Yami is starting a new school after her ex-best friend outed her at her old one. Her plan is simple - no cute girls, no crushes, no coming out. But then she meets Bo - cute, outspoken, lesbian Bo. And her plan starts to fall apart.

Yami is the stand out show of this book. I loved all of the aspects of this book - the culture and Latinx heritage shown through Yami’s family, the fierce group of friends she makes, and especially her relationship with her brother. But at the heart is Yami’s character, with her outpouring of love and selflessness for other people. This is fun and light in places but also touches on the harsh realities of being queer in todays world, especially surrounded by religion. A really important read, but also uplifting and hopeful.

I loved this book so much! One of my favourite this year, it showed me the importance of representation in fiction. As a Mexican reader, it soothed a part of my heart I didn’t know needed soothing.

Will recommend over and over to anyone who wants a well-written YA romp of a book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

I love the front cover of this book for starters, it really drew me in. This book made me laugh, cry and fall in love a little bit too. Such a fresh read

Like reading someone’s diary, and not in a good way. Rambling and often repetitive, this book is full of mundane detail about school and awkwardly scripted conversations. It had a lot of potential and I really warmed to many of the characters (though Bo and Amber were fairly superficial), but I was mostly bored.

this book covers so many incredible topics, but still manages to leave you with an overall fun, YA vibe! as you can tell from the title the book discusses sexuality- this isn't a completely positive discussion as there are people in Yami's life that believe she is "wrong" or "confused". it was also interesting it being set in a catholic school which adds a whole new layer to the story with the institution as a whole also degrading her.

other themes include immigration and deportation, racism and microaggressions, difficult family relationships and with a side of the fake dating trope! the relationship between Yami and her brother was a really special one as we learn that all Yami wants to do is protect her brother.

and finally, the love queer love story in this book is wonderful. you cannot help but will them together!

I have recommended this book to everyone I know! What a fantastic read and something different in the young adult space.

Content warnings: homophobia, racism, strained parental relationships, immigration, suicide, mental health, emotional abuse.

This book is the authors YA debut. An actual YA debut. You would think the author is a well established, bestselling author with how bloody great this book is. This book is a prime example of why YA is up there as my favourite genre of all time. This book allowed me to feel so many emotions, and it'll definitely stay with me for a long time.

The emotional rollercoaster that this book took me on was rocky. It was raw, honest, emotional for sure. But there were also some really lovely, and extremely heartwarming moments throughout too (and I definitely cried a mixture of tears throughout).

I think what made this book so emotional for me was how the author portrayed and developed the characters throughout the book. The way they were introduced and established during the book allowed me to build up so much love/empathy (and hatred for some). A piece of my heart has definitely been taken by Ceasar, and I don't think I will ever get it back. I also feel a shoutout to Hunter is 100% needed. What a fucking lad. Obviously cannot forget the sibling duo that is Yami and Ceasar. Perfect. Beautiful. Accurate. ALSO THEIR MOTHER??? I did not expect to be sobbing in pure joy over her.

This book was truly wonderful. It is a book that follows an individuals journey of self discovery and love. Not just love for others, but love for yourself and for your family. What a beautiful addition to the growing collection of queer YA novels. I cannot wait to see what beauty Sonora Reyes releases next.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for this honest review.

Going to keep this short, but I really enjoyed this story and warmly recommend it to any looking for either queer contemporary reads or books with with latinx protagonists, or both.

Teenager Yami and her brother, both of Mexican heritage, start as new pupils at Slayton Catholic, a private school for mostly very rich, white, privileged students. Yami has fallen out with her best friend, who outed her as gay at her last school, and her brother is bisexual and is concealing a same-sex relationship with his best friend from their parents. Yami tries to fit in at school and make friends and connections but finds that quickly she develops a crush on an openly queer girl, Bo, who takes her under her wing and shows how to be confident, and out. The 'fish out of water' aspects of their life at their new school quickly fades from the plot and there's more focus on the family dynamics, Yami and Cesar's relationships and Yami's own aspirations to pay her own way and attend college. Their father lives in Mexico and refuses to speak to them on learning of their sexuality., despite a positive long distance relationship before the. Owing this and other emotional issues Cesar attempts suicide and is hospitalised, but this is really glossed over a little once the drama of the incident has passed. They remain with their mother who accepts their sexualities but it's made clear as long their father is not so accepting he remains estranged from the family.

The story does feels a bit slow and aimless at times but Yami and her identity issues with her culture and sexuality are engaging and the writing is thoughtful & nuanced. It's an offbeat read offering something a bit different, with strong characters and positive and not rose-tinted representation of emerging teenage sexual identities.

Oh my god this was SO GOOD! SO, SO GOOD! This is so impressive for a debut novel, like can you imagine how amazing this author's fifth or tenth book is going to be, if her debut is this good??

It's a very emotional story tackling a lot of difficult topics such as racism, homophobia, religion, and suicidal ideation, but everything was handled so gently and with such care, you can really tell how much the author loves her characters and that just makes you love them as well, especially our main character Yamilet. Family dynamics play a huge role for every character in this book, and some of these family dynamics were absolutely beautiful to read about. There are wonderfully realistic sibling dynamics, not to mention the really lovely way that Yamilet's relationship with her mum grows and develops throughout the novel.

YA needs to be more like this and I'm so glad that this book is out in the world. I would highly recommend reading this, it was so fantastic!

Thank you for my earc of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t finish this. I found some of the topics quite hard to read

i absolutely loved this book so much and cannot put into words how fantastic it is. i haven't had the joy of reading a book by sonora reyes. i am uncertain if this is their first book, but if it is... then this is an absolutely fantastic debut and they should be proud of themselves.

the writing style is honestly perfect and so easy to get into. sometimes with writing styles, i find they that drag you through the story, but with this style, i was gliding effortlessly through the book. now these chapter titles are SO good! i was always so excited to see what each chapter was called because they are just genius and so funny at times. this book tackles so many social issues that are prevalent in today's society and it does it so unbelievably well. this book made me feel a lot of emotions. i did tear up quite a few times while reading this book and i think what makes it more powerful is that you can tell that sonora reyes felt so much passion about this when writing it.

this book deserves so much hype and i am definitely going to get a physical copy of this book so i can talk about it on booktok and bookstagram!!

After hearing about this book for some time, when this book came up for request on NetGalley I knew I had to request it, thankfully I got a chance to read this and I'm so glad I did.

How am I ever going to find a better character than Yami? Brave, courageous, brilliant and funny, Yami in these pages comes to life and feels so genuine throughout as she deals with the aftermath of her best friend's revelations about her. The relationship between herself and Bo grows brilliantly and sweetly, it's just so good.

This is a book that is very much about the people in it, with fantastic representation, brilliant storytelling and a romance that is captivating and endearing, it captures you emotionally so quickly, you'll care about these characters like you've known for years.

A fantastic book, and totally deserving of all the awards

This book arghhhhh, I’m crying while writing this review. This is a book that everyone teen needs to read. I adored the protagonist and just wanted to give her the biggest hug.

I adored The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School. As an adult reading YA, watching events play out can sometimes be frustrating - and although Yamilet sometimes makes questionable choices, in this case, they really resonated with me. I remembered being that age, and feeling a similar way - and handling events much the same. The characters all felt very distinct and real - even the parents, whose motivations in YA can sometimes seem a bit blurred. There are some very heavy topics handled in the novel (as is often the case: check the content warnings), but it maintains a hopeful tone throughout and at times made me laugh out loud. I felt especially uplifted by the last quarter, which is very sweet. I can't wait to read Sonora Reyes' next book!
4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I went into this not knowing much about the book - and ended up loving it! It covers quite a few serious and important topics, including for example mental health and religion, and deals with them so well!

And while there are obviously several sad and serious moments, the book overall is absolutely heartwarming. Definitely recommend!

To protect her brother Yami agrees to accompany him to a catholic school. A very white catholic school, where Yami has to deal with micro-aggressions and racism on an almost daily basis. Yami has a big secret though and she intends to keep it. That's not an easy task once she meets Bo, the openly queer girl in her school. Yami is not the only one who has a secret though.

This is such an amazing YA novel that focuses on diversity and inclusivity in a predominantly white world, where you stand out for being different. The book gave me ALL the feels; from warm, fuzzy feelings to feelings of sadness, anger and frustrating. What really ended up winning me over were the hilarious scenes - the marshmallow scene for example, if you know you know - that had me literally howling with laughter.

I had been eyeing this book in the bookstore for quite some time and was absolutely delighted when my ARC request got approved. This book deserve all the hype it can get.

This book was strong and brave and inspiring and beautiful and difficult and funny and heartwarming.

It was all the emotions.

I only wish I had a book like this as a teen.

The writing style in this was so fun!!! The cast of queer characters are absolutely adorable and you really root for them all the way through the book. This book is also quite insightful while being very accessible and is a really good YA release.

Thank you NetGalley, Faber & Faber and Sonora Reyes for providing me with a copy of The Lesbiana's Guide To Catholic School.

I enjoyed this book a lot! Yami as our MC is great and so relatable. I enjoy her so much. The struggles, the successes, the growth, it is all amazing. This story captures the context of coming out so perfectly, the uncertainty of how someone else will react and just how often you have to come out, over and over again.

Not only is Yami our MC with so much of her own teenage chaos going on, but she is also a wonderful story teller for all the other queer stories around her. I really appreciate the support cast in this book. I really appreciate the intersectionality that that is displayed and explored in this book for numerous characters.

There are some twists and turns here, nothing graphic but please check the trigger warnings. I believe that telling these stories is so important but you as the audience need to be in the right place to receive them. Always take care of yourself.

Will post to socials closer to publication date.