This isn't the type of book you enjoy necessarily, but I'm glad I read it and will be sure to recommend it to patrons.

Brynne Rebele-Henry's LGBT Orpheus retelling in a Texas conversion camp is haunting. The author's poetry roots stand out here. The writing is lyrical and dips into stream-of-consciousness.

Raya's character arc stood out the most. In the face of extreme circumstances, she's more than just a lovestruck Orpheus. She's methodical and introspective. She's brave and compassionate. She's a hero you root for.

While I understand the Teen/YA rating its writing style is so simplistic it reads like a children's fiction. The lyrical sytle was beautiful but there were times that it was overly descriptive so much that it pulled me out of the story instead of contributing to it. On the other hand there were times when it was wonderful to read, especially towards the end when the feelings of pain and longing seeped into my skin down to my soul.
I think that it was an interesting take on the LGBTQ+ community but since a lot of Raya accepting, and later turning away, her identity is when she's in a conversion camp it was hard to get through at some points. This isn't your average coming of age coming out story.

As a newly minted queer kid, I read a lot of books about coming out and the trials and tribulations that could ensue. I'm glad this is not a book I read then. That being said, this is a hauntingly painful book that does a more than adequate job of showcasing just how devastating and ruinous the impact of familial rejection and homophobia can be on a young queer person. In this book, we watch Raya and Sarah fall in love through passages that read like poetry, only to be ripped away from that tenderness to be sent to a conversion camp where the pages start to feel more like reading a horror story or shocking page in the newspaper than the poetry of new love. And through it all, you only hope that eventually they find their way back into their poem.

Hemingway always used to say, "Write what you know." It is clear that the author of this book writes from her own experiences. It is short but powerful, and when you are reading it, you feel as though you are in the young girl's shoes. But it also reads more like a blog post or a diary entry, and I find that many things are consistently repeated by the narrator. There are a lot of moments where I said to myself, "Yeah, you've said that already." or, "Haven't I read this part already?" or, "Okay, we get it."
And the author doesn't need to mention Orpheus' story a million times - we get it - that's the name of your novel, we understand the reference after the first time, that's enough now (even so much as calling part three 'Entering Into Hell' -- insert eyeroll emojii here). I also find that the plot lacks consistency and ideas jump around with no linear plan. It happens a lot with "stream of consciousness" style writing, but I wouldn't even call it that. I think it's just bad editing. Or when a student hands in an essay without re-reading it.
Despite all that, it was a pretty captivating read, and the young author does write with a skill beyond her years.
I would love this to be a book I recommend to my students, but I could get some flack for it from parents. Some of the sexual content, while making the story so much more real, may not be received too well.
As a queer individual, this is the kind of book I wish I had when I was a teen. It's like 'Go Ask Alice' but for the gays.