I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book by Netgalley, and I'm so glad I did because this is, currently, my favorite book of the year. This was a brutal, ruthless thriller about a group of queer teens that are kidnapped and sent to a conversion camp. It's a book I haven't stopped thinking about ever since I've finished it back in April, and I'm so excited for people to read it when it finally comes out.
Reading the synopsis you might think to yourself, "this is just another book about queer people suffering and being in pain", and while, yes, there are lots of painful things these characters go through, this is much more a book about what queer people do and how they deal with pain. So, despite being brutal and bleak at times, this novel is incredibly hopeful.
I don't want to give too much away, but let me just say that this was a very well-plotted super fast-paced, and intense story. The characters were relatable and well-written, and this book has the most accurate depiction of being a queer teen living in the 21st century I've ever read. Something that I wasn't expecting but loved was how funny this book was, I didn't expect that a story set in a conversion camp could be humorous but it managed to do it very well.
A minor complaint that I had was the insta-love, but considering these characters were under a lot of pressure, I honestly cannot blame them for falling in love way too quickly, and I also quite liked the romance.
So, you should definitely read this when it comes out in September because it's an amazing novel and I loved it so much.