Autoboyography

By: Christina Lauren

Narrated by: Deacon Lee, Kyle Mason

“This book is epic.” —Cosmopolitan

Fangirl meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this “sensitive and complex” (BCCB) coming-of-age novel from New York Times bestselling authors Christina Lauren about two boys who fall in love in a writing class—one from a progressive family and the other from a conservative religious community.

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 Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: 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.

unexpected.

I can't say that this was anything I expected to be listening to, but there was so much that was relatable with these characters and the humor and individuality of the characters, I couldn't stop listening. I even had dreams of it. just a great happy book.

Totally Surprised Me!!

This was a beautiful coming of age story that was written in a way that anyone could relate to the plot line. Tanner is a gay young man living in Utah where the Latter Day Saints faith is very predominant in the community. His best friend convinces him to take a writing seminar as one of his courses during his senior year. For this seminar he must write a book. Sebastian is a recent graduate and former student of the same seminar who has become famous and had his book picked up by a publisher. Sebastian is asked by the teacher of the course to return and assist with his new class of aspiring writers, well a friendship starts to grow between Sebastian and Tanner. They both start to question their views on life, their community, and faith.

This specific video review will be included in the September 2018 wrap-up & #contemporaryathon wrap-up.

For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Rom Book Talk.

So Good!

So good! I highly recommend this book. It had some drama, some heartbreak, and some growing feelings that made me swoon. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.

The story is great. You can see the attraction growing, and unfolding, the farther we get into the book. The narrators (mostly just one) were amazing. I will definitely see what else they've narrated.

A lot of characters were amazing: Tanner, Autumn, Tanner's parents for the most part, the seminar teacher, and even Sebastian…although I feel like I need to have some words with him. The epilogue was adorable, and made the ups and downs seem worthwhile. I didn't cry, but I felt myself get misty eyed a couple times. Read this book!

What I l'd call an insanely flawless read!

I walked into this book feeling very different about it. For one, I love Christina Lauren's romances so I knew this one was VERY different from what the duo usually writes. The first thing that drew me in was the details about the LDS community. Believe it or not, I was actually interested in that. I wanted to learn a bit more about Utah and Mormon culture without it being demonized. Not because I want to be one but because I just love religious diversity and the first step to understanding people of different faiths is learning about them. This book was excellent about teaching me things I didn't know, and refreshing me on things I knew about from past learnings. Overall, the authors either seem to have grown up in the life or did amazing research!

On to the characters:
At first I didn't think I'd connect to a M/M story because normally they don't catch my interest as much as F/F stories. Give me a F/F romance and I'll devour it but a male-centered romance, I'll admit it's hard for me to relate to a story that's solely focused on guys since I don't see myself in the, if you must, story. I'll even admit that if I didn't know it had a lot of insight on LDS culture, I still may not have been in a rush to pick it up. But I'm so glad I did because that ending was PERFECT! I was not expecting that at all. Sebastian, a gay 19 year old Mormon struggling both with his faith and his sexuality, while Tanner was Bi and had really supportive people in his life who didn't want to see him get hurt by falling in love with a Mormon boy. Sebastian was so true to character, I expected him suppress himself for the rest of his life, so when he finally choose love, I was so happy for both him AND Tanner. This book was a true winner!

Damn this Book cover has so much meaning now!

The relationship is beautiful because it felt so real and the struggles felt so real. The narration is excellent and the writing is beautiful, charming and emotional. Personally I felt this book touched me because I too am facing a similar struggle with the characters and I can honestly that this book felt like it was made for me. The amount of hope this book gives me is something I want everyone to experience. The anxiety and longing of forbidden love is palpable in every chapter. The tension is so well built up and well paced for things to end in a satisfying way. Despite the predictable nature of a story like this, how it plays out is still very surprising and engaging. I love this book and it gives me hope.