Those of us who went to religious summer camps and are reconciling with the trauma .... You should read this 1) because it's funny 2) it sheds light on religious trama 3) because it's good

After reading Jenna's debut novel, "Every Time You Hear That Song", I knew she would become an auto-buy author for me.

This YA, sapphic, coming of age novel, stars Riley who is queer and is practically forced to attend a Spring Break church camp in order to avoid suspension (this sounds like something Oklahoma would do tbh). Unfortunately for Riley, her family has been shamed by this church because her sister had an abortion and because Riley is bisexual. Riley hasn't attended since then until she's packed up and ready to go to camp for a week. Her only saving grace is that her best friend, Julia (also the pastor's daughter) will be there. Riley sets herself on a mission to commit each seven deadly sin during the week she's at camp. What could possibly go wrong?

This book is funny! Those chapter titles literally had me giggling so hard. These characters are relatable. As I was reading this book, I was reminiscing on my time as a teenager at church camp and yikes some of these realities are harsh!!
Through out this book Riley does make some questionable decisions but like what 17 year old doesn't ya know??

I FELT deeply in this book in regard to my own religious trauma + upbringing. It brought feelings of nostalgia and also some good memories from my times at church camp!

I had a great time reading this silly book. Totally recommend for those who love coming of age YA novels with silly antics and a deeper message about how harmful church culture can be sometimes.

Thank you Netgalley + Viking Books for Young Readers for this earc!!!

God bless YA that feels like YA.

A headstrong bisexual teenager, who left her church a year ago because 1) The pastor publicly shamed her sister for having an abortion and 2) The congregation wouldn't accept her sexual orientation, winds up at that church's week-long spring break camp.

In typical teenage fashion, Riley comes up with a plot to do the opposite of every lesson the camp is trying to teach. Along the way, she realizes that she's not the only one with a desire to shake the Fire and Brimstone teachings that still inhabit her brain and leave her riddled with guilt. She learns the simple act of holding a girl's hand can lead to a whole lotta pining. (Even when that girl is the vicious pastor's daughter.) And she learns forgiveness doesn't come easy, and it doesn't need to be asked for in front of a congregation.

There is good ol' pining and some sweet kisses.

I love the added touch of the funny chapter titles. "My Lord and Savior Daddy Christ" and "God Gives His Toughest Battles (Surviving Church Camp) to His Gayest Soldiers (Me)" stand out amongst my favorites.

If you are a queer Swiftie with religious trauma, this one is for you!

I really loved this book! It definitely had vibes from the movie Saved, which has always been a favorite of mine.

I could really relate to Riley’s personality and her take on most churches that have judgmental worship practices and/or pastor. She was very blunt and honest about her feelings regarding her sister which I appreciated having several sisters myself.

My only issue I had was how could you know your best friend for years and not once sense they had feelings for you?

Overall, it was a great read and loved the ending!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. The chapter names were laugh out loud funny and I was invested in the FMC's story from the very jump. The premise is so clever and so well executed. Riley, an outspoken theater kid, is very easy to root for - she's witty, fiercely loyal and protective and unapologetically herself. I loved the bisexual representation but loved that when Julia came out, she announced plainly that she was a lesbian - that moment felt so real and relatable and feels like we don't see that represented often in media. I wish we got to know more of Riley and Julia's story post-church camp but in my head, they have a happily ever after. Can't wait to read more from this author!

This was something that young me needed and I’m so glad that there are kids that will be getting this in their hands/be able to potentially see themselves in this story.

thank you to netgalley for the arc!!

this was a really nice story! i went into it expecting a romance but i actually think the non-romance part was my favorite -- amanda & greer both had great character arcs and i felt like the ending was pretty realistic. I think with friends-to-lovers i often have trouble when i don't see the WHY for their friendship, it's tough to see it develop into romance when you don't see it develop into friendship. but by the end i did really like julia! i just wish we saw more of why riley liked her so much, maybe more memories from their shared childhood.

at the end of it all i just hope hannah is happy <3

I thought this book would be a romp. Instead, it has a great balance of humor and big thoughts about faith, religion, and group ostracism. Riley is a very realistically selfish teenager, in that she cares so much that she sometimes forgets to look outside herself. Julia is a bit of a nothing character, but this book isn't about romance, really. I think there's enough pining for the average teenager to get into it.

I got a little teary at the Big Scene (you'll know when you read it).

This book had some really interesting insights into how religion can be twisted to harm people in the united states. I also believe it has some interesting insights into the complicity of people who put up with bigotry in religious organizations because it does not effect them personally.

In this story Riley learns the difficult lesson that her church is only a supportive community if you don't break their rules. Once she has that revelation she sees many layers of hypocrisy and sexism and wants desperately to open everyone else's eyes.

This story has wonderful characters and I loved watching the romance develop. It also had a great sense of humor and made me laugh. However, I felt that the eventual conclusion was a bit unsatisfying though realistic. I hope this story will help open people's eyes to how the communities they are a part of do harm, even if they are not the people harmed.

One of my teachers used to lovingly warn: "Start out laughing, end up crying." We didn't know exactly what she meant, but we got the gist and thought it was funny. Little did she know she was giving me the catchprase for SAY A LITTLE PRAYER. This book is funny from the jump, and uses "Gen Z" speak in a very believable and (to me at least) tolerable way that just makes Riley feel so authentic. The humor makes the looming homophobia and lack of tolerance in her community bearable, and I was chugging along having a great time.

Until the end. Riley's reckoning made me so emotional! Jenna Voris wrote some beautiful final chapters that depicted acceptance, coming out, finding confidence in your sexuality, community...and so much more. As a bisexual that didn't come out until college, I was really moved by Riley and Julia's journey together. As a former Catholic, I found the church scene very emotional and moving as well.

This all goes to say-- Jenna Voris has written and amazing book and delivered exactly what she promised: A gay, coming-of-age reckoning for those of us who unironically loved Glee.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this eARC!

As a queer person who was raised Catholic, this book really resonated with me. Riley's gripes with the church are very similar to mine, and her character development as she comes to terms with her complex feelings felt very realistic and true to my experiences. I was a bit annoyed her with her at first because she was so concerned with her own issues and didn't think about how other people might be grappling with similar conflicting feelings. But I really liked how she realized that she was being selfish and needed to understand other people's perspectives.

I am also a sucker for the preacher's daughter trope, and I loved Riley and Julia's dynamic. All the characters felt so distinct, complex, and fleshed out. There's a lot of nuance with everyone's stance with the church, and I felt like there was a good representation on the different feelings people may have on issues of abortion, homophobia, and how that ties in with religion. It also didn't feel overly dramatic, but it still felt appropriate for the issues at hand.

My favorite part, though, was the chapter titles. They were so silly and fun, and I loved all the internet references.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is queer and was raised religious.

This was like a fun nostalgic gut punch. Riley is SUCH a seventeen year old, and by that I mean she’s so endearingly stupid, thinking she’s going to single-handedly take down the entire church system lol. But the righteous indignation is so on brand, I loved it.

Riley’s story was surprisingly triggering, I didn’t think I was still that affected by my church days. I, like Riley, feel sad to have left the camaraderie and the community aspect but I don’t miss the guilt. Say a Little Prayer was such a sweet and fun read, full of teenage hijinks, first love, and overcoming religious guilt.

A special thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Teen for sending me an advanced ebook!

Wow!!! I thought I would like this book going into it, but I loved it. I teared up a little bit at the end. This book is so honest. It tackles a subject that can be so difficult at times (problems with organized religion) with such a sense of grace. Are the characters embarrassing and make silly decisions? Yes of course. They’re high schoolers. But the characters are written with such love and care. Everything they say and do makes sense to anyone that went through high school. If you had handed me this book in early high school/late middle school I would’ve wanted to read this book until I died. It’s so relatable to who I was at the time (and with that, who I’ve become now) that it makes me a little emotional. It makes me miss high school youth group retreats so so much. I miss being with my small group in a cabin, talking and doing stupid stuff together until the middle of the night. I could go on and on about how well this book describes the experience of being on a church retreat, and the good (and not so good) experiences on them. And I think for a YA novel, it handles religion and queerness so well. It touches so well on the relationship between those two, and how many queer people still find a community within religion, while some aren’t able to, due to the hurt they’ve been caused. The book doesn’t say any of those options are wrong!

Overall, a very good and kind book. I couldn’t put it down, and found myself laughing, crying, and gasping over the course of it. It’s a book that is realistic and I can’t recommend enough, especially to fans of VBS by Lucy Dacus. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

Oh and before I forget, this book is FUNNY. The chapter titles are absolutely hilarious.

Say a Little Prayer follows Riley at a church camp commiting seven deadly sins while falling for the church pastor's daughter.

I was unsure of whether I'd enjoy this book because the plot didn't sound like it'd be a favourite. But I was so wrong. I had an absolute blast while reading this and I love Riley and how she firmly stands against what's wrong and sticks to her beliefs. I laughed a lot reading this book so that's obviously a good sign. But it also discusses topics about how bad religion can be which is important especially to queer people and others too.
I really enjoyed Riley and Julia's dynamic and they were such chaos together but also sweet. I love reading about sapphic girls

Overall I loved this, and I'll be reading more from Jenna Voris.

Everything I wanted AND more. I thought this book was so fun and worth the ride!! I would reread it immediately.. and honestly I might..

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

I adored this book so, so much! It is clever, humorous, heartwarming, and I will always be here for teenage passion and shenanigans being used to fight power that is being used to harm others. Riley, the main character, left her church after her sister was kicked out but finds herself remanded to church camp to avoid additional punishment for some poor behavior at school. The bulk of the p[ot involves Riley fighting the extreme and judgmental messages being taught at camp, but readers will enjoy a romantic side plot as well. This is a book that I think will have strong teen appeal and give them lots of talk about as they read!

This was such a fun read! I thoroughly enjoyed following along with Riley's attempt to commit all 7 deadly sins in one week of church camp while also lowkey falling in love with her best friend, Julia. It did feel a bit unbalanced to me--it's marketed a little more on the romance side of things, but it's far more focused on Riley's frustrations with the church and vendetta against Pastor Young and there's barely any romance. They don't even kiss (spoiler alert lol sorry) until 78% through the book!

I loved the scene in the church where the girls have an 'I am Spartacus' moment--so funny and not how I anticipated that scene going. I did think it was a little silly, though, that the pastor dad wouldn't have recognized HIS OWN DAUGHTER'S HANDWRITING. Or have found it in her house??? There's no way Julia forgot that thing with how closely she was monitoring it for THE ENTIRE BOOK. Whatever, lol.

All in all, a fun ride. I do agree with some reviewers' points that it feels very millennial and like it's trying to be Gen Z/younger than it is.

Excellent book about a high schooler trying to fight injustice, specifically homophobia and misogyny within the church she had recently left, it is very sad how some people used their power and influence to control and shame other people, but there’s always someone willing to fight for what’s right.

In my mind I must still be a teen, because I truly love YA books. This one delves into being queer as a teen, unwanted pregnancy, and the religious right. If that doesn’t appeal to you, do not read this book. But for a lot of teens, this book is exactly what they need.

Riley is a high school junior, heavily involved in the drama department, and queer. She came out to her parents as being bisexual. They accepted her without question. However, their church did not. As such, the family no longer attends church.

When one of Riley’s sister Hannah’s best friends is caught saying unkind things about Hannah, Riley takes matters into her own hands. This results in Riley having to spend a week at a Christian spring break camp or lose her spot in the spring musical. For Riley there is no option here. The camp it is. But she is going to use this time to find a way to make the people of her town understand that their pastor, her best friend’s father, is anything but a positive influence.

Only things happen at camp that Riley can’t even imagine would, and she is forced to rethink her revenge campaign. Life as a teen is never easy.

I honestly can’t imagine what it would be like to be in Riley’s situation. Fortunately she’s fairly resilient to the chatter about her sexuality. As an adult, knowing so many people who were unable to share their true sexuality as teens, I’m glad the world has changed. I’m thankful for books like this for the teens currently trying to figure out who they are. My hope is that teens will always be accepted for who they are (and adults too.) Maybe more books like this will accomplish that.

God I love a YA sapphic romance that has me kicking my feet and giggling.

I didn't go into this novel expecting to love it as much as I did. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself part of the "religiously traumatized queer" club. Religion wasn't forced on me in the ways it was forced on Riley and Julia. And yet, I found myself highlighting passages that had me choking back tears or that perfectly described exact feelings I've had in my journey to accept my self and sexuality. I laughed and I cried and I truly found myself rooting for the characters to succeed.

The romance itself is exactly what I could have hoped for–a side plot, really. An important one, but not the main one. Riley's character development shines so much brighter than the potential romances taking place. The acceptance and rejection and understanding that comes from her seven days at camp are not only relatable and important, but they made this novel one that I didn't want to stop reading and one that I would whole-heartedly recommend to others.

3.75 stars.

absolutely LOVED this book!!!!! make sure to read this when it comes out in march!!!! the chapter titles are HILARIOUS!!! this book had me addicted i love riley!!! the best sapphic novel that will make you laugh and cry!!