Autoboyography
by Christina Lauren
★★★★★
Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.
But when his best friend dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar, Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity. It turns out, four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.
Oh my goodness! Where do I even begin? This book gave me so many emotions. I didn’t know much about it before starting to read it and I’m actually kind of glad I didn’t. I have never been too much of religious person and, to be frank, I’m not too educated when it comes to the costumes of being religious; besides the typical holidays (Easter, Christmas…) and doing church services on Saturdays with my grandmother when I was younger, I haven’t gotten know that much about it. But this book showed me a different view on it, actually, both in a positive way and a not-so-positive one.
This story follows Tanner Scott, whose family moved to Utah from California three years prior to the beginning of the story. Besides forcing Tanner, who was an out and proud bisexual, temporarily back into the closet, the move and adjusting to the place went actually surprisingly well for our main character, after all, there was just one semester of high school to go. There were no obstacles between him and the freedom he’d gain when he moved out of state for college; until his best friend, Autumn convinces him to enroll in Provo High’s Seminar, — where honor roll students meticulously toil in order to draft a book in a semester—and he falls head over heels for the Mormon T.A, who sold his own novel the year before, Sebastian Brother.
Now, before getting into the plot, I should point out that Utah is an extremely religious place. The majority of the population is Mormon and Tanner’s family, his Mom being an ex-LDS and his Dad being Jewish, wasn’t too accepted in that environment, at all, that’s why Tanner needed to tip back into the closet, even though his family knows he’s bisexual, and he’s never had a problem with hiding his sexuality; that is, of course, until he met Sebastian.
Sebastian is your typical Mormon, he’s kind, he attends to the LDS church, he follows the rules, his book was getting published and is going on tour, he’s about to leave on mission at the end of the year, to spread the word about the church and he’s his family’s biggest pride and joy. But still, Tanner can’t help but fall for him and at one point he starts thinking that Sebastian might even like him back. But could they actually have something, with Sebastian’s religion getting in the way? That was a worry, not only to Tanner but to Tanner’s parents, who, obviously, don’t want their son to get hurt nor do they want the boy’s relationship to affect Sebastian.
While Tanner’s family is supportive, accepting and welcoming when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, Sebastian’s family is the exact opposite, they see homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community in general, as something to despise and to be ashamed of. And for me, this was SO heartbreaking to read, not only the sadness of the situation itself but also the way it was written. This book was so emotional and raw, and it’s definitely one of my favorite books of all time, without a doubt.
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