Scan barcode
A review by lilyrooke
Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
5.0
Utterly beautiful and painful. I'm so thankful for the Sebastian chapters because, as someone who related hugely to him and his family situation, I thought they were a necessary window into his mind and his actions. This book takes extremely complex topics like identity, religion, family, acceptance, and delivers them in an impressively nuanced way while remaining engaging and pacy throughout.
It's another one of those books I think I'd find it hard to re-read, because some of the details like Sebastian's forced stoicism - to the point where he's essentially disconnected from his own wants and desires - plus the emotional abuse he suffers all just got a bit too much to handle at times. I feel like Sebastian is a marmite character because if you don't understand how that feels, if you haven't grown up being shaped by it, it doesn't make sense to act that way, and the damage it's doing is obvious. But I thought it was an authentic and brave portrayal of a complex character that didn't shy away from necessary events and choices, no mattter how difficult they must have been to write.
It's another one of those books I think I'd find it hard to re-read, because some of the details like Sebastian's forced stoicism - to the point where he's essentially disconnected from his own wants and desires - plus the emotional abuse he suffers all just got a bit too much to handle at times. I feel like Sebastian is a marmite character because if you don't understand how that feels, if you haven't grown up being shaped by it, it doesn't make sense to act that way, and the damage it's doing is obvious. But I thought it was an authentic and brave portrayal of a complex character that didn't shy away from necessary events and choices, no mattter how difficult they must have been to write.