Pride Month 2018 read #1
June is Pride Month and my goal is to read as many LGBTQ books as possible this month. This was the first, I had to read A Reaper At The Gates first.
History is All You Left Me is told from Griffin's voice in alternating points in time, the present which is just after the death of his best friend and first love Theo and the past starting from Griff and Theo coming out to each other and starting to date and leading up to their break up and Theo's death.
Griffin suffers from some pretty rough OCD symptoms which makes what he is going through that much more difficult. His story, and as much as there are those around him playing a major part in it, it really is Griffin's story, is about mental illness, first love, loss, grief, moving on from the past and embracing the present and future even though it is so damn scary and difficult. There is also strong thread about the need for forgiveness, of self and of others who have let us down and hurt us.
Griffin's pain is so honestly laid out for the reader to share even as he is hiding it from those around him and it is so real and human and so heartbreaking. By the end so much is learned about living in the face of death, being a friend, and taking care of oneself, it is a beautifully told story.
I was moved I think in a very personal way as I parent a 17 year old with mental illness and who is a member of the LGBTQ population and a 12 year old who just recently came out as Bi.
My next pick Pride Month reads will be The Art of Being Normal and Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed The World.
(Finished June 10, 2018)
No comments:
Post a Comment