Book 57 - Bejeweled & Bewildered

Title: Keeping You a Secret

Author: Julie Anne Peters

Genre: coming out teen fiction

So, let's start with the good.

Stories like this need to be told. It's heartbreaking and soaked in that teenager uncertainty and frustration of being squished around by parental expectations and budding desires - and I'm not just talking about the sexual desires.

And just like that, I've exhausted the good and we're on to the bad:

• The writing: for the duration of the book and quite some time after, I couldn't decide if the writing is terrible, or just meant for a younger version of myself. I've decided...a little of both. Here's the thing: this book is clearly written in the 2000s. A lot of the language is painfully hip - four-point-oh GPA turns in "four-oh". Application becomes "app" - stuff like that. It feels forced, and consistently jars me out of the story.

• The characters: I want to feel for the characters, especially the protag Holland, who represents a familiar story - but everyone is a caricature I can't understand, nor empathize with. Their motivations and actions are either predictable AF or utterly unintelligible. The main, heartbreaking event feels like a cheap shot that comes out of nowhere and is designed purely to elicit an emotional reaction.

My search for good LGBTQ+ literature continues - and unfortunately this book does not meet the cut.

Rating: 📼📼/5