Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


Having visited the hills of North Carolina, I understood the environment the author describes. Everything in this book will draw you in and keep you engaged. You will want to visit and help those who need a hand or a light in an otherwise dark place.

The essays can be uplifting to some and gutwrenching for others. I loved this book and hope there's a follow-up or another anthology featuring other queer Tar Hollow community members.

Unfortunately I was . unable to finish this one before it expired because of the format. What I did read fast fantastic an I hope I'll manage to get my hands on a copy at some point.

Not often that I'm hooked by an introduction, but here we are.

There is something wonderful to read about someone so dexterously navigating conversations about identity and community. It's the blending of a very readable style of writing, and the uniquely relatable desire to construct, deconstruct, and evolve that really hits for me.

**Thanks for the ARC!**

I could relate to a lot of the discussions around existing as a queer person in a rural area and feeling the need to move to a city to be accepted and "liberated". Grover challenges the common rhetoric of where queer people "should" exist, and draws on historical evidence of the way queer people have made a space for themselves in the rural sphere. This collection of essays was a wonderful exploration of rural life, queer identity, and finding your place in the world.

This collection of essays captures the difficulty of defining one’s identities when they don’t fit neatly together and intertwine, orbit, or mash into the sense of “self.” I found Grover’s integration of theory and historical references, reimagined family history, and direct experiences well-woven and helpful in better understanding her struggles and her viewpoints.