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Each week Stephanie, Lillian and I will be featuring a SUMMER OF LOVE review on our blogs. If you missed Stephanie’s post from yesterday, check it out at Once Upon a Chapter. And look for Lillian’s review this Thursday at Mom With a Reading Problem.
Welcome to my second review for the SUMMER OF LOVE! As I mentioned in week one, I actually already read a lot of contemporary romance, but there’s just something about summer reading that screams contemp for me. And I’m using these 12 weeks to showcase books in different categories. The second category is:
Road Trip
OK, I totally get that road trips can happen at any time, but I always imagine them in summer for some reason. Which is ironic, since in my book of choice the road trip is in February! 
Recommendations:
- Emancipating Andie by Priscilla Glenn
- The Road to You by Marilyn Brant
- Road to Somewhere by Kelley Lynn & Jenny S. Morris
- Not Your Average Road Trip by Cassie Mae (previously titled No Interest in Love)
- Cocky Bastard by Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland
- The Hard Truth About Sunshine by Sawyer Bennett
My Review:Title: The History of Us
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Published by: Indie
Release Date: June 11, 2015
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 318
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:
Blurb:Sometimes it's not about coming out, it's about settling in.
Eighteen-year-old Bradley Collins came out a year ago and hasn't looked back since. Who cares if he doesn’t know any other queer people? Bradley has friends and basketball—that’s all he needs. Even if that means always sitting on the sidelines when the guys go out looking for girls.
When cute film-boy TJ tries to flirt with Bradley, he freaks. Yeah, he’s gay, but he’s never had the opportunity to go out with a boy before. He’s never had to worry about how his friends will react to seeing him with a guy.
But there’s something about TJ that Bradley connects with and when TJ tells him about his upcoming road trip, to film a documentary on the LGBTQ+ community, Bradley feels a draw to go. In each city they visit, they meet with people from different walks of life, and Bradley learns there’s a whole lot more to being honest about himself than just coming out. He still has to figure out who he really is, and learn to be okay with what he discovers.
4 stars — Man I had a hard time starting this review…but as always, my thoughts eventually poured out.
There were so many raw moments in this book, I felt them so hard. My poor boy, I warned him there would be crying and I almost immediately delivered.
I think one of the most amazing parts of this book was that we got to see just how wildly varied everyone’s experiences can be, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. And that while understanding other people’s stories can definitely help put things into perspective, it also shouldn’t take away what someone else is going through — there doesn’t need to be comparisons. Everyone’s fear and anxiety is valid.
Bradley was quite authentically a teenager to me. He struggled with his emotions, and as a consequence he could be quite the dick at times. But it was a joy to watch him grow and learn and change. It wasn’t immediate, and there were setbacks, but I rooted for him to find his way.
I knew something was going on with TJ, and my heart aches for that boy. He was also authentically teenagery to me — I appreciated that (even if it was frustrating at the time).
I kind of loved their crushes on one another, and the development of their relationship over the road trip. They were kind of adorable together. There were times where some of Bradley’s reactions and changes felt convenient, or quick, which is probably why I didn’t rate higher.
The strength of this story was truly in the wide variety of queer folks they interviewed for the documentary. It was actually kind of a brilliant way to explore a lot of different topics, and to showcase both the good and the bad experiences. I still feel ripped apart from some stories…Dustin’s and Greg’s in particular.
5 years later and this book still feels overwhelmingly relevant and accessible. I highly recommend it to teenagers and adults alike.
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