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A review by emmirosereads
Say A Little Prayer by Jenna Voris
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for giving me an early copy of this book to read and review.
I think this healed something in my religiously traumatized gay little heart. I loved everything about this from the writing of Jenna Voris to the characters, to the story itself. It was funny, it was heart wrenching, and equally as heart warming.
As someone who grew up going to church and have been to many a church camp/retreat the setting was all too familiar. Many times nearly making me cringe from the memories of it all but to me that was a sign of excellent writing. I really connected with both Riley's struggle with faith and grappling with missing the familiarity of church even though you want nothing to do with the religion anymore. Along with Julia's struggle and the fear that comes with the realization that you like girls when you've grown up being told how much of a sin it was all your life.
I really loved every single character in this book. They all felt fully fleshed out and well developed throughout the book. I loved seeing their bonds with each other and how everything came together so nicely in the end. I think Ben was my favorite though. His support for Riley, his love for his sister and the romantic love he has for Hannah was all so beautiful to me. While I hated Pastor Young I love him as a character as he was a very well done antagonist. I felt so strongly every time Riley was forced to interact with him.
Also despite there already being feelings present between our two love interests and them having an already established relationship Jenna Voris did an absolutely AMAZING job at not making this feel insta-lovey. That is my biggest issue with so many romance books and what will constantly keep them from a five star for me but she captured the sapphic yearning of these two girls so damn well and I loved every moment of it. Definitely a bit of a slow burn but I was here for it!
An excellent book about queer love, struggling with faith, and so much more. If this sounds up your alley I would so very much recommend it. I also want to mention how much I love the chapter titles in this book. Almost every single one made me chuckle and just a nice little bow on an already wonderful book.
I think this healed something in my religiously traumatized gay little heart. I loved everything about this from the writing of Jenna Voris to the characters, to the story itself. It was funny, it was heart wrenching, and equally as heart warming.
As someone who grew up going to church and have been to many a church camp/retreat the setting was all too familiar. Many times nearly making me cringe from the memories of it all but to me that was a sign of excellent writing. I really connected with both Riley's struggle with faith and grappling with missing the familiarity of church even though you want nothing to do with the religion anymore. Along with Julia's struggle and the fear that comes with the realization that you like girls when you've grown up being told how much of a sin it was all your life.
I really loved every single character in this book. They all felt fully fleshed out and well developed throughout the book. I loved seeing their bonds with each other and how everything came together so nicely in the end. I think Ben was my favorite though. His support for Riley, his love for his sister and the romantic love he has for Hannah was all so beautiful to me. While I hated Pastor Young I love him as a character as he was a very well done antagonist. I felt so strongly every time Riley was forced to interact with him.
Also despite there already being feelings present between our two love interests and them having an already established relationship Jenna Voris did an absolutely AMAZING job at not making this feel insta-lovey. That is my biggest issue with so many romance books and what will constantly keep them from a five star for me but she captured the sapphic yearning of these two girls so damn well and I loved every moment of it. Definitely a bit of a slow burn but I was here for it!
An excellent book about queer love, struggling with faith, and so much more. If this sounds up your alley I would so very much recommend it. I also want to mention how much I love the chapter titles in this book. Almost every single one made me chuckle and just a nice little bow on an already wonderful book.