Wow - I read this book in 2 days and as it clocks in at about 400+ pages that is pretty spectacular. I can see why Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit is well spoke of and everyone that I have heard that has read it has loved it. This book is a heartwarming g story of identity, faith, and how these two things work together. I won't regale you with what this book is about because if you're reading this review you probably already have read it. So, I'm going to skip past that and just talk about what I did and didn't like about this story. 
 One of the things that kept me glued to the pages of this book was Jo. Boy did she go through some things in this story. First, her dad gets married and moves her in her senior year of high school to a rural town. While in this town, before the bags are unpacked, he then asks her to "blend" in and not to be "out" in their new home, in particular his new in-laws. Then her best friend doesn't seem to understand her want to stay close to her religion and do this for her dad. The position that Jo was put in made me sad, but it also made me angry. Which leads me to a particular part I did not like. 
 Jo's father. Unfortunately, having lived with a single parent household in which my father raised me I cannot give his man an out. This was a cruel and insensitive thing to ask of your child in any sense of the word. Her dad was 100% on the selfish train and the parts with him in it throughout this story made me cringe.(view spoiler)[ He manipulates his daughter into being okay with moving to Rome in her senior year, he then manipulates her into agreeing to "blend in" to their new home and hiding who she is, and on top of it all is a liar. He pretends to be okay with her sexuality but only when it is comfortable and convenient for him. I could go on and on about this. I don't know which is worse, having a parent outright hate you for something you can't change or having one pretend to be okay with it and slowly try and manipulate you into being someone that you're not. Telling them every once in a while that that you're "proud of them toeing the hard line you've given them". Also, I feel like her father got off pretty cleanly in the end for all the bullshit that he put Jo through. (hide spoiler)] I could go on and on about this but I think that you get my point? Ultimately, I hated pretty much every adult in this story besides Tater. 
 The only other thing that I have to say that threw me off a bit (not in a particular bad way, I still did devour the book) was the plot. I don't really believe that this book necessarily needed to be over 400 pages long and at points I felt there was a lot of stuff added to make it more dramatic. (view spoiler)[ Take the love story. When things start to heat up, you have the element of having to "hide". Then you have the element of "lying". Then you have the element of "jealous theater lesbian". At the point of hook up Jo has told other people about her sexuality so why not the girl she is involved with? How would this negatively change ANYTHING between the two? Why continue the lies at this point and not just explain what is going on? Especially because the girl she is supposed to care about has lived and knows EVERYONE in this town and still wants to come out. (hide spoiler)] 
 Normally this would not bother me, but considering this book is a look into the faith and identity of a lesbian girl there was very little look into the faith aspect. Yes, they did spend a lot of time in church, youth group, and in her dad's studio ministry, but I think that all of the drama in the love story took up valuable space that could have brought this book truly up to the level of truly examining the struggles that individuals of the LGBTQ+ spectrum actually go through and the struggle with faith. I 
 With that being said, I really do believe that this book is an important one for teenagers who are religious and are standing in-between the line of faith and their sexuality. I wish that this book had gone a little less love story in the end and a bit more introspective, but I understand. LGBTQ+ people deserve their happy endings in stories too!