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It Looks Like This
It Looks Like This
Rafi Mittlefehldt | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hoo boy. I went into this book expecting to hate it. It's teen fiction, which can be okay, and I knew from the blurbs on the front cover and back that it was probably not a happy ending. I hate books like that, especially LGBT-themed books aimed at that audience. BUT!

This is the first book to make me cry in ages. I'm not a crier by nature. There's something very effective and hard-hitting about Mittlefehldt's style. It's spare and haunting and leaves a lot of room to read between the lines. It reminded me a lot of books I had to read growing up like Bridge to Terebithia and Where the Red Fern Grows. You have the vague notion that something is going to go wrong, but it still takes your breath away when it does.

It Looks Like This is a story about small towns, religion, young love, and tragedy. In many ways, it has universal appeal: we all remember our first love and how gut-wrenching it is when it's over. But it also describes a story that many queer people know very well: what it feels like to know that this will always be harder for you than the people who "hate the sin but love the sinner."
  
I cried. A lot.
It's been a little while since I've actually read the book since I've made myself sit in it for some time. Whether I felt an attachment to the themes that are explored in the book, or if I was just particularly emotional on the days I was reading it, I certainly think this was one of the most heartfelt books I've ever read.
My original attraction to the book came from hearing what a fantastic LGBT+ story it was - something that always catches my attention when I'm grasping for some kind of representation. It lived up to all of my expectations. It started a bit slow, seeing as I'm usually one for adventure and fantasy, but once I got into the book and the manner that Saenz writes, I couldn't put it down. As the heading might suggest, it certainly cried, especially towards the end of the book.
If you want a book that explores love and relationships, familial, platonic, and romantic, I would highly suggest picking up this book. Hopefully, people will read this book at the right time in their lives to be able to have this book effect them as positively as it has me.
  
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Chloe (514 KP) Jan 26, 2019

im really glad it was so positive for you I'll have to buy it when I go out shopping. Id recommend you watch sense 8 on Netflix it's such a good series