Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was attracted to the cover of this book, and then the synopsis made me want to read more. I liked the storyline overall. The story addresses several issues including coming out, mental health, bigotry and violent homophobia.There was a good representation of diversity but some of the characters could have been a bit more developed.
The story focuses on coming out in a small, conservative community and how the main character decides to bring about change, organising the town's first pride parade. There is violence and homophobia, both overt and discreet, and the reality of how people react to others bigotry is well-balanced. This isn't one of those stories where everyone suddenly changes their mind by the end.

A good read overall.

This was a great, feel good story, about a gay teenager in a small town where he initially does not feel safe or accepted in coming out. I will say, while this is a YA book, it could nearly pass for middle grade. Despite the characters being older, everything in this story would be appropriate for a middle school audience. While there is some talk of suicide, nothing is overly graphic or disturbing. Definitely for a younger YA audience. A fairly predictable story, but younger audiences should find a lot to enjoy here.

I rather liked this book. I think this book would make a good read for people that like to read YA LGBT romance but want to broaden their horizons a little bit. I found that the first half of the book dragged a little bit but the last quarter more than made up for any slowness I experienced in the beginning. I liked the diversity in this book and thought it was written with care and thoughtfulness. As a main character, I really liked Jack. However, I sort of felt that maybe the other characters were a tad underdeveloped. I personally didn't really care about the romance but that probably was just me.

All in all, I found this book to be truly inspiring and engaging and for the right reader, I think this book could be a true five star novel.

I really liked the overall story. It was great reading about teens dealing with coming out and how different people decide how open they are about their sexuality.

Overall it was an enjoyable story, but I think I just needed more.

I am 37% through this book and cannot bring myself to finish it. The characters lack depth, as does the story.

I really didn't know what to expect when I began reading, The Stone Rainbow but was quickly swept up in its sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring story line. As a YA novel, I think this is an important one. I can't tell you how desperately I had wished for books and stories like this when I was a teen... to know others were dealing with and overcoming great challenges associated with 'being different', just like I was.

I really appreciated the viewpoint and the character sketches created by Liane Shaw. NO, the characters aren't perfect and don't make perfect decisions. Just like real life. They struggle, they fall, they succeed, they grow. It's the imperfections of the characters that make this book so perfect.

This book stayed very close to me, in my thoughts, way beyond the pages. As clear and delicately as it is told, Shaw still left plenty of room in the story, for the reader to imagine or daydream; living beyond the pages.

I think The Stone Rainbow perfectly shares how, as individuals, we often don't see ourselves as others do... how we are much stronger than we think we are... and how there is the potential greatness in us all.

I hope Jack and Ben receive another 'chapter' as their journey through life and love continues.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for and an honest review.

** spoiler alert ** I received this book through netgalley and am offering a simple review. The book is really about 2.5 stars. It’s not that it was a horrible book it just tried to be too many things and didn’t focus on plot enough to fully flush out a more meaningful story. It features elements about coming of age, intolerance, coming out, gay marriage, hate crimes, activism and gender expression. By casting a net to wide the author wasn’t able to develop the a strong enough narrative to let you bond or root for anyone other that you for getting to the end of the book. I think with more focus on jack and his self acceptance the book would have been much more meaningful. A prime example is that you have speeches about pride from characters that haven’t really been developed it comes off as hollow and full of false platitudes. The book would make a great amazon prime movie, but it would never connect to a larger truth and rings hollow.

I enjoyed the message of this book, it was uplifting and hopeful. The story is about being proud of who you are and accepting yourself and others. Jackson was cute, I felt bad that he felt alone and that he couldn't be and out gay man. I was really happy he found Ryan, Benjamin, and Lucas to help him feel confident. I felt like most of the characters weren't developed fully and I would have liked more time on Jackson's relationships with them all.
The story is pretty short and gets to the point. It's a good read for the younger crowd and very positive.

I absolutely loved this book. It not only represented the LGBTQ+ community, it represented ethnic minorities and people with physical disabilities. There is also a focus on the mental health struggles many queer youth face. There are so many good quotes and moments in this book that could have an enormous positive influence on LGBTQ+ youth and even those who aren’t part of that community. It teaches wonderful lessons about inclusion. I would recommend teachers to adapt it to their curriculum if possible. I would also recommend it as literature for a GSA or LGBTQ+ resource center.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

the style of writing is different than what i've read in the past... it was a little difficult to follow at times. the concept of the book is beautiful., i just feel like something was missing or not written well in this book.

I loved this book! Love is Love and the sooner we learn that the better place this world will be! This is a wonderful book for anyone who may feel awkward, scared or frightened to acknowledge who they are. Be proud of who you are!

Overall, I liked this one. It dealt with some heavy themes (including suicidal ideation and homophobia) but manages to stay hopeful in a way that isn't easy to do. The love story between Jack and Benjamin is also cute, especially how it helps Jack come into his own with his gay identity. Although it's more of a side story rather than the main plot, Jack's friendship with Ryan (another student who has cerebral palsy) also gave the book more meaning and depth than just a simple coming-out story.

The one criticism I have is that Jack seemed like the only fleshed out character. That's good for a protagonist, but it was hard for me to picture or understand the other people in his life. I would have liked the other characters to have a little more depth to give more meaning to Jack's story and relationship with them.

This is a companion to Caterpillar's Can't Swim, but the author has written both as able to stand on their own. I would recommend this one to fans of that book if you want to hear the story told from a different perspective.

I mainly requested this book because of the pretty cover, and I should probably stop doing that, because this was so incredibly disappointing.

The book started with two clear instances of ableism in the very first 20 pages. Jack's friend Ryan has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Jack admits that he knows that it makes Ryan very uncomfortable when people act all impressed about the things he's good at, like swimming. And rightfully so, because yikes. But right after admitting that he's aware of this, Jack just HAS to state that he's super impressed that Ryan can swim, since he can't walk. Why? Not 10 pages later, Jack suddenly starts pushing Ryan's wheelchair without permission, and when Ryan gets pissed about that, he thinks:"If I was Cody, he'd let me push him from here to the next county." Jack (and the author, by extension), you do know disabled people don't exist so you can feel good about yourself for "helping" them, right?

It's also an interesting choice that the straight author (she has "LGBTQ+ ally and parent" in her Twitter bio) wrote a gay main character who lives in a really homophobic small town, and who has almost drowned before the book starts, in what people think was a suicide attempt (this never became clear in the book). His mother is super homophobic, and people at his school use homophobic slurs. And of course the gay love interest has to almost die to add some drama to the story.

I will say, it's clear that the author is making an effort here. But the way she describes Jack's experience being gay is just a complete miss. There were so many strange issues that made the book very uncomfortable to read, aside from the main issues I listed above. For instance, Jack's friend Ryan has a very homophobic best friend who's a complete bully, but Jack puts up with him anyway? And when Jack talks to the new guy at school, who becomes the love interest, he keeps pressuring him into not coming out at school, which is so not his call to make. An example of the smaller issues is this sentence: "Straight. As if everyone else is somehow crooked." Does... does this woman know the history of the word? It certainly doesn't seem that way. (It started as a gay term for heterosexuals.)

This could have been a pretty cute romance, but there were just too many issues for me to enjoy it.

Rep: half Latinx gay MC, side character with cerebral palsy, half Chinese gay love interest.

CWs: possible attempted suicide, homophobia, homophobic slurs, ableism (unchallenged)

A powerful queer+ book that was serious, but also funny. There was drama, but it wasn't drawn out, and the characters were detailed enough to keep me reading.

Overall, a well written story (bar the sometimes confusing dialogue), and I'm glad it was more of a coming-out story, rather than a love story.

Rating: 4/5

(This book will feature on my blog on September 3!)

I voluntarily read and reviewed and advanced copy of this book, received through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The cover got my attention at first sight. It is the perfect mix of mysterious and colourful to make me want to know what was the book about. After reading the synopsis, it just wanted me to read it more. What I found is a beautiful coming out story set in a small town that feels claustrophobic.

I really liked the book's plot. The author addressed many relevant issues: coming out, mental health, masculinity, bigotry, homophobia... It also made me very happy to see so many different characters and to have an awesome representation of diversity. Although I feel some of the characters could have been a bit more developed, I understand this was because of the book's point of view. I really enjoyed the way the author wrote about how difficult it can be to go against the conventions of a small community and how the main character, Jack, decides to step up and advocate for change, deciding to celebrate the first PRIDE parade in his small village.

I loved Jack's relationship with Benjamin. It might seem very high school, but the way they interacted and grew closer also felt natural and real. Also, Jack's character growth is great, but the growth of his relationship with his family and friends was awesome to read.

The story is told from Jack's perspective. It is he who narrates everything, presenting the facts as he sees or perceives them. While this allows the reader to get to know Jack very well, I felt it also slowed down the pace of the story, because it did not present manny actions, just a retelling of them through Jack.

I think this is a good story for those who might be coming to terms with their own sexuality or gender identity specially.

The Stone Rainbow explores small town narrow mindedness and ignorance as it pertains to youth trying to find their place in the world.

This book explores the thoughts of a young gay man, who is still struggling with his identity and has yet to tell his mom that he is gay. Enter a transfer student who comes from the city sharing his outward gay self. The two young men become friends, tragedy strikes, and in the wake of the tragedy, the town rallies to show support at a Pride parade.

Very smooth introduction to gay and disabled characters. A book every teen should read To
Understand no matter gender or sexuality everyone is unsure of themselves. Provides hope that there are many supporters of diversity.

I realised - at about 45% - that I probably should have read Caterpillars Can't Swim first before launching into this one. You can read this without any background knowledge to the first book (as I did) but I think I would appreciate the relationships more if I had the background knowledge that explains why Ryan and Jack relate to each other the way they do. 

Because this book did feel more about their relationship than Jack's budding relationship with Benjamin. And I actually really liked that aspect of the book, that it was about coming out and finding your first crush and learning to stand up for yourself and people like you, but it's also about a fragile but also very sturdy friendship. 

Reading the first book would have also given me a look inside Ryan's head (as it's his book). He's really hard to read in this book - which I think is just how his character is - but I'll have to go back and read his story. 

But regardless, it doesn't impact on the reading of this story - Shaw recaps enough of the first book (in relation to Jack) enough that you get what happened and you understand where Jack's mental state was at before coming into his own book.

What I liked about this book was it wasn't a straightforward romance. I'll be honest I wasn't even all that interested in the romance. Benjamin is a lovely character, very strong and brave and good for helping Jack find his footing, but it felt like he was more of a launchpad for Jack's personal growth than anything else. 

Like I said, Ryan felt like he played a far more important role in the book - but I suppose that's because he was always there. Benjamin was lovely, but I didn't really get the chemistry.

What I really liked was Jack's growth though. How he finds his backbone and his comfort-zones and how he goes from a bit of a quaking mess who says 'no' to kind of everything, to deciding he's going to go through with something HUGE and that's the end of it. 

His character growth felt natural and smooth and I just liked him as a character.

What I didn't particularly like was the ending. 

As in I feel like it could have benefitted from an epilogue. Could we not have seen the school dance - which was such a big deal for Jack for obvious reasons. How is his and Benjamin's relationship going to progress? How did his mother feel about the way he was dressed in that final scene? 

There were just lots of little questions that could have nicely wrapped things up if they'd been talked about in one extra chapter. The way it ended just felt a little too abrupt. Jack saw through his mission and that's the end of it - which it's totally not.

That's really the only problem I had with the book though. Other than that, it was a good, nice read that felt very real, and it was about Jack growing as an individual - not about Jack growing as one half of a couple and only within the confines of a couple... if that makes sense. 



Published 17 Sep 2019

ARC received via NetGalley from Second Story Press in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @netgalley and @_secondstory for providing me with this advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review. ⁣

Pub Date - 9/17/19
⁣
Review!

The Stone Rainbow by Liane Shaw is a captivating read. The reading style was great! But honestly i struggled with this one and my emotions were a bit all over the place. ⁣⁣
I had trouble connecting with Jack and some of the other characters, yet there were times i felt their demeanor and i was in tears.
Though i struggled with it something new happened (and i hope this is not confusing) For the first time ever i didn't connect with a story yet it left me mesmerized and pushed down walls/broke down barriers i didn't even know were up! It was definitely a character driven book and everyone had their own personalities and traits. ⁣⁣It was a powerful read. ⁣⁣
The authors message was very clear thought-out this entire book (read below) and i really appreciated that!⁣⁣
⁣⁣
"I don't live in a fantasy land where being gay is easy. It should be. I don't know why it isn't. Why would anyone care who I decide to spend time with?" and "I'll always have a different heaven from hers. In her heaven, everyone starts fresh, reborn into something better than before. Blind men can see, and the lame can walk...and I would guess the gays become "straight" if they make it that far." [Powerful in the declaration that some see "straight" people as better than "gay" people, that "straight" is something to aspire to.] And the more obvious parade rally cry, "Kindness rules": "If everyone just decides to treat everyone else with kindness, it all goes away. Intolerance,, disrespect, racism, homophobia, misogyny, bullying...all wiped out with one simple command. Be kind."⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I could see this being a big hit and for others to connect way better than i did. I would have rated this 3 stars BUT for how emotional it got me when no other book has when not connecting with characters i rate this ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⁣⁣

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


“Pride is about acceptance. Accepting yourself and everyone around you. Pride parades celebrate everything that makes us different and everything that makes us the same.”

This is a really cute story with a great message for young readers. It highlights some of the struggles that people in the LGBTQ+ community go through, especially in a small town with little diversity. It also demonstrates to young readers that differences should be embraced and celebrated, which is encapsulated in the discussions and scenes involving Pride.

Though I felt that the plot and message of this book were strong, I had a few issues with the writing style. In my opinion, there was a little too much dialogue and not enough character development or descriptive imagery. I felt at times that we were constantly being told what was happening through conversations or the main character’s thoughts, rather than being shown through emotion and imagery.

Overall, I thought this was a nice, hopeful story that could serve as an introduction for young readers to pride and gay teenage characters in fiction. The writing style wasn’t for me, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless!

The story of high school student Jack who is gay but has only come out to a few people including his mom and a few friends. He is really unsure of himself and what he wants to be and has had a crisis in the not too recent past; Jack also lives in a small town full of people with strong opinions against gay people. Not an easy place to be a gay teen. Jack meets Benjamin at school and falls for him immediately and they become friends. Benjamin is sweet, friendly and really colorful and really open about who he is. He has moved from a bigger town where people are more accepting. Benjamin suffers an attack by someone who is anti-gay and it is obvious. Jack is the only witness and help Benjamin to safety. After this terrible incident, Jack finds the inner strength to be more open and accepting of himself. He plans a pride parade in his little town and is amazed by the support and love he gets from his family, friends and other people in his town. He and Benjamin become closer and ultimately end up together. This is a great story about finding strength in the face of hardship because that is what Jack does. Kind of lengthy as far as dialogue and writing but a nice story in general.