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Fave Five: Sapphic Books for Horse Girls
Saddlehill Academy by Jessica Burkhart (MG) The Key to You and Me by Jaye Robin Brown (YA) The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan Pas de Deux by E.J. Noyes Prize Money by Celeste Castro
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Have you read Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown (2016)?
YES
NO
But what happens when being selfless takes away a big part of your self?
Jaye Robin Brown, Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
"It's stupid because I don't even know her, but sometimes you see someone and there's just this flicker. Like a light bulb that glows around the person, making them shine brighter than all the others. It's not that they're more attractive or smarter or funnier than anyone else. It's just they have a combination of all the things that speak directly to you."
Year Read: 2021
Rating: 2/5
About: When Jo's radio evangelist father remarries for a second time, he moves them both from progressive Atlanta to small town Rome, Georgia. Worse, he asks out and proud Jo to keep her sexuality a secret for her last of year of high school to appease his religious, conservative new in-laws. In return, Jo gets to host her own radio segment for teens on the issues of being young and faithful, and she reluctantly agrees. Everything is complicated when she meets Mary Carlson, one of her new group of friends who might just be interested in her too. Trigger warnings: homophobia, closeting, ableism.
Thoughts: There are a number of things I found uncomfortable about this book's representation, from its ableist depictions of a side character, Barnum, to its abundance of mean, manipulative, or lying lesbians (which are pretty much all of them except Mary Carlson, including the main character). The premise itself of forced closeting isn't comfortable, but at least it's openly addressed as something that Jo never should have agreed to and that never should have been asked of her. It's awkwardly easier for her to "pass" in a small town as a straight girl, and I think it glosses over a lot of the backlash LGBTQ people frequently face in places like that, particularly when they've grown up there.
On its own, Jo's character arc is decent, since she realizes how badly she hurts Mary Carlson, but I wasn't pulling for them to be together by the end of the book. There are a number of times Jo could have told her the truth, but their entire relationship is ultimately based on a lie. Mary Carlson doesn't even know who she really is. The deception also goes on for too long, making the story drag in places. (There's really no reason a contemporary YA romance should be over 400 pages. In a fantasy with world-building, sure, but there's nothing to establish here.) On the other hand, I like the way Jo's other friends ultimately pull together in solidarity for the two of them, and the book shows a nice balance of faith, community, and acceptance. I hope the people who need a story like this find it.
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit // Jaye Robin Brown
“I’ve had a conflicted year. Agreed to an unkeepable promise. Met a girl. Fell in love. Broke the girl’s heart. Lied to the girl. realized I couldn’t live without her. Broke my promise. But then it was too late. I lost the girl.”
Because love like this, it's the only thing that really matters.
Jaye Robin Brown, from Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit
If you liked this, you'll love Autoboyography🥰
will you write more queer books that incorporate faith? hnits brought me some much needed peace and i didn’t realize how good it would be to read about the intersection of queerness and religion written by a religious queer person. if you were to write about those themes more i would definitely be interested!
I would like to, but I’ll have to feel my way into it...
If you want another queer + faith read, try Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown.
