Second in line to my favorite romance reads is one that explores the (still much) stigmatized territory of boy's love (I'm a fujoshi duh). It's taken to a higher level of capriciousness because it mixes in religion.
I've read a review of this book from a queer person (Is it ok to call them that? I apologize in advance because I don't really know) somewhere, and they didn't quite like how YA and unrealistic the main character seemed to be painted. I don't know if my opinion is valid for this because I'm not one myself and I did not go through the coming-out pains they have experienced, but I still think that Autoboyography has its good moments.
I live in a religious place, I have friends in the LGBTQ+ community, and I continually see how they either try to tone down and hide who they are, or fight for their right to be themselves. I can attest how the book captures that and more. Of course there are cultural differences playing in the field, so that might also be where our opinions greatly vary. I just don't like how they try to put down such a relevant read.
The book takes us to Utah, USA, the capital of Mormons. As it goes, the main character is bisexual and he's open about it with his family. With his new community though, not yet. What's worse is he falls in love with the bishop's closet-gay son. Religion and love disputes shake the world of these two teenagers. One is confused about how he feels, the other is confused about how he could convince the other.
What made me love and set Autoboyography apart from other BL novels is that it bravely discusses the pains of choosing between your beliefs and your heart. This opened my eyes to new perspectives, had me start reading BL books, and had changed how I treat these issues in our community. I'd call this novel impactful.
Favourite Lines from:
Autoboyography
by Christina Lauren
I wasn’t having the greatest day and you turned it around.
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my thoughts about Sebastian are a runaway train: The engineer is gone and the engine is basically on fire. My attraction is beyond control.
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It’s amazing how a bit of distance and perspective seems to help clear my head.
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“Mom will save a penny anywhere she can.
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‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without
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“A God worthy of your eternal love wouldn’t judge you for who you love while you’re here.”
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Marriage is forever, and infatuation wears off. Finding someone that comes from the same community and has the same values, in the end, is more important than being with the person you want to have sex with for a few months.
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Your mom is my sun. My world is only warm when she is in it.
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thing I wanted was to make him proud of me.
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I’ve seen his generosity and felt that pride I feel when I realized he’s mine.
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It’s childish, but it’s so unfair that he should get joy out of something that feels like a rope tied around my chest that tightens every time I say it.
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“This will be in our rearview mirror soon.”
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You’ll wake up and it will hurt a little less and a little less, until some boy or girl is smiling at you and it makes you stupid all over again.”
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I know that the book I’m writing feels like an enemy, a chore. It has no heart, and no end.
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Anyone can start one. It’s finishing that’s impossible.
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It felt important. Living in this town is suffocating in so many ways. But if a tree falls in the woods, maybe it makes no sound. And if a boy falls for the bishop’s closeted son, maybe it makes no story.
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I sleep a ton. I don’t care about this stupid book.
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Maybe I’m crying because I’m terrified that he’s come here to do more damage, to reactivate what I feel only to let me down easy again, missionary style
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But we’ve both been raised to care greatly what our family thinks about us—their esteem is everything
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That’s my framework—happy endings, easy life. But I guess it’s better that I learn this lesson now instead of later, down the road, when I’m not living at home and the world isn’t so kind.
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I feel relieved, like both of my looming fears—the fear of Sebastian ending things again, the fear of having to deal with the book—have come to pass and at least I don’t have to worry about either of them anymore.
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‘Family is a gift that lasts forever.’ ”
“There was no asterisk though, saying, ‘But only under these specific conditions.’ ”
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I know those sayings are supposed to be inspirational, but they mostly feel like someone standing over your shoulder, passive aggressively reminding you where you fall short or why your tragedy is for the greater good, all in God’s plan
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“They’re upset, but at some point they’ll figure out you can be right, or you can be loved.
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I knew I was helpless, but it still felt like my good intentions had power, that they could change the trajectory of whatever had happened to my sister.
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the neurons that signal pain, called C fibers, actually have some of the slowest-conducting axons. The sensation of pain takes longer to get to the brain than nearly any other type of information—including the conscious awareness that pain is coming.
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We need to be able to escape the source of pain before we’re debilitated by it.
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