This Above All

This book. This friggin book. This book tackles questioning your faith, and those trying to tell you what to believe, and how to properly worship God so perfectly, i cried several times. I was raised LDS, and while the LDS church, at least my ward, never actively preached hate, or acted as extremely as the Baptist church in this book (think Westboro), the way Piper questioned things really resonated with me. I could go on, but i went into this book with zero expectations and honestly, loved every minute of it. I will hit some bullet points though, without giving anything away.

-Characters: Piper is our narrator and she's strong, and vulnerable, and courageous, and i love her.
Other characters to love, Dylan and Tony. who both play different but important roles, and aren't perfect, but still awesome.
-Romance: minimal
-Diversity: minimal, but one of the main characters is queer. and sexuality does play quite a huge role in the plot.

I would recommend this to anyone who has ever questioned, not so much their belief in God, or their Faith, but perhaps questioned the people telling you how to worship. And honestly i wish i could get all the people who claim to be Christian, but turn around and spit hate and vitriol at the LGBTQ+ community, to read it too, but we all know they won't.

Thoroughly enjoyed this! This is an excellent read for any teen questioning their faith, their sexuality, or whether or not they should audition for the school play.

I loved the way this book did not vilify ALL religious students, and allowed for the conflict of what we know of others vs. what we believe to play out organically.

This book was a surprise. I got it from Netgalley & Curiosity Quills Press in exchange for a fair and honest review. Once I had obtained it, I wasn't sure I really wanted to read it. Even once I started it, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. As I kept reading, however, I saw a lot of my younger self in Piper, including my journey with some truths involved in my faith. In the end, I really truly loved this little book and the story it told.

The book is about Piper Ryan, whose father runs a church which ends up being pretty similar to the Westboro Baptist Church: protesting others' sexuality with horrific slogans and judgment. Piper, going against many things she's been raised to believe, auditions for her high school's production of Romeo and Juliet. In a twist, she's cast as Romeo, opposite another female student playing Juliet. As the production goes on, Piper finds herself doing lots of things she's not "supposed" to, including making friends who are gay. In this process, she finds herself questioning her own beliefs and ideas. When the production is canceled due to complaints about Piper's casting, she must decide whether she will fight this ban or accept it.

This book reminded a lot of the movie Saved! Piper is very similar to Mary in that movie in the way she begins challenging things she's held dear for a long time, though this book didn't feel quite as satirical as the movie. Piper's voice is real, especially as she struggles internally over her part in her father's church and over questions of how God could create something God doesn't love. Having been raised Catholic, my upbringing wasn't the same as Piper's, but I always had trouble subscribing to some of the tenets of my faith, like the judgment of people who belong to the LGBTQ community. It didn't sit right with me. I didn't believe (and still don't) that God could create someone to feel that way and then judge them for it. I didn't (and don't) believe that God would think love is evil, no matter what form it takes. I certainly don't believe God expects us to hate people for who they love. As I read Piper's journey in this book, it very much mirrored my own, and felt extremely authentic. Her struggle over what to stand for, and how it would impact her relationship with her family, was also very realistic to me. Even the ending felt like life: it was a work in progress. I also liked that the book didn't feel extremely judgmental of Piper's family background. Instead, it felt like it highlighted some nuances of it, and left hope within the portraiture.

In addition to Piper, I found myself enjoying some of the other characters: her friend Tony, her best friend Jodi, and her love interest Dylan. Not all of them were as fully fleshed out as they could be, but they definitely weren't high school stereotypes either. They all had their own feelings and their own secrets, and they all played a part in Piper's ongoing struggle. The only thing I didn't love about this book was that I felt like sometimes chapters ended in weird places, but overall, I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a quick read with a great, realistic protagonist, with thoughts on faith and life thrown in for good measure.

I requested this book from NetGalley because the title is from my favorite Shakespeare quote ("This above all: to thine ownself be true."). The quote is actually from Hamlet, but this story focuses on a high school drama class' performance of Romeo and Juliet.

The main character, Piper, comes from a very conservative religious family and she's the daughter of an evangelical pastor. Despite knowing it's not allowed, she tries out for the play anyway and gets the lead role...as Romeo. She quarrels with herself over it because she's been taught that being gay is wrong, and wouldn't it make her gay to play Romeo since Juliet is a girl too?

Piper has a lot of growth over the course of the book and really becomes her own person. She stands up for what she believes in and defends her new friends, even though that means defying her father nd everything that she's been taught. She even finds love. The friendships in the book were well done and felt like they'd be accurate for high school kids (disagreements, rumors, getting to know new people, etc.).

Religion is mentioned a lot in the book since her father's a pastor, but it's not anti-religion. Piper remains faithful throughout the book, but she questions her father's tactics (which are very similar to those of the Westboro Baptist Church). I know that can be a touchy subject, but I feel like the author handled it well without insulting anything.

I would recommend this to fans of Shakespeare, young adult books (especially lgbt ya) and to people who like reading good books.

This above all by Lindsey Roth is a book about a Christian girl who thinks homosexuality is a sin. Everything changes when she's casted in Romeo and Juliet... as Romeo.

It was a very hard book to read, because of the harshness of Piper's family. I'm not talking about what they believed in, because everyone's free to think what they want, but how they expressed their beliefs. Putting "fornicators" under the spotlight (quite literally), calling homosexual people faggots and dykes, yelling that everyone who sins or doesn't believe in god is going to hell, and more. I've never met any Christian, Catholic, Muslim, or basically anyone who believes in a god of some sort, who was this harsh. I knew people like this existed, but reading about it, it was violent.

I'm not gonna tell you that you'll enjoy this book, but it is a really good book. Piper's journey is truly amazing. All through the book, she questions her beliefs, which she believed in basically all her life. But she begins to understand that maybe, just maybe, she can have different beliefs.

All in all, is a pretty good book, and I think everyone should at least give it a chance.

I related to this book so much! I love Broadway and I am huge geek when it comes to theatre but I love the balance that this book had. Between seriousness and nerdyness.

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Tony

Spoiler Free: Looking back, I’m not 100% what made me request this book from NetGalley, since it’s not the type of story I usually enjoy, but I’m really glad I did.

I was originally quite put off by our narrator, Piper, because her ideologies are so much different from mine. At certain points in the beginning of the story, it was actually quite hard to read her opinions on certain people and things. But as Piper started questioning herself and beliefs, and warming up to the idea of diversity, I started warming up to her!

While I can’t say I liked every part of the plot, and certain parts of the ending really got on my nerves, it overall was a really nice story. One of the first things I noticed when reading was how natural/realistic the writing felt, and how it seemed to fit Piper perfectly. It probably is what helped me warm up to Piper as fast as I did!

In the end, I highly recommend this story. It’s not a book that’s supposed to push forward religious teachings, but rather provides another viewpoint, and seems to promote a general idea of questioning what we’re taught about other people, and taking the time to learn and understand people who are different from us.

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers: My main thoughts here will be on the ending, both the good and the bad parts.

First, the good! I’m super happy this wasn’t some miracle ending. While yes they pulled off the show, they were the ones who still had to find another venue since the school decision was not overturned. Additionally, one fancy speech on Piper’s end did not change her family’s minds, as they are still set in the same beliefs, although maybe less rigidly. I also really liked that Piper didn’t give up the religious part of herself, since that seems to be a very important part of her, and is instead exploring other, more accepting, avenues!

What I didn’t like is how the romance was pulled off at the end. While the way Dylan “lost” his girlfriend at the end kinda worked, the fact he was such an ass to her and then suddenly it was okay was just terrible. Actually, how the entire Tony x Piper rumor went down was just horrible. All of her friends ditched her because of it, even though they knew what sort of person she was, and that she would never do that. Even when confronted, with Piper explaining the situation (and not outing Tony, since she’s actually a decent person), they still chose to believe the rumors started by someone who openly hates Piper. I was totally okay with the best friend and Dylan up until this point, and I don’t agree with how that part was resolved at the end.

But all in all, this was a really surprising read in that I loved it way more than I expected to!