Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher and then I bought my own copy of the book. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
Author: Sonora Reyes
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Mexican characters, Indigenous Person of Mexico Lesbian MC, Indigenous Person of Mexico Bisexual character, Chinese Adopted Queer Character, Navajo Indigenous Atheist Character, Black character
Recommended For…:young adult readers, contemporary, romance, LGBT
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Age Relevance: 15+ (language, gore, violence, religion, deportation, parentification, micro aggressions, racism, abortion, forced outing, homophobia, underage consumption of alcohol, depression, sexual content, suicide, suicide ideation, religious trauma, romance)
Explanation of Above: The book has themes of religion (Catholicism), which mentioned all throughout the book, and religious trauma, which is shown, and how it influences people to be hateful towards those who don’t fit their perceived mold of how a person should be. This is especially evident in the homophobia shown in the book and the forced outtings. There is some slight gore with vomit and blood mentioned and some violence shown with punching a mirror and fist fights mentioned, as well as a lot of cursing. Suicide is mentioned, Depression is shown, and ideation is mentioned as well. Deportation is mentioned throughout the book, as well as racism (which is also shown) and micro agressions (which is also shown). Parentification, in the form of being forced to parent a younger sibling is shown in the book. Abortion is briefly mentioned, as well as sexual content (virginity), and there is a scene where underage characters consume alcohol and are drunk. There is also slight romance in this book.
Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Pages: 385
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers drawing attention for her killer eyeliner, not for being the new kid at a mostly white, very rich, Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way. After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend, she could use the fresh start.
At Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: make her mom proud, keep her brother out of trouble, and most importantly, don’t fall in love. Granted, she’s never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami.
The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. Either way, Yami isn’t going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she’ll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?
Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.
Review: I really liked this book! It was a sweet story about a girl who’s having to deal with the perceived notions of who she should be and what she is at heart. The book is equal parts heartbreaking as it is victorious and I found myself cheering for Yamilet everytime she had a little victory with being her genuine self. The book heavily reminds me of Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and Furia. I loved all of the twists and turns in the story, as those who I thought would be endgame was not and those who I had no hope for became more than I expected. I also loved the theme of “you should have been there” which plays a lot in Yamilet’s family and how they expected her to act, but also how she expected them to act. The character development was well done and the world building was great. The pacing was on point and the premise immediately drew me in and refused to let me go. The book is absolutely gorgeous inside and out and I highly recommend this read.
The only issue I had with the book is that I wished there was more romance in the book as it did take a long time to get to that part, and I wished that there was a good conclusion with a certain character I had high hopes for. I loved what the family did to that character, but I wished that there was a tidbit at the end as to what their motives were and if they got around to accepting the situation.
Verdict: It was amazing! Highly recommend!
Book Info:
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publishing Date: May 17, 2022
Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers drawing attention for her killer eyeliner, not for being the new kid at a mostly white, very rich, Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way. After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend, she could use the fresh start.
At Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: make her mom proud, keep her brother out of trouble, and most importantly, don’t fall in love. Granted, she’s never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami.
The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. Either way, Yami isn’t going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she’ll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?
Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.
Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57435050-the-lesbiana-s-guide-to-catholic-school
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lesbianas-guide-to-catholic-school-sonora-reyes/1140022825?ean=9780063060234
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Lesbiana-s-Guide-to-Catholic-School/9780063060234
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063060234
About the Author:
Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes is the author of the forthcoming contemporary young adult novel: THE LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL
They write fiction full of queer and Latinx characters in a variety of genres, with current projects in both kidlit and adult categories. Sonora is also the creator and host of the Twitter chat #QPOCChat, a monthly community-building chat for queer writers of color.
Sonora currently lives in Arizona in a multi-generational family home with a small pack of dogs who run the place. Outside of writing, Sonora loves dancing, singing karaoke, and playing with their baby nephew.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.sonorareyes.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SonoraReyes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonora.reyes/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21286978.Sonora_Reyes
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLx5ojHluRTcP9o1vbIrqcg?view_as=subscriber
Tour Schedule:https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2022/03/30/tour-schedule-the-lesbianas-guide-to-catholic-school-by-sonora-reyes/
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