A modern classic that is still relevant today. The story of a girl who discovers who she is and is then almost straight away forced to be anything but that. Cameron's posts situation when she accepts that she is gay but is forced into a gay re-education program by her aunt.

This was an incredible book that explored contemporary issues in a nuanced and thought-provoking way. The author has a beautiful writing style that kept me engaged from start to finish. It's a heartbreaking read and so frustrating at times but powerful and necessary in its refusal to flinch away from the truth. This is such an important book that deserves to be more widely read.

I wanted to read this book before I saw the film and the pictures it left in my mind mean that seeing the film is no longer necessary. This book deserves to become much better known

— I received a free review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review —

This was a book that I really really wanted to like, especially after seeing fabulous authors promote the movie version all summer. But somehow, I just didn’t enjoy it at all, it has taken me weeks to finish it - still giving it three stars because I believe that it is an important story to be told, and I can see others liking it far more than me.
I think it’s impact was lessened a lot for me, as I do live in a rather tolerant environment, and in parts of my social circle, most people are queer in some way or another without it being a big deal. For me, having the book set in the early 90s was one of the main issues that kept me from connecting to it, but also that the characters are all very guarded and therefore seem shallow.
TL:DR a book I can see many people loving and being impacted by, not for me

After Cameron's parents suddenly die in a car accident, she has to navigate life as an orphan, living with her religious aunt and old-fashioned grandmother. She is not just grieving but also full of guilt as she kissed a girl just hours before she received the news of her parents' deaths.

I had heard a lot about this novel over the summer but I'm not sure if I had read this book had it not been available on NetGalley. I love reading LGBTQ stories and YA but this is a surprisingly long book with a not quite so linear and concise plot as usually read. But it certainly made for an interesting read.

Cameron lives through a lot in this book. It chronicles her life from age 12 (which is when her parents die) and her first kiss to her entering a very religious school that is supposed to help her realise the sin of her homosexuality and cure her of it.

This book is a stunning literary debut, just like the blurb says, but I'm not sure I can pinpoint exactly why. I do think it would have been just fine a little shorter and more focused but I still couldn't get enough of the story and even as I had to put it down for a while I kept thinking about it.

The plot was fascinating, very original and incredibly thoughtful. This story made me contemplate my own relationships to parents or friends and to religion and I was both fascinated and horrified by the stark differences between Cameron's upbringing in the 80s and 90s and my own just 20 years later.

Most characters are fascinating people who seem quite realistic and especially in the second half of the novel they really made me love this story more. Most of all Cameron, though. She isn't necessarily what I'd call a relatable character but she is written so well and all of her choices make so much sense.

Generally, this book is so well-written and while it slightly annoyed me that it took so long for the pace to pick up it was worth sticking with it. The ending alone made me want to cry so much.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is an empathetic coming-of-age tale that tackles the topics of sexuality, religion, faith and friendship.

When 12-year-old Cameron Post's parents die in a car crash while she is having a sleepover at her friend's house, the first feeling she has is relief. Relief that they will never know that she spent that evening kissing a girl. Her relief is short-lived, however. When she is sent to live with her conservative aunt Ruth and her warm but old-fashioned grandmother, she grapples with her feelings of homosexuality. As the years move on and Cameron starts high school, she meets truck-driving cowgirl Corey, and their friendship grows into something a little more serious despite Corey having the 'perfect' boyfriend. When their relationship is exposed, Ruth sends Cameron to a religious, de-gaying or gay conversion therapy camp, where she is expected to shed her homosexual tendencies and accept Jesus into her life.

I loved what Emily M. Danforth did with this debut. Cameron is a wonderful, multidimensional protagonist and it is almost impossible not to like her. She is witty and brave, and utterly calm and composed in situations where most teenagers would lose the run of themselves. The setting, in rural Montana, is beautifully depicted and the story is an interesting one. My major hangup with this book is its length. It is just too long. Essentially it is broken into two halves, with 50% of the novel being set in Miles City, Montana pre-gay conversion camp, and the other 50% post-exposure of Cameron's relationship with Corey. A significant chunk could be removed from both sections, but particularly the former, without it taking from the overall success of the story.

While it is a drawn-out telling of Cameron's coming-of-age, the handling of teenage homosexuality and the quest to find one's true self is handled very well. A beautiful tale about staying true to your heart.

After the sudden death of her parents Cameron Posts life is shaken to its very core. One thing she doesn't expect to feel is relief, her parents will never find out that she kissed her best friend the very same night they died. Left with her elderly grandmother and religious aunt Cameron has to navigate her sexuality in secret in her small town. 

This novel was promoted quite a lot at YALC in the summer, I didn't know that it was about to become a film. So, of course, I put in a request on Netgalley to see what the fuss was all about. I'm glad that I did. It was an interesting read that I'm not sure I would have picked up otherwise. 

There are some tough topics dealt with within the novel. Of course, there is the pressure of a small town in the mid-nineties that Cameron faces isn't comfortable to read. More so, the fact that 'conversion therapy' plays a big part in the second half of the novel can be tough to get through. That said, while you would imagine this to be totally horrific Danforth managed to spread a message of hope throughout Cameron's forced stay. 

What I will say about this novel is that the number of girls that Cameron finds that are Lesbian or Bisexual seemed a little unrealistic to me. She seemed to get a fair amount of experience in what was meant to be a small, very religious town. It's the only thing that didn't quite sit right with me.

I gave this novel 4 stars, I think it took quite a while for the pace to pick up and feel a lot of people would possibly put it down. Don't! There is a beauty and connection in the second half of the novel that truly makes it worth it. Would I recommend this read? Yes, I would. It's definitely an intriguing novel - that said I won't be watching the film. 

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was particularly keen to read this story given its to be a film. A story not often told well, this coming of age story is quite raw in places but so is life. I did feel it was a bit long and it took me a while to read it. Overall very good though and worth the read - look forward to seeing the film.

I feel that this book was a little longer than necessary but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! I was eager to read it before the movie comes out and now I'm even more excited to see how this poignant tale will be adapted to screen. This story hits you in the heart, and then some.

I was curious to read this after seeing that the film was due and I thought it was a wonderfully written coming of age story about a young girl struggling with her sexuality in a world that often judges our decisions. Beautiful & poignant.

Summary

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a book about identity, family, friendship and grief. Following the death of her parents, Cameron Post ends up living with her conservative aunt and grandmother, and the guilt that the first emotion she felt on learning of their deaths was relief, relief that they would not find out that she was kissing a girl on the day they died. The novel progresses from this point as she endeavours to keep her sexuality secret from her aunt, while also starting to have romantic relationships with girls around her. That is, of course, until her aunt finds out the truth.

Plot

This novel starts with a slow build, introducing you to Cameron and the world she lives in before embarking fully into the plot. The plot itself almost occurs in two acts: the before and the after. Before her aunt learns of Cameron’s sexuality, and after, when she does and takes action to “correct” her. It is an intense read, and a touch disturbing in places (mostly in the ‘after’ parts of the book). The focus of the book does switch from time to time, from her romances, to her friendships and then her own inner-thoughts. Mostly, however, it covers her accepting both herself and the guilt she feels over her parents’ death. I did find the ending cut off quite sharply, without any clear resolution, although this did leave a lot of room for reflection after the novel ended as well as thoughts about where Cameron would go from where it ended.

Character

Cameron is an intriguing lead – despite knowing what could happen if her family finds out that she prefers girls, she takes a lot of risks in an effort to be who she is. Yet, even though this inner strength continues throughout the book, there are scenes of vulnerability and an inability to fully heal after the heartbreak and betrayals she experiences. Her friends, while a constantly changing cast, are incredibly influential on her as a person and these influences and developments are seen as the book progresses. The various relationships (romantic, friendly and familial) are probably the strongest part of the book and, as such, are often the hardest to read. The aunt, however, was probably the most compelling – sacrificing a lot to raise her niece and then sending her away to “fix” her purely on the strength of her religious beliefs, despite knowing the damage it might cause to their relationship and that Cameron may never forgive her. It made for almost scary reading, more so once her beliefs are replicated in the religious school that Cameron is sent to.

World/Setting

The novel itself takes place in the late 80s/early 90s in America. While the characters dominate, the setting grounds the novel, cementing the action in near-modern day and making the events all the more disconcerting. As there are almost two acts, there are two main settings: Billings, the town where Cameron grew up, and God’s Promise, the school she gets sent to and the reason for the title of the book. While Billings is written as very realistic, somewhere you could feasibly visit or even live in, God’s Promise just comes across as slightly out of reach – still present, but nonetheless a separate entity. The writing fully allows you to imagine both places, and see it almost as if you were looking over Cameron’s shoulder.

Final Thoughts

The Miseducation of Cameron Post was quite a read – intense and disturbing in places, with a lot of development. The writing really captured the events of the story, the tone and experiences that Cameron had. It caught plenty of emotions and was a powerful read. However, there were parts of it which did not really connect with me. It took a while for me to get into (which could be due to me being ill at the time of reading) and I found that, once it got to God’s Promise, it lost a bit of the essence that kept me engrossed at the start. It does tackle a difficult topic and I do think Danforth handled it well (although I still struggle to believe that conversion centres and therapy are a thing), and I do recommend the book itself.

When Cameron’s parents died, she was relieved. That’s a sad thing to say but she was relieved that she didn’t have to tell them that she was gay. She moves to a small town America, in which everybody is conservative, especially her aunt. New in town, she gets to know a girl called Coley, and Cameron starts having feelings for this girl but in doing so, her very conservative aunt starts to notice this behavior and when Coley talks to her pastor and parents about it, Cameron is then sent to a conversion camp, to pray away the gay. Her aunt is desperate to correct the ‘sin’ in her but Cameron must battle who everybody wants her to be and whom she is inside. This book is simply amazing but because it did tackle this issue I did feel a disconnect from it. Obviously, this book is not aimed at me, a straight woman. Even those words annoy me. Let’s rephrase, a heteronormative cis woman. However, I am in the majority in the fact of I am a Christian, and I do struggle with the fact of the LGBTQ+ community. But I myself am at a point in my relationship with God that I can say, you do you, and I’ll do me and am very accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. But this does sadden me that this still happens all across America today. Overall a good read even if I wasn’t the main primary audience of this book.

3 out of 5 stars.

“I could have snuck out. I could have made secret phone calls. I could have rallied forces on my behalf. I could have. I didn’t. I didn’t even try.”

Cameron Post is a teenage girl finding her way in the world. The things she sees, feels and does, come naturally to her. But those around her have more conservative views, and believe she needs to be fixed.

I love YA coming-of-age stories, and this one did not disappoint. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming, and both brutal and beautiful in its honesty. The memoir-ish style of writing was engaging and incredibly rich in its description. It was so atmospheric, that I felt the hot summer spent at the lake, and the woodsy feel of the camp. The character development was also exquisite.

I loved this book; it was a hug-to-your-chest-upon-completion-and-process-what-you’ve-just-read-before-returning-to-reality type of story, and I believe that it deserves to be read.

I’m not normally a fan of open endings, but for this book, I’m willing to make an exception, in fact it was perfect!
“There was a whole world beyond that shoreline...beyond and waiting.”

On a side note: the movie adaptation was just stunning.

Much appreciation to Emily Danforth, Penguin Random House UK, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A truly great young adult novel and one that was sorely needed in the vast expanse of YA fiction. While many difficult issues are dealt with, it was an emotional and very impacting read. Will definitely be recommending!

I think this comes under the heading of 'it's not you, it's me.' I was expecting a confronting book about homosexuality and how a strict and religion influenced community suffocates the rights, freedoms and privileges of the individual in a very damaging way. And yes the book does deliver on some of that. But I just didn't gel with the style. I felt it was trying to be literary rather than actually being literary. It could have been about 150 pages shorter and lost nothing. Added to which we never really get close to the characters and the pace was very slow. Slow enough that it strangled my natural anger and indignation. I think this is probably a very important book in terms of theme and it has some beautiful descriptive passages. Ultimately the way the story was told wasn't for me.

We meet the protagonist of this book, Cameron Post as a 12 year old in the late 1980’s. We find her kissing her best friend, who is also female. But tragedy strikes and Cameron’s parents die. We follow her through her teenage years, which are difficult at the best of times without being an orphan and falling in love with your female friends.

Now living with her Aunt and Grandmother, Cameron is part of a conservative, church going community who believe homosexuality is a sin. After an “incident” Cameron is forced to attend a school run by the church for other gay teens to be “converted” and “fixed”

The book focuses on Cameron struggling with her sexuality and her parents death. Things I liked about this book were all the pop culture references which transported you back to the early 90’s. And I liked the first half of the book with the friendship with Lynsey and the infatuation with Coley. But overall, I thought the book was too long and dragged too much. It’s promoted as a YA book, but at 485 pages, you lose interest. And it came to an unsatisfying conclusion. I really wanted to love this book as it is such an interesting topic and it was well written. But I didn’t feel it.

Multiple reasons resulted in my being unable to review this book in full, but I want to give a short summary of how I found it now that said reasons have passed. I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped, in parts finding the flow a bit strange and sometimes I felt that it dragged, but then it is nearly 500 pages long! I struggled to connect with Cameron so found it difficult to keep reading at times, and just generally speaking I don't think the book as I were a good fit! That being said, it is very beautifully set with great descriptions of picturesque locations etc and has a really interesting mix of characters and plot lines within it. It certainly left me with a lot of emotions which I always think is a sign of a book doing it's job!
Unfortunately as I said, this book and I didn't fit together very well and it did seem, to me, to just be a lot of getting high and making out and not much else? But maybe that's my bias rather than the book, who knows! Overall, it's an interesting read set across various times in the life of a girl getting to grips with loss and her sexuality and it looks into the relationships between sexuality and faith without being out and out offensive to either factor. Worth a read if this sounds like your kind of thing!

This book was simply gorgeous. Everything about The Miseducation of Cameron Post is breathtaking and beautifully written, and I honestly believe this has the makings of a modern classic.

The novel opens in the summer of 1989, following Cameron through her teenage years as she explores her sexuality in a small conservative town. There is not an incredible amount that happens in the novel, but the level of detail sucks you in with ease. Reading the book felt like living Cameron's life alongside her, and when you come to understand a character so intimately, it is impossible not to become invested in their story.

The atmosphere of this novel is incredibly strong, so much so that you can almost feel the Montana sun on your skin. The book's length only adds to that dragged-out feeling of endless summers, but in a way that is able to completely hold your attention.

"I felt all the ways in which this world seemed so, so enormous - the height of the trees, the hush and tick of the forest, the shift of the sunlight and shadows - but also so, so removed."

It's not just the intense atmosphere that is so captivating about this book, but the story itself as well. Danforth's exploration of the relationship between religion and sexuality is complex, and the conclusions made are largely left open to the reader. However, what remains unquestionable is the validity of Cameron's feelings, as well as the feelings of all the others forced to go through the same experience of conversion therapy.

"the whole fucking purpose of this place is to make us hate ourselves so that we change. We're supposed to hate who we are, despise it."

There are some truly crushing moments in this book, but also many that are both humorous and hopeful. Cameron's story isn't a tragedy, nor is it about a revolution. Instead, it just is, and the realness of her character and her friends is what makes this novel so powerful.



Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Diversity note: Lesbian protagonist

Warnings: homophobia, transphobia, homophobic and transphobic slurs, attempted suicide, self-harm, conversion therapy

This book was intriguing, it gave me an insight into a world that I knew nothing about. While the writing style wasn’t really my cup of tea, and the copy I was given was not formatted correctly I still think it is an important book for people to read. The parts at promise were especially heartbreaking and reading about Mark made me angry and upset for him. If I had to pick a favourite character in this book then it would be Adam

The Miseducation of Cameron Post begins at the end of her parent's life. Cameron is relieved because now they'll never know she had a kissed a girl. But the struggle doesn't end there, we follow Cameron from the ages of 12 and as she grows to 16. Life is different, but Cameron is an expert at blending in. Until she meets Coley Taylor. And then one thing leads to another, and Cameron's forced to join a conversion camp by her ultrareligious Aunt to "fix" herself.

This was a very detailed and passionate read. The story shifts with its array of characters, each vibrant and different from one another. The story starts off with a summer fling, a more happier vibe, where everything seems to be going well. Until it takes a dark turn and punches you straight in the stomach. While I didn't find it emotional, but nonetheless, it was difficult.

For me, there are two parts to this story. The first is Cameron coming to terms with her sexuality and learning who she is. The second is where its all ripped away from her, and she's forced to join a conversion camp. There's a middle lull in this book where nothing really seems to happen. And this is where, from other reviews, everyone seems to drop off from the book. I'm not going to lie, even my interest started to falter after a few chapters but I held on and I'm glad I did, but I don't expect anyone to force themselves through a book they find slow.

I can't speak for certain rep in the book, like the Native American rep. I'll link to this post that speaks on it much better. There's a lot of language that's quite negative towards Native Americans and very ableist so watch out for that.

Overall, Cameron Post was an intriguing read, while I didn't love it, the story is important.