tw: period typical homophobia, brief mentions of suicide, violence

genuinely one of the best and most heart breaking books i have ever read. so so
good. would recommend a thousand times over. especially if you’re a fan of harry styles or just plan on seeing the movie adaptation coming out soon on amazon prime.

i truly think anything that shows insight into how insane and outrageous the lives of so many people were for so long is so incredibly important. hearing stories about patrick’s friends and those he’d known in queer spaces and what happened to them was honestly just shocking. you know things weren’t good by any means for people, as they still aren’t great now, but reading it firsthand just puts so much in perspective.

and on top of that, the story is based on an actual man and his experiences in 1950s brighton. for so many people it was even worse than what was told in the book. educating ourselves, even now, about how life truly was for people not even 70 years ago is vital to the fight for actual equality and equity for so many minority groups.

bethan roberts did a wonderful job in the split perspective between patrick and marion, and also the two time periods, 1950s and 1999. seeing the progression of the characters in multiple perspectives showed character development in a way it couldn’t have if it was just one persons pov.

obviously reading happy lgbtq+ books is also good, reading educational books about how people still living today experienced life for so long is just as important. so many people in so many different countries are still persecuted for who they love. the fight is ever going.