The Good: 
 I was hesitant to pick this one up when it released in 2012 because I was hesitant about lgtbqia literature in general. Since then, my tastes have expanded quite a bit, and after seeing consistently good reviews on my newsfeed over the past couple years, I decided to finally try it out. Now that I've read it, I'm glad I did. 
 This could easily turn into one long diatribe about lgtbqia rights but all I'll say in that respect is that I got mad quite a few times throughout the book. I was mad at her family. I was furious at Coley. I was mad at God's Promise and their mission. I was just mad at the whole situation, and frustrated that this type of "healing" still exists now. It's a good sign that Danforth could evoke that type of emotion from me. I won't go into too many specifics but there's a lot to be mad about. I don't thinks she necessarily pushes the topic as much as she could have, but she handles it with restraint and lets the actions of the characters speak for themselves. 
 The tone of this reminds me a lot of RubyFruit Jungle. It's an apologetic story about Cameron and her development as a girl who is struggling to define her sexuality. She never really defines her sexuality, and I liked how the focus was on Cameron as a person. There are several points throughout that tackle gender stereotypes, judgement, and faith, and the tension between all three was very well done. 
 I also enjoyed how the side characters were developed. Jaime started out as an unsympathetic and entitled jerk but quickly grew to one of Cameron's biggest supporters. Lyndsey was fun to read, and I liked how she and Cameron stayed close even after their summer was over. Jane and Adam was wonderful. I wish I had seen a little more of them, but one of my favorite parts of the book when I reached the end was the understanding the three of them have. 
 As I approached the end, it wasn't wrapping up how I expected. There weren't enough pages left to accomplish what I thought needed to happen. I liked the sort of non-conclusion Danforth finished with. I don't need to know what happens to the trio because that's not the most important part of Cameron's story. The most important part is that she's finally okay with herself. Her emotional journey has reached its conclusion, and regardless of what happens to her after that point, she's made it. 
 The Bad: 
 One of my biggest complaints is the book itself is far too long. It tries to tackle several serious subjects (grief over lost family members, coming-of-age, sexuality) but pushes two aside in favor of exploring sexuality. There isn't anything wrong with that, but at times I wondered what the point of a particular plot line was. While the story line of her parents dying is treated as a lovely beginning and ending to her story, their deaths are not tackled at all during the meat of the story. There are occasional mentions and hints that she is suppressing that experience but I didn't feel her grief for them in the same way I felt her struggle to understand herself in relation with her sexuality. It was just there in the background, which I'm not sure is realistic given how traumatizing that loss would be at 12 years old. I know everyone tackles grief differently, but it seemed...odd. It fosters quite of few of her quirks, but I think the story would have been just as good removing that story line altogether. 
 The length and multiple issues made the middle section drag out quite a bit also. I knew where the situation with Coley was leading to based on the description, but it look half the book to get there. While she is at God's promise, it takes a long time, almost a year, before she considers actually participating for herself to see if she gets something out of it. These revelations just felt like they took a long time to come to fruition. It was difficult to get back into the story each time I picked it up again. 
 Overall: 3.5/4 out of 5 stars.