{Synopsis} –Lexi would do anything to keep her broken family together. Even if it means denying who she really is.
You are on the road to truth. Help is on the way.
The road signs leading to New Horizons summer camp promise a new life for seventeen-year-old Lexi. Ever since her mom found out she was in love with a girl, her broken family has been pulled even further apart. But Lexi swears she can change.
Denying her feelings is harder than she thinks. And when she falls heads over heels for one of her fellow campers, Lexi will have to risk her mother's approval for the one person who might love her no matter what.
{My Thoughts} – I accepted this review with an open mind. I understood what the jist of the book was about and that I may not end up liking it. I strongly try not to be overly judgmental when it comes to reading a book and I couldn’t help but do that while reading this particular book. Be judgmental that is.
This book is about a girl named Lexi that has lost her dad to cancer and her mom falls into a shell of depression. One day her mom questions her about her sexuality and Lexi chooses to be honest with her as opposed to lie. This causes a lot of sour tension between her and her mother for days. Her mother then tells her that the Pastor of their church would like to see her the next day. Lexi meets with the Pastor who gives her a brochure to a de-gayifying camp called New Horizons and sends her on her way. When Lexi gets home her mother seemingly appears to be a different person. Lexi attends the camp under the understanding she needs to cure herself to save whats left of her family.
When Lexi gets to the camp she is placed in a group with three other campers – Carolyn, Daniel and Matthew. These three characters with Lexi help to build a wonderful atmosphere within the book. Their playful banter, their opposing ideals, their inability to let the world bring them down and their desire to please are some of the traits I ran across. This is all I will say in regards to the book on a spoiler premise.
However, did I like the characters. I did like the four main characters. I did not like Mr. Martian or his counselors he had working with the children. I didn’t enjoy his attitude in general throughout the entire book and was disgusted by him the more I read. I was surprised when I learned more about Briana but I still couldn’t learn to like her anymore then Mr. Martian. I fell in love with Lexi and Matthew and learned to like Carolyn and Danial.
There were many things in this book I had problems getting through. I didn’t like the constant you must change your ways or you cannot go into the kingdom of Heaven. I strongly believe that if people weren’t meant to be who they are God wouldn’t have made them the way they are. I don’t see anything wrong with those individuals that are attracted to the same gender and it irritates me that this book was so determined to make it seem like such a nasty thing. I know that isn’t the stance the book keeps, but instead of helping teenagers and giving them hope – the book misleads them and sets them up for confusion and terrible thoughts to possibly cross their minds.
One of the most memorable parts of the book for me was the attack on Harry Potter. You’ll have to read the book to know what I am talking about, but it was an interesting analogy in my opinion.
I admit this book was well written, I don’t have anything wrong with how it is written it is with the how the storyline was delivered. I don’t know if this was the right book for me to read, as I had trouble committing to the story. I also had problems walking away from it completely because I wanted to know what happened in the end even though I was mostly unsatisfied with the book. I just can’t stand behind a book that in a sense instills in teenagers that they aren’t normal if they don’t like opposite genders. I strongly believe that you can’t help who you fall in love with.
If you want to know what happens in the book completely you will need to read it, but you may have just as much difficulty enjoying the book as I did.
Final Conclusion: 3 Star Rating.
