Book Review: Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

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Synopsis:

Fangirl meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this “sensitive and complex” (BCCB) coming-of-age novel from New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren about two boys who fall in love in a writing class—one from a progressive family and the other from a conservative religious community.

Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.

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My Review:

TW: Homophobia

“A God worthy of your eternal love wouldn’t judge you for who you love while you’re here.”

OMG! Where do I start with this novel?

From the first page, I was hooked. I thoroughly enjoyed the conflicts that are presented in this novel, from the romance problems to religious complications.

I adored the exploration of sexuality in this novel. We got to see from Tanner’s perspective, he’s is a bisexual teen secure of his identity with supportive parents. Sebastian is the opposite; he denies his true self and is forced to hide due to the harsh religious beliefs. They handled what it means to be bisexual beautifully and how it is about “falling in love with a person, not the parts.”

This is a love story, that starts with “His smile ruins me” and doesn’t disappoint from there. I love these boys and their messy love story. It’s also a story about religion and family. I have never read a story so deeply rooted in LDS culture.

There are so many obstacles in the way of Sebastian and Tanner, I wanted to scoop them up and protect them. This story is heart-wrenching and shares the reality of what it is like to grow up with a religion that believes that loving someone of the same gender is wrong.

I adored Tanner’s mom, and how much she accepted him and wanted to protect him from the world she was raised in. She wants nothing but the best for him and it really sucks that Sebastian didn’t get that from his parents. There is a moment between Sebastian and Tanner’s mom that had me welling up.

This is my first novel by Christina Lauren, and I wasn’t disappointed. I plan to read more of their work soon. This book is heartbreaking, beautiful, funny and really cute. I can’t explain how much I loved it.

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