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A review by mrjack
Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass
4.0
My coworkers love to ask me about what I’m reading. That I have a book with me almost everywhere I go is pretty much an official part of my brand here. I rarely have to elaborate for famous books. SURRENDER YOUR SONS, a newer release and very much a queer-centered read, made for interesting conversations.
In the novel, Connor Major is sent to an island conversion therapy camp by his fanatically religious mother. The institution claims success for its many pupils. But Connor soon finds that the ministry is full of secrets. He and his classmates don’t just want to escape. They want to take the place down.
SURRENDER YOUR SONS is fast-paced and entertaining. Its heavy subject matter is exploited here as fodder for a thrilling page-turner, but author Adam Sass tackles these issues with capable sensitivity. He writes with an awareness of queer teenagers and what it’s like to be young and gay (only a gay teen could think Disney’s Into the Woods movie was good). If the novel has a flaw, it’s that the main villain becomes too convoluted in his motives and backstory, muddying a simple story that did not require complication. Still, this is a grand novel with both queer catharsis and trans affirmation that I enjoyed.
CW: homophobia, transphobia, suicide
In the novel, Connor Major is sent to an island conversion therapy camp by his fanatically religious mother. The institution claims success for its many pupils. But Connor soon finds that the ministry is full of secrets. He and his classmates don’t just want to escape. They want to take the place down.
SURRENDER YOUR SONS is fast-paced and entertaining. Its heavy subject matter is exploited here as fodder for a thrilling page-turner, but author Adam Sass tackles these issues with capable sensitivity. He writes with an awareness of queer teenagers and what it’s like to be young and gay (only a gay teen could think Disney’s Into the Woods movie was good). If the novel has a flaw, it’s that the main villain becomes too convoluted in his motives and backstory, muddying a simple story that did not require complication. Still, this is a grand novel with both queer catharsis and trans affirmation that I enjoyed.
CW: homophobia, transphobia, suicide