldn't progress if you didn't have the discovery, so where better for a clandestine shopping trip with a friend than a super popular mall?
Well, then he gets sent off to camp. I was expecting a camp that had more in the way of what you hear about reformation of gays camps but this one was pretty tame. Not to say these people didn't have emotionally distressing moments, but overall it was like a retreat full of DADT and snitches to for the religious leaders.
Paul clings to his religion and is at the camp of his own volition because he feels like his life is missing something. Once he figures out what that might be he goes through his own struggles to accept or reject.
Each character that's there is given some basics and we can infer a complete character from those details but it's not really a complete picture, it's just based on guesses. There are races thrown in as well as stereotypes and both are mocked. For such a short book a lot was thrown in and it all ended in a rather lackluster conclusion. It wasn't a bad one, more of an HFN, but not really satisfying either.
The book itself was geared more for a YA group than anyone older so it was much more simplistic and had the characters dealing with things and speaking to the youth that they were. So if that's cool with you, by all means, read away.
This was a voluntary review for an ARC from NetGalley.
Adam is close to graduating high school and needs his family's financial support for college despite working and putting money toward that goal himself. While that's his plan, the reality of his situation is that he's hiding an essential part of himself to keep that support because he knows if his truth comes out he'll lose the financial backing as well as any respect or emotional support of his parents as well. They're very strict, rigid, and intolerant Christians. The story wouldn't progress if you didn't have the discovery, so where better for a clandestine shopping trip with a friend than a super popular mall?
Well, then he gets sent off to camp. I was expecting a camp that had more in the way of what you hear about reformation of gays camps but this one was pretty tame. Not to say these people didn't have emotionally distressing moments, but overall it was like a retreat full of DADT and snitches to for the religious leaders.
Paul clings to his religion and is at the camp of his own volition because he feels like his life is missing something. Once he figures out what that might be he goes through his own struggles to accept or reject.
Each character that's there is given some basics and we can infer a complete character from those details but it's not really a complete picture, it's just based on guesses. There are races thrown in as well as stereotypes and both are mocked. For such a short book a lot was thrown in and it all ended in a rather lackluster conclusion. It wasn't a bad one, more of an HFN, but not really satisfying either.
The book itself was geared more for a YA group than anyone older so it was much more simplistic and had the characters dealing with things and speaking to the youth that they were. So if that's cool with you, by all means, read away.
This was a voluntary review for an ARC from NetGalley.
August 25, 2017
I was provided a free copy via Netgalley.
Same Love is a book with a massive storyline that could have so much potential if implemented properly. As an author myself, I know how much work goes into writing a novel and getting it published. It's no easy feat and it breaks my heart to rate this at two stars.
This book is about a guy named Adam who is gay, but he comes from a highly religious family. After coming out to his parents, he gets sent to a Christian summer camp. As someone who already doesn't believe in organized religion, this didn't give a good argument for it, even though I felt like I should have ended the book with seeing both sides.
We have a book that deals with homosexuality, religion, and attempted suicide. Highly controversial topics that I didn't think were taken as seriously as they should have been. They were danced over. Every time something massive would happen, all of a sudden the subject changed or the scene changed.
It's a dialogue heavy book, which isn't the worst thing, if executed properly. There was a lot of telling me how I should feel about the character's and very little showing.
Adam falls for a boy named Paul at this summer camp and while you are supposed to be rooting for them together, the relationship falls short. You have character's telling you as a reader how wonderful Adam and Paul are together, yet haven't seen proof of this at all. I wanted to love Adam and Paul together. I wanted a heart-wrenching story about religion and homosexuality. The lesson the character's learn in it is a momental one that could have broken barriers.
I wanted this book to be a blatantly honest, shove-in-your-face, novel. A novel that stood on it's own, made the readers question their own beliefs, and came out with the same moral story. But it wasn't, unfortunately.
Same Love is a book with a massive storyline that could have so much potential if implemented properly. As an author myself, I know how much work goes into writing a novel and getting it published. It's no easy feat and it breaks my heart to rate this at two stars.
This book is about a guy named Adam who is gay, but he comes from a highly religious family. After coming out to his parents, he gets sent to a Christian summer camp. As someone who already doesn't believe in organized religion, this didn't give a good argument for it, even though I felt like I should have ended the book with seeing both sides.
We have a book that deals with homosexuality, religion, and attempted suicide. Highly controversial topics that I didn't think were taken as seriously as they should have been. They were danced over. Every time something massive would happen, all of a sudden the subject changed or the scene changed.
It's a dialogue heavy book, which isn't the worst thing, if executed properly. There was a lot of telling me how I should feel about the character's and very little showing.
Adam falls for a boy named Paul at this summer camp and while you are supposed to be rooting for them together, the relationship falls short. You have character's telling you as a reader how wonderful Adam and Paul are together, yet haven't seen proof of this at all. I wanted to love Adam and Paul together. I wanted a heart-wrenching story about religion and homosexuality. The lesson the character's learn in it is a momental one that could have broken barriers.
I wanted this book to be a blatantly honest, shove-in-your-face, novel. A novel that stood on it's own, made the readers question their own beliefs, and came out with the same moral story. But it wasn't, unfortunately.
July 13, 2017
Note: I was provided an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The basis of this book has a lot of potential. However, the idea wasn't executed as well as it might have been. Especially not with this particular genre starting to grow and expand at a pretty fast pace.
The author has good ideas and the characters, even the ones in the background, are all interesting and worth reading about. There was just so much missing, and the story itself wasn't fleshed out well enough. Especially not the beginning of the book, where we get very little about the main characters past. I felt like I didn't truly know anything about Adam, except for the facts that were the basis of the story: 1) that he's gay and 2) that he's from a super religious family.
It would have been nice to learn a bit ore about Adam, about his parents, and about how he was raised. Instead we are thrown headlong into the story, where we immediately meet his friend Mike who also has no real background besides also being gay. Things just escalated far too quickly from there, and the pacing really threw me off. So much so that I didn't anticipate liking this book much just based on the first couple of chapters.
It definitely got better from there, and it has so much potential. The author could really do a lot with this, it just needs to be molded and expanded on a bit more. It also felt incredibly short, which isn't always a bad thing, but in this case really might be not so great. I finished it in an hour and twenty minutes at work, and that was with interruptions from people coming in and out. I just really think that if it were fleshed out more, that it could be really good instead of just okay.
The basis of this book has a lot of potential. However, the idea wasn't executed as well as it might have been. Especially not with this particular genre starting to grow and expand at a pretty fast pace.
The author has good ideas and the characters, even the ones in the background, are all interesting and worth reading about. There was just so much missing, and the story itself wasn't fleshed out well enough. Especially not the beginning of the book, where we get very little about the main characters past. I felt like I didn't truly know anything about Adam, except for the facts that were the basis of the story: 1) that he's gay and 2) that he's from a super religious family.
It would have been nice to learn a bit ore about Adam, about his parents, and about how he was raised. Instead we are thrown headlong into the story, where we immediately meet his friend Mike who also has no real background besides also being gay. Things just escalated far too quickly from there, and the pacing really threw me off. So much so that I didn't anticipate liking this book much just based on the first couple of chapters.
It definitely got better from there, and it has so much potential. The author could really do a lot with this, it just needs to be molded and expanded on a bit more. It also felt incredibly short, which isn't always a bad thing, but in this case really might be not so great. I finished it in an hour and twenty minutes at work, and that was with interruptions from people coming in and out. I just really think that if it were fleshed out more, that it could be really good instead of just okay.
June 9, 2017
(Note: Provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
At seventeen, Adam has suspected for a while that he might be gay. His sketchbook has become full of images of good-looking men, and he isn't attracted to any of the girls he knows. When he reveals his feelings to his devout parents, they send him to a Christian camp, warning him that there will be no room in their lives for a gay son. The last thing Adam expects is to meet someone he is deeply attracted to; unfortunately, Paul is more committed to his Christian faith than Adam is.
Adam tries to bury his attraction to Paul by concentrating on his art and his new friends Rhonda and Martin. When it becomes clear how unhappy Rhonda and Martin are at Camp Revelation, Adam and Paul are both forced to question what the church tells them about love. But with a whole camp full of people trying to get Adam to change who he is, what kind of chance do Adam and Paul have to find love and a life with each other?
I enjoyed Same Love. I feel like it could've used with some more refinements; the setup seemed a little rushed, and some of the dialogue was a bit cringeworthy. I liked a few of the characters, especially Rhonda; she was snarky, she stood up for herself and others, and she said one of my favourite lines in the whole story:
"The more I read the Bible, the more it becomes clear to me that Jesus was actually a pretty cool guy. It's the people claiming to speak for him who are trying to oppress women and minorities."
Overall, I enjoyed Same Love, and I would like to see where some of these characters go after the end.
At seventeen, Adam has suspected for a while that he might be gay. His sketchbook has become full of images of good-looking men, and he isn't attracted to any of the girls he knows. When he reveals his feelings to his devout parents, they send him to a Christian camp, warning him that there will be no room in their lives for a gay son. The last thing Adam expects is to meet someone he is deeply attracted to; unfortunately, Paul is more committed to his Christian faith than Adam is.
Adam tries to bury his attraction to Paul by concentrating on his art and his new friends Rhonda and Martin. When it becomes clear how unhappy Rhonda and Martin are at Camp Revelation, Adam and Paul are both forced to question what the church tells them about love. But with a whole camp full of people trying to get Adam to change who he is, what kind of chance do Adam and Paul have to find love and a life with each other?
I enjoyed Same Love. I feel like it could've used with some more refinements; the setup seemed a little rushed, and some of the dialogue was a bit cringeworthy. I liked a few of the characters, especially Rhonda; she was snarky, she stood up for herself and others, and she said one of my favourite lines in the whole story:
"The more I read the Bible, the more it becomes clear to me that Jesus was actually a pretty cool guy. It's the people claiming to speak for him who are trying to oppress women and minorities."
Overall, I enjoyed Same Love, and I would like to see where some of these characters go after the end.
July 29, 2017
Adam comes out to his parents as gay and it doesn't go quite as he hoped. He is sent to CAMP REVELATION, a kind of Christian boot camp to rebuild the faith of teenagers who have strayed from the path of righteousness. Most of the book centres around his experiences in the camp with leaders, counsellors and other attendees.
To be honest, I found this unrealistic when I first read it. The closed-mindedness and blatant hypocrisy of the camp leaders was so extreme and absurd that they seemed like pantomime villains. Unable to see past the rigid dogma or allow anything to challenge their opinions, they failed to empathise with the young people who sought their guidance. Instead of addressing the youngsters' problems there was a constant refrain of "Trust Jesus, pray, and all will be fine."
However, I discussed it with my partner, who was involved with an evangelical church as a young man, and he assures me that everything in this book is accurate and representative of the hard-liners who still exist in some churches. It's a scary thought.
The young characters and their relationships are believable and well-written, and the story is by turns touching, frustrating and infuriating, a bit like real life.
I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone struggling to reconcile their sexuality or any other aspect of themselves with being part of a strict religious community. It's not a long book, and easy to read, so young people who aren't big readers may still get through it, especially if the subject matter is relevant.
To be honest, I found this unrealistic when I first read it. The closed-mindedness and blatant hypocrisy of the camp leaders was so extreme and absurd that they seemed like pantomime villains. Unable to see past the rigid dogma or allow anything to challenge their opinions, they failed to empathise with the young people who sought their guidance. Instead of addressing the youngsters' problems there was a constant refrain of "Trust Jesus, pray, and all will be fine."
However, I discussed it with my partner, who was involved with an evangelical church as a young man, and he assures me that everything in this book is accurate and representative of the hard-liners who still exist in some churches. It's a scary thought.
The young characters and their relationships are believable and well-written, and the story is by turns touching, frustrating and infuriating, a bit like real life.
I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone struggling to reconcile their sexuality or any other aspect of themselves with being part of a strict religious community. It's not a long book, and easy to read, so young people who aren't big readers may still get through it, especially if the subject matter is relevant.
June 27, 2017
I feel like the idea behind this book was good but it was poorly executed.
It does follow a plot that has been done before: the whole conversion therapy camp where queer kids come together. It has been seen before but it could have worked a little different because this book actually has more diversity than the regular books.
It is also a short book, so there are many issues that are not developed enough. Martin is one of the characters that suffers the most with this. He is Native American, he has depression and . He is also recovering from alcoholism. All those things are just mentioned in passing and I feel like they could have been explained a bit more. I especially say this because alcoholism is a pretty serious topic, particularly when it involves teenagers, and it is just mentioned without any kind of explanation. One of the things that I found to be more apalling is that no one actually tries to help him at any moment, he is just left there on his own.
I have to mention that there are a couple of times when the main character makes misogyinistic comments, especially towards his mother, that do not sit well with me.
Regarding the writing style, it was really simple, with short sentences and a majority of dialogue.
To sum up, this could have been my type of book but it sadly wasn't.
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
It does follow a plot that has been done before: the whole conversion therapy camp where queer kids come together. It has been seen before but it could have worked a little different because this book actually has more diversity than the regular books.
It is also a short book, so there are many issues that are not developed enough. Martin is one of the characters that suffers the most with this. He is Native American, he has depression and . He is also recovering from alcoholism. All those things are just mentioned in passing and I feel like they could have been explained a bit more. I especially say this because alcoholism is a pretty serious topic, particularly when it involves teenagers, and it is just mentioned without any kind of explanation. One of the things that I found to be more apalling is that no one actually tries to help him at any moment, he is just left there on his own.
I have to mention that there are a couple of times when the main character makes misogyinistic comments, especially towards his mother, that do not sit well with me.
Regarding the writing style, it was really simple, with short sentences and a majority of dialogue.
To sum up, this could have been my type of book but it sadly wasn't.
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
May 11, 2017
"Same Love" is a promising addition to the YA shelf - it has diversity and a positive message about staying true to who you are.
The supporting characters of Rhonda and Mike provide a fun and entertaining side to the rather serious plot of the main character, Adam, being sent to a conservative Christian camp to "pray the gay away."
Adam's parents are just plain awful and a horrible representation of the title 'parents' and 'Christian;' nothing redeemable about them at all.
Paul, the love interest, is dull. Yes, points for diversity as he is Korean and gay - but the spark between him and Adam is bland and hardly gets across to the reader, well...this reader anyway.
There was a lot of negative representations of the Christian church, and those who belong to the church. A lot more negative representations (the Bishop, Randall, Adam's parents, Brian) than realistic positive (Paul, Paul's parents) ones which was disappointing.
A promising storyline and interesting concept, however still a tidge rough in the editing and overall transition side of things, and the dialogue at times was somewhat chunky and stilted.
Copy provided by Netgalley.
The supporting characters of Rhonda and Mike provide a fun and entertaining side to the rather serious plot of the main character, Adam, being sent to a conservative Christian camp to "pray the gay away."
Adam's parents are just plain awful and a horrible representation of the title 'parents' and 'Christian;' nothing redeemable about them at all.
Paul, the love interest, is dull. Yes, points for diversity as he is Korean and gay - but the spark between him and Adam is bland and hardly gets across to the reader, well...this reader anyway.
There was a lot of negative representations of the Christian church, and those who belong to the church. A lot more negative representations (the Bishop, Randall, Adam's parents, Brian) than realistic positive (Paul, Paul's parents) ones which was disappointing.
A promising storyline and interesting concept, however still a tidge rough in the editing and overall transition side of things, and the dialogue at times was somewhat chunky and stilted.
Copy provided by Netgalley.
July 5, 2017
A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. But like always these are my own thoughts and options. My reviews are spoiler-free!
Adam always knew he was gay but when his Christian parents find out they send him to a Christian camp. While there he meets Paul a committed Christian who holds onto his faith with everything he has. Adam try’s everything to stop the feelings that he has to Paul, but when he notices how unhappy his new friends Rhonda and Martin are he is forced to answer questions about faith, love, and family. But being at Camp Revelation being yourself isn’t an opinion.
I knew going into this book I’ll have my own questions about conversion camps and how Tony Correia will talk about being gay and faith. But I think this book did a good job even if I didn’t really like the characters but I feel like the overall theme is one that needs to be talked about more often. I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars because even if I loved the theme of this book I had a lot of problems with characters and I felt like there wasn’t a lot of character growth.
Adam always knew he was gay but when his Christian parents find out they send him to a Christian camp. While there he meets Paul a committed Christian who holds onto his faith with everything he has. Adam try’s everything to stop the feelings that he has to Paul, but when he notices how unhappy his new friends Rhonda and Martin are he is forced to answer questions about faith, love, and family. But being at Camp Revelation being yourself isn’t an opinion.
I knew going into this book I’ll have my own questions about conversion camps and how Tony Correia will talk about being gay and faith. But I think this book did a good job even if I didn’t really like the characters but I feel like the overall theme is one that needs to be talked about more often. I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars because even if I loved the theme of this book I had a lot of problems with characters and I felt like there wasn’t a lot of character growth.
August 31, 2017
I really loved this book! I found it to be both heart wrenching and heartwarming at the same time. Adolescence is such a difficult time for most teenagers. Donuts and insecurities abound. Add to that realizing you’re gay and on top of it, being told by the most important people in your life that you’re wrong and sinful simply by being who God created you to be. It’s almost too much to take, and unfortunately for some teens, it is too much to take. This was a touching story told in the point of view of one such struggling teen. As he wrestles with what he feels is right versus what he’s being told is right, he makes friends with other teens going through much the same thing, and experiences his first crush and his first heartbreak. This window into the mind of this confused boy as he learns to trust himself above all others, including his parents who’ve done nothing but tell him how wrong he is, is so extraordinary and meaningful. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a riveting and compelling read.
*I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley and voluntarily chose to review. All opinions are my own.
*I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley and voluntarily chose to review. All opinions are my own.
June 18, 2017
I got a free copy of this from NetGalley. This book was a really quick read for me because it was short. I read it in less than 2 hours. Adam, the main character is gay but is from a very religious, Christian family and his parent do NOT approve at all. They send him to a Christian camp in hopes of reforming and changing him. The camp isn't all terrible for him. He makes a few friends in Martin and Rhonda and has a huge crush on his roommate Paul, who is super-religious and will barely even admit to having feelings for Adam. Eventually they talk and kind of start to work things out between them but circumstances keep them apart in the end and Adam leaves the camp. I felt really bad for Adam because his parents just do not accept him and make little effort to even try. It sad because it is probably very realistic. The book was good and made a point but the writing was pretty simple and kind of boring actually. Adam was a strong character and I was rooting for him throughout the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2017
The plot was interesting as it raised a lot of important questions on the problems that sometimes arise in the christian community especially with the rise of modern concepts that are slowly being incorporated into today's society. The only thing I hated about the plot was the ending and how easily everything was solved and forgotten. I dislike the very important parts of the story that was just left hanging.
The characters were interesting especially the different reasons why they are there. One of the characters, namely Rhonda, was someone I rooted for despite being a secondary character. She was strong and was ready to defend anyone. The character that I really like and felt for was Martin. His character stood out for me because I really felt the sadness that he tried to hide and how no one was even willing to help him overcome his grief.
The romance was very undeveloped and felt all over the place despite this being the main focus of the story
I received an ARC from the publisher from Netgalley. I thank them for sending this wonderful book to me.
June 23, 2017
**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review**
DNF at 22%
After reading the blurb of this book I had really high hopes as it is my kind of story but I have to say I regretted downloading it after reading the first few pages.
It just didn't work for me for several reasons. I feel like the storyline of this book is actually very good but it was just wasn't very well written. I found the writing very disjointed at times and everything seemed to happen at break neck speed. I also found it hard to connect with the main protagonist Adam I felt as though the character wasn't fully developed and was lacking emotion.
While I understand that the subject matter carries some level of homophobia, I felt that the language used was a bit too much and there were too many slurs used for my liking. I kind of get what the author wanted to achieve with this story but for me it just fell flat. As much as I wanted to I just couldn't seem to warm to the story or its characters.
DNF at 22%
After reading the blurb of this book I had really high hopes as it is my kind of story but I have to say I regretted downloading it after reading the first few pages.
It just didn't work for me for several reasons. I feel like the storyline of this book is actually very good but it was just wasn't very well written. I found the writing very disjointed at times and everything seemed to happen at break neck speed. I also found it hard to connect with the main protagonist Adam I felt as though the character wasn't fully developed and was lacking emotion.
While I understand that the subject matter carries some level of homophobia, I felt that the language used was a bit too much and there were too many slurs used for my liking. I kind of get what the author wanted to achieve with this story but for me it just fell flat. As much as I wanted to I just couldn't seem to warm to the story or its characters.
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