I was already standing in line for a book like this, the story of a young woman who lives with her parents in a small town. It's not that far removed from the truth and that's what makes this book so important. To the average reader untouched by evangelicalism (although, nobody is really untouched since their political activism affects us all) seems too exaggerated to be true except the horror of this book is that it's not. I got too close to the kind of evangelical religiosity depicted in this fictional book about a radically successful gay conversion camp. Chuck Tingle, the life-giving energy behind 'LOVE IS REAL', knew about the secret bullshit going on behind evangelical closed doors and was exposing it. It was validating and soul-edifying to read this book knowing that the author behind it all, Dr. This book is extremely important as an in-depth, fictionalized (but realistic) intimate look at the dangers of heterosexual-white-American-evangelical-monotheistic purity culture and their dogmatic beliefs. I started "deconstructing" my faith and now I no longer identify as a Christian but I'm still on a faith-based journey to personalize where I stand. In 2020 while churches were closed, I realized I never wanted to go back.
In marriage, I started attending an evangelical church with my husband and eventually identified as a Christian even though I still held to my liberal views on everything and felt like an outcast in some Christian circles for my "radical beliefs". I was raised agnostic by parents who leaned, atheist. What You Need to Know: It will be interesting to see how readers with different religious backgrounds engage with this book. Writing Style: Character-Driven, Brisk Pace, Subgenre/Themes: Coming-of-Age, Cults, Human Monsters, Psychological, Small Town Horror, Religious Stuff,
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