Welcome to Litsy!

Such a powerful coming-of-age semi-autobiographical novel about Jesse McCarthy's metamorphosis from an abused jehovah's witness who was outed by his community, to man navigating his own way through the city, exploring his own racial and sexual identity. Reading this incredible journey of self-discovery was a privilege.
It is one of the best debut novels to grace our shelves in 2020.
Beautiful, honest, and heart rending in equal measure.
Inspiring.

19 year old and kicked out of Jehovah‘s Witnesses, Jesse finds himself alone in London. This is a book about finding yourself, about making mistakes along the way and the family you create. Jesse is gay and finds himself surviving working as a prostitute.

At times I had trouble with understanding the slang some of the dialogue is written in, at least on the beginning.

I loved the 2000s music references.

#WeeklyForecast

Finish Anne of Ingleside #KinderedSpiritsBuddyRead

I‘ll start two other buddy reads.
Emma with the #PemberLittens reading a chapter a day.
A Tale of Two Cities with #whattheDickens reading 6 chapters a week.

I have also started Caste which I expect will take more than a week to read and Rainbow Milk which I hope to finish this week.

Then I‘ll see where my mood takes me

This arrived from #QueerBookBox and I'm really happy - it looks super interesting. It's a novel about a queer black person from the Black Country who eventually moves to London, from what I got from the back cover and the extra info that came in the box.

First book finished on the #FabulousFebruary readathon. This was my #BookSpin section this month.

A fictionalised autobiography, this was an odd sort of book full of contradictions - some sections brilliantly written, some totally crass. Too much detail on some parts of the author‘s life, too little on other parts where I felt there was so much more to explore. I feel that Mendez is squandering his talent bu trying to be shocking.

I got sucked into binge-watching a TV show this last week or so, and reading has taken a back seat, so joining in on the #FabulousFebruary #readathon hosted by @Andrew65 should get me back on track. Hoping to get through at least 2 of the pictures books.

This was an emotional read about a young black man with a Jehovah's Witness upbringing, whi moves off to London to start afresh. The beginning starts with his parents and their move from Jamaica to England for a brighter future, but unfortuntely faces racism and illness.#books

This the best summer since we come to England three years ago.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

The imagery and detail of the writing is beautiful even though the story is raw and gritty. Though it is fiction, the journey feels so real - not only leaving behind one's faith (Jehovah's Witness), but also giving up one's family in order to be true to one's own identity. It was not an easy struggle, but in the end Jesse becomes comfortable with himself. Themes of sexual identity, race, religion and class.