It seems a bit extreme to say over a sweet, teen romance book, this ruined me but in all honesty, it did. Never have I read a book that fit this facet of my life so perfectly. There really isn’t anything out there for queer LDS and former LDS people like myself. I own Sue-Ann Post’s memoir, and borrowed Saving Alex from the library. I own Latter Days on dvd. I even owned the church-endorsed In Quiet Desperation, a book written by the parents of a gay kid who knew he was suicidal and chose not to intervene despite knowing this (because God told them not to), and the LDS posterboy for the new face of pray the gay away. That’s how thin on the ground representation is.
This book was the book I needed, not just as a teen, but as an adult. This book is going to save the lives of so many queer LDS kids. That’s not an exaggeration. It’s an absolute fact.
As someone born into Mormonism, all the terminology, attitudes, language and doctrine was spot-on. They got it right. So many kids are going to find this book and have something that was written just for them, a candle in the dark. The scene where the hypothetical is mentioned? I did that. It crashed and burned in a slightly different, but still heartbreakingly predictable way. Too many of us die, either at our own hand, actively or passively, or are murdered, actively or passively. Too many of us end up with nothing once the walls are removed and we’re standing in that field for the first time. But for the ones who find this book, be it through libraries, or friends, or illicit ebook… they won’t be standing alone.
knitting in the dark 