Autoboygraphy / Christina Lauren / 2017

Autoboygraphy / Christina Lauren / 2017

I’m not typically a great fan of romances, especially ones set in Provo where the love interest is the queer son of a LDS bishop, but two-thirds or so of the way through I wept. Lauren does an excellent job portraying the electric playfulness and full-hearted commitment of young love, as well as all the ways families, religion, and culture can make something so simple so painfully complicated. This story follows a bisexual teen from liberal family as he breaks his heart against the culture of his sort-of boyfriend. While the book does include an annoying amount of passages contextualizing Provo/Mormon culture, the passages do also serve as touch points to understand how our protagonist reads the situation. It’s extremely even-handed in its portrayal, which means narrow-minded ideological Mormons will be pissed by it. Overall, a way better read than it has the right to be. 4/5