Reviews

Tell the Rest by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

lesbrary's review

4.0

Unsurprisingly, this isn’t a light read. It feels like an open wound: Delia especially is still hurting so much and hasn’t gotten closure on going through conversion therapy. Eventually, though, we do see her begin to work through it, accompanied by the glimpses of the lives of the teenage girls she’s coaching.

If you like to read character studies and quiet stories about working through trauma—and trying to lead a high school girls’ basketball team to glory, because that really is a big focus—I highly recommend this one. It’s a thoughtful, sometimes painful, but effective narrative, and it’s one that’s interesting to read after books like The Miseducation of Cameron Post, because this looks at not just the immediate horror, but the aftermath of being taught to hate yourself as a young person.

Full review at the Lesbrary.

a_sanders77's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ashwolff's review

2.0

2.5 the writing was uneven, more telling than showing, and I feel like this story has been told better before. The ending was nice though.

aksmalley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

vanquishingvolumes's review

3.0

Whenever I see a book that tackles religious trauma head on, I can’t help but gravitate towards it hoping some of my own experience is reflected on the page. Not because I hope others suffered, but because as much as I know others have I don’t often meet people who are willing to acknowledge the hurt the church has caused. I either meet people who double down on the hurt being deserved or people who pretend the hurt doesn’t happen because their relationship with God is nothing like that. I’ve met good church goers and bad - but like the characters in this book the bad experiences have left me lost in what my relationship is to religion and the God they serve. 

This book does a great job of depicting this struggle through the eyes of two adults who were forcibly admitted to a conversion therapy camp. They reckon with their lives, their friendship, and the survival trauma from such a horrific summer. 

lala_hawk's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.25

ryner's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

As a teenager Delia was sent away one summer to an anti-gay, conversion therapy camp, an overwhelmingly traumatizing experience. Now, many years later, after having been let go from her position as head coach for a college basketball team, Delia returns to her childhood home in Oregon to coach her old high school team. But coming home will also mean facing people, events, places and emotions from the past.

I was skeptical for the first chapter or two, because I initially detected more "tell" than "show" in the narrative and grew concerned. However, Bledsoe soon found her stride, and by mid-point I was fully engrossed. There is a fair amount of pain and trauma, but there are an equal number of moments of hope and inspiration. Religious bigots may have an abysmal record for successful conversions, but they certainly reign undefeated in cruelty.

I received this ARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

lisagray68's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0